Thursday, May 3, 2001

Some Online Educators Turn to Bite-Sized Instruction By DAN CARNEVALE Some providers of online educational content are breaking their courses down into small chunks. Students take only those lessons that they need, instead of sitting through an entire course that may repeat information they already know. Institutions that offer such bite-sized versions of course material do not yet permit students to complete a degree that way. Instead, the courses teach students specific skills and narrowly focused subjects. Bit Learning, a company that follows the approach, uses courses developed by others. "We take existing course material and break it down to what we call the granular model," says Cheryl Waldrup, the company's vice president for marketing. Those "bits" of course material can be as small as two to three minutes' worth of lessons. The subjects largely cover skills needed in the office, like using Microsoft Excel. Although it doesn't grant any academic credit, the company does offer some courses that could be found in an M.B.A. program. Before taking bit courses, students typically complete assessment tests to gauge what they already know. They then take bits of lessons covering topics in which they need further instruction, like how to create e-mail groups. Bit Learning runs the courses it buys from others through software it developed to divide the material into smaller chunks. Instructional designers then review the newly created bits, adjust the content as necessary, and correlate the bits to assessment-test questions. Bob Tichelman, president of Bit Learning, says the company may one day offer courses for credit. Deanna Kuhn, a professor of psychology and education at Columbia University's Teachers College, says academic courses shouldn't be broken down into parts that are too small. Although students can easily learn to use computer software one bit at a time, undergraduate and graduate courses have longer, more complex lessons that can't be explained in three-minute bites, she says. "If we get it down to micrograin -- much shorter than a class session -- you lose some of the structure," Ms. Kuhn says. "Most students would have a need for a bigger chunk than that." At least one academic institution has developed its own version of bit lessons. The University of Nebraska at Lincoln's department of agronomy and horticulture offers online material about crop technology one lesson at a time. The lessons are typically 15 to 20 minutes long. Putting all the lesson chunks together wouldn't make a degree program, says Deana Namuth, the department's distance-education coordinator. The chunks don't even add up to an entire course yet, she says. What students get are exercises from several different courses that they can use to improve their understanding of concepts. Also, professors can assign the brief lessons to beef up their curriculums. The subjects are narrowly focused. For example, one course chunk covers how to create plant-tissue cultures and how they can be used. The lessons are available to the public. But if anyone wants to take the quizzes afterward, they'll need to register with the university. "People can come in and take what they want," Ms. Namuth says. "It's kind of like a textbook, and they can come in and pick out the chapters that are most important for them." Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Hewlett Foundation's $400-million gift to Stanford is largest ever University had right to reject thesis with "disacknowledgements," court rules Bioethics panel's report on human research abroad manages to upset both sides Pay for midlevel administrators rose by 4.8 percent this year, study finds Faculty Senate urges George Washington U. to redraft policy on harassment Fired athletics director sues Lafayette College Bucknell U. cuts 2 varsity men's sports to achieve gender equity Spring commencement speakers are announced by 17 colleges  U. of South Dakota will give freshmen wireless handheld computers this fall Some online educators turn to bite-sized instruction