Graduate Profile: Roy
A conversation with Roy Bartels
Graduate: M.Ed. in Educational Technology (UT Brownsville)
UTTC: Roy, prior to moving to Snyder you’d been living in Dallas for 20 years. What made you decide to pursue your education online via UTTC instead of one of the traditional face-to-face options available in the metroplex?
Roy: I wanted the flexibility that asynchronous learning provided so I could avoid taking time off from my career. The UT Brownsville program included coursework from various UT campuses. The standard platform was of tremendous benefit. First-time distance learners have a definite break-in period but with great instructors (like Mike Sullivan and Kathy Schmidt) the transition to online learning was easy.
Well apparently you made a professional transition as well and you’ve taken your career digital. Your career is now in distance learning at Western Texas College. How’d that evolve?
As I neared completion of my master’s, I decided to pursue a position in higher education. I was hired as an instructor for the Business Technology program at Western Texas College. After my first year I was made department head for all vocational instruction, while continuing my teaching responsibilities. After my second year, I was made the Associate Dean for Distance Learning and left the classroom. I’m currently in school pursuing my Ed.D. at Texas Tech.
How did your experience as a distance learner prepare you for your role as Associate Dean of Distance learning at Western Texas College?
Through my coursework I uncovered many possibilities. Adult learning. Learning style. Teacher vs. facilitator. Various online course methodologies. The entire experience of learning at a distance opened my eyes to a world of education that enabled learning to come to me rather than me going to education. Through programs like the M.Ed. in Ed Tech at UTB, students are coming out ready to face a digital world.
You’re building a digital library now at your campus. That’s an ambitious project. What are you building and why?
Traditional brick and mortar libraries are challenged with competition from online resources. At any given moment you can stroll through our library and see nary a student. While hard-copy materials are still of great value, we must respond to the cyber-generation and the need for credible Internet resources. Building a distance education program requires having digital resources available for students. Creating a virtual library is essential. While I was a student with UTTC I recall spending hours searching for journal articles on EBSCO, one of the databases accessible from UTTC’s digital library. I could request electronic files, or I could request printouts be sent to me. That experience showed me the value and need of having adequate resources available online.
What are Western Texas College’s future plans for distance education?
I like to think I am playing a great part in bringing an organized distance education program to Western Texas College. We have been presenting courses via a variety of distance methods for years, but the program has never had dedicated leadership with experience and/or training in distance education. I can see distance learning being the biggest area of growth for Western Texas College.
What are the challenges you expect to face in doing this?
Time, not enough time. Distance education is an explosive area. Approached incorrectly, the initiative is doomed to failure. With the right approach, distance education can become THE college. Not that every college wants to be exclusively online, but bringing higher education to the home or office allows enrollment figures to grow in ways not possible with traditional on-campus approaches. It takes a great deal of planning and implementation to successfully launch a distance education program.
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