e-Learning Cooperative
The E-Learning@PSU Cooperative was created by Provost Erickson following the recommendations of the Online Course-Sharing Task Force in June, 2003. The E-Learning Cooperative replaces the Campus Course Exchange and has been charged with encouraging and facilitating the sharing of online courses among the campuses and campus colleges of the University. The E-Learning@ PSU Cooperative is housed within Undergraduate Education but is guided by a steering committee composed of Deans and other stakeholders and chaired by the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. The major tasks of the Cooperative are to
- create effective and efficient policies and procedures for online
course sharing across the University;
- identify and promote the
availability of online courses to receiving colleges;
- determine the
immediate and long-term needs for online courses within the University;
and
- work with appropriate administrators and academic officers to insure that procedures and policies facilitate course exchange listings and appropriate revenue transactions.
All units of the University may participate in the Cooperative. Policies and procedures for the Cooperative are determined by the steering committee consisting of representatives of the campus and University Park colleges and central administrative support offices that facilitate the exchange, such as the registrar, office of teaching and learning with technology, undergraduate education, and the budget office. All courses are delivered by Penn State faculty.
Differences between the Cooperative and the World Campus
The E-Learning@PSU Cooperative differs from the World Campus in that the World Campus delivers online courses directly to adult learners. When a course is offered through the E-Learning Cooperative, students enroll at their local campus and then join a common section of the online course that may include students from other campuses. Colleges may open their World Campus course sections to other campuses through the Cooperative, as well.
Types of Courses Offered
At this point, the Cooperative is implemented only for undergraduate courses. Once the system is up and running, we hope to also include graduate courses in a variety of academic disciplines as well. In addition, the Cooperative is designed for courses that bring students into a common class or cohort. Traditional and web-enhanced independent learning courses do not allow students to work together and so are not included in the Cooperative. However, colleges may extend campus-based courses to other locations via pic-tel through the Cooperative, as long as the students can complete all course requirements at a distance.
The Cooperative is designed to ensure that campuses are able to offer courses to resident students, even when there are only a few students interested in a particular course at a particular location. While there may be instances where Continuing Education has a need for this kind of service, the Cooperative is not seen as a routine way for Continuing Education to operate at the campus level. At this time, the Cooperative is currently restricted to credit course offerings only.
How does the University define blended delivery: a mixture of online and in-residence courses online, in-residence courses with some online elements, or both?
- Many courses simply use technology to complement traditional face-to-face classes (e.g., the syllabus is put online; students submit papers electronically; students contact faculty via e-mail).
- "Hybrid
courses" use technology differently. In most cases, faculty members
reduce the number of required classes and replace class time with
technology-based activities. Thus, these courses are called "blended
delivery" courses. Information on these types of courses can be found with the Blended Learning Initiative.
- Finally, some courses are offered entirely online; there are no face-to-face class meetings.
