[The Montana Professor 23.2, Spring 2013 <http://mtprof.msun.edu>]
Philip Gaines
Associate Professor of Linguistics and Chair, Department of English
MSU-Bozeman
As this issue of Montana Professor arrives in mailboxes, we find ourselves at the end of the calendar cycle that defines our professional lives. Some things don't change, and the ebb and flow of the academic year is part of what keeps our work fresh.
But some things do change—and sometimes radically. At the moment, we are all, willingly or not, aboard an express train called Online Education. It left the station quite awhile ago and shows no sign of slowing down. I have had more than one suggestion in the last couple of years that MP dedicate some space to online, so this is a special issue on the topic.
University administrators and boards of regents/trustees in every state, in both private and public institutions, see in online teaching an answer to the financial challenges faced by higher education. Courses are relatively inexpensive to run, "profits" can be significant, and the convenience plays well with students. Most faculty would agree, I think, that these are questionable reasons to begin online programs. The discussion about online education as a financial liberator will not figure in the contribu- tions in this issue of MP. Of far greater import to faculty is the matter of the pedagogical implica- tions of this paradigm shift. Consequently, the focus in the Spring issue is online learning.
Leading the conversation in the feature Critical Issues in Higher Ed is an article by Michael Scarlett, Sharon Hobbs, and Cindy Dell, all of Montana State University-Billings, arguably the premier site of online learning in the state. A generally positive take, the piece makes the point that online learning is not about trying to move the traditional classroom into the cyberworld; rather the question is: what can online learning uniquely accomplish because of its distinctive strengths and potentials?
In Perspectives, Henry Gonshak of Montana Tech of the University of Montana and Robert Squires of UM-Missoula bring opposing views of online education—Squires from his experience with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Gonshak from his years-long reflections on the risks of online alternatives.
Focus on Teaching features a contribution from Cheryl Young-Pelton, again from MSU-Billings, describing an innovative distance learning approach to coursework for graduate students leading to certification in applied behavior analysis for working with clients with autism spectrum disorders. Young-Pelton's article, although somewhat dense in technicality, suggests ways of thinking far outside the proverbial box in regard to hybrid learning environments.
Danielle Wozniak, Christine Fiore, and Elizabeth Hubble of UM-Missoula share their experience of developing and implementing another of the MUS's exciting New Programs—an online rape awareness training program which has gotten traction on the UM flagship campus. The topic is a critical one for Montana, and the approach to raising awareness described here sounds like a powerful one.
Finally on the online front, two Book Reviews (Marvin Lansverk, MSU-Bozeman; Peg Wherry and Margaret Worob, MSU-Bozeman) and one Book Notice (Mary Anne Hansen, MSU-Bozeman) take a look at three books about online education, variously treating hybrid courses, social networking in online learning, and bad behavior in cyberspace.
This issue's MP Interview features the Chair of the Board of Regents, Angela McLean. The BoR has sometimes been a subject of intense criticism by MUS faculty; you may find Chair McLean's reponses to a number of hard-hitting questions illuminating.
In Current Research, Michael Reidy of Montana State University-Bozeman gives an ani- mated overview of the work being done by his research group on the letters of 19th century British scientist and alpinist John Tyndall. The upcoming editions of Tyndall's correspondence promise to open a window on the thought of an innovative researcher who has fallen into relative obscurity...until now.
A request: Write to me! MP is intended to be a forum for conversations about the matters of interest and concern that appear in its pages. I look forward to publishing your thoughts in Reader Response.
[The Montana Professor 23.2, Spring 2013 <http://mtprof.msun.edu>]