research-article

Rapid conversion of an IT degree program to online delivery: impact, problems, solutions and challenges

Authors:

William D. Armitage,

Naomi Boyer,

Sarah Langevin,

Alessio GasparAuthors Info & Claims

SIGITE '09: Proceedings of the 10th ACM conference on SIG-information technology education

Pages 100 - 107

https://doi.org/10.1145/1631728.1631758

Published: 22 October 2009 Publication History

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Abstract

At our institution, online delivery was initially seen as a way to extend the geographic reach of a specialized upper-division degree program, the Bachelor of Science in Applied Sciences (BSAS), targeting holders of community college Associates in Science (AS) degrees, with the hoped-for impact of increasing enrollment. This program shared many required courses with our flagship program, the BS in Information Technology (BSIT), including the upper-division entry point for both programs, CGS3303 IT Concepts. Implementing this course in an asynchronous online mode resulted in an increase in enrollment from 17 (fall, 2007) to 70 (spring, 2008); most of these 70 students identified as BSIT, leading us to fast-track conversion to online modes for all of our core courses and electives. This accelerated pace of online development presented many challenges and difficulties, including ensuring the quality of our finished course product. Faculty buy-in, assisted by a stipend program for online development, was essential, as was the presence of quality instructional technology support. An NSF-funded infrastructure (SOFTICE) allowed the offering of problematic laboratory courses (Operating Systems, Networks) safely and securely in an online mode. A course quality review process was implemented as part of the stipend program, which also largely resolved intellectual property issues. Nonetheless, remaining are some issues and concerns, which are discussed in this paper. Recommendations, observations and suggested processes are included for those who may be considering transitioning an IT degree program to online delivery.

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German SRoyce CDeVore-Wedding B(2022)Transforming Technology Purpose and IntegrationPreparing Faculty for Technology Dependency in the Post-COVID-19 Era10.4018/978-1-7998-9235-9.ch009(153-173)Online publication date: 4-Feb-2022
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-9235-9.ch009
Royce C(2022)Caught Short During COVID-19Designing Effective Distance and Blended Learning Environments in K-1210.4018/978-1-7998-6829-3.ch011(165-186)Online publication date: 2022
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-6829-3.ch011
Armitage WGauvin WSheffield ABoisvert DZilora S(2016)Design and Launch of an Intensive Cybersecurity Program for Military VeteransProceedings of the 17th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education10.1145/2978192.2978233(40-45)Online publication date: 28-Sep-2016
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Index Terms

Rapid conversion of an IT degree program to online delivery: impact, problems, solutions and challenges
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computer science education
      2. Model curricula

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Reviews

Reviewer: Jesus Borrego

Armitage et al. describe their attempt to migrate a pilot project to cyberspace. The project's success forced a "fast-track conversion to online modes for all of [their] core courses and electives." The authors were able to increase enrollment, offer their courses to another remote site, and improve scheduling flexibility for both students and faculty. The authors describe their challenges, including the fact that many students prefer traditional classroom settings. The paper includes a list of prerequisites for departments that are considering migrating to online education. Notably, the paper places significant emphasis on the quality of online courses. The lessons presented in this paper are also applicable to other disciplines. This paper is appropriate for educators who are migrating to an online environment. Online Computing Reviews Service

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Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

SIGITE '09: Proceedings of the 10th ACM conference on SIG-information technology education

October 2009

262 pages

ISBN:9781605587653

DOI:10.1145/1631728

General Chair:
Don Gantz
George Mason University
,
Program Chairs:
Ken A. Baker
Capella University
,
Daniel Garrison
George Mason University

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 22 October 2009

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SIGITE '09

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SIGITE

SIGITE '09: ACM Special Interest Group for Information Technology Education Conference

October 22 - 24, 2009

Virginia, Fairfax, USA

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Overall Acceptance Rate 176 of 429 submissions, 41%

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Cited By

View all

German SRoyce CDeVore-Wedding B(2022)Transforming Technology Purpose and IntegrationPreparing Faculty for Technology Dependency in the Post-COVID-19 Era10.4018/978-1-7998-9235-9.ch009(153-173)Online publication date: 4-Feb-2022
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-9235-9.ch009
Royce C(2022)Caught Short During COVID-19Designing Effective Distance and Blended Learning Environments in K-1210.4018/978-1-7998-6829-3.ch011(165-186)Online publication date: 2022
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-6829-3.ch011
Armitage WGauvin WSheffield ABoisvert DZilora S(2016)Design and Launch of an Intensive Cybersecurity Program for Military VeteransProceedings of the 17th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education10.1145/2978192.2978233(40-45)Online publication date: 28-Sep-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2978192.2978233
Farag WAli S(2016)Can online delivery result in comparable achievement of course outcomes and student success in different computer science courses?2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE.2016.7757378(1-7)Online publication date: Oct-2016
https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2016.7757378
Hudepohl JDubey AMoisy SThompson JNiederer HJalote PBriand LHoek A(2014)Deploying an online software engineering education program in a globally distributed organizationCompanion Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Software Engineering10.1145/2591062.2591165(301-310)Online publication date: 31-May-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2591062.2591165
Farag WAli SDeb DArmitage WFriedman RBaker K(2013)Does language choice influence the effectiveness of online introductory programming courses?Proceedings of the 14th annual ACM SIGITE conference on Information technology education10.1145/2512276.2512293(165-170)Online publication date: 2-Oct-2013
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Farag WConnolly RArmitage W(2012)Comparing achievement of intended learning outcomes in online programming classes with blended offeringsProceedings of the 13th annual conference on Information technology education10.1145/2380552.2380561(25-30)Online publication date: 11-Oct-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2380552.2380561

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