Information Technology and Adult Learners at Empire State College

10.1002/ss.87 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 (102) ◽  
pp. 35-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia J. Lefor ◽  
Meg Benke ◽  
Evelyn Ting
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. p1
Author(s):  
Cynthia T. Bates ◽  
Julia Penn Shaw ◽  
Stephanie L. Thomas ◽  
John J. Lawless

This paper presents the Process Improvement Request System initiated at SUNY Empire State College as a case study for institutional change management. Through this system, employees can submit suggestions for improving any kind of institutional processes at the college using an Information Technology “ticketing” system like the one used for technical issues. These communications are addressed, tracked, and stored by the Process Improvement Committee which includes representatives from all areas of the college. The Process Improvement Request System addresses many critical goals including 1) the storage of process issues, concerns, and suggestions; 2) a mechanism for addressing these; 3) open access to all employees (and to students through employee representatives) to submit ideas; 4) the ability to make suggestions about all levels of process issues, from college wide to personnel specific; 5) anonymity for making a request when desired; and 6) a feedback loop about the effectiveness of new processes. In this paper, the essential aspects of this project are discussed and analyzed. The paper also enables readers to ascertain the viability of such a project at their campuses and invites them to reach out to the authors if they have questions about doing so.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Bliss ◽  
Betty Lawrence

Asynchronous text based discussion boards are included in many online courses, however strategies to compare their use within and between courses, from a disciplinary standpoint, have not been well documented in the literature. The goal of this project was to develop a multi-factor metric which could be used to characterize discussion board use in a large data set (n=11,596 message posts) and to apply this metric to all Mathematics courses offered in the January 2008 term by the Center for Distance Learning at Empire State College. The results of this work reveal that student participation rates, quantity of student posts, quality of student posts and the extent of threading are well correlated with instructor activity.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey Hsu ◽  
Karin Hamilton ◽  
John Wang

Information technology professionals comprise an important segment of adult learners seeking a four-year undergraduate degree, and it is important to provide programs that address not only the conceptual and theoretical, but also adult learning needs in terms of career orientation and practicality together with providing real-life applications relevant to the needs of the IT job marketplace. The techniques of employing distance learning, providing modular and practical learning segments, emphasizing adult-oriented learning preferences, engaging users toward learning, and providing appropriate course schedules and sequencing are discussed in the context of an actual adult learner program. This program integrates job and career-oriented needs with that of a well-rounded business education. Examples and illustrations are provided to illustrate how an adult-oriented program was customized to provide needs important to adult learners and IT professionals, with the objective of producing superior and useful learning results.


Author(s):  
Barrie E. Litzky ◽  
Effy Oz

This research examines the impact of education on the ethical decision-making outcomes of adult learners in the area of information technology (IT). This study sheds light on the research question “Does IT ethics education make a difference?”, and more specifically, “Do ethics courses influence decisions regarding IT ethical issues in adult learners?” In a field study of 78 pre- and post-test surveys, we found that graduate students who took a course in IT ethics made different decisions than those made at the start of the term, for 2 of 6 ethical issues. The ethical issues described in this article are particularly relevant in today’s knowledge economy. Implications for IT ethics education and future research in the area are discussed.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey Hsu ◽  
Karin Hamilton ◽  
John Wang

Information technology professionals comprise an important segment of adult learners seeking a four-year undergraduate degree, and it is important to provide programs that address not only the conceptual and theoretical, but also adult learning needs in terms of career orientation and practicality together with providing real-life applications relevant to the needs of the IT job marketplace. The techniques of employing distance learning, providing modular and practical learning segments, emphasizing adult-oriented learning preferences, engaging users toward learning, and providing appropriate course schedules and sequencing are discussed in the context of an actual adult learner program. This program integrates job and career-oriented needs with that of a well-rounded business education. Examples and illustrations are provided to illustrate how an adult-oriented program was customized to provide needs important to adult learners and IT professionals, with the objective of producing superior and useful learning results.


1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel V. Eastmond ◽  
Betty H. Lawrence

The Center for Distance Learning (CDL) at SUNY Empire State College offers over 100 undergraduate courses each term to approximately 2200 students located in New York State and throughout the country. These courses are delivered across a range of delivery formats—from tutor telephone and e-mail interaction with students to computer conferencing on the Web. To meet the increasing need for faculty to effectively incorporate computer network technology into its courses, CDL has developed useful instructional activities and materials. These resources outline various instructional design, development, delivery, and evaluation procedures for faculty to follow in using Internet technologies appropriately for student learning. This article presents a typology of delivery techniques and discusses how CDL has trained and supported its faculty with each type of technology.


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