The Online Revolution From e-books to MOOCs: Coping, adapting, embracing

Yacob Astatke

The Online RevolutionFrom e-books to MOOCs: Coping, adapting, embracing

Frank Vahid UC Riverside

Intro

Systems

Research

Experiences

Options

Smita Bakshi Zyante CEO

Diane RoverIowa State Univ.

Yacob AstatkeMorgan State Univ.

FV

Yacob Astatke

• Introduction• Overview of MSU and our ECE program• Need for online ECE program• Online ECE Course Design• Current status of our online course development • Future Work

Growing the Future, Leading the World

OUTLINE

Yacob Astatke

• The use of technology in the classroom has greatly impacted engineering education during the last 20 years.

• BUT, traditional method of teaching, i.e. lecturing or “chalk-and-talk” is still dominant.

• Instructors need to deliver course content that students can access from anywhere at any time.

• WHY : today’s students expect it !!!

INTRODUCTION

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• Morgan State University (MSU) is an HBCU located in Baltimore, Maryland• ~8,000 students (Institution)• ~1,100 students (Engr)• ~500 students (ECE)


Overview of MSU

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Overview of our ECE program

• MSU is a member of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU): 105 total

• Only 14 HBCUs offer engineering programs

• MSU engineering program established in 1984

• Currently the #1 producer of African American engineers in the state of MD in ECE, CE, IE.

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The need for Online ECE program

• Trends in higher education for the past 10 years have shown that enrollments in online courses or online degree programs have been growing substantially faster (17%) than overall higher education enrollment (1.2% ).

• One discipline that has lagged behind all others in the development and delivery of online education is engineering.

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• The majorities of online engineering programs currently available are at the Master of Science level, and are geared towards professional engineers.

• Only a handful universities nationwide offer undergraduate BS degree program completely online.

• Need in MD : 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).

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• Projected to bring 28,000 positions to the state, primarily in the Harford and Anne Arundel County areas

• Problem: no four year engineering program in that area.

• Only two Community Colleges

Harford (HCC)

Cecil Community Colleges (CCG)

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• Students enrolled at HCC , and CCG that are interested in pursuing engineering as a transfer student, have to travel or relocate to:

– MSU Baltimore City (26 miles),

– UMBC Baltimore County (42 miles),

– UMCP Prince George’s County (65 miles)

– Univ of DE Newark Delaware (35 miles)

• MSU has signed a MOU with HCC to offer an Electrical Engineering degree program.

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MSU will deliver a combination of face-to-face (F2F) courses on the campus of HCC and online courses that will be offered directly from the campus of MSU.

MSU offers to first and only completely online ECE program in the State of MD



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Course Development Approach Phase I - Implementation of the Mobile StudioTM Technology and PedagogyPhase II - Implementation of the Panopto FocusTM Lecture Capture technologyPhase III - Implementation of the Adobe ConnectTM Video Conferencing software


Online ECE Course Design

Yacob AstatkeGrowing the Future, Leading the World


Yacob Astatke

Project funded by the NSF in 2008. It involves 5 universities

Goal: to enable hands-on

exploration of STEM education principles.


Phase I – Implementation of the Mobile StudioTM Technology and Pedagogy


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It is a small, and inexpensive ($150) hardware platform for use in a home, classroom or remote environment.

Advantage it replaces a rack of equipment that is equivalent to $5,000 to $10,000 USD.




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The MS-Board contains the 6 different instruments 1. 2 Channel Scope & Function Generator2. +4V & -4V DC power supplies3. 16 Digital I/O ports & Spectrum Analyzer




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We redesigned various laboratory and design experiments using sound pedagogy.

Key issue: device is USB powered Max Voltage is: +4V or – 4 Volts. We also use 9V batteries











Phase I – Implementation of Online Labs on Filter Design using the Agilent X Series Scopes with LAN Access ($1,000 USD)



Phase I – Implementation of Online Labs on Filter Design using the Agilent X Series Scopes with LAN Access



Phase I – Implementation of Online Labs on Filter Design using the Agilent X Series Scopes with LAN Access


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We tested the new technology and pedagogy on face to face (F2F), i.e. regular students for 2 years.

Students completed their design projects at home, in their dormitories, or in the library.




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Advantage for students freedom to work on design projects anywhere/anytime.

Advantage for department decreases the wear and tear on expensive equipment.




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MS Board (RPI) $150 MyDaq (TI) $200-$250 Electronics Explorer

(Digilent) $199 - $250 Agilent X-Series Scope+FG

$1,000 Analog Discovery (Digilent)

$99 - $150


Phase I – Comparison of Portable ECE Lab equipment


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We used it to capture and record a synchronized version of the text (using PowerPoint), audio, and video from the daily lectures of the F2F ECE courses.

Goal: allow online students to follow the lectures and class discussions that occur in the regular courses.


Phase II – Implementation of the Panapto FocusTM lecture capture technology


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The online students follow the lessons at their own pace and time: live stream or podcasts

They can also send their questions to the instructor using email, video conferencing, chat rooms, or over the telephone.
















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To allow the online students to complete their project and laboratory experiment demonstrations completely online.

Course instructor can schedule an online project or laboratory experiment demonstration time with students.


Phase III – Implementation of the Adobe ConnectTM video conferencing software

















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The use of the lecture video capture technology has allowed the online students to perform as well as the F2F students (Electric Circuits)

Results of our Online Courses

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The use of the lecture video capture technology has allowed the online students to perform as well as the F2F students (Signals and Systems)

Results of our Online Courses

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• MSU has completed the development of its online B.S. ECE program (Fall 2013-start)

• We are willing to share our experiences with other institutions that are interested.

Conclusion and Future Work

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Acknowledgments

• NSF “Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center (ERC)”

• NSF “Center for Mobile Hands-On STEM Education”

• Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC)

QUESTIONS ????

Documents

The Online Revolution From e-books to MOOCs: Coping, adapting, embracing