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Think about this, an innovative distance education program!
Colleges are experimenting with four-day school weeks as a means to cut back on expenses and travel. I think this innovative idea has roots in distance education. The Web-Hybrid model in becoming increasing popular for an alternative to delivering F2F classes. In the Web-Hybrid model, faculty still meet with the students F2F but half the class is delivered online, thus cutting down on trips to the campus and campus space and utilities. A win win situation for both faculty and students.
For the staff, administrators are authorizing alternative schedules as an employee-friendly policy designed to soothe the sting of increasingly costly daily commutes. The alternative schedule could be telecommuting, which again has roots in distance education. Without all the Internet tools available today, telecommuting wouldn't be as productive. With Web 2.0 tools staff have access to documents, can communicate and collaborate with other staff and even have virtual meetings. Additionally, telecommuting days could be designates training days. Training could be delivered online by the HR and technology departments, an innovative distance education program!
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4 comments:
So you are saying the web is green?!
Aside from the points you make well here, I am increasingly thinking that the Web-Hybrid model as you call it is the best approach when it's possible to use it. It combines the best of both approaches, and as you point out, solves some other problems too.
Many students at LRCC are commuters, so block scheduling and hybrids have gained in popularity as gas prices have skyrocketed.
Four-day weeks have also been popular this summer. Although our faculty have tried to avoid scheduling classes on Friday for some time now, this is the first time our College System has given approval for staff to work a four-day week. I love green!!!
Are you just now seeing 4-day weeks in your environment? When I did my undergrad 10ish years ago my entire college was on a four day week, including staff. I know there were at least a couple of other schools at the university that had the same policy at that time...
And, for the record, this was at a university that had the majority of its students living on campus or within a few miles; it's not at all a commuter school.
Joel,
We are offering more and more Web-Hybrid courses each year at UNCG. And with the increasing cost of communting as well as the damage to the environment, these kinds of courses make more and more sense for on-campus classes. And the knowledge we gain from distance classes will no doubt make these kinds of classes better and better. It will be interesting to see to what degree hybrids become the norm in the future for on-campus classes. But they still have the limitation we find in classes that are entirely face to face in that they can be offered only to those who live within reasonable communiting distance. For reaching people, the pure online class still has the advantage.
As to the four-day week, I really like the idea. I've seen some stories concerning how some employers in the business world have actually seen production go up with the four-day week. And I think, given the increasing ability of technology to connect us, the four day week makes sense for education too. But, one wonders will this trend continue if gas prices drop. I saw a story the other day in which the reporter said their has been some increase in SUV sales since gas prices have dropped.
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