2007 - 2008 Online Education Report
www.bsu.edu/iandt/official/report2007-2008.htm

Jim Flowers, Director of Online Education, jcflowers1@bsu.edu, 765-285-2879, AT 130A
Department of Technology, College of Applied Sciences & Technology
Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA 47306

May, 2008

History & Status | Initiatives
Appendices: MA in TE | MA in CTE |Calendar Survey | Survey of Majors

Preface

This is the seventh annual report of the online education initiatives from the Department of Technology (previously, the Department of Industry and Technology) at Ball State University. Some of the information here is contained within previous reports, which may be seen at:

• www.bsu.edu/iandt/official/report2006-2007.htm
• www.bsu.edu/iandt/official/report2005-2006.htm
• www.bsu.edu/iandt/official/report2004-2005.htm
• www.bsu.edu/iandt/official/report2003-2004.htm
• www.bsu.edu/iandt/official/report2002-2003.htm
• www.bsu.edu/iandt/official/report2001-2002.htm

Recommendations contained within this report are those the Director and what is hereafter called the Department's Office of Online Education.

For more information, visit the online programs' "classic" Website at www.bsu.edu/iandt or the online program information at the Department's newer Website: http://www.bsu.edu/technology/.

Ball State University's Department of Technology (renamed from the Department of Industry and Technology in 2006) offers two graduate degrees over the Internet: the Master of Arts in Technology Education; and the Master of Arts in Career and Technical Education. Except for a pilot course going online in the Fall of 2000, these programs officially became available online in the Summer and Fall of 2002, respectively. The purpose of this report is to provide a description and an internal annual review of online education from the Department of Technology.

The Master of Arts in Technology Education (TE) is intended to meet the needs of technology teachers and others interested in general education in technology. Technology Education is the field that evolved from Industrial Arts, and this master's caters to the needs of teachers in this field who typically teach grades six through twelve. However, community college faculty, elementary teachers, and others can find this program fitting.

The Department also offers a Master of Arts in Career and Technical Education (CTE) (having changed its name from Master of Arts in Industrial Vocational / Technical Education on August 25^th, 2003, in keeping with national trends.) This degree is intended to meet the needs of vocational, or career and technical educators, who typically work at high school level vocational programs with specializations in industry and technology. However, community college faculty, industrial trainers, and others wishing an advanced degree can find this master's very appropriate.

Oversight of these programs is by the Department's Graduate Program Committee, now chaired by Dr. Samuel Cotton and composed of Graduate Faculty within the Department. That committee decided to offer these degrees online due to declining on-campus enrollments, and based on a national online learning needs assessment; approval was granted by the Ball State Graduate Education Committee, the School of Extended Education, and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

Neither of these degree programs carries initial teacher licensure, since they were primarily designed to service the educational needs of practicing and licensed teachers. However, some students may choose to use selected courses from either program to pursue additional licensing credentials in accordance with their state's requirements for teacher licensure.

By June, 2004, all fifteen planned graduate courses offered from the Department had been delivered online, replacing face-to-face (F2F) sections. In 2005 / 2006 the program committee decided to drop two of non-required courses from the list of offerings when the two professors who had been teaching those courses left the graduate faculty. However, the frequency of other course offerings was increased due to rising enrollments and feedback from majors, as will be discussed later.

Unlike similar programs at some other institutions, the admission requirements do not specify the undergraduate degree areas for applicants, nor do they list a teaching license as an admissions requirement. Thus, these programs are better suited than some competitors' programs to attracting students who may have had completed a baccalaureate degree in a different field.

As with other masters from Ball State, applicants must have an earned baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution with an undergraduate grade point average of 2.75 (on a 4.0 scale), or with an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 in the latter half of their undergraduate work. Those who do not meet these GPA requirements may be able to enter as probationary students and must achieve a 3.0 minimum average in 9 semester hours of graduate work approved by the Department Chair and the Dean of the Graduate School, and must score in the top two-thirds on each section of the general Graduate Record Examination. There are no additional departmental or program admission requirements.

Each degree program can be completed 100% online without a single trip to the campus or a satellite site. Each master's program requires 30 graduate hours, 9 of which may be transferred in from another accredited institution where the student earned at least a B, subject to advisor approval. Transfer hours are also subject to the Ball State requirement that all masters coursework be completed within a six-year timeframe. A thesis is optional in each program, though fewer than 1% of students take advantage of the thesis option. Each program has a separate core of courses, a required research course, a required course in education outside the Department of Technology (removed for the 2007/2009 catalog), and directed electives. Please see the Appendices listing the Program of Study for the MA in Technology Education and the Program of Study for the MA in Career and Technical Education.

In 2006, the University Graduate Education Committee approved a number of changes recommended by the Department's Graduate Program Committee for implementation beginning Fall 2007. Among these are the elimination of the "Professional Education" requirement for both programs, and the re-designation of "Electives" as "Directed Electives." Other changes included course descriptions and notes.

In Spring 2008, the Department's Graduate Program Committee submitted a request to further modify the Master of Arts in Technology Education by adding ITEDU 510, Technology Use and Assessment, to the Professional Core. This would allow students to opt for any five of six core classes, providing both increased program flexibility and a greater emphasis on the content of technology assessment, an area too often overlooked in undergraduate and graduate education in this area.

Recommendation: A third master's program should be created that is a master of science with a required thesis, serving both existing populations of TE and CTE professionals, and making use of many existing courses. This could be a Master of Science in Technical Education. It would better prepare those who may pursue doctoral education or research in the field.

Recommendation: Additional online degree programs should be pursued, and faculty should be encouraged to place single courses online that could lead to certificate and degree programs.

Recommendation: University hiring of faculty may be most heavily influenced by undergraduate program enrollments. This overlooks the graduate education responsibilities of faculty. There is an excellent opportunity for Ball State University to offer a 100% online PhD program in "Technology Studies." The hiring of additional graduate faculty who may work in such a program would be of benefit to the University and its pursuit of this niche market.

Several students who are not in either of these degree programs take advantage of the online graduate courses offered by the Department of Technology. Among these are students pursuing additional teacher licensure requirements, those interested in continuing education, and students majoring in other fields who find selected courses from the Department of interest.

Course Enrollment, Program Headcounts, and Program Admits

Prior to offering these graduate programs online, course enrollment was low. As illustrated in Figure 1, the graduate enrollments increased as the programs became established, likely due to early market share. However, despite a renewed effort on marketing, there was a dip in enrollment in 2006/2007, seen also in the program headcounts (Figures 2 & 3) which are based on the number of students in a program who are also enrolled in a class. However, the number of Spring 2007 admits (Figure 4) was up in the MA in Technology Education, which supports the interpretation that the downward enrollment seen in 2006/2007 is a temporary fluctuation. Still, the impact of the emergence of competing online degrees in these areas cannot be overlooked as a factor.

 
Figure 1. Online Graduate Enrollment in the Department of [Industry &] Technology by Semester from Fall 2000 through Spring 2007(as of 4/4/07). (Source: ADMAC, except for Fall 2000 BSU@work data)

As noted, program headcounts show an increase at the Fall 2002 period, when the programs began to be delivered online, and a more recent decrease, as seen in the combined program headcounts in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Combined Program Headcounts for the MA in Technology Education and in Career & Technical Education combined, from historical BSU@Work data for Fall and Spring semesters.

Program headcounts from Figure 2 are the sums of headcounts shown for each program in Figures 3. In the last academic year, there has been a decrease in headcounts for each master's program. Enrollment data from 2006/2007 is contrary to what had been forecast in the previous year's report, although an upswing was experienced in 2007/2008.

Figure 3. Program Headcounts for the MA in Technology Education and the MA in Career & Technical Education extracted from BSU@work historical data for Fall and Spring semesters.

Admissions

Data from the Graduate School's "Graduate Student Advising Center Database" extracted May 23, 2008, shows a steady though modest increase in applications, as seen in Figure 4. This has not resulted in a corresponding increase in admissions, however. However, admissions did increase slightly in the MA in CTE (Figure 5).

Figure 4. Applications to the MA programs in TE or CTE by Year as of 5/23/08.
Source: www.bsu.edu/webapps2/gradadvisor/

Figure 5. Students Admitted to Each MA Program by Semester as of 5/23/08.
Source: www.bsu.edu/webapps2/gradadvisor/

Accommodating Enrollment

Schedule of Offerings

Several changes were made in the schedule of course offerings, which is outlined below. These include:

1. A new course offering: ITEDU 600: Special Topics: Curriculum Evaluation in Technology Education
2. Removing the ITEDU 694 course in Curriculum Development in Technology Education from Summer I, where 5-weeks did not permit sufficient time for all students to adequately engage the course content (keeping this course as a Fall offering)
3. Reducing the offerings of ITEDU 698, Seminar in Technology Education, to Summer I sessions in even years only, as a way to improve Seminar quality and online community through a larger and more varied group of Seminar participants
4. Reducing the offerings of ITEDU 635 to every Spring and Summer II sessions of odd years (from Summer II sessions of all years) due to low enrollment numbers in some years' Spring sections

Schedule of Course Offerings, Beginning in Fall 2008:

Every Fall:

• ITEDU 552, Career & Technical-Related Class Content
• ITEDU 568, Principles & Philosophy of Career & Technical Education
• ITEDU 600, Special Topics: Curriculum Evaluation in Technology Education
• ITEDU 690, History and Philosophy of Technology Education
• ITEDU 691, Strategies & Materials for Teaching Technology Education
• ITEDU 694, Curriculum Development in Technology Education
• ITEDU 699, Research in Industrial Education

Every Spring:

• ITEDU 510, Technology: Use and Assessment
• ITEDU 569, Organization and Coordination of Career & Technical Education
• ITEDU 635, Implementing Technology Education
• ITEDU 690, History and Philosophy of Technology Education
• ITEDU 691, Strategies & Materials for Teaching Technology Education
• ITEDU 699, Research in Industrial Education
• ITMFG 560, Industrial Safety and Health

Need for Faculty

It should be noted that there are currently six core courses scheduled to be offered online in the MA in CTE. Dr. Samuel Cotton, to date, has been the sole full-time instructor for these courses, except for the hiring of Dr. Patrick Jones as an adjunct faculty member to teach one of these courses in Spring 2007 and Spring 2008. The ability of Dr. Cotton to continue to fully staff these core classes is called into question by the 2006/2007 doubling in frequency of offerings for this program. Moreover, the Master of Arts in Career and Technical Education has been suffering from a lack of intellectual diversity due to a single core course instructor. In order for this, or any graduate program, to provide quality education, students should benefit from diverse approaches offered by multiple faculty members specializing in their area of study. The quality of this program and its ability to grow hinge on whether additional graduate faculty members are added to the ranks.

Recommendation: Additional Graduate Faculty are needed in the Master of Arts in Career and Technical Education Program if the current growth trend is expected to continue. Two additional Graduate Faculty should be hired for the MA in CTE.

Staff: Office of Online Education

II. Initiatives in the 2007/2008 Academic Year

Administration

Dr. Nancy Kingsbury stepped down as Dean of the College of Applied Sciences and Technology during the Summer of 2007. Ms. Gwen Robbins then served several months as the Interim Dean, with Dr. Jack Wescott (Chair of the Department of Technology) serving as Interim Associate Dean for the College. Dr. Ray Shackelford was appointed Interim Chair of the Department of Technology, and Dr. Edward Lazaros was appointed Interim Assistant Chair of the Department. In the middle of the 2007/2008 academic year, Dr. Robbins retired, and Dr. Wescott began serving as the Interim Dean of CAST. At this time, Dr. David Gobble began serving as the Interim Associate Dean.

As a result, during the 2007/2008 academic year, the Department of Technology faculty were not involved in the selection of their Dean, Associate Dean, Chair, or Assistant Chair. However, a CAST Dean Search Committee worked during this time on which the Department of Technology did have representation.

Based on information provided to the Provost and President by that search committee, on May 12th, 2008, Dr. Mitchell Whaley, formerly Chair of the BSU School of Physical Education, was appointed Dean of the College of Applied Sciences and Technology, and Dr. Jack Wescott was appointed Associate Dean. Dr. Ray Shackelford was appointed as Interim Chair of the Department of Technology during the 2008/2009 academic year.

Additional changes were seen in the administration of the BSU Graduate School. Dr. Mary Kite had served as the Interim Dean of the Graduate School, and Dr. Jacquelyn Nelson as the Associate Dean. Currently, Dr. Robert Morris serves as Associate Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, with Dr. Jacquelyn Nelson serving as Associate Dean.

Thanks are extended to Dr. Kite, Ms. Robbins, and Dr. Gobble for their wonderful service. Thanks are also extended to each of those newly assigned administrators pictured here who responded to the call to serve at a time when they were needed the most.	Dr. Robert Morris Associate Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School
Dr. Mitchell Whaley Dean College of Applied Sciences & Technology	Dr. Jack Wescott Associate Dean College of Applied Sciences & Technology
Dr. Ray Shackelford Interim Chair Department of Technology	Dr. Edward Lazaros Interim Assistant Chair Department of Technology

Change in Schedule of Courses

As noted above, changes were made in the schedule of courses. Some of these were made to improve the education the student receives in the course, while others were made to ensure that a Spring/Fall class had sufficient enrollment to run. Ball State faculty are allocated based on Spring and Fall enrollments only, so where a Summer offering decreases the probability that the same course will have sufficient enrollment when it is offered in the Spring or Fall, increased Summer offerings can negatively impact the size of the program faculty.

Recommendation: Before Dr. Gora became President of Ball State University, one of her assignments was as the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. While she was there, a proposal was made to address the issue of larger Fall than Spring enrollments, and the need to pay faculty extra monies for summer classes. The proposal was to consider selected requests for faculty contracts to include responsibilities for the Fall and Summer, rather than the typical 9-month/10-month contractual period of Fall and Spring. It is recommended that Ball State consider such an option. This could allow "faculty lines" to be maintained or even expanded through Summer course enrollment, and allow for additional Summer offerings, which has been indicated as desirable by past surveys of majors.

Course Development & Revision

There were three course development/revision initiatives during the 2007/2008 academic year.

1. Dr. Mary Annette Rose completed work on the revision of ITEDU 699, Research in Industrial Education. Revisions were implemented in Spring, 2008.
2. Dr. Mary Annette Rose began work on the creation of a new online graduate course that can serve student populations in the MA programs in Technology Education or in Career and Technical Education, and may be of interest to those involved in education in related areas: Development of ITEDU 600, Special Topics: Curriculum Evaluation in Technical Education.
3. Mr. Alan Leduc submitted a proposal to develop ITMFG 104, Introduction to Six Sigma, for online delivery. The Office of Online Education received two requests for future development revision which were submitted to the BSU Distance Education Review Committee.

In addition, during the Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 semesters, a total of 10 students enrolled in the online undergraduate internship course with Dr. Jennifer Warrner to earn credit for their experience. 

New Program Proposals

1. Dr. Somnath Chattopadya had proposed a new Master of Science in Supply Chain Management that would be a joint program among several departments at Ball State University; his departure from Ball State University after the Spring of 2007 resulted in this proposal being dropped.
2. Mr. Alan Leduc presented a proposal for a new Master of Science in Quality Process Management, in conjunction with the Miller College of Business. This program could be delivered completely through distance education, although it is still in the development stages. One unique feature of the program is the inclusion of Six Sigma Black Belt Certification.

Instructor Evaluation

Beginning in the Fall of 2007, the Department of Technology adopted a new instrument for the evaluation of teaching performance by students in conjunction with the procedures concerning tenure, promotion, and merit evaluations, and allowed faculty to administer the instrument during the twelfth or thirteenth week of each Fall and Spring semester. The items on the new instrument can be seen below.

Figure 6. Items from the paper version of the new student evaluation of instructor instrument (http://www.bsu.edu/web/iandt/official/DOTInstructorEvaluationInstrument.pdf)

In addition, the Director makes available to faculty at their option an end-of-semester course improvement student survey that does not supply information for anything except that faculty member's improvement of the course. This allows for a more realistic appraisal, since the students are not asked to provide a summary evaluation when the course is only three-fourths over, much as a book critic would not attempt to write a book review after reading only the first three-fourths of a book.

Recommendation: Allow faculty members to conduct the student evaluations of instructor during the twelfth through fifteenth week of a Fall or Spring semester, if more information and better validity is desired.

As done in the previous year, near the end of the Spring 2008 semester, all graduate students majoring in the Department's programs were sent a request to take an anonymous online survey to provide feedback on the online program. The results from the survey of majors are contained in an appendix in this document.

Advising

Academic advising is shared among six graduate faculty within the department, as noted bellow:

Prior to February 2005, a single faculty member served as the graduate program advisor for all graduate students in the department. With the increased enrollment seen as the programs went online, this became too much for any single faculty member to accomplish without a course reduction for graduate advising. Such a course reduction was not possible, so in February 2005 advising was divided among six graduate faculty, as shown in the table above. The "Advisor Codes" were established in January 2006.

However, with program growth, graduate advising is now presenting a burden on these six graduate faculty, since they receive no load for advising. Undergraduate advisors in the department, some in program areas with lower enrollment than is seen in graduate education, receive a 3-credit assigned time in both the Spring and Fall semester to serve as program coordinator and program advisor. It is unfortunate and ironic that this level of administrative support is deemed unnecessary for graduate education, where advising graduate students at a distance may well be more intense and problematic than the on-campus advising of undergraduates.

Recommendation: Combine the graduate advising of those in the Master of Arts in Technology Education into the duties of a single faculty member, and provide a 3-credit hour assigned time course reduction in each the Fall and Spring semesters for this individual. Provide the same support for the faculty member assigned as the advisor of the Master of Arts in Career and Technical Education. Failure to do this can result in decreased faculty morale and performance, since it might appear that undergraduate advisors are valued, and graduate advisors are not.

In addition, the BSU Graduate School implemented the Graduate Student Advising Center at
webapps2.bsu.edu/gradadvisor/index.asp. This Web-based database interfaces facilitates quicker communications of admission decisions by both the Graduate School and the Department, and allows access to a richer record of information on an applicant. The ability to immediately determine the status of an applicant has facilitated communications with applicants. The BSU Graduate School is to be commended for this successful effort that has already proven to aid communication and facilitate speedy admissions decisions.

During the 2007/2008 year, the BSU Graduate School began placing scanned pdf files of transcripts in a secure online location where advisors could access them. This led to a reduction in the number of transcripts requested by students in other programs (the Department of Technology was not one of those programs that requested its own copy of a transcript) and improved the timeliness and quality of communications paperlessly. The Graduate School is to be commended on yet another move to improve.

Technology

 Technological Requirements and Recommendations

The Office of Online Education has developed the following list of required and recommended technology for online students and instructors, which was unchanged from the 2007/2008 academic year.:

CAST Faculty Computer Plan

In 2005/2006 and 2006/2007, the College of Applied Sciences and Technology implemented a plan for upgrading the office computer systems for tenured and tenure track faculty every three years with a PC laptop computer. Faculty were required to comply, and could not elect to either use a Macintosh computer or a desktop computer. After several protests, this policy seems to have been dropped with the change in College administration after the Summer of 2007.

Faculty who teach online are intimately connected with their office computer systems, and they benefit from high-powered and individually customizable systems. One faculty who uses 2-way video may have very different needs than another who does not. Future policies should allow for faculty empowerment.

Unfortunately, those faculty who were either hired, or who had computer upgrades during the period of the old policy may now be disenfranchised.

Recommendation: Additional monies should be allocated to provide for a three-year computer upgrade, but allow for faculty specifications of their computer systems. Those who were forced to upgrade to a PC laptop against their wishes should be provided with a computer system of their choice that best meets their needs, without having to wait additional years.

Blackboard

Online and F2F faculty continue to use the Blackboard Course Management System (Bb) at Ball State. In some online classes, Bb is used to house class content, though in others it is used primarily to facilitate communications, quizzes, grades, and announcements, with "lecture" materials provided as independently published Web pages.

In the Fall of 2007, Ball State began using Blackboard 7, updating to Version 7.3 midway through the academic year. Several issues have been reported concerning these upgrades, and the new versions inability to do what was possible with older versions. Unfortunately, there is no easy vehicle for faculty feedback concerning Blackboard to reach either BSU specialists or specialists at Blackboard.

Recommendation: BSU should establish a Blackboard Feedback vehicle to facilitate discussion of this very important course management software. It should serve as a conduit between Blackboard, Inc., and faculty.

Three online faculty have expressed a need for the easy extraction of course data from their Bb course sites. In particular, faculty have asked for an easy way to export threaded discussion board data into a format that can be imported to Microsoft Access or Microsoft Excel. These three faculty have used this data both for evaluating student performance and in research projects.

Recommendation: Ball State University should contract with Blackboard for their development of a tool that can be used to allow any Bb course owner to easily extract Blackboard discussion board data from any of their courses at any time into a format that can be input by Microsoft Access or Microsoft Excel, preserving all fields (including forum title) and information about the thread geometry.

Microsoft Vista and Windows

In the Spring of 2007, Ball State University made available Microsoft Vista, Enterprise Edition, and Microsoft Office 2007 to faculty and students as per the Microsoft Campus Agreement. While Ball State is to be commended on this, it should be noted that Webpage creation, which was previously supported by Microsoft FrontPage on BSU computers, has not been addressed. With Office 2007, Microsoft has cancelled production of FrontPage, and introduced in its place Expression Web.

Recommendation: The BSU Campus Agreement should include MS Expression Web both for university-owned computers, and for student use. As communications move forward, it is essential to have a full-featured and current Webpage creation tool, especially for online faculty and students.

Recognition

Student Scholarships and Awards

The Department of Technology annually recognizes outstanding students in different degree programs with awards and scholarships at a Spring banquet. A Department Scholarship Committee coordinates the selection of awardees with Department faculty, and an Awards Reception Committee facilitates the ceremonies.

Only one scholarship is available for graduate students in the Department, the Dr. William H. Middleton Scholarship, named in honor of a long-time and respected faculty member. Prior to 2007, the scholarship was only open to on-campus students. However, the success of online delivery saw the decrease in on-campus graduate students, and the scholarship was made available for the first time to a distance education student.

During the Spring 2008 Banquet, the Middleton Scholarship went to an undergraduate student who was planning to begin the Master of Arts in Technology Education as an on-campus student in the Fall of 2008. The winner of the 2008 Middleton Scholarship is Mr. Nicholas Tschuor. The Department thanks all students who have applied for this award, and offers is congratulations to Mr. Tschuor on this honor.

The Department Chair, the Scholarship Committee, and the entire Middleton Family are to be commended and thank for continued work to facilitate the wonderful impact Dr. Middleton continues to have on graduate students of today.

Recommendation: With only one scholarship available from the Department of Technology for graduate students, it is ironic that it includes a preference for on-campus students in an online degree program. Additional scholarship opportunities should be sought to provide recognition and assistance to distance education students, lest they be disenfranchised and treated like students of less importance than a face-to-face student.

Funded Research Awards

In 2006, Dr. Jim Flowers and Ms. Holly Baltzer received a competitive Research Incentive Grant from the Council on Technology Teacher Education for a project titled, Need, demand, and models for an online doctoral program in technology [technical] education. Work on this began in Spring 2006, and extended into the 2007/2008 academic year with Dr. Edward Lazaros joined this research team in Spring, 2007, to work on the third phase of research, characterizing existing doctoral programs in this field.

Jim Flowers

Holly Baltzer

Edward Lazaros

Scholarly Publications

A three-part research project on The Need, demand, and models for an online doctoral program in technology [technical] education funded in part by a Research Incentive Grant from the Council on Technology Teacher Education concluded in the 2007/2008 academic year. Previously, the first two phases of this research were published:

• Flowers, J., & Baltzer, H. (2006). Perceived demand for online and hybrid doctoral programs in technical education. J. of Industrial Teacher Education, 43(4), 39-56.
• Flowers, J., & Baltzer, H. (2006). Hiring technical education faculty: Vacancies, Criteria, and Attitudes toward Online Doctoral Degrees. J. of Industrial Teacher Education, 43(3), 29-44.

The third phase appeared in 2007:

• Baltzer, H., Lazaros, E., & Flowers, J., (2007). Review of doctoral programs in technical education. J. of Industrial Teacher Education, 44(2), 37-59.

In December, 2007, Jim Flowers and Holly Baltzer received the Journal of Industrial Teacher Education Outstanding Research Article award for their article on the second phase of this study.

Flowers, J., & Baltzer, H. (2006). Hiring technical education faculty: Vacancies, Criteria, and Attitudes toward Online Doctoral Degrees. J. of Industrial Teacher Education, 43(3), 29-44.

• Flowers, J., & Cotton, S. (2006). Student self review: Impacts on future class discussion. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, Madison, WI, proceeding retrieved from http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/06_4028.pdf.
• Cotton, S., & Flowers, J. (2006). Online master’s degree in CTE from Ball State. News & Views, 4(1), 4. Indiana Association for Career and Technical Education.

Presentations

Presentations at conferences and elsewhere have marketed the online programs. Among the presentations by Department faculty related to online education were the following.

• Flowers, J., & Baltzer, H. 2007. "Are we ready for online doctorates?" Association for Career and Technical Education Annual Convention, Las Vegas, NV. December 14, 2007.
• Flowers, J., & Baltzer, H. 2007. "Demand vs. Hiring Attitudes for Online Doctoral Technical Education." Distance Teaching and Learning 2007 Conference, Madison, WI. August 10, 2007.
• Flowers, J., Lazaros, E., & Baltzer, H. (2008). "Variety among technical / technology education doctoral programs." International Technology Education Association Annual Conference, February 21, 2008, Salt Lake City, UT.

Marketing

Website

The Department of Technology website transitioned to the Vignette Content Suite over the Summer of 2006, and can be found at http://www.bsu.edu/technology/. Previously, the department website did not house information on the online master's programs, which was instead contained in a second site developed by the Office of Online Education at http://www.bsu.edu/web/iandt/.

1. Main Page Current Department Website www.bsu.edu/technology/

2. "Faculty" Page "iandt" Site www.bsu.edu/web/iandt/faculty.htm

However, the decision to place information about the online graduate program within the department's website provides a unified web design, and shifts maintenance from the Office of Online Education to the department's Administrative Coordinator, both of which are advantageous.

It should be noted, however, that Ball State University's contract with Vignette expires, and a decision has been made to phase in a new content management system. Furthermore, "hits" to the Vignette site do not seem as prevalent as hits to the older website. As a result, the old site at http://www.bsu.edu/web/iandt/ will be maintained by the Office of Online Education until that newer version has been established.

Brochures

Brochures had been designed for the MA in TE and the MA in CTE and were used beginning in the 2004 / 2005 year. It has been suggested by some program faculty and potential students that the brochures be redesigned to include more program information, especially a listing of courses, along with the mailing address of the department. These had been present in older program brochures.

TE Brochure www.bsu.edu/iandt/te.pdf

CTE Brochure www.bsu.edu/iandt/cate.pdf

Recommendation: Upon the next redesign of these two brochures, program requirements (including lists of courses) and a mailing address should be included.

Website Listings & Banner Advertisement

A banner advertisement was again placed at the Website of the International Technology Education Association, on their "Where to Get a Degree" page: http://www.iteaconnect.org/Resources/institutionalmembers.htm. This links users directly to the main page supporting online graduate programs off the department's Vignette site: http://www.bsu.edu/technology/onlinemasters/. The banner is an animated graphic consisting of two frames:

Magazine Advertisements

In an effort to boost enrollment, primarily in the Master of Arts in Career & Technical Education, Ball State University School of Extended Education developed a 1/2 page color advertisement and placed it in three issues of the magazine, Tech Directions, which is distributed to both CTE teachers and Technology Teachers at no charge by Prakken Publications.

Smaller version of the advertisement that appeared in Tech Directions

This marks a return to magazine advertisements, which had been attempted when these programs first came online and was abandoned due to meager evidence of effectiveness. However, with attitudes toward distance education changing year-by-year, the Graduate Program Committee suggested a trial return to this marketing strategy, using both the magazine previously employed (Tech Directions) and one not used before (Techniques.) It should be noted that word-of-mouth advertising has been found to be a factor among those who have applied to this program, and that magazine advertisements can promote both direct marketing of readers and indirect marketing of those who hear information from readers.

Conference Booths

Funds were supplied by the BSU Graduate School to help offset the cost of a booth at the 2007 Association for Career and Technical Education Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. This marks the Department's first attempt to market graduate programs by setting up a booth at this association's convention. Again, a booth was set up at the annual Conference of the International Technology Education Association (in Salt Lake City in February, 2008) primarily to recruit graduate students.

The impact of these advertisements and of the booths may not be realized for several years, as they may have planted seeds of interest that take time to germinate. However, the support from the School of Extended Education, and the Graduate School are greatly appreciated.

Related Developments in 2007 / 2008

• A joint research project is underway with investigators from the Department of Technology, the School of Nursing, and St. Josephs College to examine barriers to distance tenure track faculty.
• The Director provided consultation services to faculty from other departments interested in online education. Possible future online offerings also have been discussed with various Department faculty.
• The BSU School of Extended Education offered its second conference on online education on March 7, 2008, titled, "Enhancing Online Learning." Dr. Samuel Cotton from the Department of Technology served on the Conference Committee.

Appendix A. Program of Study for the Online MA in Technology Education Program

The following was approved beginning Fall 2007:

Total Hours Required: 30 Professional Core (15 hrs required)

• ITEDU 635 Implementing Technology Education (3)
• ITEDU 690 History and Philosophy of Technology Education (3)
• ITEDU 691 Strategies & Materials for Teaching Technology Education (3)
• ITEDU 694 Curriculum Development in Technology Education (3)
• ITEDU 698 Seminar in Technology Education (3)

Research Requirements (3 hrs required, 3 - 9 hrs possible)

• ITEDU 699 Research in Technical Education (3)
• THES 698 Thesis (1-6) (optional)

Directed Electives (6 to 12 hrs, to achieve 30 total program hrs)

• ITEDU 510 Technology: Use and Assessment (3)
• EDPSY 641 Statistical Methods in Educational & Psychological Research (3)
• ITEDU 550 Career and Technical Student Organizations (3)
• (other electives or transfer credits approved by the program advisor)

Appendix B. Program of Study for the Online MA in Career & Technical Education Program

The following was approved beginning Fall 2007:

Total Hours Required: 30