University of Montana Distance Learning Initiative

Summer 2000

 

In June, 2000, Provost Kindrick awarded four grants for a total of $100,000 in Distance and Electronic Technology Development.  These grants were awarded to the School of Education, the School of Business Administration of The University of Montana - Missoula, and to Montana Tech of The University of Montana, and Western Montana College of The University of Montana.

 

The grant to the School of Education of The University of Montana - Missoula was to provide course work and support systems for supervising teachers.  The grant has largely attained its goals.  The project specifically sought to develop an on-line course dealing with issues of student teacher supervision.  The course has been developed and is being offered during the Spring, 2001, term.  The  principal investigator of the grant awaits the conclusion of the term to assess the success of the course.

 

The School of Business Administration of The University of Montana- Missoula sought to convert two 600-level Professional MBA courses to a mixed delivery system, with 5 nights, or fewer, of METNET delivery and the remainder of the instruction provided on the World Wide Web.  The project has been largely successful.  The two courses were selected, faculty were identified to develop the necessary course materials for Internet delivery.  Both courses (MBA 685 and MBA 660) are being offered during the Spring, 2001 term.

 

Montana Tech of The University of Montana proposed to develop several classes for Internet delivery.  These include Professional Ethics, and three courses within the Nursing program (Medical Terminology, Comprehensive Review, and Human Anatomy).  All four of the courses were successfully developed and will have been offered in the 2000 - 2001 academic year.

 

Western Montana College of The University of Montana sought funding to convert the high-enrollment course ED 360, Children’s Literature, into a web-based course.  The newly configured course was offer Fall, 2000, to 48 students.  The outcomes of that offering are currently be analyzed for further modification.