1	Addressing Diversity through Online Inter-Institutional Class Collaborations
2	Higher Education Collaboration Inter-Institutional Collaboration via web Common modes Guest speakers – any time / anywhere Time/geographic boundaries no longer matter Faculty exchanges – without leaving campus Student exchanges – without leaving dorms Joint degree programs – seamless Joint faculty appointments – Shared laboratories, libraries (OCLC), and learning objects , and collaborative writing
3	Collaboration Modes
4	University of Illinois at Springfield Established in 1970; became a campus of the University of Illinois in 1995 4,700 students First online class in fall 1998 Rapid online growth of ~30%/year Fourteen online degree programs Extensive system of faculty support - OTEL Stipends, formal classes, one-on-one pedagogical support, technical support, array of synchronous and asynchronous online tools ~12% minority enrollment
5	Chicago State University Founded in 1867 Rich history and heritage in Cook County 7,200 students Began distance learning in 1999 CSU Online Initially with eCollege Converted to Blackboard in 2001 Collaborated with UIS in faculty and staff development in online learning in 2001 ~94% minority enrollment
6	CSU/UIS HECA State of Illinois Board of Higher Education – Higher Ed Cooperation Act Grant in 2001 began a continuing partnership (SBC Match Gift) Technical training for staff Pedagogical training for faculty Exchange visits to two campuses Blackboard 2004 – partnership matured into a true collaborations in online classes Goal – engage urban/minority and rural/white perspectives in classes
7	Administrative Arrangements Students enroll at home institution Blackboard approved sharing since same-level licenses between campuses Elluminate license not restrictive Faculty members receive stipend from grant for extra efforts in collaborations Faculty members grade own students Negotiate a shared syllabus Exceptions noted as needed for campus-specific requirements
8	CSU/UIS Fall ‘04 K-12 pre-service and in-server educators UIS EDL 547 / CSU T&ED 394/G Shari McCurdy / Patrice Boyles 20 UIS students / 8 CSU students 6 week long project Synchronous – Elluminate Bi-weekly to weekly interactions among students and faculty members in planning and implementing technology survey project
9	CSU/UIS Spring 2005 Internet and American Life class UIS PAC 442 / CSU OC-Ed 391.51 Ray Schroeder / Charles Savitt 29 UIS students / 6 CSU students Full semester – team taught – merged discussions Asynchronous – Blackboard Synchronous – Elluminate Daily to weekly interactions among students and faculty members on the impact of the Internet in urban and rural lives
10	CSU/UIS Spring 2005 Collaborations expand Stipends offered ($1,500 / $575) Website created to pair faculty members Partnerships expanded African American Studies / English Public Affairs / Education Biology / Philosophy (ethics) Biology / Public Health (AIDS) Full semester length collaborations launched for merged online classes
11	CSU/UIS/NEIU Fall ‘05- Spring ‘06 New partner added Fall 2005 Northern Illinois University “most ethnically diverse university in Midwest” 49% Caucasian, 25% Hispanic, 12% African Co-class instruction Spring 2006
12	UIS/CSU/NIEU 2006-2007 Educational Technology K-12 Latino Studies Art and Teacher Ed Kick-off teaching partnership pairings this week
13	CSU-UIS-NEIU 2006-2007 Inter-institutional class development of a cultural diversity class Continued teaching partnerships Expanded training at all three campuses
14	Blackboard Discussions
15	Best Practices Asynchronous Establish licensing constraints with vendors Begin faculty joint planning at least one full semester before offering Confer on teaching styles and important areas of instruction for each individual Review assessment options and priorities Work out details of responding to students in advance Which faculty member responds at what time to which students (anytime? All?) Pre-plan how to handle disagreements between students – disagreements between faculty Establish parallel schedules for responses, posting of grades, etc. Plan for plenty of sidebar discussions via email/phone between faculty members
16	Elluminate
17	Best Practices Synchronous Establish license and vendor restrictions (if any) Establish netiquette for the classroom ahead of time Be sure class is well prepared to use the tools Allow participants extra time prior to session start to perform audio/video tests Make sure user privileges are as equal as possible Establish recording procedures (at least for Elluminate which doesn’t automatically record.) Plan for plenty of sidebar discussions via email/phone between faculty members Understand that there may be students who could be overwhelmed by the need to speak into a microphone and hear their own voice. Open classroom to avoid scheduling problems Consider using asynchronous tools to assist in organizing
18	Expanding Collaborations UIS/CSU/NEIU UIS / CSU / Columbia NYC – March 2005 Synchronous session joining students and faculty from Internet and American Life at UIS/CSU with class in Computer Mediated Communication at Columbia Students in NY, IL, CA, FL, Taiwan UIS / Lesley / CSU / SDSU UIS / Warsaw School of Economics Merged class fall semester 2005
19	Future of Collaborations Digital online collaborations in higher education Breaking down geographic, cultural, and institutional barriers Promoting diversity - broader understanding Sharing resources – laboratories, libraries, hardware, software, and more Sharing faculty and staff expertise Offering under-enrolled classes Stretching the curriculum
20	Resources Webliography http://online.uis.edu/collaboration/ Collaboration Sign-up http://online.uis.edu/partners/uis
21	Contact Information Ray Schroeder, Director Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning University of Illinois at Springfield schroeder.ray @uis.edu -- Shari McCurdy, Associate Director Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning University of Illinois at Springfield mccurdy.shari@uis.edu
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