The Development of an Online Course to Teach Public Administrators Computer Utilization

Abstract

Although there is a growing requirement that public administrators have technology skills, within the Master of Public Administration programs at most universities there are few accommodations for technology training that are both field specific and meet the demands of non-traditional graduate students. Often times the computer courses that are offered are designed to address the needs of students pursuing careers in private industry or teaching. For example, at the State University of West Georgia many MPA students have taken Computer Utilization for Educators so they could learn some technology skills before graduating (Clay). Many aspects of this course, however, include components such as the software program called Gradebook that are of no use to a public administrator. In addition, the needs of public administrators and graduate students who already work as full-time professionals, and often have families, are not met by traditional on-campus courses. For these reasons, a uniquely designed comprehensive Computer Utilization for Public Administrators course has been developed. The class content was based on two in-depth surveys and offered on-line, allowing participants to take most of the course outside of the traditional classroom. This paper will review the findings of the two surveys and the class that resulted. The assessments were conducted in September and October 1997; the first survey to question nearly 75 identified public administrators within our area and the second to survey current University of West Georgia MPA students. Together the findings identified: (1) the need for a computer utilization course within the MPA program at UWG; (2) the specific technology skills demanded by public managers in our market area; (3) the viability of implementing a successful on-line course to meet the needs of existing MPA students AND attract new enrollment from professionals; (4) and whether such a course should be offered as both a credit and/or non-credit continuing education course. The information gathered from the surveys was used to design, market, and implement the mostly online Computer Utilization for Public Managers course. The combination credit and non-credit continuing education class began in January of 1998 and will end in mid-March. Background: Why was this course needed?