Assessing where the Faculty is now

Having considered its strategic objectives for online learning, the Faculty will need to assess where it is now in relation to those objectives. It will need to consider what existing resources are available

• at Faculty level
• centrally at the University level (including computer services, staff development services (CSD, CATL, ETU), Library and student services)
• to the wider campus by other Faculties

In particular it will need to consider

• existing infrastructure and technical support for online learning
• administrative systems in place to support online learning programs
• MLE's and computer-based learning environments in use in the Faculty and elsewhere on-campus
• availability of skills in educational design, multimedia and evaluation
• availability of resources (human and financial) to develop online learning
• readiness of staff in relation to willingness/desire to develop online learning
• relationship with the Library in regard to information literacy, access and availability of electronic journals and databases and support for online learning
• relationship with student service providers

Some guiding questions for assessing where the Faculty is now

• Are the current infrastructure, technology and administration resources good enough to support online teaching and learning?
• What is the experience (and frustrations) of staff and students attempting to dial-in via a modem?
• How ready and capable is the Faculty of providing services that support online teaching and learning (e.g., technical support for staff, training programmes, educational design of online resources)?
• What technical support (e.g., computer labs, help desks) do students currently have?
• Which LMS, if any, are being used within the Faculty?
• What is the experience of staff and students to date?
• Does the Faculty have an appropriate Internet Download Quota Policy?