A N N U A L R E P O R T
Center for Instruction
& Research Technology
www.unf.edu/cirt www.facebook.com/cirtunf (904) 620-3927
Director’s Message
3
CIRT Services
5
Team Reports
6
CIRT by the Numbers 2014 – 2015
16
Publications and Recognition
17
2015 – 2016 Strategic Action Items
19
A support unit in Academic Affairs, the mission of the Center for Instruction & Research Technology (CIRT) is to offer expertise, resources, and training to assist faculty in ways that enable them to develop greater capacities for using technology for teaching and research. CIRT also disseminates ideas, frameworks, and materials that apply pedagogical knowledge to the teaching and learning process.
The Center for Instruction & Research Technology (CIRT) was established in 1995 within Academic Affairs as part of a comprehensive faculty center. The first full-time director was hired in 2000 and CIRT soon emerged as an educational technology center where faculty could go to get support, check out equipment, consult on projects, work on course development, and explore new ideas.
The start of the University’s distance learning (DL) initiative in 2011 prompted an accelerated growth of CIRT’s staff to meet faculty needs and to develop new types of support for those engaged in the conversion of courses and complete programs
to DL. CIRT staff and services are now located in both Building 1 and Building 10. This growth and diversification of services and staff afforded us the opportunity to establish new areas for faculty use during the past year. One area is a video recording studio, complete with specialized lighting and green-screen technology. The ability to have a permanent video recording space is a huge boon and should be a great convenience for faculty. We also developed the Online Learning Laboratory (OLL), housed in the old Faculty Commons. The OLL provides a state-of-the-art facility to support online learning. The design of the room allows faculty to easily create high-quality online materials that combine audio or video with content. Faculty only need to bring a flash drive with and push a button to record a lecture or an annotated calculation on a white board. The space will also be used for faculty workshops and experimentation with new technologies. Both of these new areas are located in Building 10, along with the instructional design team and administrative services.
Director’s Message
Deb Miller Director
CIRT is now organized into four functional teams providing a broad array of services:
The Creative Team focuses on supporting teaching and research technologies. This includes project consultation, media development, general instructional technology assistance, and the rest of the core CIRT services.
The Online Learning Support Team provides faculty Blackboard support, answering the phone, responding to emails, and providing individual and group training to faculty on the use of Blackboard and other online tools.
The Instructional Design Team works with faculty on the development of distance learning courses and fully online degree programs. In addition to their direct work with faculty on course development, they deliver our TOL faculty
development series and are available to consult on a variety of instructional design topics.
Distance Learning Student Services (DLSS) provides a single point of contact for students in fully online degree programs and is a resource for students in distance learning courses. Through a comprehensive website, distance learners have access to a variety of student services, such as advising, tutoring, financial aid, registration, and career services, as well as resources, such as policies, forms, and tutorials.
As a department, CIRT remains committed to providing faculty with the highest quality services and to our mission of offering expertise, resources, and training to assist faculty in ways that enable them to develop greater capacities for using technology for teaching and research.
Director’s Message
CIRT Services
Instruction and Research
• Instructional technology integration • Blackboard® and online learning support • Distance learning
• Instructional design
• Scantron test reporting and analysis • Classroom clickers
• Project consultation
• Web-delivered forms and surveys • Data analysis software support
Media
• Slide and transparency scanning • Digital audio and video production • Graphic design
• Learning object design and creation • Customized Google maps and tours • 3D Printing
• Preparation of images and figures for publication • Research poster development and printing
Equipment
• Laptops
• Tablets and readers
• Digital cameras, camcorders and tripods • Projectors
• Digital voice recorders • GoPro camera • External drives
CREATIVE TEAM
The Creative Team provides teaching and research technology support to faculty through project consultation, media development, and general instructional technology assistance. Key services include equipment lending, video production, 3D scanning and printing, graphic design, online survey tool, and classroom response (clicker) system.
During the past year the team grew to five full-time staff members, built a new video studio, added 3D scanning, and redesigned the CIRT newsletter. The Creative Team provided a variety of services to 310 unique faculty. Figure 1 depicts interactions by major service type.
3D Services
This academic year yielded several successful 3D projects, including a collaboration with Dr. Peter Bacopoulos in Civil Engineering on the creation of 3D models of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast bathymetry (ocean elevation) from research data. Dr. Bacopoulos used the plastic models to illustrate the shape of the ocean floor at presentations and in the classroom. These bathymetry models were also published as interactive PDFs for online viewing and use in Blackboard.
New Clicker System
CIRT worked with the Campus Technology Committee to identify a new clicker system in 2014 and supported the University’s transition to the new solution during the past academic year. In Fall 2015, we worked with the vendor to help 730 students exchange their old clickers for the new NXT clickers at no cost. In addition to workshops throughout the year on the new system, we hosted a lunch and learn event in Spring 2015 featuring biology professor and NSF grantee Dr. Tamar Goulet from the University of Mississippi discussing how clickers can be used effectively to engage students.
Online Survey Tool – Qualtrics
CIRT provides training and support to the University community in Qualtrics, the online survey tool. UNF currently has 1,156 Qualtrics
Dave Wilson Assistant Director CIRT Lab
Team Reports
Figure 1
Interactions by Major Service Type
25 75 125 175 225 275 Graphic Design Audio/Video Poster Dev/Printing Equipment Application Support Survey Development 3D Printing Project Consultation Website Development Clickers Publication 33 37 43 46 72 92 132 136 242 132 254
users, an increase of 345 users since June 2014. Of the 4756 surveys in Qualtrics, 243 have more than 10 responses. This year, the Advanced Creating and Managing Online Surveys and Qualtrics Reporting Tools workshops were redesigned and a workshop was created for the new offline survey tool feature. We also supported the Public Opinion Research Lab’s (PORL) use of this new offline feature for their Player’s Championship survey project, assisting with survey set up, training survey staff, and checking out iPads for use in data collection. PORL collected more than 2500 responses during TPC.
Design Services
CIRT also offers comprehensive design services for the faculty and academic units. For the inaugural
Yamasee Conference, we provided design services to Dr. Bossy, organizer of this two-day event on the history and archaeology of the Yamasee Indians. The event was held at Flagler College in St. Augustine and featured 13 of the most prominent scholars of Southeastern Indians, Spanish Florida, and British South Carolina. Print and electronic materials were developed and published, including recruiting posters, a conference website, program, signage, and nametags.
Video Services
Several large video projects were completed this year. One example is the recruiting video produced for the Flagship Music Program.
The video is compelling, with testimonials from faculty and students, and depictions of the unique opportunities students have both on campus and in the community. The video is shown at all auditions and during orientation.
The other exciting news this year was the creation of a video studio, complete with dedicated cameras, professional lighting and a green screen. This space has already been utilized to produce high-quality interviews and videos for faculty and academic units across campus. Green screen technology is being used in video introductions, module overviews, and course announcements to elevate the quality of those materials and increase engagement, particularly in distance learning courses.
CIRT News
CIRT’s newsletter, published twice each Fall and Spring semester, was updated and rebranded this year. Introduced in January 2015, CIRT News has already surpassed previous publication statistics, boasting a 35% unique open rate in its first issue, and a 44% unique open rate in the March issue. This increase positively aligns with feedback from faculty members that they find the new look engaging and enjoy the publication’s content.
Team Reports
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN TEAM
The Instructional Design Team provides support and consultation for the development and delivery of high-quality distance learning courses. This is accomplished through the Teaching Online (TOL) Seminars and individual meetings with faculty. We consult regularly with faculty members on the conversion of courses to online formats, to identify course objectives and supporting activities, to propose solutions for instructional challenges, and to recommend tools that will help faculty meet instructional goals.
During the past year, the team has provided more than 200 hours of consultation, facilitated two TOL6100 seminars for 48 faculty participants, directly developed 33 program-based distance
learning courses, and supported UNF’s Quality Matters Implementation Plan. Also, as UNF is becoming known nationally for the quality of its distance learning offerings, the Instructional Design team regularly attends and presents at national conferences.
Teaching Online Seminars
CIRT provides a full faculty development model to support the development and delivery of online courses. TOL6100 is a hybrid 8-week course that prepares faculty to develop and deliver high-quality online courses. TOL5100, which launched in 2012 is a fully online, instructor led course that prepares instructors to deliver online courses and is aimed primarily at part-time faculty. Enrollment in the TOL seminars has grown considerably over the past several years, as shown in Figure 2.
We constantly strive to gather feedback and redesign our faculty development. As a result, TOL6100 has evolved from a weeklong face-to-face series of workshops to a blended course that combines face-to-face discussion, individual consultation, and online activities into a format that is flexible and accessible for faculty. At the end of this past year, we also broke TOL6100 apart to separate training from course development and address campus concerns about their grouping. TOL6100 will now focus on preparing faculty members to develop online courses and TOL7100 will provide structured support during course development.
Kevin Hulen Assistant Director Online Course Development
Figure 2
TOL5100 and TOL6100 Completion
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2015
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TOL5100
TOL6100
10 6 9 20 55 11 45 25 59 42 46 35Team Reports
Consultations
The instructional designers are available to consult with faculty members on common pedagogical, logistical, and technological strategies used to design and deliver effective online courses that promote student learning. Consultations are distributed fairly evenly between faculty developing courses for fully online programs and faculty developing individual courses. Through consultations, we are able to support and guide course development from planning through delivery.
Distance Learning Course Template
CIRT developed a Blackboard course template that incorporates best practices for course navigation, accessibility, and technology use. The template is the structural foundation for courses developed in the fully online programs and faculty members from across the campus have adopted all or part
of the template in their own course development. At least 92 courses were delivered using the template this past year. Adoption or adaption of this template provides learners with consistent and predictable navigation in a course, along with curated links to support resources. Its use also increases the likelihood that a course is accessible to all learners through the implementation of Universal Design of Learning (UDL) principles. Students in courses that utilize the template reported high levels of satisfaction with the format and design of their courses in a mid-term survey as shown in Table 2.
Instructional Design Consultations 2014-2015
Consultations
Fully Online Programs 88 (43%)
Individual Courses 116 (57%)
Total 204 Distinct Faculty Members
Fully Online Programs 25 (33%)
Individual Courses 51 (67%)
Table 1
CIRT provides an array of instructional design services to support UNF faculty with the systematic process of designing, developing, and delivering instructional materials. To meet the needs of our faculty we have a group of highly motivated and experienced instructional designers.
Quality Matters Implementation
The University’s Distance Learning Strategic Plan
includes goals for maintaining quality assurance of distance learning courses. To meet that goal, the Quality Matters (QM) rubric was adopted as a resource in the development and review of the
University’s online course offerings. The Quality Matters Rubric is based on relevant research and was initially developed based on a review of the literature, the expertise of experienced practitioners and existing standard sets. Each of the specific
rubric standards is supported by literature from the field. The University’s QM Implementation Plan
identifies goals for training faculty and staff in the use of the rubric and for both internal and national course reviews. During the 2014-2015 academic year, 50 courses completed an internal QM review and 5 courses were submitted for and received the prestigious national review. Initial course reviews were conducted by trained instructional design and administrative staff, and going forward, the more than 10 UNF faculty members who have completed the necessary training this year will be conducting internal course reviews. This speaks to the dedication of faculty to UNF’s commitment to provide students with high-quality online courses.
Midterm Survey of Students in 22 DL Courses, n=1000 Agree Disagree
(1) Course navigation is clear and user friendly? 98% 2%
(2) Course schedule clearly outlines all of the assignments and when they are due? 97% 2%
(3) Syllabus, schedule, and instructor information were easy to locate? 98% 1%
(4) Criteria used to evaluate participation in online discussions are clearly stated? 94% 5%
(5) Criteria used to evaluate the course assignments are clearly stated? 97% 2%
(6) Expectations of my participation in this course are clearly stated? 97% 2%
(7) Organization of the course is consistent, making it easy to locate course materials? 96% 3% * Percentages may not equal 100 percent due to rounding or non-response.
Table 2
Team Reports
ONLINE LEARNING SUPPORT TEAM
The Online Learning Support Team (OLS Team) provides centralized Blackboard support, training, and course building assistance for faculty. They answer phones and respond to emails, providing answers or routing inquires to the appropriate CIRT staff member. This team provides an exceedingly high level of care and support so that faculty can focus on teaching and learning instead of technical issues. The OLS team is also responsible for documentation and training of the use of Blackboard, management of 3rd party tools and integrations, promoting the development of new functionality in Blackboard, and managing and supporting the online proctoring solution for distance learning courses at the University.
Blackboard Support and Training
During the past academic year, CIRT assisted 573 unique faculty members in more than 3400 support interactions, as shown in Figure 3. These interactions include assistance with course set up, tool deployment, test publishing, conversion and upload of narrated PowerPoint, general technical support, and much more. Weekend email support hours were added (10 am to 3 pm) this year to further improve service to faculty. Blackboard
training is available in face-to-face workshops, in an online self-paced course (TOL4100), and by individual appointment. CIRT also develops and publishes instructor guides and other documentation, primarily through our searchable
knowledgebase, to provide self-service support.
Blackboard Administration
CIRT also serves as the functional owner of the Blackboard Learning Management system and its ancillary tools, including Collaborate, Respondus, Sharestream, TurningPoint, and the various publisher integrations. The Bb Team is co-led by CIRT and ITS’s Enterprise Systems and includes representation from the Help Desk and the Registrar’s office. This group meets regularly to manage maintenance, updates, new tools, security and stability, future proofing, and overall campus experience with Blackboard. These decisions are guided by the input we receive from faculty about their needs and pain points on a daily basis, as well as more structured interactions with
Ross Bell Assistant Director Online Learning Support
Figure 3
Support Numbers by Month
0 150 300 450 600 May April March FebruaryJanuary DecemberNovember October SeptemberAugust July June
Support Interactions Unique Instructors
150 343 142 316 261 572 164 327 256 124 93 135 104 164 120 268 140 256 98 185 143 271 143 299
Team Reports
constituent groups on campus. Bb Team regularly reports to and invites input from the Campus Technology Committee, the Distance Learning Committee, and the University Technology Committee. CIRT also works directly with faculty members and departments to investigate and test new integrations by request.
Online Proctoring Service
Remote Proctor Now (RPN) is a proctoring service for distance learning students taking exams online. Proctors authenticate student identity and monitor student activity via webcam and computer screen. CIRT provides instructor support for the implementation of this service in distance learning course. 25 instructors delivered 70 exams using RPN last year, for a total of 2362 exams taken.
myWings Grade Transfer Tool
The myWings Grade Transfer Tool is a UNF-developed enhancement that allows instructors to transfer grades from Blackboard to myWings for final grade submission. Using faculty feedback and working in conjunction with the Registrar’s Office, this tool was redesigned last year, resulting in a smoother and more fool-proof experience for instructors. The myWings Grade Transfer Tool 2.0 was rolled out in Fall 2014 and its popularity and adoption has increased each semester since.
Figure 4
Remote Proctor NOW Exams
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 Spring 2015 Fall 2014 Summer 2014 Spring 2014 Fall 2013 Summer 2013 133 213 96 234 1033 1095
Team Reports
DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENT
SERVICES
Distance Learning Student Services (DLSS) is a new functional area in CIRT. As the distance learning initiative continues to increase the numbers of students in fully online programs and individual courses, the DLSS team provides a single point of contact for those students. Through a centralized website, distance learners have access to a variety of student services, including advising, tutoring, financial aid, registration, and career services. The site also pulls together a number of important resources for these students, such as policies, forms, and tutorials.
The DLSS team is responsible for the coordination, development and direction of support services for distance learning students and acts as a liaison between the distance learning unit and other
departments, working closely with student and academic service units, as well as Enrollment Services.
DLSS also supports DL faculty in developing innovative approaches to improve student success in online courses, partnering with other CIRT teams to provide faculty and staff workshops on tools and strategies that support student retention and engagement. As a result, the Brooks College of Health and the Academic Center for Excellence are using Bb Collaborate to advise students online, providing an alternate means for accessing academic advisors.
DLSS collaborated with the University Registrar this year to compile exceptions to existing policies pertaining to students in online accelerated-term degree programs in a single regulation. The regulation addresses policies on student application, admission, matriculation, and fee remittance and clarifies existing policies relative to the accelerated format of the academic term in a single document.
DL@UNF Website
A major CIRT effort over the past year has been the development of the University’s distance learning website. The site provides timely information and links for prospective and current DL students, consolidating pertinent information and links to a variety of distance learning resources such as
Katharine Brown Assistant Director DL Student Services
academic services, advising, advising resources, policies, campus resources, UNF’s catalog, FloridaShines, and the SREB Electronic Campus. In addition to serving as a hub for students, the site contains a section that gathers faculty DL resources relative into a single page.
Student Online Learning Orientation (SOLO)
SOLO is designed to prepare students with some of the challenges associated with distance learning. The orientation
contains two main areas of focus: effective strategies for online learning, and a basic overview of the Blackboard Learn system. Research has shown that requiring students to complete training before participating in a fully online course improves retention in those courses (Bozarth, Chapman, & La Monica, 2004; Jones, 2013; Mensch, 2009). A centralized orientation specific to distance learning also frees faculty from having to provide individual orientations in each course, allowing more time for course content and learning activities.
Faculty are encouraged to require SOLO completion in their courses as appropriate to improve retention. 4,808 students have completed SOLO since its introduction in 2014.
Smarthinking®
UNF provides online tutoring services through Smarthinking®, a Pearson Education service, as a resource for students in fully online, accelerated-term programs. This service provides
Research has shown that requiring students to complete training before participating in a fully online course improves retention in those courses.
Smarthinking Usage by Subject – Spring 2015
Statistics 8%Nursing Essays 39% Grammar &
Document Review 34% Essay Center 10% Advanced Statistics 7% Writing (All Subjects) 2% Figure 5
Team Reports
students with services similar to those provided on campus through the ACE Tutoring Center and the Writing Center. The service is integrated into Blackboard and enabled for courses in the four online accelerated-term degree programs. First introduced to students in Spring 2015, 9% of the students in those programs utilized 28.5 hours of tutoring services in the first two accelerated-terms in the subject areas shown in Figure 5.
Distance Learning Student Survey
A goal of UNF’s 2012-2017 Strategic Plan for Distance Learning is to develop and implement a process to regularly gather student feedback regarding distance learning. In service of that goal, the Distance Learning Survey is given annually to all students enrolled in a DL course
during the previous academic year. The Distance Learning Student Survey was administered to that population in Fall 2013 and Fall 2014. The data indicate that UNF students are satisfied with their DL course experiences and are likely to take more DL courses. There is a slight preference for hybrid courses over traditional or fully online modalities. Selected statistics from the 2014 sample (n=502) are shown in Table 3.
•
• 81% were “very satisfied” or “generally satisfied” with their DL courses.
•
• 81% would “definitely” or “possibly” enroll in another DL course.
References
Bozarth, J., Chapman, D. D., & LaMonica, L. (2004). Preparing for distance learning: Designing an online student orientation course. Educational Technology & Society, 7 (1), 87-106.
Jones, K. (2013). Developing and implementing a mandatory online student orientation. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 17(1), 43-45.
Mensch, S. (2009, September). Improving distance education through student online orientation classes. Presented at the Academic and Business Research Institute Conference, Orlando, FL.
Student modality preference Agree Disagree Face-to-face, minimal web 32% 2% Equal mix of face-to-face and web content 38% 2% Fully online 29% 1% Student Reasons for choosing a DL course 5% Schedule “fit” 72% 2% Flexibility of content access 70% 2% Convenience of not coming to campus 55% 3%
UNF provides online tutoring services through Smarthinking®, a Pearson Education service for students in fully online programs.
Table 3. Distance Learning Student Survey
Team Reports
510 poster prints
1156 Qualtrics users
35 workshops
126 video recorder checkouts
258 laptop checkouts
1363 non-Blackboard faculty interactions
4945 Blackboard support interactions
4109 Blackboard courses
293 Sharestream courses
48 faculty completed TOL6100
34 faculty TOL5100
82 faculty completed TOL4100
8 faculty completed the national Master Online Teacher (MOT) certification
200 hours of instructional design consultation with 76 unique faculty
4 fully online degree programs completed development
92 courses implemented CIRTs DL course template
50 courses completed a UNF-based Quality Matters course review
5 courses completed a national Quality Matters course review
4808 students completed SOLO
39 Smarthinking® sessions
CIRT by the Numbers 2014 – 2015
CIRT provides a variety of services from equipment checkout to high-level project consultation. Here’s a look at some fast
facts from the past year.
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Recent Publications and Presentations
L’Ecuyer R. (2015). Online Course as Digital Narrative Presented at the 11th Annual Innovations in Online Learning Conference. San Antonio, TX.
Hulen K., Lerman J., L’Ecuyer R., Fuller J. (2015) A Systematic Approach To Converting An Entire Degree Program To Fully Online.Presented at the 8th Annual Emerging Technologies For Online Learning Conference. Dallas, TX.
Miller, D., Lerman, J. (2014) Developing Faculty Experts in Distance Learning: Unanticipated Benefits. Presented at the 20th Annual Online Learning Consortium International
Conference. Orlando, FL.
Hulen, K. (2014). Actual Representation of the Planned Curriculum (ARPC). Online Learning Consortium Effective PracticezttRetrieved from http://onlinelearningconsortium.org/effective_practices/actual-representation-planned-curriculum-arpc.
UNF in the News
Distance Learning: The Case for Quality
Deb Miller, director of UNF’s Center for Instruction and Research Technology (CIRT), and Julie Fuller, CIRT coordinator of instructional design, discuss online course design, instruction and faculty development in the May issue of Delta’s SKY magazine. The interviews begin on page 90.
UNF is ranked #3 among hundreds of accredited online nursing schools in the country by Affordable Colleges Online, for exceptional curriculum, cost, resources, and accessibility. More information can be found here
UNF is ranked #55 among the top colleges and universities in the country for “Best Online Bachelor’s Programs,” which includes data from more than 1,200 distance-education degree programs nationwide. More information can be found here.
UNF is ranked in the Top 75 in the country for “Best Online Graduate Education Programs,” which includes data of nearly 1,000 distance education programs nationwide. More information can be found here.
Publications and Recognition
1. Develop and deploy a 3D scanning service that enables faculty to create digital models of physical objects for use in teaching and research.
Supports Academic Affairs Goals 4 & 5 (BOG Metric 5.1)
2. Consolidate and redesign the LMS support model in order to provide an improved and consistent support experience for all of UNF’s users, regardless of role.
Supports Academic Affairs Goal 2 (BOG Metric 2.9)
3. Establish a flexible training facility to support online learning and to serve as an incubator for testing enhanced pedagogical paradigms.
Supports Academic Affairs Goals 2 & 4 (BOG Metrics 2.9 and 5.1)
4. Establish content recording spaces to support online learning.
Supports Academic Affairs Goals 2 & 4 (BOG Metrics 2.9 and 5.1)
5. Create an instructional design liaison program to provide communication channels, develop relationships, and promote dialogue between instructional design professionals and the academic communities they serve.
Supports Academic Affairs Goal 2 (BOG Metric 2.9)
6. Develop and deploy infrastructure and support resources for synchronous distance learning.
Supports Academic Affairs Goal 2 (BOG Metric 2.9)
7. Increase faculty use of online tools that provide early warnings to students and promote retention.
Supports Academic Affairs Goal 2 (BOG Metrics 2.1-2.5 & 2.9)
8. Define processes and support structures to facilitate content accessibility in online courses.
Supports Academic Affairs Goal 2 (BOG Metric 2.9)
