Event Name - 025--Is it Possible to Have a Virtual Residency (LBQ210059) Lorraine Williams: Welcome everyone. I will entertain questions as you ask them rather than waiting until the end of the presentation. Please feel free to interrupt at any time with a question. Lorraine Williams: Welcome everyone. I will entertain questions as you ask them rather than waiting until the end of the presentation. Please feel free to interrupt at any time with a question. Chris Huang: Hi, Lorraine. Chris Huang: I am still not quit understand about the word Virtual Residency. (Obviously it has nothing to do with Virtual Reality). Lorraine Williams: Hi - We have an adult distance undergraduate program here that has students attend brief residencies so we wanted to create a new option that offers the same orientation to the program as the residency, but online Lorraine Williams: This way those who cannot travel or take time off from work can still have the same experience Lorraine Williams: Hence, "virtual" residency Iskandar Hack: Hello Lorraine, are you all set? Lorraine Williams: Yes, I believe so Lorraine Williams: There was one participant earlier who has since left Iskandar Hack: Hard to say with these late sessions. I'll be gone for about 20-30 minutes after 6 and I'll be back Lorraine Williams: ok - see you later Lorraine Williams: I think I'll wait to start till someone else joins me Iskandar Hack: Good idea Lorraine Williams: One more thing Iskandar Hack: yes Lorraine Williams: Should I NOT use the mike and speakers and assume all will use the chat? Iskandar Hack: correct, just have everyone join you in this room and use chat. Lorraine Williams: ok - see you later - and thanks Iskandar Hack: Go thru your slides first , and have an open chat session - although I've seen the open chat sessions in the middle of the presentation and the person never finished the slides :) Lorraine Williams: so don't use the mike while running through the slides either? Lorraine Williams: I was thinking I could talk while showing them Iskandar Hack: Doesn't look like you have any company :( Iskandar Hack: I was wondering when we scheduled these 6 and 7:30 sessions. My guess is the 7:30 session will have some ppl - but the 6 is dinner time for most of the US/Canada Lorraine Williams: no -no one here Lorraine Williams: shall I stick around in case someone shows up very late? Lorraine Williams: it's funny how it's like a f2f conference Iskandar Hack: I know, the other room has about 5 ppl - but it's a hot topic Upper Class Size in On Line courses. Lorraine Williams: yes Lorraine Williams: I will be at another f2f conference Sloan C beginning on Friday so will miss the end of this one Iskandar Hack: Your paper is more interesting in many ways, but doesn't draw the attention as much as a battle between faculty and adminstration. Lorraine Williams: ours is a unique situation at Union - everyone needs to deal with the issue of class size! Iskandar Hack: The concept of virtual residency is important to me, because I want to start offering IPFW degrees to students in Malaysia. And the Purdue residency requirments is something that I have to deal with. Lorraine Williams: well, maybe we can talk over email another time and I can do the presentation for you Iskandar Hack: That would be great. Lorraine Williams: let me know :) Iskandar Hack: At least go thru your slides - I've scanned the paper already (of course I don't remember the details after reviewing all of them) Lorraine Williams: ok I will Iskandar Hack: After rescanning your paper I have a couple of questions Lorraine Williams: go ahead Lorraine Williams: can you and Scott hear me when I talk in the microphone? Iskandar Hack: The first is - I assume that your situation is that most of your online students do not have access to a local campus of a compatable state university? Lorraine Williams: I see Scott does not have a microphone himself, but I wonder if you can hear me Scott with headphones or speakers? Iskandar Hack: I don't hear you. I think Centra doesn't have VoIP turned on for this conference. They weren't supposed to. Lorraine Williams: Yes and no - those who opt for the weekend or cycle options of the same degree program either come to the campus 6 weekends a term or once a term for 10 days Lorraine Williams: We want to serve those who can't come at all Lorraine Williams: the cycle students only come twice a year but this is a hardship for some so we want to both serve more students and boost enrollment Lorraine Williams: all of our degree programs are offered like this - at a distance with brief residencies Iskandar Hack: has the perfomance of these students been compatible with your on-campus students? Lorraine Williams: so if this model works well for us, to get students started on their independent study with mentors, along with adequate learner services orientations, we can use it with our other programs too Lorraine Williams: we won't start until February so we don't know yet Lorraine Williams: I will certainly follow up after the first year Lorraine Williams: I was amazed at the success of our very democratic process and so wanted to look at the success factors Iskandar Hack: True - as I said I scanned the paper . Iskandar Hack: Do you think the model may work for students outside the region? Lorraine Williams: lol - Just putting it all together was a huge project and I wondered what others thought Lorraine Williams: Yes, I do - since most of our cycle students are not from Vermont I think it will transfer in the online environment as well Iskandar Hack: Are you planning on offering every course required for the degree online, or did I miss that in the paper? Lorraine Williams: we offered a demo as a sort of lab practical in which faculty moved from station to station viewing computers showing different aspects of the virtual residency Lorraine Williams: yes - all will be online Iskandar Hack: That is a huge undertaking Lorraine Williams: learners negotiate the content of their individualized curriculum with faculty advisors and all work will take place online, albeit not traditional courses Iskandar Hack: how is accredication affected? Lorraine Williams: the model is very labor intensive Lorraine Williams: We have been told that the Vermont State accrediting body will not view this as a new program, but rather a new delivery option so not a change in our status Lorraine Williams: our administration would prefer a different, more course based model Lorraine Williams: that will require a lengthier process for accreditiation and licensure Iskandar Hack: Are any of the programs accreditied by a professional accrediting body such as ABET or NAIT? Lorraine Williams: these were the questions I posed to the folks involved Lorraine Williams: no - NCA, North Central since our headquarters are in Ohio and Vermont since this program is loctated here Lorraine Williams: Additional accrediting bodies is not a bad idea Lorraine Williams: these are the success factors that those I interviewed shared with me Iskandar Hack: okay, we're accredited by NC as well, but my program is also ABET accredited - I found that ABET reaccredition takes longer. Lorraine Williams: Interesting - I will look into it - I expect it affords more credibility Lorraine Williams: the success factors listed here on this slide show the most often cited to the least, but all were cited more than once Lorraine Williams: Working on the project was an energizing experience for all of us Lorraine Williams: I think that this was in part due to the democratic process in which all took responsibility for various aspects and worked well together as a team Lorraine Williams: pressure from the administration along with support were key factors too Lorraine Williams: the attitudinal shift was rather late in coming, but is due to the rather unique culture and climate here Iskandar Hack: I assume part of this program is to promote revenue. Lorraine Williams: yes - we need to do so Lorraine Williams: our enrollment has been declining - I believe largely due to the success of other online distance programs for adults which are easy to understand Lorraine Williams: It's hard to explain how one can create their own undergraduate program in quick sound bites Lorraine Williams: I'm skipping ahead with the slides here Lorraine Williams: The preservation of the model was really key to faculty buy in Lorraine Williams: one thing that happened that was a surprise for me was this Lorraine Williams: the faculty as a group voted to have their best and brightest teach in this option Lorraine Williams: even those who are not particularly tech savvy Lorraine Williams: they felt strongly that these would be ushering in a new age for the program so they wanted the most experienced Iskandar Hack: That is interesting - it seemed that the faculty most driven in our case prefered to work alone and weren't nec good teachers Lorraine Williams: I know - I was very surprised too about this Lorraine Williams: They are a pretty tight knit group for a distance program Iskandar Hack: I personally perfer student interaction f2f - but have been forced to moved to online for political reasons on campus. Lorraine Williams: They come together once a month in person for f2f faculty meetings - I think this is part of what makes them work so well together as a group Lorraine Williams: I do too and this is in fact part of my own doctoral work Lorraine Williams: to learn the degree to which faculty can really serve as mentors to adult students online Lorraine Williams: another presentation :) Lorraine Williams: As I said earlier, it remains to be seen whether this model of the virtual residency will be as successful academically as the f2f models Lorraine Williams: and whether this model will also serve the other programs we have Lorraine Williams: We have these programs at Union - PhD, PsyD, MEd, MA, MFA in Writing, MFA in Writing for Children & MFA in Fine Arts Lorraine Williams: There is pressure to offer an MFA in FIne Arts in design online - the faculty refuse Lorraine Williams: so it may be that a whole new faculty group is hired to do it Lorraine Williams: we'll see Iskandar Hack: I'm looking at offering a BS in Electircial Engineering Technology - the courses are lab intensive so some issues there. Lorraine Williams: Yes - how to do labs online Lorraine Williams: how experiential can you really get Lorraine Williams: I'm working on a geosciences online course with a faculty member here and we are coming up with some ideas for having learners gather data from online sources and work in groups to produce reports Iskandar Hack: I don't think we can - I'm trying to work out a an arrangement with a university in Malaysia to support the labs there. Lorraine Williams: I like that idea better Lorraine Williams: we struggle with modelling teaching online to preservice teachers too - how do you model f2f teaching online? You are really modelling online teaching. Iskandar Hack: However, I still have to work out the residency requirement. Lorraine Williams: can the time in the labs provide for the residency requirement? Iskandar Hack: Not really - in fact it seems that each faculity member comes up his/her own way of doing things. Lorraine Williams: I put up this slide as a way to show how committed we are here at Union to the ideals of John Dewey in terms of individualized learning Lorraine Williams: working out study plans in an iterative fashion in which learners do some preliminary research for bibliographies and then present their ideas to faculty and other students is part of the residency Lorraine Williams: they gather input and then refine their plans Lorraine Williams: then they present them again to other faculty and learners Lorraine Williams: they also view faculty presentations to learn about the personalities and research interests of the faculty Lorraine Williams: administrators and faculty get together to decide "who works with whom" for that term Lorraine Williams: the next term the students end up working with different faculty as their studies change to meet different area requirements for the liberal studies degree Iskandar Hack: That is interesting approach - we're much more traditional Lorraine Williams: It is quite unusual Lorraine Williams: very interdisciplinary too Iskandar Hack: Each faculty member is assigned a series of courses and some are on line and other f2f Lorraine Williams: I came from a very traditional school so it was an adjustment to come here for me too Lorraine Williams: are the same courses offered online as f2f at your school? Iskandar Hack: Not all - in fact we have two course that are only offered online - and they're required courses. Students actually complain about that situation Lorraine Williams: At my old school this was the case in the MA program I taught in - two courses were only offered online and some complained. Lorraine Williams: we ended up offering a f2f component for those studying in Greece, but this only helped about a third Iskandar Hack: Of course we don't have the resources to offer the course both f2f and online Lorraine Williams: we didn't either Iskandar Hack: Of course being a brick and mortar school - I feel we should alternate the courses between online and f2f. But that is my opinion. Lorraine Williams: I agree. If I were at a brick and mortar school I would feel the same way. The only other thing I have to say about my presentation is that I am looking forward to seeing how things work out with this program and others at Union as they move online. Iskandar Hack: Please submit a follow up next year. Lorraine Williams: Ok I will - maybe I'll get a better slot then. :) Iskandar Hack: Remind me next year about the bad slot and I'll ensure a better slot. Lorraine Williams: OK - :) I think I'll end the presentation now Iskandar Hack: okay, could you save the chat log - just to show there was a actual session, despite the low turnout. Lorraine Williams: Ok I will Iskandar Hack: email it to tohe@ipfw.edu - thanks Iskandar Hack: take care - I"m going to get the next sessions going. Lorraine Williams: bye thanks Iskandar Hack: bye