CMS Implementation as a Catalyst for Curricular Change

In this chapter, we draw on examples from selected disciplines to highlight how implementing a course management system can encourage curricular discussions and catalyze curricular change at a university. We suggest that broad use of a CMS can both drive and support changes in teaching and curricular development. We close by providing some best practices and concrete suggestions on how to use a CMS to foster technology-enhanced curricular change. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITB11065 INFORMATION SCIENCE PUBLISHING This chapter appears in the book, Course Management Systems for Learning: Beyond Accidental Pedagogy edited by Patricia McGee, Colleen Carmean and Ali Jafari © 2005, Idea Group Inc. CMS Implementation as a Catalyst for Curricular Change 115 Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Introduction An art history faculty member wishes to provide students easier access to her slide collections, thereby hoping to improve the learning outcomes in her class. A biology faculty member and his 20 teaching assistants look for better methods to manage and coordinate their 40 laboratory sections, providing a more consistent experience for students across varied sections and setting standards for student feedback. A sociology graduate student instructor wishes for a way to carry rich in-class conversations beyond the two-hour discussion section he leads, deepening student learning and building a sense of community among his students. A group of nursing faculty members asks for a simple way to provide distant students access to their lecture materials, allowing them to work and take classes concurrently. In each of these examples, the course instructors or program leaders are searching for better ways to meet the needs of their classes and programs. In many cases, new technologies offer potential for meeting these needs and improving teaching and learning. However, many colleges and universities have found that significant investments in technology have not met their expectations for bringing about these types of educational changes. Difficulty in learning to use new hardware and software has limited many faculty members’ experimentation with technology in teaching, and faculty with minimal technology skills often find it difficult to envision ways technology could improve their teaching or enhance their curricula. While some more technically adept faculty have had success in creating impressive new course materials or making substantive changes in their curricula, these faculty — as well as their “low-tech” colleagues — are often dismayed at the time and effort needed for this innovation. Thus, faculty members with both low and high technical proficiency often forego technology-based curricular change. At Duke University, as at many other institutions in the U.S. (Morgan, 2003), we have found that the adoption of a Web-based course management system has served as a practical and effective tool for integrating technology with curricular change. Our CMS is a tool available institutionwide and is used by faculty in nearly all nine of Duke’s schools. By learning a few basic features of the CMS, faculty have acquired a common understanding of technology tools and their potential application in university instruction and have a common platform for more deliberate infusion 15 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the product's webpage: www.igi-global.com/chapter/cms-implementation-catalyst-curricularchange/7178?camid=4v1 This title is available in InfoSci-Books, InfoSci-Educational Technologies, Curriculum Development and Instructional Design, Library Science, Information Studies, and Education, InfoSciEducational Science and Technology. Recommend this product to your librarian: www.igi-global.com/e-resources/library-recommendation/?id=1