Electronic courseware in higher education (US)

Electronic courseware in higher education
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_9/minielli/
Maureen C. Minielli & S. Pixy Ferris
Paper received 31 May 2005; accepted 5 August 2005.
* A version of this paper was presented at the International Communication Association’s Annual Convention, in New York City in May 2005. However the paper does not appear in conference proceedings, nor has it been previously published in any form.

Abstract:

The rising costs of education often lead to the call for a change from the traditional, space–and–time bound institutions to ones that offer increasingly cost–effective, technologically enhanced programs. As institutions of higher education turn to technology, primarily Internet–based, to address these challenges, the use of electronic courseware is dramatically increasing. In order to effectively utilize electronic courseware in the classroom, educators not only need to be aware of terminology, functions, and uses of the most popular types of electronic courseware, but also (and perhaps more importantly) educators need to develop and critique pedagogically based research that can, at the broader level, help educators at various levels of technological expertise learn and adapt their teaching styles to maximize student learning.

In this paper we consider electronic course management systems from a pedagogical perspective, with the goal of aiding educators to effectively utilize electronic courseware in the classroom. By discussing the basics (such as terminology, functions, and uses of the most popular types of electronic courseware) and examining pedagogically based research we hope, at the broader level, to help educators at various levels of technological expertise learn and adapt their teaching styles to maximize student learning.

The growth of electronic courseware

Since their development eight years ago, the use of electronic courseware has dramatically increased (Angelo, 2004) to the point that it has become an essential feature of instructional technology at institutions of higher education (Warger, 2003). Today 94 percent of American colleges and universities use at least one type of electronic courseware for distance education and/or as a supplement to the traditional classroom (Market Data Retrieval, 2003). And two–thirds of faculty members who initially use a CMS continue to do so for future courses (Morgan, 2003).

While electronic courseware is used as much for traditional classroom courses as distance courses (Warger, 2003), it is undeniable that the expansion of e-learning has paralleled the growth of electronic courseware (as electronic courseware is the platform for distance education). Today distance education or e–learning is an integral part of the landscape of higher education. Recent data shows that over 1.9 million students in the U. S. were studying online in the Fall of 2003, and 97.6 percent of all public higher education institutions in the U.S. offered online learning degree programs and courses (either in online or hybrid/blended formats). Equally significant, a projected growth in online enrolment of 20 percent a year is expected — a growth rate exceeding the overall expected growth for the entire higher education student population (Sloan Consortium, 2004). Globally, the figures are equally astounding. Worldwide there are more than 200,000 online courses offered today. In 2003, 11 percent of the world was able to go online, as compared to 4.5 percent in 1999 (Hesseldahl, 2005).

Electronic courseware defined

Currently, electronic courseware, or online course software programs, is referred to by several different names in higher education, including "learning content management systems," "learning management systems," and "virtual learning environments." While these software programs share many features, differences in usage by nation and industry warrant a consideration of terminology.