BENEFIT Background

The National Research Council report, Being Fluent with Information Technology, asked the question: "What should every citizen know about Information Technology?" BENEFIT was developed in response to that report to help people learn what they should know about IT in order to use it effectively.

Working on a grant from the National Science Foundation, Lawrence Snyder, principal investigator; Mike Eisenberg, co-principal investigator; and John Stephens, program manager, created and revised the BENEFIT course. Lawrence Snyder is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Mike Eisenberg is a Professor and Dean Emeritus of the Information School, and John Stephens is the Director of Academic Programs for Educational Outreach at the University of Washington.

D.A. Clements, developer, and Christi Ruscigno, instructional designer, extensively revised, restructured, and updated the course for the 2007 release as well as providing additional tools for students. The original 2003 online course was developed by Grace Beauchane Whiteaker, who was an instructor for the classroom course, and Linda Baker, instructional designer. Grace Whiteaker also recommended priorities for the 2007 revision.

History

In response to a request from the National Science Foundation, the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) of the National Research Council initiated a study in August 1997 to address the subject of information technology literacy. The rationale for the study was that the increasing importance and ubiquity of information technology in daily life made it essential to articulate what everyone needs to know and understand about information technology. Such an articulation was an essential first step toward empowering all citizens to fully participate in the Information Age. The resulting report was called Being Fluent With Information Technology.

1999 Classroom Course

In Autumn 1999, University of Washington Professor Lawrence Snyder, acting as chair for the National Science Foundation on FIT, developed and began teaching a five-credit course to be taught in the University system. The course was extremely successful and continues to be offered every quarter at the University of Washington. Grace Whiteaker was instructor for the classroom course from Summer 2001 through Spring 2004.

2003 Online Course

The original BENEFIT online course was developed under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation, University of Washington Educational Outreach, Information School, and Computer Science and Engineering Department.

The course was moved to the online format in 2003. Grace Whiteaker modified the face-to-face content for delivery online, based on her classroom experience with the material. Caro Crowley developed the labs. NetPoint Videos featuring Information School and Computer Science faculty and staff, and Flash animations created by Brian Snider, provided rich content for the online presentation. Lincoln Mongillo created the gateway to the course in Flash. The overall course production owes much to the efforts and expertise of Linda Baker, instructional designer for the project.

2003 Course Developer

Grace Whiteaker, MLIS, modified the original on-site content of the UW course FIT100 (CSE/INFO 100) and customized it for the first version of the BENEFIT course. Modifications and improvements included a change from Visual Basic to JavaScript to better leverage the programming tools available to students via the web, updates to assignments and lectures for more universal content, and alignment of newly created labs with projects to offer parallel workflow. Formerly a lecturer at the University of Washington Information School, Grace is now the Distance Learning Administrator for the school's distance MLIS program.

2003 Instructional Designer

Linda Baker orchestrated the process of moving BENEFIT course materials online. She has taught and practiced online education since the early 1990s. During that time, Linda developed several UW certificate programs including, "Addiction and the Brain Certificate Online" and "Paralegal Certificate Online," the Masters degree program in "Construction Management and Engineering," and numerous graduate and undergraduate courses. She is now Sr. Instructional Designer, Distance Learning Design, for UW Educational Outreach.

2007 Course Revision

In response to student feedback, Grace Whiteaker performed an analysis of the course and prioritized needed improvements. D.A. Clements, developer, and Christi Ruscigno, instructional designer, used Grace's priorities as a starting point for the redesign.

The major revision of the course was implemented in 2007, including major restructuring and organization efforts and improved navigation. All of the course content—lessons, labs, projects, and assignments—were updated, and many new activities were added.

What’s Improved?

• Improved segues and connections between course elements
• Re-ordered content and reduced page lengths for less clicking and scrolling
• Increased use of sidebars to call out important features
• Consolidated dual tracks—labs and lectures—into a single track for the individual, online learner
• Compiled online resources and media resources lists to simplify revisiting ad hoc elements, such as videos and animations
• Updated security and privacy content
• Provided more resources for Macintosh and Linux users

What's New?

• New course introduction with study strategies and information for instructors who would like to license the course
• New metaphor assignment in Lesson One
• New basic labs in Lessons Five and Six
• New spreadsheet module by Victoria Stoddard
• New Getting Started section
• New My Progress Page to help students track progress and stay on track: Activity Tracker, Progress Bar, study prompts, and due-date reminders
• New Acknowledgment of Completion for each unit and the overall course
• New video demonstrations by Michael Wood on updating and setting up Web browsers, printing course materials, and navigating the course
• New banner and illustrations by Rachel Blakley

2007 Course Developer

D.A. Clements, MLIS, updated and reorganized the current version of the BENEFIT course, developed My Progress Page, and created other new content. A Lecturer at the University of Washington Extension, D.A. recently earned a Master of Library and Information Science from the Information School of the University of Washington. After receiving a BS with Distinction in Information Systems Management from San Diego State University, D.A. taught basic computer survey courses at Wenatchee Valley College North to a diverse population of brand new computer users, from high-school students to retirees.

2007 Instructional Designer

Christi Ruscigno, MS in Technical Communication, developed and taught an Introduction to Technical Writing online course that won several awards, including the National University Continuing Education Association (NUCEA) award. She worked as instructional designer in industry for over fifteen years, and now in academia for University of Washington Education Outreach. Christi worked closely with D.A. to shape the revision of the current version of the BENEFIT course.

2007 Creative Team

Rachel Blakley, a University of Washington student and graphic artist for the BENEFIT course revision, created a new color palette, banner, and icons, and improved all of the illustrations.

Michael Rene Wood performed the voiceovers and video demonstrations in the Getting Started section. Michael is program director and host for InfoSpeak. He is enrolled in two masters programs at the University of Washington: Public Administration and Library and Information Science.

Continue to BENEFIT Technology Requirements

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BENEFIT was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and developed by University of Washington Educational Outreach.

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