DISTANCE LEARNING: CREATING PREPARED LEARNERS THROUGH VIRTUAL STUDENT RESOURCE CENTERS

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1 DISTANCE LEARNING: CREATING PREPARED LEARNERS THROUGH VIRTUAL STUDENT RESOURCE CENTERS Dr. Lori Henderson & Dean Judy Marcum Midway College 512 East Stephens Street Midway, Kentucky & Abstract Midway College in Kentucky is committed to student learning through the use of virtual classrooms as well as in-seat delivery of courses. To uphold that commitment, Midway College developed virtual student resource centers in support of education and business students. Students can now access essential online resources through visible icons in areas such as administration, infrastructures within the college and support services that provide assistance to students. These resources include: Faculty photos and profiles, faculty/advisement and counseling for online learners, general resources (e.g. student training, syllabus, course schedule, program supplemental information, library resources, online frequently asked questions, orientation to online students, textbook information), discussion board-providing students individual advisement and/or group discussion, business office contacts and links, financial aid office contacts and links, web registration, program requirements, education department-eportfolio Livetext information for checkpoints I, II, III and Praxis II resources available to students for their Praxis II exam. Students pursuing their education at a distance typically juggle many responsibilities such as family and work. The intention of this virtual student resource center is to provide online and blended students accessibility to important information twenty-four hours a day and to promote student success. The center is convenient as a "one-stop" shop of information to provide novice and experienced online and blended students the support they need to succeed. The significance of this presentation is to inform participants of the advantages of how the technology of the virtual student resource center can serve as an educational resource that provides a valuable tool in distance learning to aid student support and success. MIDWAY COLLEGE OVERVIEW Midway College is an independent, liberal arts college offering two and four-year degrees. The college calendar includes a fall and spring semester. There are evening and extension programs delivered in modular and cohort sessions, as well as online learning that is convenient for students. The college consists of a Women s Day College, the School for Career Development with classes in the evening/weekend for both adult men and women, and convenient online programs and classes for men and women. The college offers baccalaureate degrees in the following disciplines: a Bachelor of Arts of biology, business administration, computer information systems management, English, equine assisted psychotherapy, equine studies, equine therapy, health care administration, professional studies, psychology, organizational administration and leadership, sport management, teacher education, a bachelor of science in biology, environmental science, equine science, and nursing. The college also offers associate degrees in: business administration, computer information systems, equine management, and nursing. Bachelor of Arts degrees are also offered in business administration; computer information systems management, health care administration, human resource management, organizational management, sports management, and teacher education are available for both women and men from the college s School for Career Development evening and extension program, as are Proceedings of EDULEARN09 Conference. 6th-8th July 2009, Barcelona, Spain ISBN:

2 associate degrees in nursing, business administration, and computer information systems. These degree programs are offered only through the Midway College School for Career Development and/or in online college degree completion programs. The student body is comprised of more than 1,700 students from across the United States and several foreign countries. A unique and rewarding blend of traditional-age students and women returning to school as adults comprise a third of the student population. Working women and men who are enrolled in Midway College s School for Career Development evening and extension programs complete the student profile. Midway College is located in the heart of Central Kentucky. The college provides a unique personalized atmosphere by providing students with a low student/faculty ratio. The 200-acre campus is centrally located between Lexington, Louisville and Cincinnati. MISSION OF MIDWAY COLLEGE As Kentucky s only college for women and as a forerunner in coeducational adult accelerated learning, Midway College empowers undergraduate and graduate students as leaders through a professionally oriented liberal arts education. In support of its mission, Midway College aims to: (1) Create and maintain a student-centered intellectual environment that supports leadership development. (2) Integrate diversity into the general curriculum so that students will confront, intellectually and critically, some of the key issues concerning gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, religion, socioeconomic and American Disabilities Act (ADA). (3) Prepare graduates with knowledge required in their professional field. (4) Enhance the communication skills, analytical perspectives, and critical thinking abilities, of all students. (5) Provide advising for students so that they meet their academic goals and upon request assist with their personal needs. (6) Encourage development of faculty members as teachers and scholars. (7) Provide financial aid in the form of scholarships, grants, and loans to qualified students, while responsibly managing the resources of the institution. VIRTUAL STUDENT RESOURCE CENTERS The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the Virtual Student Resource Centers (VSRC) as a technological support application tool that can be used to provide student support services to college students in their college experience. The original idea for the VSRC generated from the need to provide a one stop shop for Midway College s online degree seekers. The Center was developed to assists students in finding information in support of their academic program as well as connect them to numerous campus offices. The first VSRC pilot program was implemented in January, 2006 for the Organizational Management and Leadership Program (OAL). In January, 2007 the VSRC was added for education and again updated in the fall of The bachelor s degree in education is a blended program. There are currently two degree programs online as well as the in seat Master of Business Administration Program (MBA) which was started in All of these programs have a VSRC to assist and support students. EDUCATION VIRTUAL STUDENT RESOURCE CENTER The Education VSRC is specific to the needs of students seeking a degree in education. The VSRC is designed to mimic the appearance of an online course. When students log into their courses the VSRC is listed as one of the courses under the student s name. The VSRC for education lists the advisor s name and their profile. Included in the profile of the advisor is their title, picture, virtual office hours, telephone number, , a listing of the courses currently being taught by the professor and a bio of the faculty member. The similarity in the design of the VSRC

3 to a course helps the student feel more comfortable in the online environment as they access the variety of options available through visual icons that provide student services and learner support. The second element found in the VSRC is the cohort number and space so that students can communicate with their cohort on assignments or discussions. The term cohort for the intent of this paper is a group of students who start a program at the same time and go through the experience together. The cohort space in the education VSRC is set up so that students may have a threaded discussion and/or chat session that will take place. This is a secure area available only to that particular cohort. The advisor may choose to use the platform functions for discussion, chat and/or team. Students can access/participate in these discussions/chats simply by clicking on the appropriate icon as directed by the advisor. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in threaded discussions and chats. This allows students who have work or scheduling conflicts to participate in every discussion and deepen their understanding and grasp of techniques, styles and insights gleaned from actual life experiences. Midway College offers three helpful hints for threaded discussions (1) Threaded discussion are usually asynchronous. This means they are different from online chats which are in live mode. In a threaded discussion one might post a comment or question sometime during the day, and someone else might respond to it hours later, or in the middle of the night. Then, someone else might join in the conversation either responding to the first post, or making a comment on a posting someone else has made in response to the first post. Students need to be aware that responses are indented according to the train of thought that it is following. (2) When a student responds to a person, make sure that they delete the previous person s comments from the response before posting it. (3) When students access a threaded discussion all they have to do is enter the cohort space and click on the discussion icon to take part in the discussion. The difference between a chat session and a threaded discussion is that a chat session is synchronous in that it takes place in real time. When a student enters a chat room, the right hand side of the screen gives a list of persons who are also in the chat room at the same time. The screen is automatically programmed to refresh itself every so many seconds. A student enters a comment in the comment box and hits enter to post a statement or question. Midway College suggests three items that must occur before a chat can take place. (1) Someone has to set the chat time; (2) The professor/students need to know where the chat session will take place. It can take place in the VSRC cohort space or it can take place in the team area. (3) The student must click on the chat icon to send and receive messages. The third element of the VSRC is the education resources. The Midway College Conceptual Framework explains to the student the schemata of the education program, (a visual drawing that lays out the theme and mission of the program), professional course listings and the program alignment to state standards. The Midway College Continuous Assessment plan is based on the Conceptual Framework of the teacher education program and is designed to meet the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) particularly those standards regarding its candidates. NCATE Standard 1: Candidate Knowledge, Skills and Dispositions NCATE Standard 2: Assessment System and Unit Evaluation. The dispositions piece requires that Midway students understand diversity in individuals, think critically and demonstrate leadership skills. The Integrating Literature Across Disciplines (ILAD) is a link available to students developed by one of Midway s Education faculty that provides students with specific children and adolescent literature that can be integrated into other content areas such as science, social studies and math. The Teacher Leadership Project provides students with information and timelines about their research projects that they must submit before completion of their program. This link also gives them access to websites that demonstrate how to write annotations correctly for research papers. The Learning and Behavior Disorders (LBD) is a certification that students may obtain in addition to their education degree. The link on the VSRC explains course requirements, portfolio information about that certification and all resources that accompany each class in the LBD program. Each student at Midway College is required to complete three online portfolios and

4 three interviews before completing the education degree. The Live Text link on the VSRC contains portfolio templates and requirements that students may access to complete the portfolio process. Teachers are required to take a national exam called the Praxis II and receive scores set by individual states prior to applying for their license. The Praxis II exam resource link gives pre-service teachers an opportunity to take practice tests and seek additional resources to prepare them for the Praxis II exam. The Midway College Teacher Education Handbook link on the VSRC is so students can access the handbook at any time of the day or night. It is divided into three sections (Part I General Information, Part II Field Placement and Part III Student Teaching) to provide students information they need at various points throughout their educational experience. The fourth element of the VSRC is the general resources section. Midway College is committed to students having the access they need when they need it. To uphold that commitment, online students can access the Business Office at Midway College at anytime and from anywhere. In the business virtual office the student has access to business office , telephone number, mailing address and a business office link. The students also have access to the College catalog that lists all the degree requirements and business office information. The financial aid link provides students with the office , telephone number, mailing address and other information regarding financial assistance for students. Midway College is committed to providing distance learners with equal access to the library resources they need. Therefore, students are provided with three links to meet their educational needs (1) Library Homepage which includes newspapers, books, databases, tools and library information; (2) Distance Learning which includes e-books, ATHENA the library online catalog, databases, library resources in other disciplines; (3) Teacher Education Resources which includes research databases, information on how to do research and links to websites that pertain to education. The students can access the most frequently asked questions about the program and program schedules. The VSRC is also linked to the registrar office giving students access to transcript requests online and degree applications as well as the registrar s address, telephone number and mailing address. Last on the general resources component is the student training. Midway College contracts with a company called The Learning House out of Louisville, Kentucky to assist with our online delivery of courses. There is a link on the VSRC that provides students with a tutorial on how to take an online course. This provides students with an opportunity to feel knowledgeable with the course platform and comfortable with using technology prior to taking an online course. The final element of the VSRC is a listing of faculty members in the department. Each faculty member is listed with their personal profile information including a photo and a bio of their professional experience. ORGANIZATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP (OAL) VIRTUAL STUDENT RESOURCE CENTER The OAL degree is part of the business VSRC and it has similarities to the education VSRC, but it is individualized to meet the needs of the business students. Each student is assigned an advisor and has the same access to the business faculty through individual profiles and bios as the education VSRC. The business students also have links to the virtual business office, financial aid, and general resources including course schedule, library resources, online frequently asked questions, and an online student training tutorial. The business VSRC also includes a link for supplemental materials used in the (OAL) courses. The key element of the business VSRC, like the education, is that there is a research project section that covers the expectations set by the faculty and defines the roles, structure, nature, formatting, and phrases of the independent research project, as well as portfolio content. The students communicate with their advisors or other students via discussion boards and chat sessions. This is beneficial for students when working on their independent research projects because it gives them the opportunity to collaborate and discuss issues regarding their business topics

5 MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA) VIRTUAL STUDENT RESOURCE CENTER The master of business administration (MBA) program was established for in-seat students in There are currently two cohorts. The key components are also similar to the Business and Education VSRCs. There is a listing of MBA faculty members with resumes listing qualifications and publications of graduate faculty, an are you ready section listing technical support, a greeting to students and a link to the bookstore. There is also a section on student services which includes links with information to the financial aid, business, and dean s office, as well as, job counseling. The cohort of the MBA program has access to threaded discussions and chat sessions within their cohorts and with their advisor. Another component of the MBA (VSRC) is the academic advising. Each student can access what is called Campus Web using an identification number to access the site which will allow them to like register online, review their transcripts, and communicate with their advisor. The library component of the MBA VSRC includes access to the library home page including resources for topics such as plagiarism, and information on the writing center. The library link to the distance learning page provides research links and the library internet based research link helps refine research topics, plan resources, listings of search engines, evaluation of websites and proper referencing for internet materials. The last component of the MBA VSRC is the critical thinking component entitled, The Art of Thought. This link has a list of criteria required of a critical thinker, a link to a critical thinking rubric and a free, optional online course for students on critical thinking. The need for higher order thinking skills was identified in 2005, when Midway College was undergoing its reaffirmation of accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The college was required to identify an area of development in its program that it deemed a significant outcome for student learning which would enhance the quality of a student s education at Midway College. After long study and consultation the College chose the infusion of critical thinking into all areas of student learning at Midway College. The program inaugurated by the College and incorporated into the College s strategic plan is known as the Quality Enhancement Plan. A specific model of critical thinking was adapted. After exploring many current definitions of critical thinking, it was determined that the definition given by Richard Paul and Linda Elder in their text Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life would be adopted by Midway College. During the academic year each faculty member at Midway College was required to take and pass this online course with a 75% pass rate to increase higher order thinking skills within the college faculty and student population. CONCLUSION The VSRC is an opportunity for Midway College to improve communication and increase student support between our faculty and students. The VSRC provides each cohort with access to education-specific resources that will enhance their coursework and provide helpful tools for tests, projects and planning. Students can find in the general resources component of the VSRC answers to a variety of questions pertaining to financial aid, library references and registration. The information provided in the department resources area is related in a variety of formats, including PDFs, web links to internal pages, and web links to external pages. This provides students with access to a library of information in one place making the process of retrieving information from the college more user-friendly for the students

6 REFERENCES Midway College (2008). Midway College catalog Midway, KY: Published by: Midway College. Paul, R. and Elder, L. (2001) Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your learning and your life. 2nd Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall