Safety does not Sacrifice Success
With a global pandemic affecting Old Dominion University faculty and students, ODU was determined to not let this hinder student's success. It began with advancing an already strong online program. Old Dominion University has been in the distance learning business for many years now, initially using satellite technology called TELETECHNET in partnership with community colleges in Virginia and selected states. Since its early days, the online program has made significant improvements, which helped faculty deliver rich digital learning environments during the current pandemic.
The online program has received positive responses from students for the ability to interact with faculty and fellow students as if they were face-to-face. "I have gone completely online this semester and meet via Webex only one time during the week for my Marketing 406 course. This course is two hours and 40 minutes long, and even though I am at home I still am as engaged as I would be if I was taking this course in person. The fact that I am able to communicate to the professor through chat rooms, shows me that online students are just as important as the ones who are face-to-face" said ODU Senior Danielle Gilliam.
Prior to COVID-19, there were very few programs that offered the type of flexibility that ODU offers in terms of the various formats. In response to COVID, the flexibility has increased even more as many of ODU's programs offer classes completely online, completely face to face and a mix of some online and other face to face courses. This allows students who may feel unsafe due to the current pandemic, to have alternative choices so that they can continue their studies.
The Strome College of Business online programs have progressed in many areas in a relatively short time. For example, online testing used to be a challenge. In addition to using different evaluation methods other than regular exams, faculty are now able to use a variety of proctoring options include a personalized proctoring service and an artificial intelligence based automated proctoring option where students' webcams can be used to ensure that there is no cheating.
Secondly, interactions among students and between the faculty member and students that could not be accomplished earlier are now possible. Engaging students in group assignments in online classes used to be a challenge, which no longer is the case. Professors can now divide students into groups and put them into different zoom breakout rooms where they can engage with each other through different activities.
Michelle Carpenter, Senior Lecturer of Marketing who has adopted many new technologies states: "Using Zoom while teaching allows me to "see" my students as they ask questions. In addition, the students say they love it too - they have more flexibility if they are not feeling well for any reason so they stay home and not get others sick, and if they didn't understand something or need to review a concept to go back and listen to what we talked about. I have found students this semester to be even more engaged - asking questions during class because it is harder to do that before and after class. I have used both the team/break out functions in Webex and in Zoom. I used the Zoom breakout rooms for my social media classes in the spring and in summer so teams could meet with me one-on-one and share their ideas prior to their presentation and get constructive feedback. I have used the Webex breakout rooms as well with teams in my classes."
Another example of what was impossible pre-COVID and is now possible is the use of Bloomberg Anywhere. Beforehand students had to physically present to use the Bloomberg Trading Room and Research Lab, but not anymore as with Bloomberg Anywhere students are able to access the Bloomberg terminals anytime from anyplace.
Associate Dean and Professor of Marketing Kiran Karande states "the goal is to make the experience comparable for completely online and completely face to face classes; and using them together makes it better than either of those formats. We are getting better at doing that."
Among immediate plans at Strome is the revamping of the curriculum for both the undergraduate and MBA programs. With the curriculum redesign, the emphasis will be on offering the student an even more engaging online experience through curricular activities and program-level co-curricular activities.
