ANTHONY G. PICCIANO (Hunter College, City University
of New York)
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Developing a Web-Based Course Model at an Urban
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| 1 Introduction |
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In 1997, Hunter College offered the first
Web-based course in the City University of New York (CUNY). This graduate
course, entitled Organization and Administration of the Public Schools
II - The Principalship, was offered as part of the Education Administration
and Supervision (ADSUP) Program in the School of Education. Funded
by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, this course was intended to serve
as a model for other courses at Hunter College and CUNY. Since 1996-1997,
faculty in the ADSUP Program have converted a number of their courses
into the Web-based, asynchronous learning network (ALN) format and
students can now finish the majority of their program online. In addition,
as part of the CUNY Online Program, hundreds of faculty throughout
the University now use pedagogical techniques developed originally
with this model in Web-based learning courses. This paper will present
an overview of the model, its evaluation, and continuing evolution.
This model may be of special interest to faculty in education and
other professional programs particularly those in an urban environment.
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| 2 The Setting
and Academic Program |
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City University of New York is the largest
urban university in the United States with an enrollment of approximately
200,000 (headcount) students in regular college programs and another
150,000 in continuing education, contract, and grant funded courses.
CUNY traces its beginnings to 1847 with the creation of The Free Academy.
Hunter College, founded in 1870, is the largest of CUNY's twenty colleges,
with an enrollment of approximately 20,000 (headcount) students. Hunter
College is comprised of four schools in Arts and Science, Social Work,
Health Sciences, and Education.
The Education Administration and Supervision Program is housed in
the School of Education and is a thirty-credit graduate program leading
to New York State certification as a school administrator. New York
State requires a minimum of eighteen graduate credits plus an internship
to be certified for any K-12 school administrator position. The program
at Hunter requires twenty-four credits (eight courses) plus a six-credit
internship. Web-based courses have been offered in this program since
1997, and students can complete a majority of the coursework for the
program online.
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| 3 The Students |
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To enroll in the graduate program in
Education Administration and Supervision at Hunter College, all students
must have at least five years of teaching experience and earned masters
degrees. More than 80% are women. Approximately 25% are students from
minority groupings. Almost all of them pay their own tuition which
for some is a financial burden. Some students have made the decision
to attend classes rather than take on a second job as coaches, tutors,
or other after-school positions. Approximately 80% percent of these
students work in New York City public schools while the remaining
20% work in private schools or in public schools outside of New York
City. For the past ten years, the program has maintained an enrollment
of 100 to 125 students, almost all of whom are part-time. Because
of funding and a desire to insure academic quality, the enrollment
in the program has been limited.
All of the students are education professionals already certified
as teachers by New York State. They are dedicated to their profession
and are expending enormous energy in improving their skills and abilities
in order to become school administrators (principals, assistant principals,
directors of programs, etc.). New York State, as does most states,
requires a graduate program for individuals to become certified as
school administrators. These students represent a group of self-starters
who are conscientious and view their studies as vehicles for professional
growth and advancement. They recognize the importance of technology
and almost all of the program's enrollees have access to computer
and Internet technology either in their homes or in their schools.
Many of these students are professionally curious about an alternative
pedagogical experience such as asynchronous learning using the Internet
and other current technological tools.
All of the students are commuters who balance full-time jobs, families,
parenthood, and higher education in a carefully planned day which
includes rushing for subways and buses to meet the next commitment.
They are a mature group who organize their daily lives around lesson
plans, making sure their children get to the baby sitter or day care
center, maintaining a home, and when time permits, completing home
work assignments. Offering a Web-based ALN program to them that can
be taken at anytime or in anyplace has a good deal of appeal. They
are able to fit their graduate studies into their busy lives and eliminate
the need to travel several times per week to the College. These students
typify the mature, self-directed, and busy "students" who
can take advantage of and benefit from this form of instruction. As
experienced teachers, they are also attuned to pedagogy and provide
valuable insight into an evaluation of the instructional components
of the model
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| 4 The Instructional
Model |
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A completely asynchronous instructional model is used for course
delivery via a course Web site utilizing the BlackBoard course management
system (CMS). Originally LISTSERV software combined with custom-developed
Web pages were the main software components of the model. However,
with the acquisition of BlackBoard in 2000, all of the online courses
in the program migrated to this CMS environment.
An underlying framework for this model is student-centered learning
(see Figure 1). The model assumes that the students in this program
are all adults who bring knowledge and experiences upon which the
instructor can build through course readings, discussions, and other
instructional activities. The instructors in the Administration
and Supervision Program have adopted this model based on the maturity
level of the students and the fact that all of them are experienced
educators and use it in traditional face to face courses as well.
The basis for the framework is founded in experiential learning
(PIAGET, 1952), constructivism (VYGOTSKY, 1978) and, andragogy or
adult learning theory (KNOWLES, 1978). Malcolm Knowles posited that
adults learn differently than children and that programs directed
to them have a different purpose. Adult learners, whether they seek
an education that they were not able to pursue earlier in their
lives, or wish to enhance their professional skills, or want to
satisfy their curiosity about some subject, are different than children.
Programs for adults should be designed for students who have made
decisions regarding careers and occupations, who are spouses and
parents, and who live within an adult social context. Knowles recommends
taking advantage of the knowledge that adults have acquired during
their social and professional lives.
Figure 1. Student Centered Learning
The course model is organized into weekly themes and topics. The
Web site for the course includes a syllabus, reading assignments,
weekly discussion topics and questions, supplementary reading material,
and related links. These materials are always available and serve
as the organizational anchors for the course. The model assumes
that interaction among students, instructor, and content are critical
for effective learning. As a result, each topic serves as the basis
for an asynchronous discussion on an electronic discussion board
during a specific week and is based on assigned readings and case
studies. Several students are selected each week to work with the
instructor as discussion facilitators. The use of students as facilitators
is designed to encourage them to be active contributors and to take
responsibility for their learning. Once the discussion of a topic
commences, any student can contribute to the discussion, ask a question
of another student or the instructor. At the end of the week's discussion,
the instructor summarizes the topic, adds additional notes and comments,
and posts these to the Web site for access by the entire class.
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