Leveraging Technology to Alleviate Student Bottlenecks: The Self-Paced Online Tutorial-Writing (SPOT)

• Published in: The Journal of continuing higher education Vol. 62; no. 1; pp. 50 - 55
• Main Authors: Moore, Scott D., Sanchez, Rudolph J., Inoue, Asao B., Statham, Russel D., Zelezny, Lynnette, Covino, William A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2014; Routledge
• Subjects: California; Computer Assisted Instruction; Educational Technology; Electronic Learning; Higher Education; Individualized Instruction; Pacing; Sustainability; Writing Instruction; California
• ISSN: 0737-7363; 1948-4801
• DOI: 10.1080/07377363.2014.872402

The Self-Paced Online Tutorial (SPOT) represents the best kind of innovation because it uses digital technologies wisely and because it is based on well-established theory, research, and practice. Extended education plays a pivotal role in the attainment of the California State University's (CSU) vision of providing a high-quality, affordable, and accessible set of higher education opportunities to the population of California. At Fresno State, extended education, labeled Continuing and Global Education (CGE), supports education access in a variety of ways. Through an analysis of longitudinal data, Fresno State identified areas of greatest student compression that slowed the time toward graduation, characterized by the term "bottleneck". This article begins with an exploration of instructional technology changes in higher education, and then turns its focus to the Undergraduate Writing Requirement (UWR) bottleneck at Fresno State. Finally, the article explains the solution to the UWR bottleneck by introducing SPOT, its technology, and sustainability.