0229590_C6FC0_solomon_negash_michael_e_whitman_amy_b_woszczynski_handbook

On the Design and Application of an Online Web Course for Distance Learning

Some interface examples can be found in Zhang (2002).

application environment

The above course has been conducted with the help of “Tsinghua WebSchool” (Web, 2002). “Tsinghua WebSchool” is a Web-based learning system made by Tsinghua University. It is a platform for conducting the tele-learning. The main functions provided include make announcement, help the query and answer between instructor and students, and some courseware management, as well as material download. It can be seen that this platform provides a suitable environment for continuous education (Collis, 1999).

Among the several thousands of registered students who pursue their Master’s degrees through distance learning by using “Tsinghua

WebSchool”, more than 700 students followed the course “Fundamentals of Image Processing andAnalysis”in2002.Astheyaredistributedin more than 50 cities around the country, with some of them as far apart several thousand kilometers from each other, such a Web course would be quite convenient.

effect investigation

An effect investigation/performance evaluation using the following 10 questions was carried out in order to get some overview of the course for credibility and effectiveness. The questions are:

(1) Is it simple to access? (2) Do you think its interface is friendly? (3) Is it easy to manipulate? (4) Are the functions comprehensive? (5) Is it closely related to the course? (6) Does it clearly illustrate the concepts of the textbook? (7) Is it heuristic for your learning? (8) How do you think about its interactivity? (9) Does it provide assistance for yourlearning?(10)Areyousatisfiedwithitsrunning conditions? These 10 questions are designed on the basis of an early investigation work for a stand-alone courseware (Zhang, 1999) with some

adaptations and improvements. Among these 10 questions, the first five are more for judging the functionality of this Web course and the last five are more for evaluating the competency of using this Web course in education.

Students are asked to select only one from four levels of ranks (Inferior, O.K., Good, and Excellent) for each of the above 10 questions. This would not be a cumbersome task, as most of these questions are quite concentrated only on a particular aspect of the Web course, so the answer can be simply made. Alternatively, with the coverage of different aspects, the statistic based on all the answers together could show a commonopinionandprovidesomeusefulinsights into suitability of the course.

The statistics of answers for these questions are depicted in Figure 5. It seems large numbers of students are quite satisfied as seen from the statistical results. Roughly speaking, for each question, around one third of students selected the“Excellent”answer,andmorethentwothirds selectedthe“Excellent”answerorthe“Good”answer. This is quite encouraging. In fact, more than

90%ofanswersareconfirmative(forquestions5,

6, 9 and 10, 100%), this indicate that this course in general has been developed successfully.

ThestatisticalresultsinFigure5alsoindicated that a more user-friendly interface is required. One reason for this problem would be that as three modules (developed with Flash Movie, Java Applets and ActiveX Control, respectively) are used in one course, the interfaces of different modules have some variant appearances. According to the study and comparison made earlier, development tools–with each of them having its particular strength and weaknesses–should be usedformodulesofdifferentpurposes.Therefore, the solution for this problem would be to make the interfaces of different modules more similar, which would be taken into account for the next version. Another point should be discussed is relatedtoquestion7,forwhichthe“Inferior”answer number is higher than that of other questions.

On the Design and Application of an Online Web Course for Distance Learning

Figure 5. Results of evaluation
100%
80%
60%									Inferior
									OK
40%
									Good
20%
									Excellent
0%
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10

Though the Web course provides many modules for showing visual information and for prompting student’s motivation, this is merely to make each study step more efficient; the whole strategy for learning is barely changed. To make the learning more heuristic, we believe, some further works on using some more suitable strategies for distance learning should be conducted.

concluding ReMaRks

In this paper, a number of rules of thumb for designing online Web courses are discussed. These considerations serve as guidelines in the design of a particular Web course for distance learning. They have also been incorporated into the real implementation of this Web course that is highly scalable, and with suitable interactivity and portability.

In addition, different learning components to provide different learning styles and to increase learning performance have been created and integrated into a manageable course structure, which provides some flexible access ability and easy navigation capability. This module-based structure,withtheorganizationofstudyunits,also reduces the possible disorientation and cognitive overload in learning practice.

Finally, suitable development tools are compared and selected for different demonstration andinteractionpurposes.Threetypesofmodules,

each with appropriate properties for pre-defined functions, have been developed. Their combination makes the course with more attractive and comprehensible features, as indicated by the primary evaluation results.

acknowledgMent

This work has been supported by The Ministry of Education (NENC-2000-29).

Several students, especially W.J. Liu, X.Q. Zhu, S. Y. Dai, F. Jiang, H.J. Hu, and D. Xu, have contributed to the implementation of this Web course.

RefeRences

Ahluwalia,A.K.,Jonker, P.P &Young,I.T.(2000). An interactive image processing course for the Web, Proc. First International Conference on Image and Graphics, Y.J. Zhang ed., 589~593.

Collis, B. (1999). Design, development and implementation of a WWW-based course-sup- port system, Proc. International Conference on Computer in Education, 11~18.

Feldman,L.J&Hofinger,RJ.(1997).Activeparticipation by sophomore students in the design of experiments, ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 1526~1527.

On the Design and Application of an Online Web Course for Distance Learning

Pohjola, V.J. (1999). Knowledge integration as a challenge for future education, Proc. International Conference on Computer in Education, 2: 299~306.

Sung, Y.T, Chiou, S.K & Chang, K.E. (2001) Use of hierarchical hyper-concept map in Web-based courses. Proc. International Conference on Computer in Education, 1133~1137.

Web (2002): http://www.itsinghua.edu.cn or http://www.itsinghua.com

Zhang, Y J & Xu, Y. (1999). Effect investigation of the CAI software for “Image Processing and

Analysis”. Proc. of International Conference on Computer in Education’99, 858-859.

Zhang, Y.J & Liu, W.J. (2002). A new Web course:‘Fundamentals of Image Processing and

Analysis’”,Proc. 6th Global Chinese Conference on Computer in Education, 1: 597-602.

Zhu, X Q, Zhang, Y J & Liu, W J. (2001). IP&A- Web: an online course of image processing and analysis. Proc. of International Conference on Computer in Education’01, 729-734.

This work was previously published in International Journal of Distance Education Technologies, Vol. 2, No. 1, edited by T. Shih, pp. 31-41, copyright 2004 by IGI Publishing, formerly known as Idea Group Publishing (an imprint of IGI Global).

Chapter XIII

Teaching Information Security

in a Hybrid Distance Learning

Setting

Michael E. Whitman

Kennesaw State University, USA

Herbert J. Mattord

Kennesaw State University, USA

abstRact

This chapter provides a case study of current practices and lessons learned in the provision of distance learning (DL)-basedinstructioninthefieldofinformationsecurity.Theprimaryobjectiveofthiscasestudy was to identify implementations of distance learning techniques and technologies that were successful in supporting the unique requirements of an information security program that could be generalized to other programs and institutions. Thus the focus of this study was to provide an exemplar for institutions considering the implementation of distance learning technology to support information security education. The study found that the use of lecture recording technologies currently available can easily be used to record in-class lectures which can then be posted for student use. VPN technologies can also be used to support hands-on laboratory exercises. Limitations of this study focus on the lack of empirical evidence collected to substantiate the anecdotal findings.

intRoduction

Information security (InfoSec) is an academic disciplinethatrepresentsateachingdisciplinethat is distinct from the traditional fields of informa-

tion systems, computer science, or information technology. As InfoSec programs are designed and implemented in institutions throughout the country, many instructors are struggling to develop programs to educate students in this new

Copyright © 2008, IGI Global, distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Teaching Information Security in a Hybrid Distance Learning Setting

and exciting area. While teaching InfoSec does share some of the same challenges as those of other information technology topics, those not familiar with the specifics of the information securityprofessionwillfinditdifficulttodevelop curriculum without specialized outside support. With the shortage of established programs, many students interested in studying in this field are pressuringthoseinstitutionswithestablishedprograms to provide distance learning (DL) options. This phenomenon is coupled with past experience that finds many InfoSec students are seasoned IT professionals, usually returning to academia for some specialized education when on-the-job experienceisnotavailableorisinsufficient.These

IT professionals usually maintain their current employment, further demanding alternative educational experiences that are flexible enough to deal with the irregularities of business travel, emergency demands on the employee time, and ongoing business change. The result is that many academic institutions, even those that have barely established coursework in the discipline at all, are beginning to evaluate distance learning support to provide service to a wider student base.

InfoSec education curriculum includes many topics,sometechnicalandsomemanagerial.Most of the specialty topics within the broader InfoSec domain will have improved learning outcomes when the theoretical elements of the subject delivered to the students as reading assignments and lectures are reinforced with additional interactive learning opportunities. The optimum learning environment will combine the best elements of theoreticalinstruction,usingreadingassignments, lectures, seminar discussion, and research assignments, reinforced with interactive modules made up of lab tutorials, lab exercises, electronically mediated content such as videos and Web-based seminars, and lab demonstrations. The combinationofpassiveandactivelearningapproacheswill prepare the student for the integration of the theoretical material into the students experience with real-worldopportunitieswhencooperativestudies

and/or internships are available. Many of these components lend themselves todistance learning, while others require substantial investigation into howtobestmeetstudentneedsandmodifications to current practices in order to sustain academic rigor yet provide the asynchronous distance support demanded by most students.

In 2004, Kennesaw State University began the Bachelor of Science in Information Security and Assurance, only the second such program in the U.S. at a public institution, and the first in the Southeast. Having pioneered the development and offering of undergraduate programs in information security in the Southeast since 2000, Kennesaw State is recognized nationwide for the quality of its programs and the expertise of its faculty. The faculty members teaching in this program have published a number of textbooks on the subject, have conducted an annual conference on information security curriculum development, and have made numerous presentations internationally on the subject.

This chapter provides a case study of current practices and lessons learned in the provision of distancelearning-basedinstructioninthefieldof information security. The primary objective of this case study was to identify implementations of distance learning techniques and technologies that were successful in supporting the unique requirements of an information security program that could be generalized to other programs and institutions.Asecondaryobjectivewastoidentify the limitations of the program that other institutions must address before implementing.

PRevious woRk

The previous work published in the area of distance learning is far too wide and varied to completely summarize here. By way of a focused synopsis with direct influence on this chapter, a few salient references in the literature are briefly reviewed. The reader is encouraged to explore these resources more fully.

0

Teaching Information Security in a Hybrid Distance Learning Setting

In Spring 2006, Tallent-Runnels, Thomas, Lan, and Cooper (2006) did prepare a review of the research related to online distance learning. The authors found that the existing body of research was readily organized into four topics: courseenvironment,learners’outcomes,learners’ characteristics, and institutional and administrativefactors.Oneoftheirmostinterestingfindings was that most institutions currently performing distance learning have no written policies, guidelines, or technical support for faculty and students engaged in these activities. The absence of such support essentially puts those engaged in distance learning on their own, without guidance or support, setting them up for failure, saved for thosetalentedandhardworkingfacultywhofind themselves providing their own support.

asynchRonous vs. synchRonous leaRning oPtions

When considering distance learning support for an academic program, one typically turns to a common 2x2 examination of academic educational delivery systems. As shown in Figure 1, this 2x2 matrix compares location and time as the two variables that can be considered.

traditional classroom synchronous instruction

Quadrant I from Figure 1 is the traditional classroom with a fixed position in both space and time. Students arrive at a predetermined location at a predetermined time, and typically receive instruction directly from the instructor. This is considered synchronous instruction, not distance learning. If the instructor were to be providing the lecture from a remote location, the scenario would fall under the next category.

Figure 1. Location and time as instructional variables

			Location
			Same	Different
		Same	I.	II.
			Traditional	Synchronous–Satellite
			Classroom	Campus Distance
			Instruction	Learning Instruction
	Time
		Different	III.	IV.
			Asynchronous	Asynchronous
			“Time-shifted”	Distance Learning
			Classroom Instruction	Instruction

synchronous–satellite campus distance learning instruction

Quadrant II in Figure 1 is the synchronous-sat- ellite campus model. This model, popular in the early days of distance learning, involves student remotely, usually via video conferencing where a live instructor provides the course materials. An alternative version of the model is the provision of a distance or guest instructor, who was physically remote from the classroom. Originally, this model used broadcast television to provide distance learning options for students. Many students enrolled in classes at a main campus, and then watched distance learning lectures transmitted via local closed circuit or cable television broadcasts.

Advances in Internet-based distance learning applications are increasing the number of options facultyhaveintheprovisioningofthesynchronous model. As the experiences of the authors are not in the synchronous category, this option will not be explored in this case. However, it is possible to incorporate synchronous DL into any program,

Teaching Information Security in a Hybrid Distance Learning Setting

so long as the bandwidth issues discussed in later sections are considered. Solutions in this category typically require service contracts, and even external service providers to ensure quality of service of the live audio and video streams.

asynchronous “time shifted” classroom instruction

Another instantiation of the distance learning classroom is the asynchronous “time shifted” classroom as indicated by Quadrant III of Figure 1. In this implementation, students arrive in the same classroom where instruction was previously delivered, but at a later time, to observe a recorded version of the instructional material. To date, the authors are not familiar with any implementation of this model in the academic arena. While theoreticallypossible,thefourthandfinalquadrantis far more common, and thus preferred.

asynchronous distance learning instruction

The most commonly implemented version of distance learning is the asynchronous distance learning instruction where students attend instruction at different locations and different times than the instruction was captured. The implementation of this type of instruction varies widely from packaged distance learning courses to the use of recorded lectures. Each of these differ mainly in the methodology used to store and then present the material, as well as the amount of live human interaction the student experiences. Several of the more common implementations are presented next.

Paper-Like Media

One of the sparest forms of information distribution is the organization of subject matter into a series of documents, computer screen images,

Web pages, or slides that students read and absorb at their own pace. In its simplest form, paperlike media is essentially a collection of text with supporting images containing a straight-forward presentation of the information. This form of deliveryiscommonincommercial distancelearning self-paced courses, and provides very limited student engagement. The material may contain diagrams,illustrations,orfigures, andmaybein hard-copy or electronically delivered by CD or the World Wide Web. Few institutions of higher education support the exclusive use of this type of material, using it as a supplement to other forms ofinstructionaldelivery.Themostcommonuseof this type of content delivery is as course support, as in Blackboard or WebCT systems, designed to provideremediationforstudentshavingdifficulty in the primary instructional delivery.

Multimedia Hypertext Media

The basic methods used for paper-like media can be enhanced to improve instruction and learning, though the integration of multimedia content. By adding computer animations, audio and video clips, and the like, the instructor can increase the contentretentionbythestudentsandimprovetheir learning. The content can still be delivered via the WWW, or by CD/DVD, providing portable, widely accessible content, which can be viewed at the student’s leisure.

Recorded Lecture

The most widely used method to provide distance learning is the recorded lecture. In this model, the instructor records a delivered lecture from a studio or classroom, and then makes the recording available to the student. The use of recorded video lectures has been around since the availability of video recording and viewing equipment. Many executive MBA programs began with a lecture- by-mail model, where the instructor would record

Teaching Information Security in a Hybrid Distance Learning Setting

eitheralivein-classlectureorstageastudio-based presentation. The institution would then mass produce the video media and distribute them. Variations of this model continue today.

With the advent of digital audio and video recording, and publishing on the WWW, more and more institutions are following variants of this model. The case in this chapter elaborates on this approach using modern audio and screencapture technology to create the lecture source files, which are then converted into a widely accepted Web streaming movie format. While the technical details may vary between proprietary and standardized formats, the methodology is essentially the same: capture the source lecture once, and render into a format viewable by the student.

From a commercial standpoint, awareness and training related education opportunities are often delivered using a Web-based seminar. Using both synchronous and asynchronous models, industrial marketing professionals are scheduling liveseminarspromotingvariousproductlines,and inviting potential buyers to participate in a live teleconference that makes use of video and slide materials. During this event, the guest presenters cananswerquestionsprovidedbyphone,e-mail,or chat. Once the event has concluded, the recorded presentations are posted on the vendor’s Web site for viewing by other potential clients.

One of the newest variations on the asynchronous record-and-post methodology is the capitalization on the iPod™ phenomenon. Apple Computer’s portable audio and video players have become ubiquitous, and their competitive counterparts are also widely available. Once a source lecture has been captured, rendering it into a wide variety of formats is simply an extension of the technological capabilities of the software. If many students have the ability to listen, or even viewrecordedmaterialspecificallycomposedfor their portable audio/video devices, then it is only natural that innovative faculty will realize this opportunity and convert their instructional mate-

rial to take advantage. In addition, many working professionals use recorded lectures during commute trips to and from work and school, providing an increase in efficiency and productivity for the working student.

Enhanced Recorded Lecture

The final category of asynchronous lecture delivery is rapidly gaining momentum in the academic community. Taking the foundation of the recorded lecture, and applying additional capabilities through software, allows the student to use an enhanced recorded lecture to increase their learning experience. The traditional lectures is recorded, usually by computer-based capture software, then revisited by the instructor who threads value-added components to the material, such as incorporating active Web links, hypertext documents, imbedded supplemental content, animations, simulations, threading audio and video clips,andaddingcomputer-basedassessmenttools creates a true enhanced learning opportunity for thestudent.Whilethisdoescreateadditionalwork for the faculty, students experience an elevated sense of involvement in the instruction, as opposed to simply listening or watching a recorded presentation.

Media-richness theory is a well researched IS arena, and generally finds that the “richer” the communications,thehigherthedegreeofinformation absorption (e.g., Daft & Lengel, 1986). In the arena as applied to distance learning, Shepherd and Martz (2006) found that when considering three key evaluation criteria, that is, “reported satisfaction with the DL course or program, more reported communication, and higher valuation of the course delivery platform, the studies found that the more media used effectively in a distance program, the greater the satisfaction with that program. Effective use of the technology further enhances the communication and ultimately the satisfaction with the program.”

Teaching Information Security in a Hybrid Distance Learning Setting

Student Interaction

One concern voiced by faculty and student alike in the development and conduct of distance learning is the level of student interaction with the instructor. The delivery of asynchronous content can result in a feeling of disconnection by the student which is offset by the degree of convenience that it offers. The level of interaction with the instructor becomes paramount to keeping the student engaged in the class. Even in synchronouscontentdelivery,itisdifficulttokeep students engaged. This requires that synchronous and asynchronous delivery methods should plan for direct and/or indirect interaction between instructor and student.

Many faculty members accomplish this feed- backbycombininge-mail,posteddiscussionlists, chat sessions, and extended office hours. With synchronous content delivery, most softwarebased solutions provide mechanisms whereby students can type their questions in a chat box, or raise their electronic “hands” and be granted the opportunity to transmit questions to the entire class. This requires the faculty member to gain additional skill in the assessment of online content. Marra (2006), for example, provides a review of methodologies for assessing content of computer-mediated discussion forums, useful in this situation.

Even in the absence of this type of technology, instructors frequently keep open e-mail clients to look for and respond to student questions. For those instructors that use video conference-based systems, the technology should permit two-way communications in order to be most effective. This causes problems when the number of remote satellite classes exceeds two or three locations, as the video conferencing technology typically then requires the use of a multiplexer to handle the multiple streams. As indicated earlier, Web seminars often couple a one-way Web-based streamed presentation with a disconnected telephone conference call. Many institutions report

that these calls can be prohibitively expensive for use in ongoing classroom instruction. While a marketing department may be able to afford a call once per month or per week for a product sales pitch, an academic institution could not afford such a conference once per class, with the typical class meeting 2-3 times per week for 16 weeks (in a typical semester).

In their summary of previous research on distance learning, Tallent-Runnels et al. (2006) foundthat“asynchronouscommunicationseemed to facilitate in-depth communications (but not more than in traditional classes), students like to move at their own pace, learning outcomes appeared to be the same as in traditional courses, andstudentswithpriortrainingincomputerswere more satisfied with online courses” (p. 93).

blended learning: the hybrid approach

There is of course another option, that is, an approach that blends elements of each of the major strategies. In this option, referred to as the hybrid, blended, or partial DL approach, faculty members select the best of one style and combine it with the best of others. For example, a faulty member could lecture in class to students who prefer to attend live, face-to-face lectures, yet record the content for use by other students unable, or un- willingtoattendthesetime-constrainedmeetings. The blended approach is generally considered the most palatable to faculty and students alike. The strengths of the best approaches are capitalized upon, while the weaknesses arebmitigated. In a review of perspectives on blended learning in higher education, Vaughn (2007) finds that:

Students indicate that a blended learning model provides them with greater time flexibility and improved learning outcomes but that initially they encounter issues around time management, taking greater responsibility for their own learning, and using sophisticated technologies. Faculty suggest

Teaching Information Security in a Hybrid Distance Learning Setting

that blended courses create enhanced opportunities for teacher-student interaction, increased studentengagementinlearning, added flexibility in the teaching and learning environment, and opportunities for continuous improvement. (p. 81)

Knowledge of these challenges goes a long way toward allowing faculty and students alike to avoid these issues. In many of the blended courses taught in the InfoSec program discussed in the case that follows, an advisory warning is given to students warning them of the challenges they will face, especially in time management.

additional consideRations foR distance leaRning

There are several issues to consider in the implementation of the distance learning classroom. Bates (1999) asserts that the selection of technology should be based on the academic needs of the students rather than the tendency to chase the latest technology trends. Britain and Liber (1999) further assert that distance learning platforms must lower teacher’s administrative load, supporting efficient work in the institution and allowing teachers to respond to individual student educational needs.

Chickering and Ehrmann (1996) developed seven general principles concerning the use of technology in the support of education:

1.Stimulate student-teacher contact.

2.Stimulate cooperation among students.

3.Stimulate active learning.

4.Offer a fast feedback with students.

5.Highlight the time invested in the assignment.

6.Transmit high expectations.

7.Respect the different learning abilities and styles (p. 3).

Considerationoftheseprinciples,coupledwith additional considerations of the structure of the DL model, the general purpose of the program, the expected outcomes of the students, and the capabilities of the institution should influence the model for distance learning selected (Mena, 2007).

the information security classroom: dl support

In this section we transition from the pedagogical approach to distance learning instruction covered in the previous section to the specifics of the technologytestedandrefinedforuseinaspecific classroom, using the KSU experiences as a foundation. When designing the information security classroom, there is little difference from the challenges facing the creation of any distance learning classroom. The first foray into distance learning forthenewlycreatedinformationsecuritycourses was in 2000, when a distance learning “studio” was created. A server using Real™ technologies was set up running Real Presenter™, allowing the instructor to record lectures and post using the Real™ proprietary format. This allowed the faculty member to cover lost classes, but really did not reduce the work for the instructor. This studio was abandoned in 2003.

In2004,whenthenewlyapprovedBS-informa- tion security and assurance (ISA) was approved, the faculty decided to make distance learning an integralcomponentoftheprogram.Thefirsttask faced in the design of the information security distance learning component was the selection of theDLquadrant/modeltobeused.Afterextensive discussion, the faculty decided that the asynchronous model would be best, as synchronous interaction between faculty and student was not essential to the assimilation of the information. At the time, there were still few turnkey applications available for synchronous instruction at a reasonable expense. Once the asynchronous DL