eLearning: The Impact of the Internet on Higher Education

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e-LearningThe Impact of the Internet on Higher
Education

• Prof. Burks Oakley II
• Assoc. Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Director, University of Illinois Online
• University of Illinois
• October 26, 1999

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Moores Law
1987 Cray-1 Cost 8,000,000 60,000 watts of
power
1997 Nintendo 64 Cost 149
5 watts of power 3.5 x as many
additions/sec.
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Exponential Growth
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The Three Revolutions in Higher Education

• Land-Grant College Act of 1862 (Morrill Act)
• Community colleges Illinois Junior College
  Act of 1965
• The Internet the personal computer (PC) World
  Wide Web Mosaic browser 1993

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What can the Internet provide?

• Access to learning opportunities
• Interactive course materials
• Simulations, multimedia, visualization
• Homework and quizzes
• Access to people
• Subject matter experts (faculty)
• Other students (peer-peer group interactions)

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Enabling Technologies

• Ubiquitous personal computers with Internet
  access
• World Wide Web browsers (Mosaic, Netscape,
  Internet Explorer)
• Asynchronous conferencing (WebBoard)
• Synchronous chat (AOL I.M.)
• Streaming media (RealAudio, RealVideo)
• Simulation software, VR, Java

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University of Illinois

• One university with three campuses
• Chicago
• Springfield
• Urbana-Champaign

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What are we doing?

• The Internet has created a new medium for
  connecting people to the University of Illinois
• University of Illinois Online initiative

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What is U of I Online?

• Focus on computer-based communication via the
  Internet
• public-service information
• short courses
• regular courses
• professional development sequences
• certificate programs
• degree programs

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U of I Online

• Primary focus on continuing education and
  masters degree programs
• Well-defined market
• Self-motivated, focused, sophisticated learners
• Address the needs of underserved citizens of the
  State of Illinois
• Deliver programs in high demand

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Examples of U of I Online Programs

• M.S. in Engineering, M.I.S., and Library and
  Information Science
• M.Ed. in Education
• B.A. in Liberal Studies
• Master of Health Professions Education
• Health Professions Education Initiative
• See http//www.online.uillinois.edu/

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UIUC Library and Information Science

• LEEP3 scheduling option (MS degree)
• Began with 31 students in Fall 1996
• From as far away as Alaska and Vermont
• Average age was 41 years old
• Currently 55 in-state and 59 out-of-state
  students enrolled
• 44 students have completed MS degree

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UIUC Library and Information Science

• Students have enrolled from Illinois and 36 other
  states, Virgin Islands, DC
• Canada, France, Colombia, Japan, and Thailand
• Faculty has grown by 3.5 FTE
• Budget has increased by 350,000

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LEEP3
Support from both faculty and staff has been
excellent the materials offered have proven to
be both timely and useful and the student
support community that has developed has proven
to be important to me both academically and
personally.
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Growth of U of I Online

• 1997-98 -- 68 online courses, approximately 1300
  course enrollments
• 1998-99 -- more than 150 online courses,
  estimated 3500 course enrollments
• Our goal is to have more than 10,000 course
  enrollments by 2001-02.

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Other uses of the Internet in Illinois higher
ed.

• Place-bound and time-restricted adult learners
  need access to education
• The Internet now can provide such access in a way
  never before possible
• No single institution can deliver all of the
  courses and programs needed statewide

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Illinois Virtual Campus

• Four institutions (University of Illinois,
  College of Lake County, Sauk Valley Community
  College, and Waubonsee Community College)
  submitted a HECA proposal to IBHE, which was
  funded in September 1998 to create the Illinois
  Virtual Campus (IVC).
• Year two will began on Sept. 1, 1999.

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http//www.ivc.illinois.edu/
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Participation

• All IBHE-recognized institutions of higher
  education in Illinois are eligible to participate
  as provider institutions for the IVC. To date,
  gt40 colleges have listed their courses and
  programs in the IVC online catalog.
• All 40 community college districts now have
  Student Support Centers.

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e-LearningThe Impact of the Internet on Higher
Education
Prof. Burks Oakley II Assoc. Vice President for
Academic Affairs University of Illinois e-mail
oakley_at_uillinois.edu web http//www.online.uilli
nois.edu/oakley/