Alliances
One of the University of Central Florida's (UCF) five strategic goals is to be "America's leading partnership university." At Course Development & Web Services (CDWS) we find that our values as an organization align quite well with this goal.
Collaboration is a way of life at CDWS. We believe that it is "better" to work with others than to succeed alone. This applies to working with other departments within UCF, partnering with outside institutions, and the way our own teams work together.
While representatives from other institutions frequently contact us for assistance as they launch or improve their online initiatives, we feel that we gain as much as we give while sharing with others. Additionally, we seek to develop relationships with other organizations in higher education, industry, and government, operating out of a belief that the whole of our effort will be greater than the sum of the parts. We have as much to learn as anyone else!
To request more information on visiting or collaborating with CDWS, please send an email to cdws@mail.ucf.edu.
The following is a small list of the many people we've worked with over the years:
Center for Distributed Learning (CDL)
CDL fulfills strategic direction through the use of technology to enhance and deliver courses and learning environments for all UCF students. Web-based degrees, degree-completion, and certificate programs have been made possible through these means of communication. Through the partnership, CDL and CDWS have given students the resources to substitute classroom environments with online activities.
http://distrib.ucf.edu/home.html
Computer Services & Telecommunications (CS&T)
Computer Services & Telecommunications maintains and support administrative systems and servers for CDWS. Some of these servers include WebCT, eCommunity and the Trident Application Server. CS&T and CDWS jointly share SIP committee responsibilities and meet consistently to discuss MyUCF portal development and other technical issues as they relate to our two units.
Lake Sumter Community College (LSCC)
LSCC had faculty interested in putting their courses into the online environment but they didn't know how. They contacted CDWS, and we took our faculty development course, IDL6543, on the road to LSCC in Leesburg to teach faculty how to develop and implement online courses at their college. Read the partnership profile to learn more about the relationship.
Partnership for the Advancement of Distributed Learning (P-ADL)
Partnership for the Advancement of Distributed Learning (P-ADL) was created out of the combined vision of three seasoned departments within the division of IT&R: Center for Distributed Learning (CDL), Course Development & Web Services (CDWS), and Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness (RITE). P-ADL's mission is to promote innovation, awareness, and adoption of best practices in distributed learning.
Research Initiative for Teaching and Effectiveness (RITE)
RITE collaborates with CDWS in the exploration of mutual cooperation. Through the assistance of IDL6543, RITE assists faculty with individual and cooperative research agendas on effective teaching and learning. In addition, CDWS and RITE plan to extend the research agendas to include action research projects in the distributed learning environment. They look to collaborate on possible survey work about the effectiveness of course management systems as well as other aspects of faculty development and student learning.
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~rite/
Naval Postgraduate School (NPS)
NPS wanted to create an online teaching and learning program to guide participants developing distance learning at NPS. When NPS learned that UCF had developed IDL6543, an award-winning faculty development program, they contacted Kelvin Thompson, CDWS assistant director, for further information. The lines of communication were opened and discussions ensued. NPS and CDWS eventually joined into a partnership agreement. Read the partnership profile to learn more about the relationship.