ccme 2008 fccj army presentation mobile course development

Education DivisionCCME 2008.ppt 1

Mobilizing Education Technology to Support Combat Deployment

Council of College and Military Educators20 February 2008


Project Background

• Headquarters (HQs) Army Continuing Education System (ACES) received an appropriated congressional mark that provided operation and maintenance funding to Mobilize Education Technology to Support Combat Deployment

• A Statement of Work was developed and a source selection committee convened

• Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ) was selected and managed the project through its Military Education Institute (MIT)


Project Background Continued

• HQ ACES required the adaptation of course content for six online classes to a mobile learning (untethered) environment where Soldiers had little or no internet connectivity

• Academic rigor was required through the use of WICHE Best Practices that sought to preserve pedagogical elements in an untethered environment

• The adapted courses were designed to foster college-level critical thinking, decision making, adaptability/flexibility and effective management skills for ambiguous situations

• FCCJ assembled a team of military experts, online faculty and instructional designers/media experts to meet the requirements of the contract


Project Requirements

• Adapt Courses for No Connectivity• Course Selection• Hardware and Software Selection• Selection of Mobile Delivery Device• Faculty Software• Faculty Training


Project Design

• The project design involved three phases:– Project analysis phase

– Course development

– Quality assurance phases and adaptation of the six selected courses for submission to Army

• Army performed post-design course and evaluative reviews with feedback for subsequent improvement

• Class reviews were performed by the Army on the college’s selected mobile learning devices


Course Selection

• FCCJ selected six online classes for adaptation to the mobile learning environment:– ENC 1101 – English Composition I (3SHs)

– CCJ 1020 – Introduction to Criminal Justice (3 SHs)

– SPN 1120 – Beginning Spanish I (4 SHs)

– CGS 1100 – Microcomputer Applications for Business and Economics (3 SHs)

– MAC 1105 – College Algebra (3 SHs)

– GLY 1001 & 1001L – Earth and Space Science with Lab (4 SHs)


Challenging Development Cycle


Mobile Learning Framework

• The instructional design approach:– considered minimal correspondence with the instructor of record

while seeking to develop a sense of community and connection for the learner

– built upon constructivist and adult learning principles while attempting to exploit the situational aspects of the authentic mobile learning environment

– focused on creating self-directed learning experiences built on prior knowledge and real-life events in order to most effectively engage and enhance learner motivation


Learning Approach

• Process flows interspersed with motivational learning objects, allowed faculty to provide feedback loops, creating an organized and interconnected sense of community for the learner

• Academic success, help, and technology support provided an end-to-end learning solution

• Media-rich content was used as a stand alone solution providing scaffolded Learner-content interactions

• Constructivism & Situational Learning• Mobile Learner Theoretical Framework• Use of Media• Textbook Materials• Interface & Navigation


(Kissinger, 2007)


Mobile Technologies


Pepper Pad & Course Interface


Tablet Kiosk UMPCNavigation played an important role in project design. Lack of interface with the instructor and delayed access to direct helpdesk support required navigation that clearly stepped the student through the learning process in a scaffolded progression


Device Evaluation

• Linux-based devices are more robust • Stylus-based interface is less useful or desired• Must be aligned with population and instruction• Costs have significantly decreased since project

inception• Diversity of devices has increased exponentially

as have functionality• Chose universal media and authoring tools


Faculty Certification

• In addition to SACS faculty certification requirements, FCCJ created DL training & certification for faculty

– Based on learning and motivation research– Coauthored by Palloff and Pratt– Program funded via FIPSE grant

• Distance Learning Quality Assurance Division conducts Faculty and Course content reviews on a scheduled basis


Training Method Learning Outcomes

ID for self-directed and paced content & instruction

Workshop, Elluminate, and Moodle

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

•Apply research-based motivational techniques in course development, learning activities, and assessment •Apply motivation research & best practices to media development•Acquire best practices based on learning and motivation research to promote effective instructional practices in a distributed and untethered distance course delivery model.

iMovie Workshop, Elluminate, and Moodle

• Become proficient at creating instructional media using iMovie

Garage Band Pod-casting

Workshop, Elluminate, and Moodle

• Become proficient at creating instructional media using Garage band

Faculty Training Plan


Training Method Learning Outcomes

Applying Motivational Research to Create Optimum Learning Environments

Online Asynchronous through Blackboard

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

•Identify the factors that make up what we call motivation Define motivation and its related components Explore motivation theory through a real-life case example Identify the research trends regarding motivation research Identify the major theoretical approaches to the study of motivation Apply the research in various fields such as education, business, and marketing Design self-regulatory strategies that will aid learners in developing self-motivation

LMS Demonstrated Competency or prior training [BlackBoard]

Online Asynchronous through Blackboard

•By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: use common Blackboard features to: post an online syllabus and assignments; interact via discussion board; develop quizzes; and manage grade books; use the tools to enhance interactivity such as teams and collaboration understand the experience of a course management system from both the student and instructor perspective; convert existing content for display in Blackboard use the communication and course management tools

Faculty Training Plan


Key Findings: Faculty

• Faculty as active designers in development process

• Characteristics of successful faculty designers

• Faculty ability to author media

• Training was transformational (pedagogy, new design skills)


Working with Publishers


Key Findings: Publishers

• FCCJ developed unprecedented partnerships with two major publishing companies who worked to modify academic materials to function in a stand alone environment

• Collaboration of expertise and resources allowed FCCJ to deliver a high-level of academic rigor and quality

• New flexible portable publisher materials were developed

– - eBooks were embedded on the device to ease course delivery

– Online materials were ported offline through collaborative efforts

• Publishers were eager to develop for this population


Project Insights and Lessons Learned

• No “out-of-the-box” commercial solution existed

• No proven or data-supported mobile learning model currently exists

• FCCJ focused on improved academic content presented in a media-rich format that deviated from the traditional text-based courses typical of most online environments

• Didactic linear media presentations were discarded in favor of interactive and engaging rich media and scaffolded learning modules


Project Insights and Lessons Learned Continued

• Quality review procedures that are tied closely to the production cycle are required to ensure successful development

• Poor instruction transfers across learning environments

• Opportunity for more authentic, contextualized learning


Project Outcomes

• Mobile Learner Framework

• Mobile Technologies evaluated

• Faculty Training Plan

• New Publisher Formats

• Untethered Template

• Increased Learner Choices & Access


Next Steps

• The course design model applied to this project can easily be adapted to similar student populations in community colleges and training environments where internet connectivity for distance learning is a challenge

• The Mobilizing Educational Technology project is an example of an innovative and collaborative course design model that is more inclusive and increases access to quality educational opportunities while maintaining academic rigor and pedagogy

• FCCJ plans to begin offering these classes as an alternative to online instruction in the Summer of 2008


Imagining The Near Future…

• Mobile technologies that continue to increase in functionality and decrease in cost

• Increased educational access for challenged populations through untethered delivery

– Increased flexibility for learners – they select when and where learning takes place

– Possibilities for more authentic and contextualized learning experiences

– More media enrichment – eliminating bandwidth restrictions experienced via on-line delivery


Thank You!

Please contact usfor ideas and questions

Jeff KissingerDirector Emergent Design

Distance LearningFlorida Community College

[email protected] 904-632-5052

mobile 904-485-0653

Amy MoorasheArmyU Program Manager

HQs Army Continuing Education

[email protected] CIV: 703-325-2191

DSN: 221-2191