New web interface could become the future of online instruction


KnowU will offer individualized advice for Harrison students.

Indiana’s Harrison College wants to lead the way in online education with a new web interface developed by the school. The interface, which took a little over a year and more than $1 million to develop, is called KnowU.

Harrison College recently launched a microsite (knowu.harrison.edu) to enable students to get a feel for what’s to come, said Mark Apple, associate director of public relations.

The interface, which aims to make online learning more “authentic,” will be available to a test group of about 200 students in January.

Steve Brunner, learning solutions architect who helped develop the new interface, said it will help form “a sense of community online.” That’s important, he said, because many students describe traditional online learning as a “very cold environment.”

With Harrison’s new interface, features will be integrated with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, making the interface feel more familiar to students.

Arlene Haase, campus dean, said the interface will be a great tool for students.

“For students who are on campus, it’s very easy to connect because they see each other face to face,” she said. “This will give students who are totally online the opportunity to connect with each other and to really build that sense of community.”

No matter where students attend college, Apple said, the online experience is essentially the same, because many schools use Blackboard or a similar learning management system that is text-driven with little or no graphics, and limited interaction with faculty and fellow students.

“We believe we can improve educational outcomes, we can improve retention rates, and we can improve graduation rates if we improve the online experience,” Apple said.

Currently, he said, Harrison’s on-campus retention rate is 87 percent, but its online student retention rate is at 80 percent.

“The number of programs being offered online has doubled in the last two years alone,” Apple said. “So clearly, it’s becoming a more popular choice for more Americans.”

Abby Shore, 26, a business administration major at Harrison College who takes the majority of her classes online, said the new web interface seems to be a good idea.

“Right now, I love the flexibility [of the current website],” she said.

With a job, husband, and two kids, it’s hard to work around her schedule. The downside to online courses, though, is the lack of interaction with fellow students, especially because she’s only on campus once a week.

She said eMail is currently the main form of communication online, along with the occasional discussion board.

Because she and so many other students often use Facebook, she said the integration of social websites into Harrison’s new interface is “really cool.”

“It’s not that I don’t want the social aspect [of learning],” she said. “I just don’t have the time to be away from my family.”

An analytic learning management system, Brunner said, is one of the tools that makes KnowU what it is.

It will make recommendations to students based on what’s known about them, such as how many credits they have, their major, the groups they’re in, how well they’re doing in classes, and more.

And based on the information, it could do things such as suggest groups they might want to join, provide resources they might want to check out, and even recognize preferred learning styles.

“A lot of students haven’t really pinpointed how they learn best…” Shores said. “If it really helps them figure out how they learn best, I think it’ll be great.”

Students will be able to list sports, music, and other activities they are into and help get connected to students with similar interests, Brunner said.

Apple said the system even will help veterans or students in the same location connect.

The “path to success” aspect of the site will help students succeed by providing them with individualized advice in four areas: learning, career, life skills, and onboarding, which will get them started in college by letting them know what forms they need to complete, like financial aid documents and pre-assesments, Brunner said.

Students will have access to their eMail on the site, along with three tabs: learning, community, and support.

Brunner said support won’t be just technical support, but also financial and academic support.

The learning tab will be a resource center with academic articles and the ability to engage with librarians, while the community tab will provide the chance to interact with other students, Brunner said.

“It comes down to the notion of KnowU as the application being wise, being smart, and trying to learn from you and get better over time,” he said.

Brunner said student affair specialists and faculty will be able assist students online via chat, messages, and phone—something they’d one day like to make available 24/7.

Because Shores’ schedule doesn’t allow her to start homework until late in the day, the prospect of eventual 24/7 assistance sounds appeasing, she said.

When she has any questions about her assignments, she typically eMails the instructor, and because she does things late in the day, she often doesn’t get a reply until the next morning.

Apple said the school plans to use student reaction to make enhancements to the interface, and he anticipates that by next spring all online students will be able to use it. By next summer, he said, those not taking online classes should have access as well.

“It establishes Harrison College as an innovator in the online space, knowing that more and more students are going to seek out online options,” Apple said. “It sets us apart from everybody else that is out there.”

Copyright (c) 2011, The Herald Bulletin (Anderson, Ind.). Visit The Herald Bulletin online at www.theheraldbulletin.com. Distributed by MCT Information Services.

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