The New Core Business System:The New Core Business System:

Course Management SystemsCourse Management Systems

Fred SiffFred Siff

VP & CIO, Professor, ISVP & CIO, Professor, IS

University of CincinnatiUniversity of Cincinnati

October 2001October 2001

Copyright F.H.Siff, 2001. Copyright F.H.Siff, 2001. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided

that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the che copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the che copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

““We are the only major industry We are the only major industry that has not changed its primary that has not changed its primary product in the last 50 years.”product in the last 50 years.”

Joseph StegerJoseph Steger

PresidentPresident

Univ. of CincinnatiUniv. of Cincinnati

IT as a Strategic ResourceIT as a Strategic Resource

IT IT differentiatesdifferentiates businesses in the businesses in the Internet Age --Internet Age --

why not education?why not education?And why not at its core: the And why not at its core: the

classroom?classroom?

IT as a Strategic ResourceIT as a Strategic Resource

IT makes a difference in the business:first it was automating business functions:(student registration/patient admission) then it was reengineering business functions:(online student self-registration)

All this effort was aimed at the administrative systems of SIS, FIS, HR – back office operations -

the real business is teaching and learning (and research).It is time to make a difference there.

2001 Educause Current Issues Survey 2001 Educause Current Issues Survey

Issues Important to Institution's Strategic Success Issues Important to Institution's Strategic Success

1.1. Administrative Systems/ERPAdministrative Systems/ERP

2.2. IT Funding StrategiesIT Funding Strategies

3.3. Faculty Development, support & trainingFaculty Development, support & training

… …

Really?Really?

Why?Why?

Or is it?

Distributed LearningDistributed Learning

Analogous to distributed computing:Bring the learning environment to the learner,

removing constraints of time and location

Anywhere. Anytime. Anyplace. Learner-centered.

Not distance education.Real education.

As applicable to resident students as to anyone.

Re-inventing the ClassroomRe-inventing the Classroom

New information technologies allow varied educational delivery modes and models:

Not one size fits all.

Not one mode/model for all learners, for all subjects.

Consider a mix of learning modes and opportunities a different - maybe better - educational “product.”

No Longer One ModelNo Longer One Model

Coursework ranging from on-campus (e.g., seminars, laboratory sessions, small classes) to on-line (e.g., one way, fact-based large lecture), where the learning mode is based on the coursework, the learner and the teacher.

Coursework ranging from web-enhanced to web-enabled, from physical to virtual.

The new modes enable more complex (and effective) connections.

(One possible) Future:(One possible) Future: the Virtual Classroom the Virtual Classroom

Create online interactive “virtual” classroom.Samples:

EventsCommencementJust community

ClassesEngineering World Music Medical School

Necessary, interrelated Necessary, interrelated componentscomponents

Faculty supportfor engaging in new modes of instruction

Student accessto the course materials(both of the above have cultural aspects beyond the technical…)

Classroom environmentsoff campus, necessary structures and availability

on campus, rooms with data projectors, internet access, etc.

Two of three is not enough.Two of three is not enough.

Challenges

Change higher education?Outside the box (physical classroom) thinking?Varied owners of intellectual property?Competition in education?Administrative systems that support variable calendars and procedures?New learning markets?A .edu with the entrepreneurial speed & risk of a .com? And funding, of course: this all costs real dollars.

Elements of an institutional strategy

Faculty: buy-in, mutual support, service centerStudents: orientation, useful portal, focus groupsFaculty Senate: endorsement, e.g. via resolutionPresident & Cabinet: fundingProvost: bully pulpit part of dean & faculty performance reviewsBoard of Trustees: awareness Public Info. Office: portal endorsement & designCentral IT: have a good system (e.g., Bb) and support it as a mission critical, bullet-proof core business system

University of Cincinnati University of Cincinnati InitiativesInformation Technology considered a strategic resource.Serious, enterprise use of course management system (Blackboard) to establish a comprehensive learning space.

Faculty Senate, Cabinet & Board of Trustees support.Treatment as mission critical, bullet-proof core business system.

Faculty Technology Resources Center – as a service center.Classroom rehabilitation Internet readiness.Access – wireless, at residence and remote deployments.Funding and support of ongoing distributed learning in the various colleges and on an individual basis everywhere.

The goal: momentum, creativity, energy -- and support -- for new models of teaching and learning.

“Education will be the next ‘killer app’ on the Internet”

Course management as killer app?

New course management systems are too important -- and too powerful -- to be relegated to “academic computing.” They are category-killers: killer apps that can transform the business –if deployed strategically, not tactically.

(It doesn’t have to be Internet Explorer 6 with streaming video to be a killer app. Mosaic wasn’t all that slick – but it opened possibilities. VisiCalc too. So do course management systems.)

Integrated PDA’s, cell phones, laptops and such, all running a course management/learning environment system are not far off. (Neither was QuattroPro and then Excel.) Start now.

Blackboard.uc.edu