May 10, 2002

Hi-tech tools power effective teaching

Associate Professor Frank Hirtz says he’s able to encourage students to focus on listening instead of writing while they’re in class because of Web-based tools provided through the My UCDavis portal. He and technology coordinator Tor Cross are among the campus’s advocates of using Web tools in the class, but both recognize technology’s limitations. Neil Michel/Axiom

By Ellen Chrismer

If Frank Hirtz had 25 students and a teaching assistant for his "Theories in Organizational Change" class, he wouldn’t need WebCT, or any other online tool designed to streamline the organization of college classes.

But Hirtz’s course – which examines the role of non-profit organizations in creating social change – has 51 students enrolled and no TA. And the associate professor of human and community development has a strong belief in student-centered learning.

Teams of students in the class develop Web pages on the role of nonprofits in social welfare programs. Students post them to Hirtz’s WebCT site. Then, through online discussion boards managed by WebCT, students critique the sites that describe the roles of programs such as Girl Scouts, Planned Parenthood and Sept. 11 assistance funds.

"WebCT allows me to do things in an undergraduate class that I would only do before in a very small graduate class," Hirtz said.

While WebCT will be phased out at the end of the quarter, the My UCDavis portal will soon offer many of the online interactive features that Hirtz and other faculty members have found make the business of teaching a course easier.

"My UCDavis is ideal for the person interested in posting a course Web page without wanting to figure out HTML. And that’s what a lot of our faculty need," said Tor Cross, coordinator of educational technology for the Teaching Resources Center.

Hirtz and others now also use My UC Davis – which is aligned with the campus’ student records system, Banner – to post grades, check up-to-date class enrollment figures and deliver class announcements.

WebCT was available to 40 faculty members in a two-year pilot program designed to find out which online course management tools professors found most helpful, says John Bruno, vice provost for Information and Educational Technology.

In April, the Academic Computing Coordinating Council, reviewed the pilot findings and concluded that the costs of maintaining WebCT were too prohibitive, given that the home-grown My UCDavis already can perform some of its class-management tasks.

Now the council will focus on expanding My UCDavis’ capabilities to eventually be at least the equal of any private-market program.

"I’m pretty comfortable with My UCDavis," said Associate Professor of Economics Kevin Salyer, who sits on the committee. "We just need to put some more resources there."

Through January, 144 instructors have posted course information on My UCDavis. Forty or so faculty members are using WebCT.

Faculty members now use the program to create online bulletin boards where students react to a "thread" of discussion. The instructors post online quizzes to help students assess how well they understand material. Once they score well on the practice quiz, students receive access to advanced information.

The software, among other features, also neatly packages online lectures – complete with graphics and animation – for UC Davis’ "virtual" classes, a pilot program that offers students the chance to "attend" the majority of their classes in a course from home.

"It allows students to access the course when it’s most convenient to them," said Becky Westerdahl, an associate professor of nematology who teaches an introductory virtual biosciences class. "They don’t say, ‘It’s after lunch, and I’m sleepy, and I don’t want to go to lecture.’"

Bruno said the computer council’s portal oversight committee planned to assemble a faculty group to help decide which features of WebCT to incorporate into UC Davis’ program. Already My UCDavis programmers are developing an online quiz component.

Bruno said he also is trying to develop a technical support system for faculty members using My UCDavis. Some faculty members have complained that’s been difficult to find this year.

"It would be really nice for all the support to occur at the department level," said Bruno, who envisions training staff members already charged with technical support in their departments to assist faculty members. He also is working on a transition plan to assist WebCT users who want to move their online course features into My UCDavis.

Even with the support, not all faculty members say they are sure whether they will use the course programs.

Andy Jones coordinates computer-aided instruction in the English Department. He says many faculty are still wary of tackling the technical challenges of implementing online instruction.

"For online technology to work, the benefits have to clearly justify the amount of time invested," Jones said.

Cross emphasizes that participation in online instruction is strictly voluntary.

"There is no ‘thou shalt use technology,’" she said. "The people who come to me are volunteers."

Whether the convenience that WebCT and My UCDavis provide make professors better teachers is up for students to decide, Westerdahl said.

"It’s an alternative," Westerdahl said. "I think students will tell us over time whether it works."

After some initial qualms about the system, students in his class are warming to the Web tools he uses, Hirtz says. A favorite online feature of theirs is a glossary template where Hirtz has defined terms from the world of non-profits such as "tax-exempt," and "in-kind contributions."

During class, "I can say to the students, ‘don’t keep writing; keep listening to what I say,’" he said.

As UC Davis develops its online tools, the key will be balance, Bruno said.