UCLA puts Next Generation Learning Challenges grant into improving online instruction pilot program
Web-ucation
Professors have proposed methods of maintaining instructional quality in online courses.
"¢bull; Provide video lectures from current professors
"¢bull; Take advantage of computer programs, including graphics and animation
"¢bull; E-sections, where teaching assistants answer student questions over the internet
"¢bull; Virtual office hours for professors
"¢bull; Active participation in an experiment online
SOURCE: Jan de Leeuw and Susanne Lohmann, UCLA statistics professor and political science professor
Compiled by Molly Montgomery, Bruin contributor.
By molly montgomery
April 8, 2011 2:21 a.m.
Students will be able to take online classes from UCLA and other UC campuses starting as early as next year through the UC Online Instruction Pilot Project.
On Thursday, the University of California received a grant of $748,000 from the Next Generation Learning Challenges Program, UC officials said.
The grant, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will finance the development of 10 online courses. The goal of the online project is to provide UC students with high-quality online classes while at the same time researching the effectiveness of online learning, said Daniel Greenstein, the vice provost for academic planning, programs and coordination at the University of California Office of the President.
If the pilot is successful, the UC hopes to expand online classes to students at other universities, and eventually to the general public, Greenstein said. The classes will be available for students to take by January 2012, but some may even be able earlier.
It takes $75,000 to develop each course, Greenstein said. The project’s planning team is also applying for more grant funding from the National Science Foundation and other organizations. They have arranged loan funding from the university in the meantime.
Last fall, faculty members from the UC system submitted 71 proposals for potential online classes, Greenstein said. Of those, 29 were picked to be developed.
Most of the courses are introductory lower division courses or general education classes, which often do not have enough spots for all the students who want to take them, Greenstein said.
Five UCLA professors had their proposals selected. Jan de Leeuw, a statistics professor, is collaborating with professors at UC Riverside and UC Irvine to develop an online introductory statistics course for the pilot.
The statistics department already provides an online course during the summer, but the pilot course would take online learning to another level, Leeuw said.
Another professor, Susanne Lohmann, who is developing an online course called “Ethics and Governance,” said she believes that online classes, in the right format, could be a better option for students than large lower division lectures, which she said had a “factory aspect.”
Lohmann uses surveys and ethical games to actively involve students in learning, and her methods are much easier over the Internet, she said.
These activities lend themselves to online classes because they can be conducted more quickly, and since the classes are larger, the results will be more statistically significant, she said.
However, Lohmann said she is convinced that online classes will never be better than Socratic-style seminars because of the value of live class discussion.
Greenstein said the pilot program will not be a move toward online degrees. Students will be able to take some classes online, but for the majority of classes, they will still need to show up in person.
Fees for the online classes will be the same as regular courses, but the classes could help students graduate earlier and reduce the amount of time they spend on campus, Greenstein said.
