UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN DISTANCE EDUCATION SYMPOSIUM: A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH


by Dr. Rosemary M. Lehman, and Dr. Patricia A. Takemoto
MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship, v4#1, Summer 1996

 This article was first published in the ITCA 1995 International Teleconferencing Yearbook and has been adapted for publication in MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship. It is published with the permission of ITCA.

 

INTRODUCTION

Collaboration, cooperation, competition, consortial agreements, cross-disciplinary teams, colleagial alliances and communication are the themes that the University of Wisconsin has found to be essential to its successful distance education and teleconferencing endeavors. A prime example is the recent faculty and staff symposium model, co-developed by the University of Wisconsin System and the University of Wisconsin-Extension.

 The University of Wisconsin is a higher education system consisting of twenty-six campuses: two doctoral and eleven comprehensive universities, thirteen freshmen/sophomore centers and a statewide Extension unit. The universities and centers share the mission of providing higher education, research, continuing education and public service for the citizens of the state. Located throughout the state, these institutions also have their own select missions, which include meeting the distinct educational needs of the people of their region. All share a growing awareness and appreciation of how distance education technologies can eliminate regional boundaries and can enhance the institutions' abilities to serve their constituents, wherever they may be located.

 The University of Wisconsin-Extension has the unique mission of carrying out the "Wisconsin Idea", extending the resources and knowledge of the university system to all of the citizens of the state. Working with the twenty-six campuses and Extension is University of Wisconsin System Administration, whose roles are to provide strategic leadership, academic coordination and a coherent and focused direction to ensure effective utilization of the state's resources.

 Higher education in Wisconsin, as in the rest of the nation, is facing the stark realities of decreasing funding support, increasing demands for access to education and growing competition. One strategic reaction to this situation is the creation of a cost-effective collaborative plan that can best utilize the University of Wisconsin's resources and enhance its competitive edge for the 21st century. This, however, calls for fostering new team and partner relationships amidst a culture which has long celebrated uniqueness and individualism. Thus, the planners of the Distance Education Symposium faced the daunting challenges of introducing University of Wisconsin faculty and staff to new technology-based teaching approaches while reshaping old working cultures.

 This paper describes the Distance Education Symposium project in detail: the planning and development process, agenda building process, resource materials, program implementation, participant reactions and next steps. For those considering the use of teleconferencing in distance education, it may provide a useful model, prevent potential pitfalls and suggest creative ideas for their own training programs.

 

NEED FOR A TEAM APPROACH

With the increasingly creative ways in which distance education telecommunications technologies are being utilized in higher education, faculty and staff are discovering that some dramatic differences exist between teaching via technology and teaching in the traditional classroom. One substantial difference is that many of the most effective mediated courses are the result of collaborative team efforts which benefit from the expertise and talents of faculty, instructional designers, media technicians and other support staff.

 In response to the growing need for more training and exposure to distance education approaches, a Distance Education Symposium was developed for University of Wisconsin faculty and staff. The Symposium was part of a larger initiative, "Access to Quality," designed to expose the faculty and administration of all of the University of Wisconsin institutions to issues and practices of distance education. "To fulfill its goals, it's crucial that we work with other institutional colleagues throughout the state of Wisconsin." (Katharine Lyall, University of Wisconsin System President)*

 The first 2 1/2 day Symposium was held August 29-31, 1994, on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Sixteen teams (totaling sixty-nine participants), appointed by the provost/vice chancellor of each institution, participated in the program.

 

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Collaboration, cooperation, competition, consortial arrangements, cross-disciplinary teams, colleagial alliances and communication guided the planning and development of the sessions. The planners believed that the task of "launching" distance education courses requires the expertise and efforts of many collaborative units. Campuses were encouraged to send teams consisting of faculty, instructional designers, technical experts and administrators. The planning committee itself was a cross-disciplinary team of faculty, administrators, and technical experts. To create a relevant program that addressed the needs of the teams the planners first scheduled telephone conference interviews with each team. This activity fostered communication and collaboration at the beginning stages of the agenda building process. Each team was asked the following questions:

 

  • What are your team's needs and expectations for the Symposium? 
  • What are your team's concerns about distance education? 
  • What are the barriers you see to implementing such activities on your campus? 
  • Has your group worked together as a team in the past? 
  • What types of instructional technologies do you have on your campus, and which ones do you wish to explore with your team during the Symposium? 
  • What courses/programs does your team wish to develop at the Symposium? 
The interviews helped the planners build an agenda with a balance between policy issues, distance learning theory and hands-on production experiences.

 

AGENDA BUILDING PROCESS

Building on two previous "Distance Education Faculty College Workshops" that the University of Wisconsin-Extension had offered, and on the feedback from the conference calls, a program with the following goals emerged that would: 
  • make participants aware of the instructional needs of the independent learner and nontraditional student, and of effective ways to meet those needs;
    • introduce the teams to a range of existing distance education courses already being offered by University of Wisconsin institutions; 
  • provide an opportunity to share and benefit from the experience and advice of participating colleagues; 
  • create an awareness of the spectrum of technology resources and support available in the University of Wisconsin System; 
  • enable participants to gain hands-on experiences by producing several short instructional sequences with a variety of technologies; 
  • assist participants in learning about the University of Wisconsin System- wide efforts to promote distance education as a way to meet the educational needs of the state; 
  • help participants gain a national and international overview of distance education activities and its impact on University of Wisconsin institutions; 
  • offer participants the opportunity to create cohesive working relationships among members of a campus-based course development team; 
  • establish a network of systemwide distance education colleagues; 
  • advise the University of Wisconsin System of additional efforts such as more specialized regional training workshops; revised policies on transfer, tuition and credit sharing; increased funding for acquisition of distance education technology; support of collaborative course development and other policy revisions that would increase faculty and staff interest in using technology for instruction.

 Thus, before the spring semester ended in June, the general concepts and an agenda for the Symposium were developed and shared with each team. Over summer break, team members received a Pre-Symposium Packet of resource materials to help them prepare for the Symposium which was scheduled to occur the last week in August.

 

RESOURCE AND REFERENCE MATERIALS

The Pre-Symposium Packet was mailed in July. It contained: an hour-long videotape that included interviews with a number of current University of Wisconsin distance education faculty having previous experience with distance education; an introduction to some of the various technologies currently being used by distance educators and a profile of a group of Pennsylvania State University distance education faculty/staff teams; three journal articles and the Symposium Agenda.

 The packet was intended to help the appointed faculty and staff build a basic level of background distance education knowledge prior to the Symposium. In early August, a follow-up letter with hotel information, roommate assignments, and parking instructions was sent out and the Planning Committee finalized the last details.

 

THE SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM

Day 1

 As they registered, each participant received a binder of materials which included an updated agenda; background information on the presenters; descriptions of plenary sessions, case study sessions, panels and the four hands-on technology lab sessions; selected journal articles; a bibliography of selected books, journals, and other articles; information about University of Wisconsin funding opportunities and a glossary of technical terms.

 Greeting participants on the first morning was a large bulletin board on which were posted the biographies and photographs that each had sent earlier in the summer.

 The Symposium began with a formal welcome from the University of Wisconsin System Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Chancellor of University of Wisconsin-Extension, both of whom stressed the themes of the system-wide commitment to distance education and the importance of institutional and interinstitutional collaborative efforts. "Extension survives and thrives because of its collaborative nature...It isn't the technology that is the prominent actor here. It is the knowledge that you have to share with others. Teams of you can accomplish those ends." (Wendy Wink, University of Wisconsin-Extension - Assistant Chancellor for Administration)*

 The remainder of the morning was devoted to a working session on distance education teaching and learning strategies, course design issues and ways to adapt the curriculum to technology.

 For the afternoon hands-on technology lab sessions, the sixteen teams were combined into eight interinstitutional groups. Each spent the remainder of the day and the next morning "experiencing" technologies: audiographics, two-way/compressed video, one-way video with two-way audio and computers. Each hands-on session was facilitated by a faculty member and technical experts who were familiar with the particular technologies.

 Day 2

 The hands-on technology lab sessions continued through the second morning. After lunch, the groups reconvened for another Plenary Session to discuss their experiences and the relationship between pedagogical and actual practice.

 Next came eight case study discussion sessions, each led by experienced University of Wisconsin distance education faculty. Participants had the opportunity to participate in two sessions each. The faculty presenters, some of whom had asked their media technicians to be co-presenters, addressed the following questions: 

  • How did I adapt my course for distance education? 
  • How has technology changed my way of teaching? 
  • How has distance education affected the way I relate to my students? 
  • What types of administrative and technical support services did I need? 
  • What worked and what did not work? 
  • How did my students react to distance education courses?

 That evening, after dinner, the teams identified three critical distance education issues that they wanted to raise with the top administration of University of Wisconsin System and University of Wisconsin-Extension. The issues that surfaced included: 

  • What is the overall plan for making distance education an academic and budgetary priority at the University of Wisconsin institutions? 
  • With the great need for human, fiscal, training and equipment resources, what are the plans for providing more of these resources to the institutions? 
  • Will distance education mandate that institutions service more students without a parallel increase in resources? 
  • University of Wisconsin grants encourage interinstitutional collaboration instead of competition; how will we reconcile this mode with our unique missions? 
  • What are the appropriate support roles for University of Wisconsin System, University of Wisconsin-Extension and the institutions?
"It occurs to me, as we think of distance education, we have to think about extending that collaborative model and there may be instances where an institution will collaborate with our institutions outside the UW System...gasp." (Katharine Lyall, University of Wisconsin System - President). The final morning session, entitled "Launching the Course: Where do we Go From Here?," began with a video presentation of the University of Maine's Distance Education Network. This was followed by a conversation on distance education by the President of the University of Wisconsin System, the Chancellor of University of Wisconsin-Extension and, via audioconference, the President of Maine's Distance Education Network. "What the new institution sees as its role...is to be complementary to the campuses and collaborate with them...to create new kinds of degrees that no one can create themselves that are collaborative...or to link campuses outside the state or outside the states...I think those kinds of collaborations are going to take place on a much larger scale." (George Connick, Maine Distance Education Network - President)*

 Questions that were formulated the evening before, as well as new questions from the audience, were addressed to this group of top institutional policy makers.

 This session was followed by a panel discussion among chancellors, vice- chancellors and deans from six University of Wisconsin campuses, who described their strategies for supporting distance education. "We are going to appoint four teams of people from different disciplines to look at computer-based distance programs and we will also award that cooperative thinking in our promotion tenure scheme as well." (Charles Sorenson, University of Wisconsin-Stout - Chancellor)*

 Information about further training opportunities and other follow-up activities concluded the formal portion of the program. This was followed by an open microphone debriefing session, during which participants were invited to share their comments verbally as well as via a written evaluation form.

 "It [Distance Education] offers new opportunities that have emerged in this conference to collaborate with other UW institutions and also, as we have heard today, with institutions beyond the UW." (Michael Offerman, University of Wisconsin-Extension - Associate Vice Chancellor)*

 

EVALUATION RESULTS

With an 85% return rate of the evaluation forms (fifty-nine of sixty-nine), the Distance Education Symposium received an overall rating of 3.03 on a 4.00 scale for reaching its goals.

 Highest ratings on goals were given to: hands-on experiences 3.86; benefiting from the experience and advice of colleagues and peers 3.40; having an opportunity to create a cohesive working relationship among team members 3.32 and becoming aware of the resources and support available in the UW System 3.24.

 Areas in which participants indicated that they would like more information were: becoming aware of the characteristics and needs of distant learners; gaining more knowledge about national and international distance education; learning more about systemwide efforts to promote distance education; establishing a network of systemwide colleagues and advising the University of Wisconsin System of other needed efforts to increase faculty interest.

 Of the fifty-nine participants who evaluated the Symposium, 78% found the Pre-Symposium Packet appropriate and useful. The level and amount of information of the Symposium itself were viewed by 81% as appropriate for their needs.

 In rating the hands-on technology lab experiences and case studies, the fifty-nine participants gave the hands-on technology lab experiences a 4.16 on a 5.00 scale and case studies an overall rating of 4.35.

 Of the hands-on technology lab experiences, compressed video received the highest rating with 4.31; followed by audiographics 4.20; video 4.08 and computers 4.05.

 

PARTICIPANT SUGGESTIONS

Constructive suggestions that participants had for future training included the following: 
  • more hands-on technology lab experiences; 
  • more in-depth structuring of a specified course; 
  • less on pedagogy and more on learner characteristics; 
  • more case study examples, with more strategies for teaching classes; 
  • address the implications of teaching with large numbers of students; 
  • provide program tracks for specific curricula or discipline areas; 
  • group the participants according to discipline areas; 
  • provide ongoing training sessions which include more examples from other University of Wisconsin institutions; 
  • use other campuses for training sessions;

    •  

  • more sessions via technology; 
  • more time to relax and discuss with peers; 
  • condense the Symposium into two days.

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AND NEXT STEPS

In response to the evaluations, recommendations were made to University of Wisconsin System and University of Wisconsin-Extension and led to the Planning Committee's next steps. These steps included a letter to all participants, in which the Planning Committee stated that it would keep participants apprised of follow-up training opportunities and new distance education and teleconferencing developments via an electronic Symposium Listserv. Through the Listserv, the Planning Committee will: 
  • set up a method for electronic dialogue and information dissemination; 
  • instruct in the use of the University of Wisconsin-Extension Gopher and Distance Education Clearinghouse; 
  • keep participants informed about plans for a meeting of representatives from each Symposium team to assess the Symposium 1994 team progress (via audioconference, compressed video or face-to-face); 
  • alert participants to ongoing training sessions;

    •  

  • as the state's appropriations for higher education are confirmed, keep participants informed about distance education funding and new opportunities.
Because of the interactive nature of the Symposium Listserv, participants could share ideas, questions and concerns with their Symposium colleagues on an ongoing basis.

 Another step was a Symposium Response Form, included with the letter, which invited Symposium participants to join the Listserv and asked the following questions: 

  • Do you have easy access to the Internet via e-mail? 
  • Are you interested in participating on the Symposium Listserv? If so, please provide your e-mail address. 
  • What are topics that you would like to discuss? 
  • What progress has your team made since the Symposium? 
  • What are your current distance education concerns? 
  • Do you have other comments and questions?
The Symposium Listserv will address the following types of topics which were identified by the participants as those of primary interest to them: 
  • descriptions of new and emerging technologies;

    •  

  • instructions for accessing the Internet and World Wide Web; 
  • checklists of teaching tips and techniques; 
  • success stories of case studies and best practices; 
  • knowledge of other faculty who would like to collaborate on projects and courses; 
  • discussion of instructional issues; 
  • lists of available training opportunities; 
  • update of funding sources; 
  • case studies that would include budgeting models; 
  • reviews of new trends; 
  • descriptions of new teaching models and newly developed courses.
The respondents also identified their current distance education concerns, which included the following: 
  • administrative issues; 
  • degree granting issues;

    •  

  • ongoing funding support; 
  • intercampus connectivity; 
  • the replacement of obsolete equipment; 
  • the migration of technology; 
  • the appropriate courses for use with the various technologies; 
  • coordinated distance education planning; 
  • regional missions of the universities and centers; 
  • internetwork relations throughout the system; 
  • the design of needs assessments; 
  • the development of student services and 
  • time to focus and reflect on distance education.
The Symposium Listserv will address these topics and concerns and will update participants on the progress of team projects, as well as point them to valuable distance education resources.

 

A COLLABORATIVE FUTURE

The emphasis on the themes of collaboration, cooperation, competition, consortial arrangements, cross-disciplinary teams, colleagial alliances and communication was ultimately successful. As a result, projects in process were reinforced or new projects were initiated. Here are a few examples: 
  • A five-campus nursing project has been in the planning stages for several years. The Universities of Wisconsin-Madison, Oshkosh, Milwaukee, Green Bay and Eau-Claire have worked to develop a Baccalaureate Degree Program for Registered Nurses. The August Symposium helped to provide valuable information and hands-on experiences for members of the nursing team. Continuing Education Extension has recently assisted the Nursing Project in writing a System grant to help with more intensive training. "The majority of our discipline have not had access to Baccalaureate Degrees. There are five schools of nursing...our challenge is to come up with a collaborative effort that will allow us to offer a degree in nursing to the 9,000 nurses who have indicated they want access to this degree." (Patricia Lasky, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing - Associate Dean)* 
  • Following the Symposium, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse developed and offered a successful distance education workshop for twenty faculty members. In addition, both faculty members who attended the August Symposium will be teaching distance education classes during the coming year. Professor Harold Hiebert, Educational Services and Professional Leadership, will teach via compressed video in the spring and Professor Leslee Poulton, Foreign Languages Department, will teach over the new fiber optic WONDERNET in the fall.
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison, with the assistance of Instructional Communications Systems, University of Wisconsin-Extension, has implemented two successful half-day Distance Education Orientation Workshops that have introduced additional faculty and staff to the potential of distance education and the array of available technologies. These sessions have stimulated inquiries for more in-depth training. 
  • The new fully operational distance education classroom at University of Wisconsin-Platteville was a direct result of the Distance Education Symposium. "We would not have the classroom if it hadn't been for the Distance Education Symposium," said Professor Joanne Wilson. "My experience at the Symposium swayed our decision to build it." This prototype project is one of the finest facilities in the state. Programming usage already averages twenty hours per week. 
  • The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire team, that attended the August Symposium has met and prepared recommendations for the Provost. In addition, team members have individually continued to explore distance education possibilities. Professor Ronald Mickel has also written a collaborative grant with Professor Pamela Gilbert of University of Wisconsin-Parkside to develop a team taught course. "It is a world of scarcity, it is a world of abundance and in this world we have to work together to accomplish our ends." (Wendy Wink, University of Wisconsin-Assistant Chancellor for Administration)* 
  • A Distance Education Symposium Interactive Electronic Newsletter (DESIEN) is proving to be very successful as a means of continuing to communicate with the participants and encourage enhanced linkages.

 These developments represent only a few of a growing number of the University of Wisconsin's distance education collaborative activities. As the colleagial network of faculty and staff is strengthened by addressing Symposium participant recommendations for important topics and current concerns on the newly developed Listserv, the Symposium Planning Committee is confident that projects will continue to emerge and play a central role in positioning the University of Wisconsin as a major player in distance education and teleconferencing for the 21st century.

 *All quotations are presentation excerpts from the August 1994 Distance Education Symposium.

 Dr. Rosemary M. Lehman received her Masters in Television and Media Criticism and her Ph.D. in Adult Learning and Distance Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At present she is Distance Education Specialist with Instructional Communications Systems, University of Wisconsin-Extension, Madison, Wisconsin. E-mail address: lehman@uwex.edu

 Dr. Patricia A. Takemoto received her Masters in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago and her Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois in Adult and Continuing Education. At present she is Special Assistant to the Senior Vice Presidents, University of Wisconsin System, Madison, Wisconsin. E-mail address: ptakemoto@ccmail.uwsa.edu

 This article is copyright (C) by Rosemary M. Lehman and Patricia A. Takemoto. All Rights Reserved. All commercial use requires permission of the author and the editors of this journal.

ISSN 1069-6792
  Lori Widzinski, Editor (widz@acsu.buffalo.edu)
  Revised: 08/27/98
  URL: http://wings.buffalo.edu/publications/mcjrnl/v4n1/wisconsin.html