June 29, 2001

                                                                                  Contact: Elizabeth Conlisk (614) 292-3040

Technology enhances learning, outreach at Ohio State

COLUMBUS -- Ohio State is striving to maximize the university’s potential with the creation of a university-wide technology enhanced learning strategy.

A Distance Education Committee appointed in April presented to the Board of Trustees Friday (June 29) an institutional vision to use learning technologies to enhance, support and expand the research, teaching and service mission of the University.  Bob Moser, vice president for agricultural administration and university outreach, said that the bottom line is that Ohio State is doing a lot more with learning technologies than many people realize.

“What separates Ohio State from other schools is that we are working to blend technology with the University’s traditional mission,“ Moser said.  “We want to set the standard for the 21st Century land grant institution and maximize the intellectual capital of Ohio State by using learning technologies to enhance, support and expand our research, teaching and outreach missions.”

Many colleges at Ohio State are involved in delivering on-line degrees and courses.  For example, the College of Nursing offers a Family Nurse Practitioner MS degree and the College of Pharmacy provides a doctorate in Pharmacy. The College of Humanities has created a Web-based American history course, and the Fisher College of Business uses online course materials in the Executive MBA program.  Trustees heard presentations from faculty involved in these on-line programs.

“What has emerged from the committee’s evaluations is that there are a lot of excellent initiatives at Ohio State using learning technologies,” said committee member Alice Stewart, director of strategic analysis and resource planning.  “What we’re trying to create is an institution where technology enhanced learning becomes the norm. We’re working to find ways that the university can support faculty and encourage the application of technology as a natural extension of other tools to disseminate knowledge.”

The presentation to trustees completed phase I of the committee’s work, which examined the status of technology enhanced learning and distance education at Ohio State, benchmarked against other institutions, and prepared a vision and conceptual model. The strategy being developed would:

• Place emphasis on faculty knowledge, the core asset of the university,
• Use technology to bring research and teaching closer together, and
• Provide faculty with tools that facilitate the teaching process, similar to the way e-mail has facilitated communication.

Phase II will consist of moving technology enhanced learning into a more prominent role that supports the goals of the Academic Plan, Stewart said.  It also will help assess the market and identify the means for effectively reaching students on campus and beyond.

“If you think about what the technology support in the classroom was like 10 years ago, we’ve made a quantum leap at Ohio State,” she said.  “Technology is evolving in ways that enable us to dramatically change how we provide instruction.”

Chief Information Officer Ilee Rhimes said that approximately 80 percent of the colleges currently use basic communication technology such as e-mail, threaded discussions, live chat rooms and use the Web to post announcements and course syllabi.

Rhimes said Ohio State will benefit tremendously from the expanded use of information technology to enhance learning.  Besides supporting the goals of the Academic Plan, the model will align faculty goals with new opportunities and distinguish Ohio State with its “knowledge first” approach.

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