Since more and more schools are turning to distance learning, I am
replying to the listserve.  At Babson, we have been doing blended
learning for a few years now.  "Blended" means we require students to
come to campus at least two times during the course for long class
sessions so they can meet each other and the instructor.  I teach two
different 3 hour electives in a condensed format (half a semester) and
we start and end each course with a day long Saturday class.  The final
class has student presentations for much of the time.  
We have no set rules, but I echo Lucy's comment that daily contact is
essential.  We run week long discussion forums when we are not meeting
live and each is roughly the equivalent of a week's worth of classes
(which is just one 2.5 hour session in our evening program).  Not only
do I log on at least once every day, but often more than once, and I try
to vary my log on times so the same students are not always the first to
respond to questions.  It is important to plan the week's activities,
just like an actual class, but also be flexible when new questions or
issues are raised. For example, I typically assign a substantial reading
for each week to be read over the weekend.  I usually try to shut down
the discussion forum with a wrap up comment on Saturday morning.  During
the week, as I post discussion questions related to the week's reading,
they may include a short article, or reference to a website. So not
everything needs to be assigned before hand.  This can be similar to
handing out a B or C case during class. I also encourage students to
discuss examples that they have heard of or experienced.  I typically
have a separate discussion forum for relevant examples in the news,
where I post things that I learn about during the course and students do
the same.  
I set up my newest elective to be half online class and half individual
project applying the course material --comparable to an independent
study.  That format has worked out well with students quite excited
about the project and eager to apply course material to it.  
Carolyn Hotchkiss designed an intellectual property elective to use
materials available on the web and not to require a textbook.  She had
group projects so students could work closely with a few classmates by
distance, but then do a group presentation for the final live class.  So
a joy of this format is using your imagination to set up a course where
the students can learn in unique ways that are not readily available in
a traditional course using traditional tools and formats.   
Hope this helps.  Experience here has shown that students award very
high ratings to faculty who are always online and respond to everything
promptly. Those faculty typically burn out quickly in the program from
exhaustion.  I try to let students discuss a new issue before weighing
in and limit my log on times to at most 2-3 times a day so that I have
time for other duties.   


Ross D. Petty
Professor of Marketing Law
Babson College
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Katz, Lucy
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 10:46 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Distance Learning help sought

Hi Elaine,
(I can't remember whether I'm replying to the whole list - apologies!)
We do several distance courses but I don't know of any policies or
rules. My first piece of advice is - these courses work to the degree
students feel a strong connection with the instructor. That means very
frequent contact - daily checks if possible to see who has questions,
etc., and a willingness to go online when they have time. For me,
teaching grad students, this was late at night or Sunday evening. Since
this does not fit my sleep schedule at all, I would pick up early in the
morning to see what came up the night before.
For institutions first thinking about these courses, this leads to a
second suggestion that administrators don't like: keep the numbers down
so that advice #1 can actually happen.
Lucy 

-----Original Message-----
From:   Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk on behalf of
Ingulli, Elaine
Sent:   Fri 5/27/2005 11:09 AM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Cc:	
firstbject:     Distance Learning help sought
Faculty at Stockton are talking re: guidelines/rules for distance
learning courses.
Does anyone have such rules (preferably ones I can access via your
website) and have any advice re: things that work well or problems to
avoid?

Thanks,
elaine ingulli