Proposal for Development of
Computer/Information Literacy Course for
Freshman class at Ball State University
By
Dr. Bizhan Nasseh and Dr. Clinton Fuelling
Ball State University
Spring 1998
Mission:
Technology-based education is the hallmark of
higher education’s operation in global education. The success of higher
education is measured by its ability to use technology effectively in the
process teaching and learning, and by the ability of faculty and students
to utilize these new possibilities. Two of the major issues are: (1) students’
level of knowledge about computer and communication technologies; and (2)
the ethical and operational standards, which govern utilization of technology
in this new context. For the following reasons the implementation of a
Computer /Information Literacy Course (CILC) for the entire incoming freshman
class is a major step toward successful utilization of technology-based
education at Ball State University.
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Students are coming to a new environment, which has different computer
and communication technology infrastructures, standards for utilization,
operational procedures, operational tools, and community expectations.
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Students are coming to a context which has new ethical and moral expectations,
such as: respect for university and individual resources, intellectual
integrity, academic freedom, network community, and digital information
privacy.
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Students are coming to a community where most other members have adequate
experience in the utilization of computer and communication technologies
in education.
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Students are coming to a community where computer-based education is a
major strategical direction for university, society, faculty, and students.
Ball State University’s hardware, software, networking,
policies, and procedures provide a new context of operation even for very
competent freshman students. The long-term plan for a CILC can also include
the utilization of an online CILC as a learning tool for all faculty and
students at Ball State University.
Purpose:
The purpose of a CILC is to help new students
gain adequate and practical knowledge of technology at Ball State University.
The program will help students prepare for their challenging next three
years of technology-based learning activities. The class activities will
help students learn major computer applications, which are necessary for
every student to be productive in the technology-based education at Ball
State University. The online learning opportunity will help students to
initiate learning activities without reservation of time, place, and resources.
Finally, tests will assess students’ progress and certify that they are
competent for technology-based education at Ball State University. In addition,
a copy of the CILC, without access restriction and test database, can help
faculty and other student’s development.
Definition:
The Computer/Information Literacy Course is a
required course taken by the entire incoming freshman class in the summer
before coming to BSU or during Fall Semester. The course has a pass or
fail grading system. The course carries 1-3 hours of credit for students.
The primary design of the class is based on the six inter-related learning
modules.
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Ethics and Morals-resources utilization, privacy, intellectual integrity,
copyright, e- community.
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E-mail -- Internet, VAX, UNIX.
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Internet/Web -- access, ISP, modem, the Web as an information and learning
systems.
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Word Processing -- Microsoft Word.
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Spreadsheet -- Microsoft Excel.
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VAX/UNIX and other resources at Ball State University.
Feasibility:
The feasibility of the project depends on the
following items:
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Support from the president, provost, and student affairs of Ball State
University to start a pilot project.
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Assignment of Dr. Bizhan Nasseh as director of this project within the
Computer Science Department to work with Dr. Clinton Fuelling in the development
and implementation of the CILC project.
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Sufficient budget from grants and/or university.
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Design of the online course for all the modules in the CILC.
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Aggressive timetable for arranging assessment and advisory team.
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Arrangement of content provider and development teams.
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Plan for participation of freshman students of Honors College in the pilot
project, in the Fall of 1998.
Outcome:
The main outcome is to help students have a positive
and productive educational experience at Ball State University and information
society. Other expected outcomes include:
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Help students to understand and feel comfort with Ball State University’s
computing facilities and tools.
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Help students to gain a basic knowledge about the applications and software,
which will be major tools in their learning activities.
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Help students to learn the university’s policies and procedures for the
operation and utilization of computer and communication resources.
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Help students to gain a basic knowledge of electronic communication and
collaboration.
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Help students to satisfy their curiosity and expand their knowledge in
the global education from different resources.
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Help retention at BSU by reducing stress and frustration of students with
technology- based activities.
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Help faculty to focus on the subject matter without worrying about the
computer and communication competency of the students.
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Help build parents’ and society’s trust in BSU’s commitment to preparing
students for technology-based work places.
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Help students to be life long learners.
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Ball State University will be recognized as an institution with vision
and commitment in providing practical opportunity for digital revolution
in teaching and learning.
Development Proposal:
The final project proposal will be complete by
the January of 1998. The detail timetable for all the different phases
will be defined by the end of February 1998. An advisory team will approve
all the design and development plans. The development of the course includes:
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Design of the printed documentation about the course and the contents of
six modules for students who register in the CILC.
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Design of the face-to-face (traditional) teaching and learning processes
which will complement online teaching and learning activities.
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Design of a dynamic web-based CILC, which provides students with practical
learning opportunities without limitation of time, place, distance, and
resources.
The following is a draft of the development phases.
The detail responsibility and arrangement of the teams are in the later
sections of this proposal.
-
Phase One -- Arrangement of an assessment and advisory team and definition
of assignment.
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Phase Two -- Arrangement of content providers and development teams and
definition of assignments.
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Phase Three -- Definition of the classroom program and online learning
activities.
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Phase Four -- Development of the pilot project.
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Phase Five -- Implementation of the pilot project
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Phase Six -- Evaluation of the results of the pilot project.
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Phase Seven -- Improvement of the project and conversion to final product.
Assessment and Advisory Team:
This team is designed with members from each college
in the university, Computer Science, Computing Services, the Center for
Teaching and Learning, and the Teleplex. The team members can advise the
director of the project with any concerns or discipline-related issues.
In addition to advisory contribution, the group can assess the content
and development of each module. The director of the project is a link between
this team and the development team.
Development Teams:
The members of development team(s) are from Computing
Services, the Teleplex, and Computer Science. In addition to the staff
experts, students from software development class of computer science will
contribute to the HTML coding, JavaScipt, and Java programming. One of
the main issues is database design for access, retrieval, and storage of
information such as different test pools, test results, student’s lists,
and validation of access to the learning modules. In addition to development
team(s), it might be necessary to add content experts and instructional
designers to the development team(s). The director of the project is responsible
for providing the needed hardware, software, and tools for the development
team(s).
There are two possible ways to arrange development team(s):
-
To arrange six development teams simultaneously in order to progress in
all the modules at the same time. In this method the progress of the project
is fast, but there is a good chance for lower quality application development
processes and outcomes. In addition, this method needs a major allocation
of qualified manpower to the development process.
-
To arrange one team at a time in order to develop one module. In this method,
the progress of the development can be evaluated frequently and the experience
from the development of one module can help better planning and designing
process for the development of the next module. In addition, the experience
gained in the development of one module will promote a faster and better
product in the next module. But the progress of the project is much slower.
Implementation:
The pilot project with at least two modules should
be ready by July 1998. In addition, the related documentation and the teachers
who teach one hour per week traditional classes should be ready by the
same time.
Testing and Evaluation:
The Honors College at Ball State University has
about 300 freshman students. It will be very practical for this group to
be used in the pilot project. At the same time, it will be practical to
evaluate the process of face-to-face teaching, documentation, students’
online learning activities, students’ progress, online contents, and effectiveness
of whole system. The results of the evaluation are a very important tool
for the improvement of processes and contents.
Distance Education Opportunity:
In the long term, the web-based CILC has the potential
to be offered as a distance learning and certification of competency course
for new freshman students. The university can provide the opportunity for
new accepted students to take this course in the summer before coming to
the campus. This will help motivated and experienced students to learn
competency modules and to earn some credit before coming to campus.
Learning Tool for University:
A version of the CILC without the access protection,
database, and testing sections has the potential to be used as a learning
and practice tool for faculty, staff, and students at Ball State University.
In addition, it has the potential to be presented in conferences, and generate
some publications. In the near future many universities will design and
develop similar projects for the competency of their new students. Ball
State University’s experience can be a valuable asset for other universities.
CILC Classroom Goals:
The CILC classroom goals are:
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To help students to understand how to access and learn from the CILC web-based
program.
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To provide the opportunity for discussion, problem solving, sharing experiences,
and making suggestions for improvement.
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To help the teacher to direct the class as a coach.
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To empower students to participate in the class as both teacher and student.
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To provide an opportunity for the university to evaluate a new way of teaching
and learning, where the contents and learning activities of the course
are online, but the discussion and problem solving occurs face-to-face
in the classroom.
There is a great possibility that by year 2000 most of the on-campus
classes will be conducted similar to the CILC classroom.
CILC Online Goals:
The CILC online goals are:
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To provide learning opportunities for new students without limitation of
time, place, and resources.
-
To help students to gain the needed competency in computer-based education
at Ball State University.
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To help students to be knowledgeable members of the networked community
at Ball State University.
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To help students to understand the procedures and ethical standards in
the computer- based education and electronical community.
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To help faculty focus on the assignments and learning activities without
worrying about students’ competency in technology-based education.
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To help students to be competent members of our information society and
of their future work places.
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To help solidify BSU’s position as a leader in technology-based education.
Computer Science’s Role:
The Computer Science Department has vast knowledge
about academic utilization of computers in higher education institution.
The Computer Science Department is a logical choice for directing and developing
this important project. The following are some of the basic functions,
which the Computer Science Department can contribute to the project.
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Providing leadership and expertise in the design and development of this
academic university wide project.
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Utilizing students in the software development class of the computer science
department in the programming of this project. Students could be divided
to a few groups, each group will develop a section of CILC application.
This will minimize the expense and development time of this project. In
addition, studnts of this class can continue to implement any future modification
of the software.
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Providing expertise for quality control of the contents of the each module.
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Updating the contents with the changes in technology, and university’s
teaching and/or students learning requirements.
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Training teachers from other departments in the university for the face-to-face
classes and online support.
Evaluation & Research:
The web-based CILC has great potential for continuing
research study about teaching, learning, and distance education. The results
can help the university to improve the current CILC planning for on-campus
and off-campus computer-based education. The process of evaluation includes:
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Design a web-based questionnaire.
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Evaluate a pilot project for the improvement of web-based contents of the
CILC and the process of discussion and learning of the CILC in the classroom.
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Evaluate the web-based questionnaire for improvement.
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Evaluate the effectiveness of each module.
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Evaluate student’s progress in each module.
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Evaluate the possibility of distance learning with students who prefer
to take the course during summer after high school graduation.
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Provide research opportunities for faculty from different disciplines in
order to answer many new questions, which are generated from these types
of changes.
Budget & Grants:
A project of this size and importance can easily
attract grants in the form of financial support, services, and equipment
from companies, agencies, and government. Companies such as IBM, Microsoft,
Oracle, Netscape,..., and agencies such as Department of Education, Indiana
Partnership for Statewide Education...
Issues:
A few main issues, which should be addressed by
the advisory committee, are:
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How is the arrangement of support and problem solving?
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Which department should be responsible for research, evaluation, and reporting?
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How is the arrangement for future update of the CILC software by new students
in the software development class of the computer science department?
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Copyright © Bizhan Nasseh 1998
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