Information technology

Effective practice: Learning Effectiveness

Learning technology

• Tools for enhancing learning effectiveness
  FernUniversitat Hagen's communication tools help distribute learning materials and reduce transmission costs. -- more
  
• IVC Online Student Resource Center
  The Illinois Virtual Campus provides a targeted online student service center to orient students to the online learning environment. -- more
  
• Courselets Designed for Custom Tutorials
  Stanford University uses courselets, self-contained, integrated sets of learning materials to enhance the learning experience for students and reduce the demand for faculty time. -- more
  
• Wizards: Student Tutors Help Peers Learn
  Mercy College's "wizards" are peer-to-peer mentors and collaborators that tutor students and assist professors. -- more
  
• Syllabus Display and Time on Task
  Troy State University--Montgomery posts detailed descriptions of program requirements to enable students to enroll in programs and courses that fit in their schedule. -- more
  
• Introduction to Course and Professor Welcomes Learners
  Washington State University uses brief RealPlayer videos to introduce the professor and his/her courses and help the students understand the courses objectives. -- more
  
• Seeing Course Requirements Before Enrolling Helps Students Manage Time
  Troy State University, Montgomery allows students to see the full detail of the syllabus before enrollment, which helps students and their advisors make better enrollment choices. -- more
  
• Social Presence Begins with Introductions
  At Florida State University, perceptions of learning effectiveness correlate with perceptions of social presence, thus providing social presence through opening introductions is helpful. -- more
  
• Repurposeable Learning Objects: the TALON Learning Object System
  Indiana University-Bloomington creates learning objects which can be easily reprogrammed to fit an instructor's need. -- more
  
• PBS/WGBH/Nova models The Elegant Universe with multimedia online
  Nova Science Programming's "The Elegant Universe" models effective multimedia, while narrating the Theory of Everything (T.O.E), also known as string theory: the theory of large and small. -- more
  
• Mentored Self-Paced Learning Works for Online K-12 Professional Development Courses
  The Learning To Teach with Technology Studio (LTTS) at the Indiana University School of Education uses a self-paced, one-on-one mentored format for more than 45 courses designed primarily to serve K-12 teacher professional development needs. -- more
  
• Creation of Focused Educational Planning Environment Meets Army Student Needs
  Empire State College developed a new Educational Planning course designed to focus and streamline the educational planning process for military students, helping to bridge them to an academic environment and adequately prepare them for academic success in upper level courses. -- more
  
• ViCTORY (Operation Virtual Counselor Transforms Online Resources for You) is eArmyU's model for Soldier academic support and success.
  Operation ViCTORY is a fully integrated proactive student support process that coordinates and promotes outreach to all eArmyU soldiers. -- more
  
• S.I.D.E. Road - Success in Distance Education
  Long Beach City College's "S.I.D.E. Road - Success in Distance Education" project assists current and prospective Distance Learning (DL) students, as well as faculty, in having a successful distance learning experience. -- more
  
• Accounting Online: Practical application of concepts using online resources (EDGAR)
  The development of financial reporting illustrations has been made easier through the use of internet resources and the Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR corporate information database. The effective use of financial reporting illustrations in accounting classes at the University of Massachusetts Lowell has helped to improve accounting education, students' satisfaction, and faculty satisfaction. -- more
  
• Transforming Traditional Education
  The University of Vermont College of Medicine transformed its new integrated curriculum by adding a wide variety of educational technology tools and applications to its courses. This transformation is being driven by COMET (College of Medicine Education Tools), a team of educational technologists that has helped to create a hybrid learning environment that includes reusable learning objects, virtual reality models, streaming audio and video, and online exams. -- more
  
• Online Executive MBA Orientation
  The Orientation course improves learning effectiveness because the content is geared towards learning important course navigation skills, practising online collaboration, and building student confidence for new graduate students. We are able to address student concerns and anxieties up front, before they start their academic courses, and we are able to ensure that students are set up properly in terms of the technology, so that they can start their first academic course (Strategic Management) and “hit the ground running.” -- more
  

Effective practices:Cost Effectiveness

Strategic planning and accounting to enhance quality and reduce institutional and student costs

• Creating Efficiency by Streamlining Test Proctoring Process
  Florida State University creates an efficient and user-friendly test proctoring process that reduces duplications and eliminates the need to mail exam materials to proctors. -- more
  
• Comprehensive Academic Advising and Information System
  Penn State University's secure Web site provides students with easy access to their academic records and allows them to take more responsibility for their education at the university. At the same time, the online process maximizes human resources at PSU and creates a more cost-effective service. -- more
  
• "Any time, anywhere" Faculty and Curriculum Development: Using Asynchronous Learning Tools Beyond the Classroom
  At Pace University, asynchronous learning tools provide support to faculty and curriculum development projects and improve student and faculty satisfaction with little or no additional costs. -- more
  
• Cost-Effective Distributed Learning with Electronics Labs
  Brigham Young University utilizes simulated electronics laboratories to increase access and decrease the number of trips to a physical lab at a reduced cost. -- more
  
• Faculty Staffing Tool Saves Valuable Time
  At the University of Maryland University College (UMUC), the development and implementation of an interface tool provides a more efficient and means of scheduling faculty course assignments. -- more
  
• Snapshots of Online Learning
  Florida State University's Office for Distributed and Distance Learning created an About Online Learning @ FSU website that features snapshot data under six categories that reveal a variety of information about FSU's courses, students and instructors related to FSU's online degree programs. This website has become a tool for reflective and demonstrative purposes that can ultimately lead to teaching and learning improvements and for strategic planning. -- more
  
• Building a Quality Online Course With Free Materials
  The Rochester Institute of Technology's History Department cost effectively developed a fully online modern history course, and, in the process, created an online inventory of resources that are freely available online for other educators to utilize for the creation of web-enhanced, blended or fully online humanities and social science courses. -- more
  
• Business Planning and Costing Model Streamlines Development and Implementation Process
  Michigan State University's Office of MSU Global has created an effective Business Planning and Cost Model (BPCM) for the planning, development and implementation of online degree and certificate programs. -- more
  
• Program Costing Model Aims to Ensure Positive ROI
  Michigan State University's Office of MSU Global has created an effective Program Costing Model (PCM) that is used for planning the development and implementation of new online degree or certificate programs and for ensuring that the institution obtains a positive return on investment. -- more
  
• Global Academic Business Planning Model Used for Planning the Development and Implementation of Hybrid Degree and Certificate Programs in Partnership with International Higher Education Institutions
  Michigan State University's Office of MSU Global has created an effective Global Academic Business Planning Model for planning the development and implementation of hybrid degree and certificate programs in partnership with international higher education institutions in strategic countries. The model is designed so that MSU generates a positive return on investment. -- more
  

Effective practices: Access

Technical infrastructure and training for users

• Technical Support Facilitation with Screen Capture Software
  University of Illinois - Springfield uses GifgIfgiF, an screen capture program, to help students by providing animated software demonstrations. -- more
  
• Automated Response Systems, Intelligent Object Databases, and Other Comprehensive Implementations of Information and Communication Technologies: The e-University Project
  The University of South Queensland (USQ) is undertaking a strategically planned, systematically integrated, institutionally comprehensive implementation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) called the e-University Project. Key elements of the project include incorporating the use of automated response systems and intelligent object databases in the context of Internet-based delivery, This project will enable USQ to use technology to automate certain aspects of interaction with students, increasing access to higher education on a global scale. -- more
  
• Learning-on-the-Go: Anytime, Anywhere Access to Course and Study Materials
  The key objective of Duquesne University's "Learning-on-the-Go" program is to break down the barriers that make studying and attending class difficult for adult students. "Learning-on-the-Go" will accomplish this by providing convenient access to course materials, developing technologically-supported pedagogical tools to foster student learning, and creating a framework for faculty exchange of effective practices in mobile education. -- more
  

Effective practices: Faculty Satisfaction

Technological innovations to reduce faculty administrative workload

• Online Faculty Guide to Distance Teaching
  University of Washington's faculty support website helps instructors to deliver online courses successfully. -- more
  
• Faculty Technology Training Opportunities via the Faculty Online Technology Training Consortium (FOTTC)
  The Maryland Faculty Online web site provides training opportunities to higher education faculty. -- more
  
• Rubric for Online Instruction
  California State University, Chico uses the Rubric for Online Instruction to recognize faculty's exemplary works in online education. -- more
  
• Learning to Teach Online Program
  The Learning to Teach Online (LeTTOL) program, created by South Yorkshire Further Education Consortium, helps participants gain the skills they need to develop and deliver online courses. -- more
  
• Faculty mentors as online Cyber-Celebrities and guest speakers
  The University of Massachusetts Lowell uses veteran online faculty as Cyber-Celebrities and guest speakers to interact and share their experiences with faculty new to online teaching and course development. -- more
  
• Supporting Online Adjunct Faculty: A Virtual Mentoring Program
  Florida Community College at Jacksonville uses Virtual Mentoring to support online adjunct faculty. -- more
  
• Training for Online Teaching
  The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Summer Institute for Online Teaching (SIOT), a five-week online summer faculty development program, takes both novice and experienced online instructors through the steps of course development and management, online teaching, and online assessment. A modular-based hybrid of online and face-to-face activities, pedagogy and technology, the Institute focuses on the skills critical to online teaching while allowing instructors to experience what it is like to be an online student. SIOT, facilitated by faculty experienced in teaching online courses, who, in turn, are supported by instructional designers and technologists, is a key component in the mix of faculty development and training efforts sponsored by the University of Nebraska. -- more
  

• E-learning Platform for Instructor Support and Workload Management
  Uni Open Platform, created by FernUniversitat Hagen, allows faculty members to spend more time supporting and advising students by automating administrative processes. -- more
  

Effective practices: Student Satisfaction

User friendly interfaces