Joel Hartman

Faculty Development, Learner Support and Evaluation in Web-Based Programs

Student growth patterns in Web-enhanced and on-line courses lead the University of Central Florida (UCF) to expect large populations for both categories. The authors describe the UCF process for implementing and evaluating Web-based instruction. The office of Course Development and Web Services supports faculty in preparing and delivering their on-line courses. Additionally, faculties are given support for the transition through a semester-long course in Web-based teaching. The Center for Distributed Learning provides administrative and registration services in addition to coordinating and marketing interactive television, video, and Web-based courses. The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning provides additional support for faculty as they work with the new technologies. Finally, UCF is conducting a comprehensive impact evaluation of distributed learning including differential success, demographic trends, impact on teaching, and impact on students with differing learni ng styles. The model used at UCF...

Strategic initiatives in the online environment: opportunities and challenges

Purpose – The paper aims to present a strategic model for online program success in higher education and to discuss the implications of web‐based teaching for learning assessment and program evaluation.Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses an analytic approach to deconstruct a successful online program to identify necessary elements for the initiative to become apart of the institutional culture.Findings – The paper traces the evolution of online learning in higher education over the past decade, poses the necessary strategic planning questions that must be answered, identifies critical success factors, argues that that the broadening scope of evaluation will have to encompass emerging constructs such as information fluency, and hypothesizes online learning as a systemic initiative.Research limitations/implications – The study intends to stimulate case study research at other colleges and universities using the template of this paper to assess whether or not the model constructs and elements are r...