The MSIT program will be taught using the campus Blackboard courseware licensed by the Faculty Development Center.  Each course will be conducted in a primarily asynchronous mode, broken into discrete one-week blocks of time.  For example on average, each week the instructor will post the week’s “lecture” (e.g., PowerPoint lecture presentations, additional instructor lecture notes, short audio/visual streaming lecture by instructor) as well as additional readings or web resources by Friday at 5 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time).   

Examples of some of the materials and interactions that students might experience each week include the following: required readings from an electronic text, electronic library reserve material, instructor’s “lecture” and related lecture notes, a lecture written by an expert in the field, interactive exercises to further enhance understanding of the subject matter, assignments and response papers sent via e-mail, electronic discussions with the professor, other students and the entire class.  Depending on the topic, lecture material may be presented to students in the form of a PowerPoint presentation complete with video clips, screen shots, various interactive exercises, charts, graphs, figures that will “pop up” when clicked, or short actual segments of the instructor lecturing using audio/video streaming technologies.   

Each week’s assignments will generally require students to synthesize and integrate the week’s material both on their own and in cooperative learning situations.  Throughout the course, students are expected to keep pace with assignments and deliver assignments on schedule to the instructor for review and evaluation.   Students also will be told that it will be necessary for them to check their course e-mail and bulletin boards at least every other day for messages and updates from professors and fellow classmates. 

 In sum, students in this program will have ample opportunity to work regularly with the instructor one-on-one, as well as with fellow classmates individually and in groups.  On average, students in the program can expect to be in contact with the instructor and/or classmates an average of 3 times per week through a variety of means (e.g., Blackboard courseware announcements, bulletin boards, chat rooms, email, and telephone).

Orientation and End of Year Seminars:

As opposed to regular program activities which will be done via a distance learning format, both the Orientation and the end of first year seminars will be conducted in a face to face fashion.  The students will meet faculty, classmates, and program advisors during theses orientation sessions.