Distance Education at UMUC (University of Maryland University

College)

Ioan Jurca“Politehnica” University of Timisoara-Romania

Contents

● Context – about UMUC and Distance Education at UMUC

● Online courses at UMUC – general features

● What an instructor has to do ?● What a student must do?● Pros/cons● Conclusions

UMUC and Distance Education

● UMUC – part of University of Maryland University System

● UMUC – created in 1947 as an institution for US army (adult education)

● Operates in US, Europe(incl. SCG and BiH), Asia

● Teaches both F2F and online● 'Worldwide leader in online education', ● Covers many fields, from Accounting and

Computer Science to Fire Fighting and Anthropology

UMUC and Distance Education

● Offers degrees and certificates● Degrees: bachelor, master, doctoral● Certificates: more 'mobile', market-oriented● Not all courses are offered online● Uses mainly 'adjunct faculty', i.e instructors

employed on temporary basis (contracts for each 'section')

● There is a limit of classes per fiscal year for each instructor

UMUC and Distance Education

● Computer studies particularly appropriate for online education

● Undergraduate programs in computers: CMIS, CMIT, CMSC, CMST, IFSM

● Graduate programs in computers: CSMN, ITSM, MSIT, MSWE, OMDE

● Romanian involvement: since 2000 (boom of enrollment, lack of instructors, US ambassador to Romania in UM board of directors)

● I am involved in the undergraduate CMIS program

Characteristics of UMUC online courses

● An online course consists of:– Modules: text with diagrams summarizing the

course contents (common for a UMUC course, not created by each instructor)

– Webliography- supplementary reading online material

– Homeworks/assignments/projects– Conferences – for discussing assignments and

other topics– Chat room for students and instructor/TA – Textbook and 'recommended book(s)'

Characteristics of UMUC online courses

Characteristics of UMUC online courses

Characteristics of UMUC online courses

Characteristics of UMUC online courses

Role of the instructor

● Specifies course schedule● Specifies grading criteria (assignments up to

60 % of final grade)● Creates assignments● Specifies conference discussion topics● Answers student questions on assignments

and module material NLT 48 hours● Creates exams papers for midterm and final

exam● Grades assignments and exams

Student involvement

● Satisfy course pre-requisites● Participate in all activities of the course (each

activity counts in the final grade)● Study the textbook and the modules ;-(((● Turn in (on time) assignments and exams● Help classmates without giving away

complete solutions● Express opinion on the course and the

instructor

Pros and cons

● Pros– Time and space flexibility both for students and

instructor– Potential access to best teaching materials and

or instructors– Encourages/facilitates more involvement of

students– Develops 'virtual communities'– Create cross-cultural links

Pros and cons

● Cons:– No face-to-face interaction instructor/student– No 'real time' answers to questions (unless on

chat – time differences on the globe)– Difficult to control cheating– Limited multimedia– Congestion periods on the servers– Course materials might become obsolete– Final exams 'travel' around the globe -> late

grading

Conclusions

● DE online is a viable alternative form of education

● Increased bandwidth might overcome the multimedia limitations

● DE is not for everybody – some students cannot adapt to DE

● DE requires more effort from instructors● Problems of internationalization