The State of Distance Learning

Survey of Distance Learning

The State of Distance Learning

in the Colleges and Universities

of the

Council for Christian

Colleges and Universities

May 23, 2005

Table of Contents

The Study

The Web Search

The Survey

Demographics

Questions 1 through 5

Programs offered

Question 6: What level of degree programs do you offer online?

Question 7: What degree programs do you offer online?

Question 8: What courses do you offer that are not part of an online degree?

Question 9: Do you provide web support for face to face classes?

Organizational Structure

Question 10: How many personnel have been hired to support the above programs?

Question 11: How many students do you have enrolled per year?

Question 12: The organizational structure for distance learning is?

Question 13: What course authoring tool is used for online courses?

Question 14: What course authoring tool is used for face to face courses?

Question 15: How much online/email help support do you have for students?

Question 16: How much help phone support do you have for students?

Question 17: How much online/email help support do you have for faculty course development?

Question 18: How much phone help support do you have for faculty course development?

Question 19: Is your web course offering system integrated with your student management system?

Question 20: Is your web course offering system integrated with your student admissions

Question 21: Is your web course offering system integrated with your student registration system?

Question 22: Is your web course offering system:

Marketing

Question 23. How do you do a market analysis when considering a new program?

Question 24. How would you describe your target populations?

Question 25a. How do you market your programs and courses once they have been approved and are ready to be offered?

Development

Question 26. How many personnel are involved in the development of online courses?

Question 27: How long does it take to develop one of your online courses?

Question 28: How much do you estimate it costs to develop a fully online course?

Question 29: What course management system are you using?

Question 30: The faculty who teach online courses are:

Question 31: Do students pay an additional fee for online courses?

Question 32: Is the cost for delivery of online courses

Training

Question 33: How are faculty trained to teach online?

Question 34: How do faculty receive training in the use of the Course Management system?

Question 35: How are faculty are given experience and training in functioning in an online environment?

Question 36: How are faculty given training in how to conduct asynchronous online discussions?

Question 37: How are faculty are given training in how to conduct synchronous learning (chat)?

Faith & Learning

Assessment

Question 39: How are student learning out comes assessed for online courses?

Question 40: Student satisfaction is assessed for online courses

Question 41: What process is in place for the assessment of faculty satisfaction?

Question 42: How have assessments been done to compare online and face to face classes?

Successes and Challenges

Question 43: What major successes have you had in developing or delivering online programs?

Question 40: What major challenges have you had to over come while developing or delivering online programs?

CCCU support

Question 41: In what way could CCCU support distance learning among its membership?

Question 43: Is there a need for CCCU to provide a listing of faculty openings?

Question 44: Are your online courses open to students from other CCCU schools?

Question 45: Are there any final comments you would like to add about your distance learning program?

Conclusion

The Study

There have been times in history when changes in technology have created a significant change in society and culture. The printing press is a frequently used example of a change in technology that changed the way words were printed on paper. It also changed the rate at which the work could be done, dropped the cost of production and distribution but also the availability of the information to a different segment of society. The fact that the content of what was being printed became directly connected with the Christian church, did away with an intermediary level of interpretations and allowed the common person to read, understand and evaluate scripture. This played an integral part in the reformation of the Christian church both in how the church used the technology and how the technology changed the culture of the church, including its educational mission.

We frequently hear that the internet is dramatically changing the amount, availability and rate of distribution of information. It could be debated whether this is for good or for evil with evidence found on both sides. An example is the recent distribution of images by military personnel during war has leaped over news correspondents and military intelligence with political and cultural impact. A useful line of questioning could be how this internet technology is affecting Christian higher education. There are multiple aspects of this line of questioning relating to the purpose for which this technology is being used, how it is being used and what effect the technology is having on the culture of the institutions. What programs are being offered and how do they fit with the mission of the university? Are the target populations of the institutions changing? Have these changes created new roles and personnel positions leading to changes in the structure of the organization? How are personnel trained and evaluated? Is there an impact on the faith and learning commitment and process in this new educational venue?

The purpose of this study was to determine the state of Distance Learning in the Council for ChristianColleges and Universities (CCCU) member schools. The problem to be addressed was the lack of information about the type of distance learning initiatives that are being pursued by the members of the CCCU. This project was made up of two parts, the one being a web site search of the 114 members listed on the CCCU website. The second part was a survey sent out to CCCU contact email addresses. The first part was to determine which schools were offering distance learning. The second part was to determine more detailed information about the practices and experiences of those working in distance learning.

The Web Search

A search was conducted of the web sites of each of the 114 members listed on the CCCU website. From the member list the URL of the institution was obtained. Using an advanced search feature of Google, a search was done of the specified URL of the institution using the keywords Distance and Online. If no reference to distance or online learning were found in the first 5 pages of hits, it was assumed that the institution was not offering that type of learning experience. If no reference was found and an online PDF version of the catalog was available, it was downloaded and searched for the same terms using the search function in the Acrobat Reader. Using this combined method, 43 of the 114 institutions (38%) were found to have some offerings online. A listing of the results of this search may be found in Appendix A at the end of this document.Appendix B contains this same list broken down by the type of program rather than by school.

The Survey

This survey is a cooperative venture of the CCCU, the CCCUCommission on Technology. The survey was developed and distributed by Bruce D. Simmerok, Ph.D. from AzusaPacificUniversity using SurveyMonkey.com. The survey consisted of 49 items covering the following areas: Demographics, Programs Offered, Organizational Structure, Marketing, Delivery, Training, Faith & Learning, Assessment, Successes and Challenges, and CCCU support. While a great deal more information would have been desirable to request, a balance had to be maintained between desired useful information and the length of the survey. It was decided to collect some information regarding a number of known critical areas of Distance Learning rather than asking for in-depth information in one or two areas.

Demographics

Questions 1 through 5

The initial questions were information about the name of the institution, person in charge, URL, email address and phone number for follow-up.

Responders

A total of 131 emails were sent to CCCU schools in the United States and Canada. A total of 45 schools responded to the survey for a return of 34%. The following are the results of the responses to the survey.

Programs offered

Question 6: What level of degree programs do you offer online?

This question requested information that would indicate to what degree institutions are putting this technology into practice by offering degree programs online. Seventeen of the schools, 36%, reported not offering any degrees online while 64% reported Associate, Bachelor, Masters or Doctoral level programs. For master level 15 out of 45 schools reported some portion of degree programsonline. Nine schools had completely online degrees, some with multiple degrees.

Question 7: What degree programs do you offer online?

There were a total of 64degrees were reported online. The responses were grouped into the following levels of associate, bachelor, masters and doctoral levels.

Associate Level

A.S. in ChristianMinistries

AA Biblical Studies

AA Christian Ministry

AA Management

AA: Justice Administration: ministry concentration public policy concentration

AA: Liberal Arts: history concentration interdisciplinary concentration social science concentration

AS in Business (ASB)

Associate of Arts in: Biblical Studies

Bachelor Level

B.A. Biblical Studies
B.A.S.ChristianMinistries
B.A.S. Psychology
B.B.A. Management
B.B.A. Management Information Systems
B.B.S. Management
B.B.S. Management Information Systems
B.S. in ChristianMinistries
Bachelor of Business Studies Business Admin / BS Christian Ministry
BS Human Development
BS in Accounting (BSA - launching May 2005)
BS in Business Information Systems (BSBIS)
BS in Management (BSM)
BS Management
BS Church Leadership
RNBS completion for Nursing (RNBS)

Masters Level:

M.A.O.M. General Management
M.A.O.M. Human Resources Management
M.B.A. eBusiness
M.B.A. Finance
M.B.A. International Management
M.B.A. Management
M.B.A. Management Information Systems
M.B.A. Marketing
M.Ed. Educational Leadership
M.Ed. Higher Education
MA Educational Technology
MA in Ministry - Ministerial Leadership (MML)
MA in Ministry - Youth Ministry (MYM)
MA LMT Library Media Teaching
MA Management and Leadership
MA Ministry
MA Nursing (launching May 2005)
Master of Arts in Christian Education (MACE) Master of Arts in Global Leadership
Master of Business Administration - Church Business Administration Emphasis / Master of Educational Leadership
Master of Intercultural Studies Master of Ministry Leadership
Master of Organizational Leadership
Masters in Business Administration
Masters in Education - Reading Masters in Religion - Spiritual Formation
Masters in International Business Administration
Masters in Religion - Christian Education
Masters in Religion - Pastoral Ministry
Master's of Arts in Special Education (blended)
MBA
MBA -
MBA MA in Education (MEd)
MBA -- partially online (mixed online and face to face.
MEd
MS in Management (MSM)
Special Education Licensure program (SEd)

Doctoral Level

Doctoral: Ed.D. in educational administration

Doctoral: Ed.D in Organizational Leadership

Question 8: What courses do you offer that are not part of an online degree?

A total of ten (10) schools reported having no courses online. (44%) Of the schools responding, 56% reported offering full courses online which are not part of an online degree.The following are a list of 240 courses that were reported offered online. Assigning approximate academic areas to each of these courses shows the following breakdown of how many courses are offered in each area.

Business / 45
Computer Science / 4
Education / 12
Liberal Arts / 77
Music / 5
Nursing / 3
Religion and Theology / 89
Soc / 5
4 undergraduate general education courses
7-8 courses in the Graduate School of Theology
ACCT3307 Financial Accounting
ACCT3308 Managerial Accounting
ACCT5301 Managerial Accounting
Alcohol and Drug Education
American Civilization after 1865
Art Appreciation
Basic Economics
BIB 101 Old Testament Survey
BIB 102 New Testament Survey
BIB 202 Synoptic Gospels
BIB 261 Methods of Bible Study
BIB 300 Pentateuch
BIB216E Historical Books
BIB217E Genesis
BIB218E Matthew
BIB273E Bible Study and Interpretation
BIB311E The Gospel of John
BIB313E Romans
BIB325E Deuteronomy
BIB330E Acts and the Early Church
BIB331E Pauline Epistles
BIB332E Hebrews and General Epistles
BIB350E Poetic and Wisdom Literature
Biblical Archaeology
BINT 1233 New Teatament Survey
BIOL 1333/133L Hum. Anatomy & Phys. with Lab
BIOT 1133 Old Testament Survey
BUA230E Principles of Marketing
BUA363E Human Resource Management
BUA443E Ethics in Leadership
BUA444E Business Ethics
BUA462E Organizational Behavior / CFM300E Intro to Conflict Management
CHH 321 Church of God History & Polity
Christian Care and Counseling
Christian Life Doctrine
Christian World View
Church Ministries
CMI220E Personal Evangelism
COMM 2233 Intro. to Mass Comm.
Communications Certificate
Communications I
Communications II
Concepts of Wellness
Consumerism and Society
Contemporary Science
Creative Writing
CRIJ3300 Criminal Law
CRIJ3310 Criminology
Criminal Justice Certificate
Criminology
Crisis Intervention
CTED4302 Aims & Objectives of Workforce Development
CTED4303 Human Relations for Vocational Instructors
CTED4304 Designing, Delivering & Managing Instruction
CTED4308 Implementing Instruction & Assessment
CTED4309 Fulfilling Professional Roles & Responsibilities
CTED4316 The Adult Learner
CTED4330 Counseling Theory & Techniques
Cultural Anthropology
Drivers Ed on the Information Superhighway
Early American Literature: Little Known Gems
Earth Science
ECON2307 Principles of Macroeconomics
ECON2308 Principles of Microeconomics
ECON4346 Survey of Economics
BUAD4334 Business Ethics
BUAD5304 Business Ethics
BUAD5412 Strategic Management
Business Administration
Business Mathematics
CAM260E Intro to Journalistic Writing
Career Development
CAS120E Interpersonal Communication
CAS382E Family Communication
CED 241 Educational Ministry of the Church
CED219E Ministry to Children
CED223E Ministry to Adults ECON5310 Managerial Economics
EDIT2310 Computers in the Classroom
EDIT4311 Multimedia & Video Technology
EDIT4340 Integrating Technology into Curriculum
EDIT5310 Microcomputer Applications
EDIT5342 Adv. Integration of Tech. into Curriculum
EDU110E History and Philosophy of Education in America
EDU115E Teaching about Religion in the Public Schools
EDU260E Educational Psychology
EDU367E Culturally Diverse Teaching
EDUC5303 Multicultural Education
ENG 106 College Writing ENG 110 Rhetoric & Research
Eng. Comp. I
Eng. Comp. II
ENG417E Article Writing
ENGL 1133
ENGL 1233
ENGL 2133 Intro. to Lit.
ENGL 2233 Intro. to Humanities
ENGL3303 Studies in Fiction
English Composition
Ethical Leadership
Ethics Philosophy and Christian Thought
FINA3309 Financial Management
FINA5303 Managerial Finance
Finance - Practicum in Portfolio Management
GRK203E Greek 1
GRK204E Greek 2
GRK205E Greek 3
HEB202E Hebrew 1
HEB203E Hebrew 2
Heroes in Early British Literature
HIST1303 World Civilization to 1500
HIST1304 World Civilization after 1500
HIST3309 History of the 20th Century World
HIST3310 US Diplomatic History
HLAD3324 Health Professions HR Management
HLAD3335 Admin. & Organization of Health Facilities
PHI110E Intro to Philosophy
PHI201E Logic
PHI262E Contemporary Issues in Philosophy
PHI372E Christian Ethics
PHI410E Bio-ethics
PHI412E Apologetics
PHI452E Philosophy of Religion
PMI111E Christian Worship
PMI251E Pastoral Theology
PMI361E Intro to Preaching
PMI471E Preaching Difficult Texts
POLS2301 Federal & State Gov't
POLS3303 Public Administration
Principles of Sociology
PSY 200 Understanding Human Behavior
PSYC 1133 Intro. to Psych
PSYC 2233 Marriage & Family
PSYC4310 Social Psychology
Psychological Research
Psychology of Personal Adjustment
Psychology of Personality
REL107E The Christian Canon
REL225E Modern Cults
REL227E Perspectives on the World Christian Movement
REL343E Theology I
REL344E Theology II
REL345E Theology III
REL346E The History of the Bible
REL347E Postmodern Theologies
REL407E OT Theology
REL423E The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
REL435E Archaeology and the OT
Religious Studies Certificate / HLAD3339 Theory & Practice of Supervision
HLAD4336 Health Care Marketing
HLAD4337 Health Care Law
HLAD4340 Long-Term Health Care Administration
HLAD5337 Health Care Law
HLAD5340 Long-Term Health Care Administration
Human Services Certificate
Humanities: Fine Arts Environmental Conservation
Humanities: World Civilization
IAS103E Intro to Portfolio Development
Internet Tools
Introduction to Computer Applications
Introduction to Corrections
Introduction to Criminal Justice
Introduction to Human Communication
Introduction to Mass Communication
Introduction to Social Work
ISP 250 Introduction to Missions
Leadership Messages: Communication, Conflict, and Collaboration
Literature and Ideas
Marriage and Family
MAT110E Finite Mathematics
MATH 1213 College algebra
MATH 1533 Business Math with Calculus
Methods in Bible Study
MGMT3304 Principles of Management MGMT3310 Managerial Communications
MGMT3324 Human Resources Management
MGMT3339 Theory & Practice of Supervision
MGMT4325 Technical Management Operations
MGMT4326 International Management
MGMT5305 Organizational Theory
MGMT5309 Human Resources Management
MGMT5412 Strategic Management
MISM3303 Information Systems Theory & Practice
MISM3311 Personal Computer Applications
MISM3325 Cyberlife
MISM5306 Management of Information Systems
MKTG3312 Principles of Marketing
Modern Concepts of Mathematics
MUS121E Music Fundamentals: Beginners
MUS122E Music Fundamentals: Intermediate
MUSI1303 Music Appreciation
MUSI3305 American Music
Music Appreciation
New Testament Survey
Nursing - Human Resource
Nursing - Missions
Nursing - Research
Old Testament Survey
one undergrad psych course
Online Electives:
Organizational Communication
Personal Finance Life and Meaning in the 21st Century
RLED4301 Survey of Christian Education
RLGN4302 Christian Theology
RLGN4307 Church History
RLGN4310 World Religions
RLGN4320 Life and Teachings of Christ
RLGN4321 Psychology of Religion
RLGN4322 Life and Letters of Paul
RLGN5307 Church History
RLGN5310 World Religions
RLGN5315 The ChristianMinistry
RLGN5320 Life and Teachings of Christ
RLGN5321 Psychology of Religion
RLGN5322 Life and Letters of Paul
RLGN5327 Christian Worship
RSWR3345 Research Writing Methods Graduate--
SOC 200 Understanding Contemporary Society
Social Problems
Social Work - Advanced Internship
Social Work - Research Project
Software Tools
SSC 2133 Intro. to Socology
Technology Standards, Trends, and Applications
THE 230 Introduction to Theology
THE 231 Christian Ethics
THE 335 Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
THE 337 Theology of the Old Testament
The Exceptional Learner
The Power of Engaged Learning
THE320E Doctrine of Angels
Themes in Biblical Literature
True North: Identifying Your Moral Compass
Women: Self-Direction Through Learning and Career Development
YCE 433 Contemporary Issues in Youth Ministry
YMI200E Ministry to Youth

Question 9:Do you provide web support for face to face classes?

There is strong evidence that there has been a significant change in the way teaching and learning has changed in the responding institutions. Of the 32 responding to this question a large majority of84% said yes they provide web support for face to face classes and 16% said no.

Yes / 27 / 84%
No / 5 / 16%

Comment:There appears to be a significant change in the way education is being delivered through these Christian institutions. The first indication is that institutions are reaching out to the community in new ways. Two thirds of the institutions reported degree programs online with a total of 64degree programs. More than half of the institutions have individual courses online, with the most popular areas being religion and theology, liberal arts and business. The second indication is that institutions are teaching in new ways. The very large majority of 84% providing web support for face to face classes is an indication of this type of technology changing the pedagogical model used within the institution.

Organizational Structure

Question 10: How many personnel have been hired to support the above programs?

Of 27 schools reporting degrees or courses online, 17 (62%) had hired additional support people.The following number of people has been hired to support the programs.