CIC Universities Meet at Penn State
On-line Learning is Focus of Institute

By Deborah A. Benedetti

Penn State convened the first-of-its-kind meeting to share information about on-line courses and programs during the Learning On-Line Institute: Designing On-Line Learning Environments.

“Collaborating on the development of on-line learning strategies is relatively new for universities,” according to John T. Harwood, director of Education Technology Services for Penn State's Center for Academic Computing. “However, universities are finding that in today's era of rapid information technology developments, it is essential for them to share information with other institutions to create successful on-line learning environments.”

Penn State worked in cooperation with the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), an academic consortium of Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago, to plan the first program for sharing best practices for on-line learning environments. The CIC has established a Learning Technology Initiative to support on-line learning among member universities. Seventy-seven CIC members attended the institute. Together, the 12 member universities represent more than 33,000 faculty members and nearly 500,000 full-time students.

Harwood, an organizer of the Learning On-Line Institute, explained that the institute had two goals: to give information technology specialists, faculty members and administrators from CIC institutions a forum for sharing their experiences in developing on-line learning environments and to create a repository for on-line learning resources that all participating institutions can use as they move classroom learning on-line.

Penn State invited teams from each CIC university to present information about the strategies and information technology tools they are using in their on-line learning environments. The institute featured three discussion areas: Developing On-Line Classroom Materials and Strategies, Implementing the Strategies and Changes, and Evaluating Teaching and Learning.

In his welcome address to institute participants, J. Gary Augustson, Penn State vice provost for Information Technology, noted, “In many ways, we can say that the CIC played a key role in launching the Internet. In the very early 1990s, Minnesota gave us Gopher; in the mid-1990s, Illinois gave us Mosaic. And while neither of these technologies focused solely on instruction, it wasn't long before enterprising faculty and IT [information technology] staff found ways to use the Web in teaching.”

Augustson added, “We all face a common core of problems. Large classes pose a special challenge, and we all need to know the best ways to use technologies in those courses.” Other important issues universities are dealing with include intellectual property issues, ownership of courseware, the increasing need to personalize instruction, assessment challenges and faculty development issues, he said.

Tim Eatman, program coordinator for the CIC's Learning Technology Initiative at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, told participants “this meeting has much promise for addressing important issues and challenges in the area of information technology.” He cited the growing concern among CIC universities about protecting students and faculty from businesses entering the higher education arena.

During his opening presentation to participants, Harwood gave his assessment of the expectations of the constituents of on-line learning. “Provosts want to see collaboration among CIC universities become seamless and routine,” he said. “They want us to find the best ways to collaborate as we develop on-line materials, implement strategies for transforming change and evaluate the impact of the new learning environments. Provosts also want us to contain or reduce costs.”

What do students expect?

“Our students want an increased emphasis on relevance in what they are learning,” Harwood said. "They want more personalized learning and more active engagement in course content and presentation, and they want effective feedback on their learning — all without an increase in effort on their part.”

What do faculty expect?

“Faculty want to promote more effective learning without compromising their research,” Harwood said. “They want balance and reduced administrative requirements, and they are looking to information technology to eliminate the drudgery aspects of their work. Faculty also want recognition for their work by internal and external peers. They want technology that is not prescriptive, and they want a lot of power and ease of use.”

What do information technology groups expect?

“Information technology staff want scalable, robust and flexible products and services that are easy to train others to use and easy to support. And they want this to come without increased effort or cost,” he said.

What do learning technology experts expect?

“They want solid assessment data and support for accepted learning standards,” he said. “The Learning On-Line Institute helped us explore this carnival of expectations and identify our best practices in creating on-line learning environments,” Harwood said.

Another way the institute is assisting Committee on Institutional Cooperation members is through an on-line tutorial of the best strategies for on-line teaching and learning presented during the meeting. Karen Peters, manager of instructional design for Penn State's Center for Academic Computing and an institute organizer, said institute staff are developing the tutorial, which will be available to CIC members on the Web at http://www.cic.uiuc.edu.

“The atmosphere of sharing successes and challenges at the Learning On-Line Institute supported a community of practice in excellence in on-line teaching and learning. The knowledge we gained from these discussions will guide us as we embark on this new road together,” Harwood said.

The Committee on Institutional Cooperation and Penn State's School of Information Sciences and Technology sponsored the Learning On-Line Institute, which also received a grant from Penn State Outreach and Cooperative Extension's Program Innovation Fund.

An outreach program of Penn State and the Committee on Institutional Cooperation

John T. Harwood, director of Education Technology Services for Penn State’s Center for Academic Computing, helped organize the first meeting of Committee on Institutional Cooperation universities to discuss the challenges of on-line learning.

Tim Eatman, program coordinator for the Committee on Institutional Cooperation's Learning Technology Initiative, talks about the CIC’s commitment to supporting collaboration among universities in the creation of on-line learning environments.

J. Gary Augustson, vice provost for Information Technology at Penn State, welcomes participants from Committee on Institutional Cooperation universities attending the Learning On-Line Institute.

Kathleen L. Christoph, director of learning technology and distance education, and John D. DeLamater, professor of sociology, both at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, present information on technology classrooms at their university during the Learning On-Line Institute.

Committee on Institutional Cooperation:
	Indiana University	University of Iowa
	Michigan State University	The University of Michigan
	Northwestern University	University of Minnesota
	The Ohio State University	University of Wisconsin–Madison
	The Pennsylvania State University	The University of Chicago
	Purdue University	University of Illinois