Evaluating a Digital Distance Learning System for Latin America: A Central American Success StoryBY: Don Poucher, University of Florida (Retired) and Dave King,

Oregon State University; Association for Communications Excellence; Denver, Co. June 13, 2011.

IntroductionZamorano University is an international university in Honduras with an academic focus on agricultural and natural resource development.

Over 18-months, June 2004-March 2006, Don Poucher from the University of Florida and Dave King from Oregon State University helped Zamorano University faculty create, from scratch, the foundation for a distance education program and form support networks for problem- and knowledge-based learning communities of interest. Subject matter expertise, content, and technology were selected and adapted to develop five modules for use across Zamorano’s academic, service, and outreach/research areas. The modules included:

Ruminant Nutrition Basic Marketing Developing and Marketing New Food Products Water Quality and Management Experiential Small Plots

Through a series of five day workshops, the goal was to provide information that allowed local faculty and staff at Zamorano to effectively build their own program, and, at the same time, create a network of resources that they access for information and support. The program supported resident as well as distance academic programs and outreach. Seven workshops were held over the 18-month period.

In addition, the effort focused on bridging the cultural uniqueness of educational programs in Latin America and the United States. With a goal of establishing a longer-term network of contacts, participants in the workshops established the human connections needed to share information, programs, and learning modules in both directions to and from learners.

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Dave King (L) and Don Poucher during e-learning class break at Zamorano University.

PAC @ D: Zamorano’s Distance Education (e- learning) Program

In the end, Zamorano University faculty created an effective, scalable, world class distance education (e-learning) program for serving learners throughout Latin America through digital access. The program is known as PAC @ D (Programa de Aprendizaje Continuo a Distancia). The program is administered by Zamorano’s Global Center for Distance Learning. The Center was created in 2006 and began developing the PAC @ D with assistance from a program advisory committee comprised of the following: Dave King, Associate Vice Provost at Oregon State University; Don Poucher, Assistant Vice President, University of Florida; Rolando Flores, Professor of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Nebraska; Luz Marina Alvare, Head Librarian, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Jim French, International Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture; and Jan Poley, CEO, American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC). King and Poucher serve as co-chairs of the advisory committee.

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Dave and Don with PAC @ D Director Antonio Flores (back row) as ADEC CEO Jan Poley and Zamorano President Ken Hoadley sign ADEC membership agreement.

PAC @ D is a training program, on-line. At the crossroads of excellence and experience, Zamorano with its partners, corporate and individual, in the development or improvement of professional and business skills of Latin American agribusiness and agro-industrial interests, to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the agricultural and natural resource sector within current and future economic and market models.

PAC@D I Programa de Aprendizaje Continuo a Distancia I

PAC @ D is part of the education offered by Zamorano; it is led and coordinated by the Center for e-Learning Zamorano. PAC @ D is open to

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entrepreneurs, producers, developers, technicians and professionals as a tool for creating in them a culture of continuous learning for life. PAC @ D promotes a pedagogical model focused on capacity development and use of information technology and communication for self learning and decision making. PAC @ D seeks to continuously improve the efficiency and effectiveness of processes, solve problems and minimize risk. The diversity of experience and eco-geographic origin of teachers and participants contribute significantly to provide a global perspective to learning and potentially create international communities of business and long-term collaboration.

Rational Information Use Capacity

Development

PAC@D

Interactivity Internationalization

Relevant and Significant Sector Needs

Teachers, Tutors, and Technical Support

PAC @ D course participants enjoy the permanent support of a professional team consisting of specialist teachers, tutors and technical support unit.

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Culture of Continuous Learning for life

Culture of Continuous Learning for life

Relevant and Significant Sector Needs Relevant and Significant Sector Needs

 Specialist teachers are the experts who developed the content and course activities. They generally participate as guides in the forums and video sessions; they advise, review and feed back the work to students and respond to technical questions related to the course.

The tutor is an experienced professional in the study area, dedicated to assisting and guiding participants in the daily work. Tutors streamline the process of learning. Throughout the course, the tutor is the main bridge between student participants and Zamorano. The Technical Support Unit (Support @ D-PAC) is responsible for helping participants to any question or technical difficulties related to the management of the Blackboard platform or any other tool used during the course. This unit ensures open access and satisfactory fluid spaces of interaction and learning for the program.

Zamorano has a set of means and instruments that allow access and effective use of information for learning, and support the administrative function. From the technological point of view, all these facilities are managed by the Information Technology Unit Zamorano, under the highest safety standards. From an academic standpoint, this unit supports all activities of teaching, learning and communication associated with both the residential program and the PAC @ D. Zamorano continually makes significant investments to improve the ability of the technology infrastructure and thus ensure that it is constantly updated to help improve the quality of its offerings to students both resident and at a distance.

CoursesZamorano began offering distances courses through PAC @ D in September, 2009. Resident students are not permitted to enroll in the distance courses. The cost of participating in the program is $450 per student per course. The cost includes academic and technical support specialist teacher and tutor, access to the learning platform Blackboard ©, tools and content, service support and Certificate of Participation. Individual discounts are available for early registration (usually before mid-August 14); corporate discounts are available to organizations/institutions when registering groups of five or more participants in one or more courses or promoted from the organization/institution.

During 2009-10, some 380 distance students were enrolled in 13 courses. A review of courses offered during 2010 include the following:

Managing processes within value chains Ethics and Professional Conduct

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Management of food safety Historical-political context and development Decision making in social settings Comprehensive quality management of the business functions Business management of milk production

Beginning in February, 2011, additional courses will be offered including the following:

Management of food safety Ethics and professional conduct Management processes within value chains Industrialization of livestock products Management of Human Resources Management costs for business competitiveness Management for international business Hydrology for the integrated management of water resources Future Energy Alternatives for Sustainable Development Business Management of Agricultural Production

Zamorano PAC@D: Programa de Aprendizaje Continuo a Distancia

Since Poucher and King began the e-learning workshop series at Zamorano, the University has made exceptional progress in building a very sound distance learning program through PAC @ D. Start-up resources were provided through a major grant from the Inter-American Development Bank and a major individual gift. Utilizing those resources, PAC @ D generated program income of $170,000 through the end of 2010. From program income received, Zamorano supports a PAC & D staff of one instructional designer, two graphic artists, two programmers, and one information technology specialist. The tutors utilized in the course offerings are compensated from PAC @ D revenues and on-campus departments and units involved in the courses also receive nominal support. Zamorano’s direct investment includes space for the distance program, general support from the Informatica (IT) unit, and salaries of the overall PAC @ D director and his assistant, who also functions as an instructional designer.

Satisfaction Survey

Zamorano’s distance courses through PAC @ D’s have enrolled a variety of students since 2009. For purposes of evaluating the program, the PAC @ D director provided to Poucher and King the names of 45 different students who have been or are currently enrolled in the distance courses. Most of these students are those who completed Zamorano’s three year Agronomo Ingeniero certificate program prior to Zamorano’s addition of the fourth year bachelor degree program. Their obvious goal is to complete the fourth

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year at a distance and obtain their bachelor degrees. These 45 students were first contacted by email on November 1, 2010 and were asked to complete a satisfaction survey, which consisted of 11 questions designed to benchmark their views on the PAC @ D effort (see Appendix I). The survey asked if the students had previously attended Zamorano as a resident student, their present employment situation, the number of courses they had taken, if they had completed the courses, if they were now taking courses, and their attitudes toward the courses including why they were taking the courses, if they would recommend the PAC @ D courses to friends, and if they were pleased with their course experience. They were also asked to describe their course experiences and indicate how the PAC @ D courses could be improved. Of the 45 students surveyed, 32 provided responses (69 %) over a three week period during which they were reminded twice to return their replies to the email survey. The question-by-question responses are summarized in Appendix I.

The names of 13 faculty who were teaching PAC @ D courses were also provided by the program’s director to Poucher and King. Simultaneously with the student survey, the 13 faculty were also contacted by email and asked to complete the satisfaction survey from their perspective. Of the 13 faculty, 12 (92%+) completed the survey and were asked to register their views on the PAC @ D distance program and provide data on student performance and participation (see Appendix II).

The Students – Of those who responded, 78 % had previously attended Zamorano as a resident student. Some 19 % had not previously attended Zamorano; one chose not to answer the survey. Of those responding, about 94 % were employed in jobs ranging from entrepreneurial positions to those of farm/company manager, risk analyst, comptroller, plant breeder, consultant, operations manager, processing value-added coordinator, auditor’ technical council president, and food processor. One respondent was unemployed.

Among the respondents, nearly 44 % (14) had taken six or more courses at a distance; six had taken one course; three had taken two courses; two had taken three; four had taken four and one had taken five courses. Nearly 44 % (14) had taken (or were taking) six courses or more. About 94 % (30) had completed their courses and one had not.

About 81 % (26) were presently taking courses; five were not. All of those who responded said they would recommend PAC @ D courses to their friends; one did not respond.

When asked why they were taking courses, nearly 72 % (23) indicated that they wanted to complete their fourth year at Zamorano; 62 % (20) said they wanted to broaden their education; 53 % (17) said they wanted to each

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broaden their education and update their expertise; more than 12 % (4) said they wanted to find a job, while nearly 16 % said they had other reasons for taking the courses such as working on master’s degrees.

Some 94 % said they were pleased with their PAC @ D course experience; one was not pleased and one did not register a response to the question.

Appendix I details the description of the respondents’ course experiences. Among the opinions offered were that the courses helped them stay up-to-date in their professional areas, provided a broader view of their businesses, allowed learning while working, provided new technology and real world relevance, created an idea exchange, and formed a network of learners.

Also provided in Appendix I, are reasons why a few of the respondents were not pleased with the PAC @ D courses. Included are conflicts between faculty and student schedules, lack of time to complete course assignments, and the need for exercises to apply knowledge learned.

Respondents were also asked how the PAC @ D courses could be improved. Several indicated that video and video conferences were needed. Some also felt they should receive more personal attention of professors and more feedback from tutors. Some felt that students’ progress should be more closely tracked, that course expectations should be outlined and assigned at the beginning of the course and that the Blackboard© platform could be more friendly than they experienced.

Generally speaking, the student respondents are very pleased with the PAC @ D program at Zamorano University. Most were completing their fourth year (to obtain the baccalaureate) degree. An overwhelming majority had previously attended Zamorano University as a resident student, were presently employed and had completed the PAC @ D courses they had undertaken.

The Faculty – Of the 12 faculty respondents, 10 were existing Zamorano faculty; 2 were former faculty. More than half (7/58%), had taught distance courses. Five (42 %) had not. Of those who had previously taught at a distance, most (5) had taught only one course. One had taught two courses. Six did not respond. Courses taught by the faculty who responded correspond to those previously listed (pages 3 and 4).

When asked about student drop-out rates in their previous and existing courses, half (6) indicated no drop outs; one had experienced six drop outs; one had 10 drop outs; one reported more than 10 dropouts, three did not respond.

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When asked to indicate the number of students who started distance courses completed them, two indicated 15-20 finished, one said 10-15, one said less than 10, five indicated the courses were cancelled, and three did not respond.

According to the faculty who responded, students who take their distance courses perform either about the same (5) or better than (5) those taking the courses face to face. Two faculty did not respond to this question.

Faculty also said students either like (8) or like strongly (2) distance courses. One indicated that students dislike the courses; one did not respond.

According to the 12 faculty respondents, Zamorano faculty neither receive reduced regular teaching assignments (9) nor extra compensation (9) when teaching distance courses.

The faculty respondents also said they either like (4) or like strongly (6) distance teaching. When asked specifically about PAC @ D, they indicated similar opinions.

The faculty responding to the survey offered several suggestions for improving the PAC @ D system. Several indicated they would like to see improved incentives (reduced workloads/salary supplements) offered to those who teach distance courses. They indicated that Zamorano should provide more information technology staff support and should increase the use of video conferencing. They would like to see PAC @ D expand its course offerings to other areas, engage in aggressive course sales tactics, and recruit more students and faculty.

In general, Zamorano students and faculty support the distance education efforts of Zamorano University through PAC @ D. They like or strongly like the distance learning concept and believe it should be expanded. Students registered a 94 % satisfaction rate with PAC @ D; faculty expressed a lower but none the less high satisfaction rate of 75 %.Both groups believe the PAC @ D program deserves increased support from the Zamorano administration and believe the distance education effort should be more aggressive than at present and utilize full video technologies.

Appendix I: Student Survey ResultsStudent Questionnaire

Zamorano PAC@D: Programa de Aprendizaje Continuo a Distancia

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1. Have you previously attended Zamorano as a resident student?___yes 25___no 6 Nr 1

2. What is your present employment situation?___Employed 30 (please indicate current job or work)

risk analyst; producer; company manager; farm manager; assistant comptroller; plant breeder; consultant; agricultural services manager; national foundation researcher; grower; farm owner;agricultural operations manager; processing value added coordinator; city councilman; auditor; aquaculture farm head; technical council president; food processor;

___Unemployed 1 NR 1

3. How many courses have you taken?___1 6___2 3___3 2___4 4___5 1___6 or more 14

4. Did you complete the course(s)?___yes 30___no 1 NR 1

5. Are you now taking courses with PAC@D?___yes(please list) 26___no 5 NR 1

6. Would you recommend courses through PAC@D to your friends?___yes 31___no -- NR 1

7. Why were/are you taking course(s)? (choose as many as may apply)___complete the 4th year at Zamorano 23___improve my professional skills 17___broaden my education 20___update my expertise 17___help me find a job 4

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___other (please explain)_________ 2working on masters degrees in envirornmental

science

8. Were you pleased with your course experience?___Yes 30___No 1 NR 1

9. If you were pleased, describe your experience (please print).Refresher courses; Helps me stay up to date; broader view of business; courses adapted to experience of students; allowed me to work and learn; learn new technology and real world relevance; good for technical updates; information tools are professional; teachers know what they are doing; creates an ideas exchange; forms a network (of learners)

10. If you were not pleased, describe your experience (please print).Appears to be conflict with faculty schedule and student schedule; not enough time to complete assignments; course schedule changes are confusing; need exercises for applying knowledge learned

11.How could courses be improved?Use more videos and discussion groups; greater use of blogs; make courses more applicable to actual jobs; more personal attention by professors; more emphasis on new technology and application; more feedback from tutors and lecturers; assign course expectations at beginning of course; course platform (Blackboard) could be more friendly; improve communication between faculty and students; track each student’s progress more closely.

Appendix II: Faculty Survey

Faculty Questionnaire Zamorano PAC@D: Programa de Aprendizaje Continuo a

Distancia

1. What is your position/relationship with Zamorano?___Faculty 10___Former Faculty 2

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2. Have you ever taught a Zamorano course for students at a distance?

___yes 7___no 5

3. If yes, how many Zamorano courses have you taught at a distance?___1 5___2 1___3___4___5___6Nr 2 (first time)Na 4

4. Please list course(s) taught at a distance.Hydrology, agricultural production systems, making decisions in social settings, management of food systems and food safety, dairy production systems, administration of productive food chains, integrated quality management, multi-component agricultural production systems, socio-economic monitoring in coastal systems.

5. How many students who started any of your distance courses dropped out without finishing the course? __0 6

___1 ___7___2 ___8___3 ___9___4 ___10 1___5 ___more than 10 1___6 1 NR 3

6. How many students who started any of your distance courses finished them?

___less than 10 1 ___25-30___10-15 1 ___35-40___15-20 2 ___more than 40 (How many_____)___20-25 NR 3

NA 5 (course not completed)

7. How would you compare the performance in meeting learning objectives of students taking your course at a distance to those taking it face-to-face at Zamorano?

___Better than 5___About the same 5

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___Worse thanNR 2

8. How do you think students feel about distant courses?___like strongly 2___like 8___no opinion___dislike 1___dislike stronglyNR 1

9. Have you ever received reductions in regular teaching assignments when you teach distance courses?

___Yes___No 9NR 3

10. Have you ever received extra compensation when you teach distance courses?

___Yes 1___No 9NR 2

11. How do you view distance teaching?___dislike strongly___dislike___no opinion___like 4___like strongly 6NR 2

12. Indicate how you feel about PAC@D’s tutor system.___dislike strongly___dislike___no opinion 1___like 3___like strongly 6NR 2

13. Indicate one way PAC@D could be improved.More IT staffImprove incentives for participating facultyExpand to other areas (courses)

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Improve recruitment of studentsGreater use of video conferencingMore aggressive selling of coursesRecruit more teachersTeachers need relief from routine assignmentsNeed more supporting materials

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