University of Illinois CTER
Curriculum, Technology, and Education Reform
Group 2
Martha Behrends-Cunningham, Meredyth Given, Lee Stanton
Final Report
HRE490M
Management of E-Learning Systems
Adam Fein Instructor
Final Report: University of Illinois CTER Program
Group 2 - Members: Martha Behrends-Cunningham, Meredyth Given, Lee Stanton
Program Name: U. of Illinois CTER - Curriculum, Technology, and Education Reform http://cterport.ed.uiuc.edu/Plone
Project Goal:
Our goal in this project was to explore the many facets involved in e-learning program management. Our exploration included examining management strategies and the application of Kahn's (2005) eight dimensional e-learning framework, which encompasses: institutional, management, technological, pedagogical, ethical, interface design, resource support, and evaluation features within an actual e-learning program. We used the framework as a guide in reviewing the University of Illinois' Department of Education Curriculum Technology and Education Reform (CTER) Master Degree program and discovering how they have achieved success in helping students achieve their educational goals.
Institutional Readiness
Institutional readiness is a critical factor for success as institutions venture into the online arena. Whether it is a K-12 school, Junior College, or four-year college or university level, all institutions must ensure that proper infrastructure and cultural readiness are present for such a step. When looking at the University of Illinois’ CTER Program, it evident that the University of Illinois, the College of Education, and Department of Education Psychology were all ready to make this step to implement a fully functional program to meet the needs of students.
The CTER Program is a part of the College of Education’s Department of Educational Psychology. As a College they have proven to be ready for change. The College of Education has been awarded over 27 million dollars in grants since 2004 (External Funding Report, 2009). The Department of Educational Psychology is nationally recognized as a leader in the country. (REF). Currently, the Department works with approximately 110 students a year with approximately 50 of those being online students in the CTER Program, which has now been established since 1998.
As a fully networked institution, the University of Illinois has much of the technology infrastructure in place to host online programs. Being part of a large institution that is technology friendly, many services are already available for online students. Administrative services such as financial aid, course registration, library services, and grade/transcript requests are available to all students via electronic methods. The CTER Program, along with the Department of Education, host very useful websites that offer students a wide range of resources with easy navigation. In the resource section of this report these features will be explored in depth. The important point here is that CTER, as a program, has been especially innovative and proactive in ensuring their students have all the resources, available electronically, they need both administratively and programmatically to be successful.
Institutional readiness also means being ready to develop and implement policies and procedures to govern, support, and manage online faculty, students, and virtual classrooms. By having the Office of the Chief Information Officer (formerly Office of Educational Technology) in place, which oversees information technologies, learning technologies, communications, and user support the personnel and resources are in place to support online learning. The specifics of this support are explored later in resources, technology, and interface design. In addition, the CTER program also has its own coordinator and technology support positions. Furthermore, the CTER program continues to work and maintain relationships with six different departments in the creation and working of the program.
Having these types of infrastructure in place, CTER was launched in the summer of 1998. The first semester of the program two courses were offered as part of a masters program called CTER. These courses were C & I 355: Computer-aided Instruction and Educational Psychology 387: Computer Uses in Education. These courses included an assignment for students to create a major class project exploring innovative uses of technologies in education.
These initial courses required students to create a major class project using innovative technologies in education such as EPS 304 Ethical and Policy Issues in Information Technologies - the CTER White Papers on Technology Issues for Educators was offered the following Spring Semester, in 1999. This project consisted of seven teams of teachers and other K-12 personnel who were asked to develop a set of white papers on issues that affect the ways new information and communication technologies are changing schools today (Bruce, B. et al 2006).
“These papers were revised during June 2002 by the students in Educational Psychology 387 Computer Uses in Education, taught by Jim Levin, with the permission of the original authors” (Bruce, B et al 2006). It is noted that these resources are not just helpful to educators but they are written by educators to be used by educators.
All of the information here suggests that UIUC’s CTER program started out carefully, by adding additional courses slowly, with thought, and with proper framework and support, and did not try to do too much too fast. This helps create a strong foundation that will support an entire program once complete. Based on the overview section for C&I 335, (https://www-s.ed.uiuc.edu/ed-online/cter/courses/ci335/su98/description.html) the CTER program saw how technology would be changing education. Courses are based in technology, activity based, project oriented, and teach through experience.
CTER does have plans for growth. The program is currently looking to expand their course offerings to include on-campus students as well as those online. Due to their being part of Educational Psychology, there is an opportunity to offer many specific courses. One program on the burner is an Ed.M in Assessment and Evaluation. There are also efforts to expand into some type of community learning specialization, for 4H or some type of youth development. There are also efforts to broaden their audience from K-12 into higher education. CTER has seen interest from community college instructors, military, and administrators.
Overall, the University has taken several steps for successful implementation of online programs such as CTER. In this case, CTER serves an important need for working educators - flexibility in a graduate program schedule. By ensuring institutional readiness CTER has experienced success with a 100% retention rate and 98% graduation rate since 2005.
Management
A key piece of administering online classes is having a competent and substantial management structure in place. There needs to be a process in place for administrating the program and personnel responsible for the oversight of these processes and monitoring the big picture of program success. In the CTER program the key individual for this is Doe-Hyung Kim, the Program Coordinator.
As the coordinator of CTER, Mr. Kim’s responsibilities are many. One of these areas of responsibility; faculty and student affairs includes professional training and development needs, communicating openly with faculty, students and alumni, providing assistance and technical support for teaching faculty, and providing assistance to students and alumni relating to administrative issues.
Another area of responsibility of the CTER project coordinator position is to complete research in instructional design and online learning. This involves keeping up with recent developments in the area of online teaching as it relates to the CTER program, and proposing changes as necessary based on assessment of new technologies and the ongoing needs in the K-12 environment.
The coordinator even works on recruiting strategies and events to attract new online students and provide information about the program. Additionally, the coordinator provides guidance on the marketing of the program in and out of state.
Orientation and training is an additional area of focus for the coordinator. This requires him to lead the design and development of the orientation process for incoming students and faculty. The coordinator also plays a role in recruiting, training, and supervising technical support staff in collaboration with the Research Programmer, and administers, and recommend to the department on purchases and expenses.
Serving in the role of liaison the program coordinator maintains open communication and collaborates with other programs within the university. This includes correspondence with other offices within the department, college and campus to facilitate CTER operations, act as CTER representative in department/college/campus committees, meetings, and events related to distance education programs and technologies.
Since the CTER program is a relatively small program one individual is able to serve the many roles and handle the responsibilities covered in Khan’s management responsibility checklist (Kahn, 2005, pg. 131). However, the Program Coordinator does have a team consisting of instructional designers, teaching assistant, and technology coordinator to carry out the many other duties involved in managing an online program.
Instructors are hired based on their expertise and teaching experience. Full time faculty members have a choice in which classes they teach. Adjunct faculty initially hired based on academic and teaching experience are contracted course-by-course based on course evaluations.
New technology is incorporated into the courses regularly. CTER conducts weekly staff meetings where research assistants and technology coordinators discuss new technology. This process is discussed in more detail in the technology and pedagogy dimension sections.
In managing the CTER program they have established processes for regular review and revision of courses. During weekly meetings courses are discussed to address how they are moving along, and to address any possible technology problems that may be occurring. Instructors update courses regularly and new materials and technology are being integrated. Mr. Kim reports that this has been and effective practice and “We’ve been very satisfied with how the course content is being updated” (Kim, 2009).
When courses are updated older version are archived. TA’s who are knowledgeable in the area of instructional technology go over how the course is going to be taught, what is going to be uploaded, and usually uploads the course material. If it is a new course, material would typically be typed in and uploaded, based on the syllabus. “If an instructor continuously teaches a course, we do is go to the course archives and basically copy and paste what’s been taught the previous year and then the instructor and TA will update the course” (Kim, 2009).
Another critical area of project management is budgeting. The program budget is another area of major responsibility of Mr. Kim. Kim (2009) did not have specific numbers for us, but did answer our budget question stating that he was not responsible for specific numbers, but that a pre-determined budget is given to him. He stated that he had been handed down budget sheets, and “based on the expenses per year, for example the staff and the instructors and the budgeting for equipment and what not, I look at the past years spending, expenses and income and try to adjust the budget for each year based on that. If there’s more spent on, for example, equipment then I would adjust that” (Kim 2009).
We asked Mr. Kim if he had three wishes to enhance the CTER program, what would they be? He stated that he would like to see more students and possible more support in marketing. He said: “right now for all the online programs marketing goes through only one department. I believe that department handles all of the marketing for the entire University of Illinois. So I just think that there are not enough resources that are put into marketing, especially with the high competition. I think there should be more effort put into marketing, so that each online program can be represented equally” (Kim, 2009).
The CTER program has a smaller operation model then some larger multi-program online operations. However, CTER has very good processes, staffing structure, and infrastructure to allow the program to continue to grow.
Technological
In managing an online program the institution must have in place critical technological infrastructure to support the courses, faculty, and students to properly deliver the planned education. Kahn points out four key components of an effective infrastructure plan: “published standards, reusability of components, serviceability, and maintainability” (Kahn, 2005). Through interviews and correspondence with the CTER program's Program Coordinator, Kim Doe and Technology Coordinator, Tony Hursh along with research on the CTER website we found most of these components in place.
The CTER program uses Moodle as its learning management system (LMS) and a variety of other open source technologies (with the except of Elluminate which is fee based) to deliver the program and it’s learning objects. The CTER program hosts Moodle on a Linux server with MAC OSX as the operating system. One might think that using open source technology might be risky because one does not have the “I am the customer” leverage. However, Hursh reported that open source has an advantage because they are often able to modify the program quickly to meet their needs. This flexibility and adaptability is not often available in purchased technology, or at least not for free nor quickly. By hosting the LMS in-house, a third party is not relied upon to respond to outages or problems. Thus, the thought is that the service level can be quicker at times.
The CTER program has not yet established a learning object repository. Currently, learning objectives are mainly housed within the courses. Thus, when courses are updated and revised with new learning objects. However, all courses that have been taught are archived on a server, thus if someone has knowledge of previous learning objects they could be retrieved from the archive. With such a small group of course offerings that are managed within that department there not currently an urgent need to house a repository. However, as online programs grow within the university a learning object repository may be useful for all departments.
The CTER program clearly states the technology requirements on their website for potential students to view. They even clarify that students must have computer access at work and home. Based on CIO’s Ryan Thomas comments they may also want add something about investigating the potential for firewalls to block some programs or types of content. Thomas points out in his interview that firewall problem are common among people who access through K-12 settings. Teachers of K-12 are CTER’s primary student demographic so this would be an important consideration.
The common technology challenges of CTER students are relatively simple – password manageability. Since they are required to utilize a variety of technologies they must juggle several user identities and manage their passwords. Hursh states this is the most significant challenge student face. Program Coordinator Kim (2009) states: “We respond really, really quickly to our students technical support needs.” CTER also has an online orientation for both faculty and students. This orientation incorporates most of the technology that is used in courses, and allows students to become familiar with it before class begins. This allows students to focus on course material instead of technology issues. “It’s been reported and researched that technology support issues really affect the course content in an online course. So taking care of tech support is really a high priority in managing an online program. And so we try to take care of that” (Kim, 2009).
Most significant and remarkable about the technology management of CTER is their consistent and dedicated effort to research and recommend new open source technologies for the program. Research assistants (RA) and technology coordinator are in charge of looking for new technology; especially open source technology that teachers can use without much or any cost. The RA tests the application, which is then tested collaboratively. Discussion forums and technology forums are set up where the staff can discuss the application. The technologies that are thought to be appropriate for educational purposes are found to be user friendly and stable will be incorporated into CTER courses. The CTER administrators believe this is a very important endeavor since their students are primarily K-12 teachers who are often under tight budgets. By researching new technologies they can offer students a variety of resources that the will quickly be able to adopt in their classrooms.
The long-standing and continued success of the CTER program is proof that the right infrastructure is in place. Having in-house staff, such as the technology coordinator and instructional designers, ensures that technology is maintained and courses have the proper technical support. Additionally, by self-hosting they are able to exert larger control of the reliability and responsiveness to concerns. Lastly, the use of open source technology serves two important interests. First, open source technology allows for a courseware system that is flexible and adaptable to the specific needs of CTER. Secondly, the use of open source technology provides important resources to instructors that the can quickly apply in their careers. Thus, CTER has established an infrastructure that ensures the longevity of the program, stays current with technology trends, and meets student needs.
Interface Design
The CTER program has two main interface points: their home website and the Moodle courses. The CTER home page is well organized with easy navigation within the site. By establishing a consistent navigation block one can easily get back to the starting page or jump to another area. They use Plone, an open source content management to manage their main site content. From this home page - http://cterport.ed.uiuc.edu/Plone - one is able to access the CTER’s other main student interface sites such as Moodle, WikiEd, and Mahara.
Moodle is the product CTER uses as it’s learning management system. Moodle is an open source technology. Moodle has more primitive design style but in terms of utility it easily competes with a fee based LMS. Moodle has easy to navigate content blocks that make accessing various utilities within a course fairly easy. The Moodle main course page offers week by week sections that house all the learning content needs and directions for that learning module.
The CTER program ensures the sites it uses are accessible and comply with 508 rules. On the CTER main site in the top left corner there is a link to an accessibility section. Here one can find links to make the site text larger and statements about the program’s commitment to accessibility. In running a 508-validation tool the various pages on the CTER site passed this validation process, although automated. Moodle itself has accessibility forums and resource pages to assist users in finding additional resources to increase accessibility. Due to Moodle’s simpler design it lends itself to reader software.
The CTER program has made noticeable efforts in ensuring their students do not face challenges with interface issues. Furthermore CTER has made equal efforts in ensuring their sites are accessible for individuals.
Pedagogical Issues
Pedagogical concerns are multifaceted, requiring in-depth analysis of multiple issues. These considerations include analysis of program: content, audience, goals, medium, design, and organization (Kahn, 2005), and the program, instructional strategies, organization, blending strategies if applicable, and applying the Octagonal Framework to Blended Learning.
In order to assess CTER's addressing of these pedagogical issues we were able to view a sample class (EPSY590NETSAMPLE) and review student projects from the website, as well as the program’s descriptions of the course work expected once in the program. The Program Coordinator, Mr. Kim stated that the courses “reflect the type of courses that we already had at the college of education” (Kim, 2009). The courses are well organized, have detailed syllabi, the learning builds on previous lessons, and final projects are assigned in manageable chunks throughout the course. Some courses incorporate outside media such as YouTube, Facebook, and Mahara. Discussions and group projects help create a sense of community in courses. Course lesson rubrics include learning objectives. Most assignments are flexible to accommodate individual goals. Students even develop courses using Moodle that they can immediately use in their K-12 course, reflecting a direct path from what they have learned in the program to direct application.
Since the CTER program is a program that focuses on technology in the classroom it is highly appropriate for online delivery. In the CTER program students are immersed in their field of study by taking their classes online. Since this field is constantly evolving much of CTER's content can be considered dynamic and may need to be updated and revised fairly regularly. It is evident that CTER is invested in these updates due to their regular research of new learning technologies to utilize in the program.
The primary audience is K-12 teachers; however the audience does include administrators, military, and Higher Education Instructors. International students are encouraged to apply, and the CTER information page is available in several languages. The program also has specific academic and reference entrance requirements thus establishing a level of competency and readiness. The fully online delivery makes it convenient for K-12 teachers.
The CTER program is a technology-focused program and therefore does an excellent job incorporating a wide variety of media to deliver content. According to Doe Kim, staff research and investigate open source technologies to incorporate into courses and then assess them during weekly meetings. By focusing on these technologies, they are exposing students to resources that maybe more accessible for use in their classrooms. The program uses Moodle as their LMS and Elluminate for synchronous sessions. Additionally, the program uses wiki's for student collaboration, PowerPoint and screen casting software to deliver content as well as incorporates YouTube videos, Facebook for student networking, social book marking which allows them to share resources, along various other technologies.
Discussions are an integral part of courses and are often the heart of the class. This is where ideas are shared, discussed, and possible debated. This interaction is essential to creating a thriving learning environment. Email, chat, and live Elluminate sessions are also an important component of courses. Ground rules for online discussion and communication are included in the course syllabus. Modeling is incorporated as students learn to navigate online courses by modeling their instructor and each other. Team projects require collaboration; an essential skill. Case Studies are also incorporated in some courses.
As Dr. Johnson discussed, the University looks at all materials created for courses as University property, however they do have an agreement that faculty may use materials they created in other courses without breaking agreements. Faculty teaching online are not given any preferential treatment. Online courses are considered the same as a face-to-face course; no extra pay is given unless it would cause them to be teaching an overload. The instructors function as facilitators, mentors, and often as coach, encouraging and assisting learners. As a result, learners take a more active role, creating knowledge from within.
Instructors routinely create a motivational climate by engaging students, providing frequent feedback, and encouraging engagement. They encourage reflection and self-evaluation. Transcripts for all of these video and visual elements are provided. The CTER sample course also includes multiple instructional strategies and activities.
Ethical Issues
The “ethical considerations of e-learning relate to social and political influence, cultural diversity, bias, geographical diversity, learner diversity, digital divide, etiquette, and legal issues” (Khan, 2009).
Cultural Diversity is encouraged, and international students are encouraged to apply. By encouraging individual student input and ideas, courses in the program and the College of Education, work to eliminate bias. Multiple viewpoints are encouraged and balanced viewpoints are presented. Holidays do not appear to be addressed - for any religion. Courses seem to continue through for any holiday a course.
Geographical diversity is also an important consideration in an e-learning program. The courses are available to geographically diverse populations; therefore it is essential that instructors make accommodations for different time zones and remote locations. Synchronous sessions are scheduled in the evenings when most students are available. They are recorded for those that are unable to participate for various circumstances. No penalty is given for missing these sessions. Instructors are also sensitive to possible power outages, and other issues that may arise.
Most classes begin class with student introductions, as Khan suggests (2005, pg. 299). This helps students get to know each other and learn a little about each other’s. CTER’s sample course included this type of activity.
The CTER website includes a technology requirement, and expected/preferred skills set to best participate in the program. Technology quizzes are available for prospective students to assess their readiness for online learning.
We believe the digital divide is considered in designing CTER courses. Files are kept to a manageable size, only essential multimedia elements are used to reduce bandwidth issues, and text equivalents or transcripts accompany multimedia elements.
Etiquette guidelines are typically addressed in the course syllabus. Instructors also work as mentors and guides as to how to behave and communicate in online courses.
We were unable to find a specific plagiarism statement in the sample course; however the University and the College of Education does have a policy. All course material is properly cited and referenced, so course material does not appear to be under copyright violation.
Resource Support
When navigating the CTER website and reviewing the courses, it is clear that the CTER program has included many online and offline resources to assist prospective and current students. Additionally, there is support staff available by a number of different methods to assist in technical questions. To ready students the program lists a set of broad basic knowledge a student should have as well as the system and software requirements they must have in place to participate in the program. This area also states that student should be ready to be online 20 hours a week. The CTER program also has a mandatory student orientation that all new students must take. In addition, to academic resources the CTER program website has directions and links for course registration, financial aid, and guidance for the sequencing of courses. Individual courses also include support. For example, in the sample course, the instructor includes a survival guide to graduate study where he outlines how to respond to discussion posts.
The CTER Program has wealth of online support and resources. The CTER website is very well organized with priority folders clearly listed on the left hand screen. These folders have names such as current students, prospective students, tech support are well organized and contain the most pertinent information. There are two frequently asked question pages, one geared to prospective students and one for current students. Students have the ability to buy textbooks online either through the university bookstore, or Amazon. They also have link for a textbook price comparison search engine. Students are able to access the University library, which has a huge electronic repository, subscribes to many online search engines, and will allow check out through the mail if a book is truly required. The CTER website also includes examples of student projects. These examples help current students understand what will be expected of them; and the type, and caliber, of work done in the program.
In looking at the example CTER course it is clear that the student will be exposed to a variety of technologies online. This is largely due to the fact that the program is geared to exploration, administration, and implementation of technology in the classroom. Within the example course alone, students experience nine different types of internet technologies and social networking sites.
CTER students also have access to a variety of offline resources. In the technical support resource page there is a link to the Office of Educational Technology handbook site. This site has an extensive list of handouts explaining how to use a large variety of software and internet technologies. Within the example courses students can download PDF readings to complete offline. Most of the courses also have textbook support.
CTER has a specific web page dedicated to technical support. This page is easily found on the CTER home page. CTER has four options for students needing help. Students can call the toll free number and speak to one of the CTER staff. The staff's technical support schedule is clearly listed below the toll free number. On weekends CTER staff can be reached via email and/or Moodle tech support forum and chat. Hursch, CTER’s technology coordinator, reported that the technology forum in Moodle is the best way to receive support. Student and staff frequent this area and everyone is able to provide support and benefit from this collaborative support option. The CTER website also lists this as the fastest way to get support. There is also the option of chat through instant messenger and email that goes through a list serv. In addition to the support from staff there are also many resources and tutorials on the CTER site to assist students. Additionally, there is also a technology frequently asked question page that is organized by type of technical problem.
CTER lists the many technologies used in their courses on the websites. The listing included definitions of each technology and its uses. Additionally, within this list, embedded links lead to tutorials on the various resources. This list can be a huge support to students relatively new to the technology. By providing a variety of solid resources and tutorials, students can gain independence in using the technology. There are a couple of key advantages to this. First, students can learn autonomy and feel confident by being able to figure out the technology on their own. Secondly, these resources are available at any time so students are not left feeling isolated and overwhelmed in trying to figure out the technology. The OET Technology Handout link (http://education.illinois.edu/cio/icl/handouts/) takes you to a large list of handouts on a wide variety of technologies that include directions for both PC and Mac users.
It is impressive to see the extent that the CTER program has gone to support its online students. The website is exemplary in the amount of information it offers, the clear organization and ease of navigation to access resources. Additionally, CTER offers a substantial amount of support to students both online and offline.
Evaluation
“Evaluation in e-learning should focus on the people, processes, and products of e-learning.” (Kahn, 2005, p379) Keeping these words in mind and looking at the CTER program, it all comes together. Evaluation is more than looking at a program or a course to see what has occurred. You need to look at in its entirety, not just face value; you need to look deep into the course to see what is and what is not working. One can do this by conducting summative and formative evaluations. Before a course is offered, the instructors, which develop the course, along with their Teaching Assistants, make sure all of the information within the Moodle environment is working and accessible to students. They also make sure that everyone knows how to access the information and give additional assistance to individuals that are having difficulties. Before the course is offered the College of Education, Graduate College, and finally the provost review all new courses. The CTER program has done an outstanding job with this.
CTER does several different types of summative evaluations. They have new students complete a survey prior to the required 3-week orientation course. They utilize this survey to discover the comfort level incoming students have with technology and to discover student expectations. At the end of the orientation students are asked to complete a second survey to determine if the orientation was helpful in preparing them for the program.
CTER also incorporates course evaluations at the end of all of their courses. These evaluations are done through the ICES online evaluation system. They use the data from these surveys to evaluate student's experiences in a course. Feedback from courses is used to make immediate revisions. The data collected in the course evaluations is communicated to the instructors, as well as program administrators that monitor the long-term metrics of the program for research purposes. Before the students are given these evaluations, they are informed that the data collected may be used for research purposes.
The course evaluation data is provided to instructors to allow them to make changes in their facilitation and teaching style to help better meet student needs. Course evaluation data is tracked and teachers with consistent high marks are recognized for their excellence by being put on the “excellent teacher list” (Doe, 2009). Within the course evaluations, data related specifically to the Instructor’s performance is tracked and is used to help the University determine a particular instructor’s eligibility for future teaching assignments, tenure, and career opportunities. The data collected is also used to determine what immediate changes may need to be made to the course - especially with technology specific or technology heavy courses. Evaluated courses are typically updated at the end of each course offering to integrate technologies that are newly available. Course evaluation data has indicated that a large portion of students would like more technical information in some of the courses, primarily to help them pass their Technology Specialist Endorsement tests. CTER has been able to integrate more technology specific information into courses to help students be better prepared for this exam; however, it is not a test prep course.
Doe Kim also mentioned that they conduct mid-term evaluations along with post degree evaluations. The mid-term evaluations are given halfway through the program, however due to issues related to keeping track of students, CTER is working on phasing these out. Kim mentioned that when they started mid-term evaluations it was much easier to track students when there was only one cohort that started the program together and finished the program together. However now with multiple cohorts, and students not taking all of their courses together, it is much more difficult to keep track of which students should be taking the survey. This is why the CTER program is looking at, and working on, phasing out mid-term evaluations. CTER is still conducting a post-degree evaluation. CTER has posted some of the post-degree evaluation data on their website to help further promote the program. The data is posted on the website in the yearbook section of the site. This data provides prospective students useful information in their decision making process. Thus, the evaluation data also serves as an important marketing tool.
Currently, CTER has not outsourced any of their evaluations. They have all been conducted from within the University. Last year, they completed their second 5-year CEEED review. This evaluation was done with the assistance of instructors, students, and alumni from the program. Based on their findings, the committee approved the continuation of the program (Kim, email). CTER, which is one the leading online programs within the College of Education, is also looking at expanding the overall program by adding some additional courses, some of which may include courses specifically focused on evaluation, and launching another master’s track in 2011 with the possibilities of others later (Kim, email).
Overall, the CTER program has taken much time and effort to assure that they receive a wide variety, and quality feedback from their students. This feedback helps improve individual courses, and make the overall program better. By conducting multiple evaluations and taking this information to make, at times, immediate changes, CTER is able to see what their students are finding helpful and what they would like to see more.
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