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ACCELerated Evening College to go hybrid
July 24, 2003 | |||||
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KOKOMO, Ind.—IU Kokomo is expanding its hybrid program of combined online and in-class instruction, designed especially for adult students. This fall, half of all ACCELerated Evening College classes will employ the hybrid format. It reduces the number of hours students spend in a classroom, by allowing them to access course materials and activities via the World Wide Web at times convenient to them. As opposed to instruction offered only online, “hybrids have the advantage of always having live instruction,” an option preferred by both students and faculty, said Fred Hakes, director of the Division of Continuing Studies. “The vision is for courses to be taught 50 percent face-to-face and 50 percent over the Web through Oncourse, IU’s online course management system.” “Our goal is to have a fully hybrid adult evening program leading to the bachelor’s degree in General Studies by fall 2005,” added Stuart Green, vice chancellor for academic affairs. “We plan to create 30 hybrid courses, including our new Certificate in Entrepreneurial Studies.” IU Kokomo’s five-year-old ACCELerated Evening College (previously called ACCEL) began in response to a survey of potential adult students. “They indicated that they had only about 11 hours per week to spend on their education but still wanted to complete a bachelor’s degree as rapidly as possible,” said Green. Evening courses previously had been delivered in a standard 15-week term; taking one course per semester, students could earn six credits per year. The ACCEL program reduced classes to 8-week terms, while expanding individual class periods from two-and-a-half hours to four-and-a-half hours. Student could take two ACCEL courses a semester, and earn up to 18 credits per year. Despite the initial attraction to adult students, the long four-and-a-half-hour classes drained faculty and students alike. At the same time, more faculty and students at IU Kokomo had begun to use Oncourse. These factors led to the hybrid format. Professor of Psychology Sharon Calhoon, Ph.D., said that she and other faculty teaching hybrid classes often have students join online threaded discussions, in which students pose questions and comments regarding assigned readings. “I monitor the students’ discussion daily, and post appropriate responses,” she said. “I have some online activities—such as brief streaming-audio lectures accompanied by PowerPoint® slides—for students to view or listen to.” Teaching his first hybrid format course this summer, Lecturer in Psychology Robert Wildblood, Ph.D., had students take tests and do research online. “I like this method,” Wildblood said. “I’ll use more [online instruction] in my fall Psychology 103 course.” The hybrid format “gets students more familiar with things you can do on a computer, which is a real plus in middle- to upper-level jobs today,” he said. “It opens up the educational opportunity for people who don’t think that they can give up an entire day away from home and family.” For more information on ACCELerated Evening College, call (765) 455-9395 or (800) 991-1459, or visit www.iuk.edu/scs.
Fred Hakes, Stuart Green and Sharon Calhoon will present details of the ACCELerated Evening College hybrid program at an international conference on online learning November 14–16 in Orlando, Fla. The 9th Annual Sloan-C International Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks is expected to draw more than 500 participants, representing college faculty, private sector trainers and designers of instructional technology.
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