Using Innovation and Creativity to Bring Blended Learning to RIT

About RIT
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a nationally respected leader in professional and career-oriented education. Its eight colleges enroll approximately 16,000 students, and offer almost a hundred bachelor's degree programs as well as numerous master's and PHD- level degrees extending well beyond science and technology.  The university was recently ranked by Princeton Review as one of the top 25 most-connected campuses for computing, and features dozens of "smart" classrooms.  Students, faculty and staff alike are encouraged to make use of the considerable technology-aided learning resources available at the university.

The Challenge
RIT's Center for Professional Development (CPD) was created in 1999 to rekindle a partnership between employees, managers, Human Resources, and senior leadership following cost reductions in the early 1990's, when HR suspended most of its training and development efforts.  Today, the professional growth and development of RIT's faculty and staff is a strategic objective for the university, and "professional development and scholarship" is one of the six core values of RIT.  CPD ensures that RIT's 3,000 faculty and staff have multiple options and formats of cost-effective development programs and learning tools at their disposal. 

With the creation of CPD, the university re-introduced instructor-led training (ILT) to employees on a limited number of topics.  Given that the tracking, reporting, and the registration system for classroom training was cumbersome to use, the university soon looked for a new learning management system (LMS) provider.   Sarah Pillittere, training & planning specialist of the Center for Professional Development, "We knew we were going to continue with the ILT model, but we also needed to take significant steps to enhance the e-Learning product being used by the university at that time.  The capability to provide a broader array of e-Learning content, and integrate the tracking and reporting of classroom and online training weighed heavily into our decision," said.

A Blended Solution for Diverse Needs
The university chose Element K for the breadth of e-Learning content they offered, as well as KnowledgeHub®, their LMS.  "KnowledgeHub was effective and efficient to use.  It can track training in every way we need it to, and it integrates ILT and online registrations in one transcript," said Pillittere.  Aided by the capabilities of their new LMS, RIT successfully blended their classroom and e-Learning programs in 2006.  The integration of the two programs also allowed them to create a blended professional development program for faculty and staff.  This program is especially useful for IT professionals in achieving university training expectations for technical certification.

The program structure was also updated, grouping all training within six main learning clusters.  These clusters include Career and Personal Development; Enhancing Faculty and Staff Performance; Diversity / Deaf Culture and Awareness; New Faculty / Staff Orientation and Development; Supervision / Management / Leadership; and Technology / Computer Skills.  A blended set of courses, such as Employment Law Overview, Harassment and Discrimination, and Performance Appraisal Process is required for supervisors. Different sets of courses are required for other employee groups, usually defined by job title, with completion tracking performed through KnowledgeHub.

In the past, RIT had no way to report on groups of related users, having to pull accounts on an individual basis to update training records.  KnowledgeHub's ability to group employees into related hierarchies has considerably eased the administrative burden at the Center.  Now CPD can group employees according to the needs of their position – such as legal training for the accounting department, or deaf culture awareness for new faculty – and track progress around yearly objectives.  By the end of 2008 some of the divisions within RIT will have a metric to track required number of hours assigned for professional development.

While CPD is primarily focused on staff and faculty training, their e-Learning portal, called E-LearningZone, is available to all students, as well as retirees.   Through a blended instructor-led and online approach, CPD now provides a single point of access to hundreds of educational opportunities and training programs developed by Element K and RIT.  Using a variety of innovative methods, CPD delivers blended training to a growing audience, from specific groups of faculty and staff, to the student community at large.

Scheduling courses for such a diverse audience created challenges that frequently prevented learners from attending.  Times that worked best for a certain segment of the staff, such as the noon hour, were not appropriate for some staff – as for example dining services.  By varying the course line up, and dates and times specific courses are offered during the academic year, the Center found that schedule conflicts could be largely overcome. 

One of the most important means for making learning available was to ensure it was easy to use.  CPD worked with Element K to provide a single sign-on capability into the E-LearningZone that authenticates any valid student or employee account into the system.  "Single sign-on was a big leap forward.  It saves people for having to remember yet another password, and makes it simple for anyone at RIT to access training," said Debra A Spencer, training & planning specialist of the Center for Professional Development.  "People can now reach the training portal from the HR web page, through a search on the RIT home page, or via links in a weekly training email blast," she noted. 

Once CPD overcame the need for various ILT sign-on and registration processes, they set out to increase awareness of E-LearningZone.  Given that the audience was so accustomed to classroom training, CPD created an ILT course based on the e-Learning module.  E-LearningZone 101 is now a standard ILT course in their Technology / Computer Skills cluster.  This session's main objective is to show participants how to navigate the E-LearningZone system.  Some professors are also incorporating e-Learning courses offered through the E-LearningZone in their curriculum.

Looking Forward
Earlier this year Pillittere and Spencer met with student government to demonstrate the value and availability of e-Learning at RIT.  Needless to say, because RIT students are perfectly positioned to leverage blended learning tools, and take advantage of the array of self-directed training offered by E-LearningZone, meetings like this will be crucial to the growth of the audience served by CPD.

"We took a phased approach to building awareness.  Faculty and staff have really caught on to the blended learning that we offer," said Pillittere, "and we're excited to bring our student body on board next."  The Center plans to continue growing the number of classroom and e-Learning courses offered, innovating new and creative ways to facilitate the professional growth of students and employees alike.