AN Elearning MODULE for ADJUNCT PROFESSORS
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CANVAS LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: AN eLEARNING MODULE FOR ADJUNCT PROFESSORS A Project Presented to the Faculty of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts In Education By Jonathan L. Capogrossi 2020 SIGNATURE PAGE PROJECT: CANVAS LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: AN eLEARNING MODULE FOR ADJUNCT PROFESSORS AUTHOR: Jonathan L. Capogrossi DATE SUBMITTED: Spring 2020 Department of Education Shahnaz Lotfipour, Ph.D. Project Committee Chair Professor of Education Veronica Estrada, Ed. D. Administrative Faculty Pacific Oaks College ii ABSTRACT Modern higher education is delivered to learners by the academic workforce of full time and adjunct instructors, but via the web-based, software framework of Learning Management Systems (LMS). Yet, research shows that many institutions lack a training system customized to train adjuncts to effectively use LMS application programs (Bates, 2011). The designer, seeing this need, created a multimedia, eLearning module on the Canvas Learning Management System, titled ‘Jump Into Canvas’. The literature shows that the rate of hiring adjunct professors grew steadily at US institutions since the mid 1970’s (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016). But the mid 1990’s saw major changes in higher education. With the expansion of the World Wide Web in society, there was a jump in the rate of adjunct hiring, and the emergence of Online Education. Online classes became possible due to a new software system - the Learning Management System, or ‘LMS’, but the benefits of such systems caused LMS to become widely adopted as a central framework for all classes, both online and face-to- face, at most US institutions. However, adjunct professors are often not trained to use LMS systems by the colleges that hire them (Cengage, 2017). Adjuncts are often hired very close to the start of classes, teach for multiple colleges in the same semester, and hold full time jobs that keep them from being able to attend tech trainings during the day (Street, Maisto, Merves, & Rhoades, 2012). Additionally, many colleges do not have organized training programs for adjuncts in classroom technology, which includes the LMS (Schaffhauser, 2015). iii Following the ADDIE model of design, and Richard Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia learning, the designer produced a stand alone multimedia eLearning module, ‘Jump Into Canvas’, designed to teach adjuncts how to do three important functions in the Canvas LMS. Short, segmented video trainings were created and then housed within the Adobe Captivate learning environment. The videos were narrated, edited, and produced by the designer in Adobe Premiere. The module’s design allowed learners to navigate through all video segments at their own pace, and also contained ‘hotspot’ quizzes for learner’s self assessment. Field-testing was approved by the college leadership, Chair of the IRB committee for the college, and the IRB Committee of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Project Field Testing took place at a small, liberal arts college in Southern California. Testing lasted two weeks, with a total number of eleven adjunct professors as participants. Due to the Covid19 pandemic, it was an additional challenge to secure any more participants in the time available. However, via anonymous survey of participants, major findings showed that the overall training was successful and rated highly among the majority of participants. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ............................................................................................................................. iii List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x Chapter One: Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Background of the Problem .................................................................................... 2 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................... 5 Purpose of the Project ............................................................................................ 6 Assumptions ........................................................................................................... 6 Limitations .............................................................................................................. 7 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................. 7 Chapter Two: Literature Review ......................................................................................... 9 Adjunct Instructors in Higher Education ................................................................. 9 Adjunct Instructors Defined ........................................................................ 9 Increase in Adjunct Hiring ......................................................................... 10 Technology Challenges Faced by Adjuncts ............................................... 13 Hired ‘at the last minute’ .......................................................................... 13 Teaching at Multiple Institutions .............................................................. 14 Technology Trainings and Adjuncts’ Working Hours ................................ 16 v Technology Trainings for Adjunct Instructors ........................................... 17 Learning Management Systems in Higher Education ........................................... 18 Learning Management Systems Defined .................................................. 18 Partial History of LMS in Higher Education ............................................... 20 1996-eCollege, ANGEL Learning, and WebCT ........................................... 21 1997- CourseInfo- The beginning of Blackboard ...................................... 22 1998- Prometheus, and the launch of Blackboard, Inc ............................. 23 1999- Brightspace by Desire2Learn (D2L) ................................................. 23 2002- Moodle is Launched ........................................................................ 24 2004- Sakai is introduced ......................................................................... 24 Blackboard Corporate Mergers ................................................................ 25 2008 Canvas by Instructure ...................................................................... 25 Intersection of Adjuncts and Learning Management Systems ................. 26 Adjunct Instructors and ‘Technostress’ ..................................................... 29 Technology Training for Adjunct Instructors ............................................ 32 Summary .............................................................................................................. 33 Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................... 35 ADDIE Model ........................................................................................................ 35 Content Development ........................................................................................... 36 Analysis Phase- Needs Assessment Survey ............................................... 36 Important findings from Needs Assessment Survey ..................... 37 vi Target Audience Analysis .............................................................. 39 Extant Data Analysis ..................................................................... 39 Technology Analysis ...................................................................... 40 Design Phase ............................................................................................ 40 ‘Syllabus’ Lesson ........................................................................... 40 ‘Assignments’ Lesson .................................................................... 41 ‘Announcements to Texts’ Lesson ................................................. 42 Program Development ......................................................................................... 44 Development Phase .................................................................................. 44 Production of the Video Clips ........................................................ 45 Creating the eLearning Module with Adobe Captivate ................. 46 Importing Video Segments as Slides ......................................................... 49 Creating Hotspot Quizzes ......................................................................... 50 About This Project section ........................................................................ 52 Field Testing Procedure ........................................................................................ 53 Implementation Phase .............................................................................. 53 Evaluation Phase ...................................................................................... 55 Chapter Four: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations ....................................... 58 Summary .............................................................................................................