Research Exercise

By
Li Alex Hung
EDD-7007-OL1 CRN 51205
Principles of Distance Education

























Nova Southeastern University
June 11, 2014
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Research Exercise
Part I: The institution and its programs
1. List the name, mailing address, and website URL of the institution.
The institution chosen for this assignment was Liberty University whose mailing
address is 1971 University Boulevard, Lynchburg, VA 24515 (Contact Liberty
University, 2014). The website URL for Liberty University is
http://www.liberty.edu/.
2. What degrees and majors are offered in the identified program?
Liberty University (LU) offers a Master of Education degree in Educational
Technology and Online Instruction (Online Master Programs, 2014).
3. For how long has the institution been offering the identified program at a distance?
According to Dr. Randall Dunn, Director of Educational Technology of School of
Education at LU, LU has offered Master of Education degree in Educational
Technology and Online Instruction since 2010 (R. S. Dunn, personal communication,
May 30, 2014).
4. What course delivery technologies are used?
According to Dunn (R. S. Dunn, personal communication, May 30, 2014), LUs
primary learning system platform is Blackboard (using community tools like online
conferencing, discussion boards and team/ group areas) and also has used
synchronous communication tools (Skype, Google Hangout and WebEx),
collaborative tools (Google Drive and SharePoint) and even MUVEs for a bit (Second
life). Additionally, LU uses ScreenFlow, Camtasia, Audacity and Adobe Connect to
develop instructional materials and lecture/ discussions.
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5. Is there a face-to-face component of instruction? If so, where is it conducted, and for
what duration?
LUs Master of Education degree in Educational Technology and Online Instruction
is a fully online program and no residency is required (Master of Education (M.Ed.)
Teaching & Learning (Educational Technology and Online Instruction), 2014).
6. How long does it take to earn a degree in the identified program?
LUs Master of Education degree in Educational Technology and Online Instruction
is a 36 credit hours program that generally takes about two years to complete (Master
of Education (M.Ed.) Teaching & Learning (Educational Technology and Online
Instruction), 2014).
7. Is the institution accredited? If so, by what organization?
LU is accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on
Colleges (SACSCOC). Additionally, LUs programs are accredited or otherwise
recognized by specialized professional and accrediting agencies as follows:
Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE),
Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), National
Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), Accreditation Board for
Engineering and Technology (ABET), Accreditation of Allied Health Education
Programs (CAAHEP), Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE),
American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation
(AOA-COCA), and American Bar Association (ABA). (Accreditation, 2014)
8. Is the institution public or private? If private, is it for-profit or not-for-profit?
LU is the largest private, nonprofit university in the nation, the largest university in
Virginia, and the largest Christian university in the world (About Liberty, 2014).
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9. What is the total enrollment of the institution? How many students are enrolled in the
identified distance-delivered program?
LUs total enrollment exceeds 100,000 while online enrollment is over 90,000
(Liberty University Quick Facts, 2014). Currently, there are about 100-150 students
enrolled in Master of Education degree program with concentration with Educational
Technology and Online Instruction (R. S. Dunn, personal communication, May 30,
2014).
10. What is the tuition (per course or per year)?
LUs tuition in 2013-2014 academic year for part-time (taking 8 hours or less) and
full-time graduate student is $535 and $490 per hour, respectively. In 2014-2015
academic year, tuition for part-time (taking 8 hours or less) and full-time graduate
student will become, respectively, $565 and $520 per hour (Financial Aid, 2014).
Part II: The institutions website
A. How would you rate the visual appeal of the site? What elements are visually
appealing, and which aspects are less so?
I would say LU site is well designed. A rating of 8 out of 10 for visual appeal would
be suitable for this institutions website. Though it is not bright and shining, the use of
the darker blue color as shown in Figure 1 is a bit heavy and would be better if it was
a lighter blue instead, reflecting some aspects of liberty in this institutions name but
not so liberal is a proper consideration. The central portion of the dynamic slide show
with a short text is a very visual appealing element conveying simple and clear
message.
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Figure 1: Liberty University Main Webpage
Liberty University. Retrieved May 16, 2014 from http://www.liberty.edu/
B. Is the site easily navigable and well organized? Provide examples.
The site of LU is clean, simple, well-organized and easy to navigate. Other than the
main categories (about liberty, admissions, academics, student life, faith & service,
news & events, athletics), there are three groups of quick links on left, middle, and
right side of the top portion of the site. In addition, I like the most, on the page footer,
the list of hyperlinks under the associated categories, which are the same as the main
categories, making the site visitor so easy to jump to almost any desired pages with on
click from the main page without any further clicking or navigating down the pages.
Another good feature is that there is a search box on the top-right corner of site with
option for site contents or people.
Liberty University. Retrieved May 16, 2014 from http://www.liberty.edu/
C. Does the site contain sufficient information to answer questions 1-10? If not, provide
details.
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Yes, the LU site provides all and sufficient information for answering the questions
above other than the program history information about for how long LU has been
offering the Master of Education degree in Educational Technology and Online
Instruction, student enrollment and technologies used in this program.
D. What is the most positive aspect of the website?
The most positive aspect of the LU site is their easy-of-use and well-organized
navigation system. It offers not only three groups of quick links on the top portion of
the home page, LU has also offered among the existing group quick links a More
link as shown in Figure 2 to better serve the site visitors who might not find the
desiring preset quick links. The More link is a drop-down panel containing
additional different categories for a certain section of the website. This big, two-
dimensional drop-down panels that group navigation options help users to avoid
scrolling.

Figure 2: Quick link with drop down panel
E. What aspect of the site is most in need of improvement?
As the LU site attempts to incorporate with an external site, such as
http://works.bepress.com/, by providing the external links to the site where it hosts
and professionally presents LU facultys biography information and their works as
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shown in Figure 3, which is indeed very impressive, those external links for faculty
information could also lead LU sites visitors lost in the external site where there are
only the associated links to which the faculty member belong and the universitys
digital common. Thus, the related issues caused by those external links for faculty
information could be improved by providing more choices of general links within LU
site so that visitors may more easily navigate back to the LU site.

Figure 3: LUs faculty information and selected works presented at the external site
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References
About Liberty. (2014). Retrieve May 25, 2014, from http://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/
Accreditation. (2014). Retrieve May 25, 2014, from
http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=7650
Contact Liberty University. (2014). Retrieve May 25, 2014, from
http://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/index.cfm?PID=9584
Financial aid. (2014). Retrieve May 25, 2014, from
http://www.liberty.edu/financeadmin/financialaid/index.cfm?PID=22517
Liberty University quick facts. (2014). Retrieve May 25, 2014, from
http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=6925
Master of Education (M.Ed.) teaching & learning (educational technology and online
instruction). (2014). Retrieve May 25, 2014, from
http://www.liberty.edu/online/masters/education/technology/
Online master programs. (2014). Retrieve May 25, 2014, from
http://www.liberty.edu/online/degrees/masters/