Distance Education

Introduction

In today's technological world there are more and diverse venues in which to obtain education then ever before. Now we are not limited to on-site instruction, but rather new means are being developed continually to allow us to provide instruction to distinct audiences, in different locations, at dissimilar times, and in diverse venues. Over the past 30 years, Iowa State has developed and enhanced its distance education capabilities, and the Colleges of Education and Family and Consumer Sciences have been leaders in that endeavor. In the current draft copy of the 2005 Board of Regents Strategic Plan for Distance Education, it states, "...stressing the importance of distance education, and the reputation of each institution form the basis of distance education offerings. Distance education is part of the total programmatic course and program offerings of each institution... Distance education initiatives are included within the missions of Regent institutions and the Board strongly encourages Regent institutions to anticipate and meet consumer needs by offering courses and programs through distance education technology....In addition to formal credit classes, distance education provides short-term courses for professionals to advance their practice with new knowledge and skills. In many cases, these units are used to maintain professional licensure. There is increasing interest in and availability of continuing education units."

Summary of Distance Education in the former Colleges of Education and Family and Consumer Sciences

According to the ISU Continuing Education and Communication Services office, the College of Education (COE) lead the University in courses taught by distance education in 2004-2005 and also in the number of students who were enrolled in those classes. Of the students who were taking long-distance education classes at Iowa State in 2004-2005, 38% of them took classes from the departments that now form the College of Human Sciences.

Of the 6,183 students enrolled in ISU distance education courses for credit during the 2004-2005 academic year, 2,349 took courses taught by family and consumer science and education professors. Enrollment in this College exceeded all others and was much higher than that of Liberal Arts and Sciences (1,469), which had the next highest number of students. Distance education courses in the founding colleges that make up the College of Human Sciences increased 18% from the enrollment in 2001-2002 (1,987).

Two of the three departments in the College of Education and all of the departments in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences taught distance and continuing education courses last year. Many of these classes were graduate courses, however undergraduate and non-credit courses were also offered. The distance education offerings by the founding colleges of CHS has expanded over the years. Table 1 show the growth in credit courses over the past three years.

Semester	Family and Consumer Sciences				Education
	Number Courses	Credit Hours			Number Courses	Credit Hours
	Number Courses	UnderG	Grad	Total	Number Courses	UnderG	Grad	Total
Fiscal Year - 2003
Summer, 2002	23	639	274	913	40	3	980	983
Fall, 2002	21	779	247	1,026	20	8	657	665
Spring, 2003	22	787	183	970	22	8	727	735
Total	66	2,205	704	2,909	82	19	2,364	2,383
Fiscal Year - 2004
Summer, 2003	25	666	367	1,033	29	9	814	823
Fall, 2003	30	502	323	825	20	3	672	675
Spring, 2004	30	586	282	868	30	88	846	934
Total	85	1,754	972	2,726	79	100	2,332	2,432
Fiscal Year - 2005
Summer, 2004	38	723	652	1,375	35	11	935	946
Fall, 2004	32	410	442	852	29	4	781	785
Spring, 2005	35	765	478	1,243	36	6	683	689
Total	105	1,898	1,572	3,470	100	21	2,399	2,420

Distance courses in the Colleges of Education and Family and Consumer Sciences have been taught using various educational strategies and employing numerous delivery technologies. Our distance courses have been delivered via the Iowa Communication Network (ICN), the Web, videotape, as well as face-to-face delivery at off-campus sites. Table 2 shows the academic credit programs, 2004-2005, now located in the College of Human Sciences and the type of delivery method used in each, as reported in the 2005 Regent University Distance Education Report Form (June 29, 2005).

Degree or Certificate	Program Major	Delivery Methods
CDCC	Certificate of Dietetics Communication and Counseling	Web
CDM	Certificate of Dietetics Management	Web
Certificate	Certificate of Family Financial Planning	Web
FCP	Financial Counselor Certification	Web
CGERON	Gerontology Certificate	Web
MFCS	Master of Family & Consumer Sciences	Web
ME CIT	Master in Education with specialization in Curriculum and Instruction	Web and Face-to-face
MSVFCEDS PhD	M.S., M.Ed., or Ph.D. in Family & Consumer Science Education	Web and Face-to-face
CAS	Certificate of Advanced Studies – Superintendent Certification	Iowa Communications Network
BS	Bachelor of Science (George Washington Carver Teacher Education Program)	Face-to-face
DI	Dietetics Internship	Face-to-face
MEEL	Master of Education in Educational Leadership	Face-to-face
MSM	Master of School Mathematics	Iowa Communications Network and Face-to-face
PhD EL	Doctorate in Educational Leadership	Face-to-face
Certificate	Certificate in Empowerment Skills for Family Workers	Face-to-face
M EHE	Master of Education in Higher Education	Face-to-face

In addition to distance education courses for credit, the College of Human Sciences leads all other colleges, by a substantial margin, in enrollments in non-credit course registrations. Of the total 432,975 university non-credit enrollments in 2004-2005 64% were in the founding colleges of the College of Human Sciences. The reporting of these data are by CIP code numbers, but taking those numbers related to the disciplines covered in family and consumer sciences and education it is clear to see that the College has been actively involved in non-credit classes for the citizens of Iowa and the world.

Specific Examples of Activities In Distance Education within the College of Human Sciences

Iowa Virtual Academy
It would be our hope that the College of Human Sciences plans to continue to lead the University in the area of distance education. We anticipate that the growth in the number of courses offered will continue. The various departments in the college are committed to expanding both our graduate and undergraduate education, our non-credit course offerings, and meeting the needs of our students through distance education. The courses in our programs are widely accepted and that expansion should continue because the needs still exist, and are even expanding.

There are several new programs in the new college that will undoubtedly cause growth in the distance education area. One such program is the Iowa Virtual Academy Online Laboratory Classes. High quality distance education, coordinated through the emerging Iowa Virtual Academy, promises to provide some solutions to the nationwide shortage of science teachers in Iowa.

Dr. Niki Davis and Dr. Dale Niederhauser from Iowa State University's Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching (CTLT) are collaborating with Iowa Public Television on a project funded by the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust. CTLT is researching a range of good practice, including the problematic topic of lab activities, to inform development of the Iowa Virtual Academy and related practice in high schools and colleges across the state. In addition, Lynette McGregor, science educator in the Biology Department of Wartburg College and Dr. John Pleasants in ISU Biology Department lead the first web-based labs with high school students in a special section of ISU Biol 109 in Spring 2004. Science teacher, Gail Wortmann, Iowa's 2001 Teacher of the Year from Ottumwa High School, has worked on further course and professional development with three master science teachers for the Iowa Virtual Academy.

The picture below illustrates a case study of good practice in chemistry education where Mr. Baier teaches one section of his chemistry class in Griswold High School along with a second section in another High School in southwest Iowa.

Master of Education at a Distance
The Master of Education at a Distance, that brings educators together over distance with specialization in curriculum and instructional technology, is designed to help Iowa teachers to become leaders in technology integration into teaching and learning environments. The delivery of the program is suitable to educators who are unable to attend classes in the traditional university setting.

This three-year program consists of 32 credits and it is offered in a cohort environment, The program includes many of the same courses offered on-campus and taught by C&I faculty. The courses use flexible formats and often include a combination of face-to-face and web based environments. Technology allows much of the program to be delivered to distant learners anywhere and anytime.

Tech*Know
Another relatively new distance education program is known as Tech*Know. Recently we started a new math and science education initiative for secondary teachers. In the past, more than 170 teacher were on waiting lists for two off-campus courses: Pedagogical Applications of Engineering Concepts in the K-12 Classroom (C&I 522X) and Engineering Mechanics for Teachers (EM 322X). These and four other courses are a collaborative development that is part of a National Science Foundation grant. The program is helping to introduce teachers to "hands-on" engineering experiments that showcase mathematical and scientific concept into the classroom. The courses were first offered as summer workshops in 2000 and then via distance education starting in the spring of 2001. The engineering course is also offered on CD-ROM and the education class is delivered over the ICN.

Toying With Technology and other similar programs have been developed and are being expanded to assist current science teachers to make an impact on their K-12 classrooms. These classes, workshops, and activities are designed to effectively teach science concepts using activity-based instruction. Students use components such as LEGOs and robotic part to construct bridges, computer-controlled robots, and motorized cars. The life sciences are also involved and are developing interesting new ways to teach biology and chemistry. Many of these new methods of effectively teaching science are being presented to teachers through courses that are taught at a distance.

Masters of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.)
Another new program is a Masters of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) degree that is being offered through the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

The Iowa Department of Education has designated all grade 7-12 science subjects as "teacher shortage areas." With accelerating retirements, and the unacceptably high rate of teacher attrition, an urgent need exists in Iowa to prepare excellent secondary science teachers in a timely, but effective manner. The primary goal of the M.A.T. program is to attract, prepare, and retain highly qualified secondary science teachers. The M.A.T. is a professional degree program that, in addition to licensure, produces highly prepared teachers and life-long learners who will be immediately compensated for their expertise when hired to teach. The better pay M.A.T. recipients will immediately earn will attract prospective teachers to the program, reward them for their efforts and life-experiences, and make more likely their remaining in the classroom. It is anticipated that some of the courses in this program will be taught via distance education and using the Web.

Science Cooperatives
"Science Cooperatives" is a program that includes a major grant from NSF and includes 1500 teachers from 36 school districts across Iowa and Missouri. The program focuses on both content and pedagogical updating for elementary teachers. Teachers learn about, implement and evaluate the use of inquiry-based science teaching methods through the use of multi-site interactive television. The ICN has been used as a component of the professional development program and it is anticipated that this will expand as teachers from more rural locations become involved.

Master of Family and Consumer Sciences
The College of Human Sciences offers a Master of Family and Consumer Sciences (MFCS) degree with several options. Graduate students may complete a comprehensive curriculum, or specialize in Dietetics, Family Financial Planning, Food and Lodging Management, Human Development and Family Studies, Gerontology, Nutrition, or Textiles and Clothing. The MFCS-comprehensive program may be taken on campus or via distance education. Many of the graduate courses that had been available only via the Iowa Communications Network (ICN)-and only available to people in Iowa with access to an ICN site-have been converted to Web-based internet courses, using WOI grant funds. (WOI was a television station that had been owned by ISU and was sold by the Regents a few years ago. Funds from the sale have been available in grant form for projects to improve distance education.) As the courses have been converted to Web-based delivery, the program has become accessible to students beyond the Iowa borders.

GP-IDEA Collaboration
In 1994 a group of academic administrators from human sciences programs at several land-grant institutions in the Midwest examined innovative ways to deliver graduate level human sciences-related programs by using distance education technologies and sharing faculty. The Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (GP-IDEA) has evolved to its current status as a premier post-baccalaureate distance education collaboration that provides inter-institutional masters degrees and graduate certificates and develops policy and practice models for inter-institutional distance education programs. The following is a URL for an article published in the Journal of Higher Education Review (2003) about GP-IDEA:
http://www.gpidea.org/alliance/ResourceCenter/UCEAarticle.pdf

The ISU College of Family and Consumer Sciences has been a key player in GP-IDEA since its inception. The associate dean for research and graduate education is a member of the GP-IDEA board of directors. GP-IDEA contracted with Iowa State University to develop a shared database that is used to track student enrollments and registrations.

GP-IDEA currently offers graduate programs in Family Financial Planning, Gerontology, Youth Development, Merchandising, and Community Development. The Family Financial Planning program began taking students in fall 2000 and the Gerontology program began in fall of 2003. Currently there are 40 active FFP students and 13 active Gerontology students. The FFP program has had 7 students complete either the master's program or graduate certificate, whereas and the Gerontology program graduated its first master's student in summer, 2005.

Sara Carlson, the administrative specialist for Dan Russell, currently acts as the ISU GP-IDEA campus coordinator, assisting in the enrollment of students into these programs and course registration. She also registers students from the new ISU interdisciplinary graduate studies major in Community Development, using the GP-IDEA database. Faculty members from Iowa State are currently participating in interinstitutional groups developing distance education graduate programs in Dietetics and Family and Consumer Sciences Education and Studies. There is a toll free line in the Human Sciences dean's office dedicated to graduate distance education. We receive approximately 3-5 inquiries either via telephone or e-mail about the MFCS-comprehensive, FFP, and Gerontology distance programs each day. The FFP program website had 906 hits, the MFCS-comprehensive program website had 339 hits, and the Gerontology program website had 230 hits during the month of May.

There is a currently a shortage of FCS-certified teachers and a shortage of FCS teacher training programs. Many inquiries received from individuals about graduate level distance education in the College of Human Sciences are from working professionals looking to add FCS certification to their teaching licenses. These individuals are seeking distance education programs from a prestigious institution to accomplish these goals. Since working professionals in many areas of education are looking to progress in their careers while continuing to work full time, the need for quality distance education graduate programs remains unmet. We believe that the College of Human Sciences can go far to meet the needs of educators and other working professionals in this area.

Conclusion

These are only a few of the new initiatives that are being introduced or expanded at the present time. Through these and other distance education activities, ISU's College of Human Sciences' high-quality programs will expand and grow. Given the competitiveness of educational venues and the expanding new markets, it is important that Iowa State University develop its distance programs. Working together, the seven colleges and CECS will be able to respond to these new challenges.