Regional accreditation of Jones International University (JIU) - the first entirely virtual university accredited by the US regional accreditation agency - sparked heated discussions in academic circles. Concerns about changing roles of academia and faculty were countered with unbinding enthusiasm for the new teaching opportunities.
This presentation uses notes form the 5 years of active online teaching at Jones International University as a base to examine what is changing in teaching, faculty roles, student responsibilities and collegiate culture when we decide to deliver education through a network of computers.
KEYWORDS
online teaching
online learning
virtual university
online pedagogy
INTRODUCTION
It appears, based on archeological records, that people learned before we invented classroom. We have -- sometimes -- learned in them. I would hypothesize that we will somehow learn when the classrooms are no longer around. The question, of course is what we will learn.1
This statement by John McDaid names the central theme of my presentation. Based on the experience of five years of active teaching and administration at Jones International University (JIU) -- the first fully online, regionally accredited university in the United States -- I will attempt to outline changes to teaching and learning processes that happen when online environment replaces face to face classroom.
After a short introduction of JIU’s teaching model I will focus on the following four questions.
1. How our teaching practices change when we teach online?
2. How does the role of faculty change in online environments?
3. How do the students’ responsibilities change in online environments?
4. How do we change our collegiate culture by creating online universities?
My professional background in media ecology and my experience at JIU thought me that in order to use technology wisely we need to question it. Therefore, when looking at the changes mentioned above I will ask some broad questions. I will ask not only what are the benefits of online learning, but also what are the disadvantages of online teaching. I will ask what we can and cannot learn in electronic contexts, and whether some things are more effectively learned in other contexts. These questions reflect my personal and professional belief that it is our responsibility as educators to look at the changes we are implementing and consider what old educational ideas need to be saved when we invent new ways of teaching and learning.
If this sound like a surprisingly conservative agenda expressed by a faculty of the university that prides itself to be at the forefront of educational changes, it is only a surface contradiction. JIU's model always included careful consideration of how we should translate valuable educational practices into online delivery models. In other words, one of the most important lessons that we have learned at JIU is that simply moving traditional classroom practices online does not work well. The nature of the delivery system we use needs to be acknowledged and considered if online education is to be effective.
JIU HISTORY AND TEACHING MODEL
Jones International University (JIU) was created in 1993. It started to offer courses in 1995. It is a private, for-profit university that currently serves over 3,000 students in 57 countries. In March of 1999, after a rigorous review process, JIU received regional accreditation from North Central Association of Colleges and Universities (NCA). It was the first fully online, virtual university to receive accreditation from the same agency that accredits such universities as University of Illinois, Regis University and other mainstream, traditional schools.
JIU uniqueness lies in the fact that it functions entirely online. It has no physical campus. It does not require face to face meetings for any of its courses or degrees. It uses fully asynchronous model of content delivery and it divides its faculty into two separate but equally important roles – content experts and teaching faculty.
· Content Experts are faculty who design JIU course content. They define learning outcomes, identify readings, and design assignments. They are recruited from among the top academics in a given subject area.
· Teaching Faculty are faculty who work directly with students. They guide students through the course content, provide feedback, grade students' work, answer questions and lead online discussions. They are recruited from among the most talented teachers in academia.
Since JIU was a first fully on-line university to receive regional accreditation, NCA decision sparked a heated discussion among members of academia in the United States. This discussion brought to the surface some important points that we need to consider when we think about online teaching and learning.