...candidate success factors from the literature, data collected through interviews with eight faculty course development managers, and data analysis to correlate findings with the research literature. The study indicates that many of the success factors found in the literature were also important to management of the DAU course development projects. number of additional success factors identified were important for the DAU courses and may be important for other distance education development environments. Recommendations for development managers of distance education courses are proposed.

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Defense Acquisition University U) is a corporate university charged with training the Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition workforce. This study investigated success factors for managing the development of eight technology-based courses at DAU and identified success factors that may be relevant to ongoing and future DAU course development efforts. The courses studied (see Table 1) range from entry- level courses taken on-line with no required instructor interaction to higher-level courses using sophisticated threaded storylines and hybrid (on-line and classroom) components. These eight courses were selected because they are representative of the courses that won DAU two consecutive U.S. Distance Learning Association (USDLA) Awards for Excellence in Distance Learning Programming for 2000 and 2001. In addition, they have been successfully deployed, meet or exceed all educational and administrative requirements, and cover the range of instructional designs and delivery modes DAU uses in most of its courses.

The process for managing the development of these courses mirrors the weapons system acquisition process. Both start with requirements generation and progress through concept, design, content development and programming, testing, and deployment. Interviews with the eight course development managers (all DAU faculty members with practitioner experience in systems acquisitions), confirmed that many of the course development success factors are directly related to commonly accepted systems acquisition and program management techniques.

The distance education literature reports many success factors related to managing the development of technology-based university-level courses. Those most commonly cited include effective use of changing technologies, sufficient resources for course development and operation, creating educationally sound and engaging course designs, effective staffing, detailed planning, identifying and accommodating the needs of instructors and students, and ensuring sufficient technical expertise.

Much of the existing information focuses on technology-based traditional university training. Compared to traditional universities, corporate universities face unique challenges. Because the corporation typically pays employee salaries while they are students at the corporate university, the training must be as efficient as possible. Also, the training investment is expected to transfer directly into job performance. These are strong incentives for creating effective learning environments that minimize employee time in the training environment.

The researchers used success factors described in distance learning research to help guide data collection. Interviews were conducted with the DAU course development managers, followed by analysis of data. The success factors identified from the literature review were then compared with success factors developed from the DAU interviews to determine which factors are common to both and which are unique to DAU. A set of proposed recommendations for distance learning program managers was developed from the results of the study. The study provided a strong grouping of success factors and recommendations that should apply to DAU as well as to management of the development of distance learning courses at similar institutions.

BACKGROUND

From the inception of formal DoD systems acquisition training in 1971 until the late 1990s, students have traveled to a DAU classroom location to attend courses. Students from more than 50 miles away incur temporary duty costs (travel, lodging, meals) that are paid by DAU. Until recently, class durations ranged from three days to 20 weeks. In response to downsizing and cost concerns m the mid-1990s, DAU developed a strategy to take advantage of emerging technologies and join the movement toward technology-based distance learning (commonly known as E-learning).

In the context of this study, a technology-based course is one that requires students and instructors to use the Internet and computer-based technologies to access and! or manage some or all aspects of the course. With contractor support, a unique Learning Management System (LMS) called the Virtual Campus was developed in 1998 in anticipation of hosting requirements for the to-be-developed Internet-based distance learning courses. Since 1998, more than 18 technology-based courses (commonly known as on-line courses) have been developed by DAU, and more are planned. The number of graduates for each course ranges from several hundred to more than 10,500 students per year. Collectively, over 20,000 students graduate annually from these courses. The shift to on-line courses has significantly reduced the time students spend in the classroom environment, along with the associated costs.

Both mandatory and optional technology-based training courses are offered to over 130,000 Department of Defense acquisition workforce personnel in 11 career paths. Some courses are conversions from classroom courses, some are new courses designed specifically for the online environment, and some utilize a combination of new and existing material. The first courses were designed for Internet-based distance learning, with no physical classroom required. Later course designs, known as "hybrids," included both an Internet-based portion and an in-residence classroom portion. Table 1 summarizes the eight courses studied for this research project.

REVIEW OF DISTANCE LEARNING LITERATURE

The review identified success factors critical to managing the development of technology-based courses in the traditional university...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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