Tuesday, 13 July 2004: 3:15 PM-4:00 PM

Northern A-2 (Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel)

D-9: Portland State University IS Online and CoolSchool Partnership

Detailed Description:Learn how Portland State University, Independent Study Online and CoolSchool, Cyber Oregon Online, An Electronic Alternative for K-12 Education, have formed the first and only K-20 partnership offering WebCT courses to high school students. The result of this unique collaboration is quality online courses developed from the highest standards of college level instructional design pedagogy and the K-12 ” No Child Left Behind Act” ideals. All teachers for the courses, state licensed, endorsed and certified.
Presentation Format:Showcase
Topic:Partnering for success: Multi-institution and consortium challenges and solutions
Target Audience:K-12 Educational Staff
Appropriate Audience Level:Experienced WebCT users
Abstract Text:

Background:

Portland State University, Independent Study Online department and CoolSchool, Cyber Oregon Online, An Electronic Alternative for K-12 Education, have formed the first and only K-20 partnership in Oregon offering WebCT courses to high school students statewide. The result of this unique collaboration offers learners the highest quality distance education courses in the Pacific Northwest. All CoolSchool courses that result from the collaborative effort are developed from an experienced team of experts from both CoolSchool and Portland State University.

Methods:

The CoolSchool course was developed using U-Compass Educator and Course Builder. The project goal was to merge the CoolSchool, look, feel and navigation into a WebCT course shell. The course consists of 7 lessons each with up to 10 sub lessons; each sub lesson has an assignment/quiz, in addition to a proctored midterm and final.

Results:

The 10 sub lessons assignments were created as quizzes so that students can use the Equation Editor. Would the students be confused about the assignments being labeled a quiz?

Conclusions:

The quiz tool was used as an action menu link to the assignments; however this will take the students to a list with all 70 assignment/quizzes, so every assignment quiz is linked from each content module page to the specific quiz. The Midterm and Final Exam will take advantage of the proctor and password settings and will be separated into 3 parts to prepare for any potential server failures during these exams. The helpdesk instructions for the Quiz and Equation Editor were written from the learner perspective.

Recommendations:

Recommend use of the Content Module for all lessons to take advantage of advanced WebCT features. Use the Equation editor for math courses, to provide students with a problem solving tool. Production team experts will achieve desired learning outcomes and quality online course materials for cohorts.



Session Leader:Marie Lewandowksi
Portland State University Distance Learning Extended Studies

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