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Developing High Quality On-line Learning Environments

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  7th World Congress on Computers in Agriculture Conference Proceedings, 22-24 June 2009, Reno, Nevada (electronic only)  711P0409e.(doi:10.13031/2013.29045)
Authors:   F S Zazueta, A L Allen, J K Smith, K Kirmse, R Williams
Keywords:   On-line education, eLearning, E-Learning, instructional design.

This project consists of the production of 20 high quality online courses deployed in January 2009. These courses are intended to address needs at UF related to: 1) general education requirements, 2) large enrollment, 3) unmet registration demands due to course caps, and 4) lost revenue due to transfers. The Office of Academic Technology and the Division of Continuing Education were charged with developing and implementing these courses. Using data from the Registrars Office, an analysis was conducted to identify courses per the needs above. Courses were ranked for each need to identify those that will yield the highest benefit/cost. The proposed procedure for the final selection of courses to be redesigned through this initiative was to send an RFP to faculty and Departments teaching the courses identified and aggressively pursue those that will yield the highest return on investment. The final recommendation for the courses was made by a committee appointed by the Provost. To reduce the costs of production and time to deployment, three models were selected for course design. These are based on the level of student interaction with course resources, other students and the instructor. Final selection of the model depended on facultys preferences and sustainability requirements for the course. The course development process followed best instructional design practice. Faculty were required to attend a two day workshop to acquire successful design and development skills for online courses. Before deployment a second workshop was provided addressing best delivery practices (pedagogy), particularly focusing on TAs. Startup costs included $10,000 for faculty buy-out time. Design and implementation services will be provided in-kind by the Office of Academic Technology with an upper value limit of $20,000 per course.

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