Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
As with the technology survey submissions, there were still a few students who had
trouble presenting their portfolios online. Tutorials might be added to future courses to
ensure proficiency in this area.
Standard Course Evaluation
Students completed the standard form used by Syracuse University School of Infor-
mation Studies to evaluate the instruction received in a course. These proved most valuable
in assessing the content value of the course and whether or not student expectations were
met. Comments regarding qualities and characteristics of the instructors, course content, and
suggestions for improvement closely paralleled those of the students interviewed by the
researcher. Students suggested that instructors lead topic discussions following guest
speakers and panel presentations and present more hands-on use of the educational
technologies presented.
Interviews
Interview protocols (Appendix B) were developed for collecting feedback from course
developers, guest speakers, and students. The course developers were interviewed in
person, and the others were done via email. Data was collected from three of the four course
developers, four of the six selected students from the two schools, and five of the 19 guest
speakers and panelists. For several months, the researchers held onto the hope that more of
the guest speakers would ultimately return their email interviews in order to provide a larger
base for that part of the evaluation.
Although somewhat limited in that one cannot probe unclear responses to questions
in real time, the use of email interviews was helpful for collecting data from speakers who had
traveled a significant distance to make their class presentations (as well as for most of the
local people). However, a low percentage (26%) of the guest speakers returned their
interviews, and a better means of collecting this portion of the feedback needs to be
developed.
Recommendations for the Future
In addition to the suggestions in terms of data collection and evaluation, several
conclusions and recommendations have emerged that will be taken into account when
presenting the course in the future.
Educational Technology Project (ETP)
The educational technology projects were integral for giving the students the experi-
ence of working collaboratively with learning technologies. Although site and project
supervisors attended the first class session to present their projects and were invited to
attend the final presentation from their project team, there needed to be a more formal means
of collecting feedback from them while projects were in progress.
Distance Learning
Much of the course format will lend itself well to a distance mode of delivery. The use
of WebCT for communication and assignment postings is already functioning; many of the
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