Techno-News Blog

Ray Schroeder and Eric Olsen, Helix Education

COVID has accelerated the evolution and adoption of a lot of new technologies across higher ed. What has the pandemic done to the blockchain movement specifically? Ray Schroeder, associate vice chancellor of online learning at University of Illinois Springfield, and senior fellow at UPCEA, returns to the Enrollment Growth University show to remark on the acceleration of the blockchain movement during COVID-19 and how the blockchain can assist in new university collaborations.

https://www.helixeducation.com/resources/enrollment-growth-university/what-does-the-blockchain-mean-for-university-partnerships/

Shawn Hubler, NY Times
Liberal arts departments, graduate student aid and even tenured teaching positions are targets as the coronavirus causes shortfalls. Ohio Wesleyan University is eliminating or phasing out majors in comparative literature, urban studies, journalism and 15 other subjects. The University of Florida’s trustees this month took the first steps toward letting the school furlough faculty. The University of California, Berkeley, has paused admissions to its Ph.D. programs in anthropology, sociology and art history. As it resurges across the country, the coronavirus is forcing universities large and small to make deep and possibly lasting cuts to close widening budget shortfalls. By one estimate, the pandemic has cost colleges at least $120 billion, with even Harvard University, despite its $41.9 billion endowment, reporting a $10 million deficit that has prompted belt tightening.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/us/colleges-coronavirus-budget-cuts.html

Bill Koch, The Providence Journal

Money.  That’s the only reason we’re playing college basketball this year.  Canceling the 2020 NCAA Tournament was a decision that carried a minimum price tag of $375 million. It’s one that won’t be made again. Cash disbursements from the sport’s governing body to its 32 Division I conferences were slashed from the expected $600 million. It doesn’t take into account the revenue that vanished when most of those leagues were forced to abandon their respective tournaments. Cities and towns set to host games and welcome fans from various other locations suffered their own untold losses within local economies.

https://www.providencejournal.com/story/sports/2020/10/24/college-basketball-providence-college-university-of-rhode-island/6023037002/

Patrick Lévy, University World News

Open licences, sustainable business models and copyright retention must be ensured. A welcome development has been the more strident work on rights retention to ensure Green Open Access and the growing attention to non-commercial publishing venues – Diamond Open Access – in the quest to create a publishing system that is less dependent on a few commercial publishers and more diverse, community-driven and scholar-led.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20201023083240218

Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal
How much of the innovation that’s taking place right now in education will still be around when the instability of the pandemic has slowed down? That’s a question that the Christensen Institute has tried to understand in a new paper published today. The positive changes taking place in schools aren’t simply the ones that have to do with the virus, the report noted. They’re also tied to the other one confronting America right now: systemic racism, which “perpetuates inequality and injustice.” Both types of pandemics “deeply challenge our education system.”

https://thejournal.com/articles/2020/10/20/report-how-to-get-the-good-changes-to-last.aspx

Claudette Riley, Springfield News-Leader

More than a third of Missouri State students reported a problem accessing online learning, according to a mid-semester survey university conducted. Of the 35 percent reporting an issue, 17 percent complained of internet issues and 14 percent pointed to trouble with equipment, such as laptops, or software, including the Blackboard learning management system.

https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/education/2020/10/24/survey-third-msu-students-report-issue-online-learning/3710160001/

Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

Since students have returned to school and remote learning this fall, there has been a dramatic increase in internet searches related to academic fraud — that’s according to data from Cisco Talos. In a recent blog post, the threat intelligence team detailed how essay mills operate and how academic fraud websites can lead to more serious cybersecurity threats. It’s a wild ride through falsified app reviews, shoddy workmanship and a rabbit hole of malicious activity.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2020/10/23/podcast-the-link-between-academic-fraud-and-cybersecurity-risk.aspx

Rebecca Koenig, EdSurge

From professors to advisers to career counselors, colleges employ many people responsible for coaching students on how to meet their goals. But students don’t always take advantage of opportunities to receive this personalized guidance. Now that the pandemic has pushed many of these meetings into virtual spaces, though, some faculty and staff are reporting that more of their students are showing up—remotely—to office hours and advising meetings. That has some higher-ed leaders contemplating making virtual appointments a permanent option, even after the health crisis has passed.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-10-22-virtual-office-hours-get-more-students-in-the-door-will-they-be-here-to-stay

eCampus News
Physical campuses are closed, and students have moved online—here are tips from online educators to help adjust to live virtual teaching.  At Relay Graduate School of Education, we run an online campus alongside our in-person campuses and came up with 10 practical tips from our veteran online faculty to support those making the switch to the online environment for live virtual teaching.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2020/10/23/10-things-to-try-during-live-virtual-teaching/

LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News

The survey of 2,086 college students, from nonprofit Active Minds, reveals that 1 in 5 of surveyed students say their mental health has significantly worsened under COVID-19. The most common ways COVID-19 has impacted lives and student mental health are via stress or anxiety (91 percent), disappointment or sadness (81 percent), loneliness or isolation (80 percent), relocation (56 percent), and financial setbacks (48 percent).

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2020/10/22/critical-actions-to-support-student-mental-health/

Chris Burt, University Business

Distance learning options for Executive MBA programs have increased substantially since 2019 and female enrollment has increased to its highest level in 2020, according to new data being reported by the Executive MBA Council (EMBAC), the non-profit academic association that represents business industry leaders. In an annual survey done of its members, EMBAC says that online executive education programs being offered in some form by institutions jumped from 55.3% to nearly 74% year over year, largely fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic but also serving business leaders who are increasingly looking for more flexible options.

https://universitybusiness.com/executive-mba-report-shows-increase-in-online-learning-women/

Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Education Dive

We break down where proposed legislation stands and what colleges should know about the aid available to them now. More money is needed for colleges to blunt the pandemic’s fallout, higher ed groups say. But whether that’s coming, and how much they will get, is uncertain. Here, we take a look at the current and future postsecondary relief.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/a-guide-to-higher-education-coronavirus-relief-funding/587495/

Sophie Nguyen, Rachel Fishman, Dustin Weeden; New America

New America and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) partnered to track responses of state higher education agencies and systems on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected state funding for public higher education. The pandemic has depressed economic activity and led to increased costs for states, both of which can affect the availability of funding for public higher education. We will periodically update the tracker as situations change within states.

https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/state-budget-cuts/

Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Education Dive

The pandemic forced disciplines such as medicine and law to make unforeseen and unprecedented adjustments that may stick around. These programs usually need to conduct much of the coursework face-to-face, as students must hone real-world skills, such as being in a courtroom or a hospital. Frequently, state regulators, accreditors and other oversight entities mandate that only a certain amount of the learning be digital.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/covid-19-could-change-how-professional-programs-teach-online/586829/

Natalie Schwartz Hallie Busta Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Education Dive

The past seven months have offered some answers and a glimpse at what challenges and opportunities may be ahead. That’s why Education Dive spoke with dozens of college officials, ed tech experts and other industry observers to learn how they’re responding to the crisis and gearing up for what comes next. Although their opinions vary, they can agree on one thing: Online learning will play a much larger role in the higher education sector going forward.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/how-covid-19-is-changing-the-business-of-online-learning-for-colleges/586828/

By Jeffrey R. Young, EdSurge

New numbers released last week from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that undergraduate enrollment in the U.S. is down 4 percent this year, compared to last year and enrollment of students starting their college careers is down 16 percent. And that, mind you, is based on the beginning of the term. Robert Kelchen, a professor at Seton Hall University who studies higher education, says it’s too early to tell whether students who have started this semester are able to finish it. “And that’s something that could end up being a real concern,” he says.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-10-20-who-is-missing-from-college-during-the-pandemic-a-lot-of-students-actually

KIMBERLY COY, eCampus News

Leveraging Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, will help ensure effectiveness and a level of normalcy in an unexpected new learning reality. UDL comes from an educational framework first conceptualized in architecture with Universal Design – creating spaces that are accessible to all – and the challenges of special education, where learning and teaching based on the “average” student was not effective. A framework that considers wide differences in human behavior and teaches to every student is critical now more than ever. UDL provides a framework to reach every student through online teaching by utilizing neuroscience for learning and following the 3 main principles of engagement, representation, and action and expression.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2020/10/21/udls-essential-place-in-the-post-pandemic-learning-environment/

Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology
Now that Apple and Samsung have brought 5G to the masses with their recent release of new phones, it’s time to look past what has long been called a game-changing technology to what’s next — 10G. A new report on 10G networks laid out the economic benefits, including “the emergence of more secure, lower latency broadband connections with dramatically faster speeds that eventually will be capable of delivering near symmetrical download and upload speeds of up to 10 Gbps.”

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2020/10/19/10g-networks-on-2021-horizon-promise-millisecond-latency.aspx

6 Reasons Why Higher Education Needs to Be Disrupted
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Becky Frankiewicz, Harvard Business Review

No clear alternative to universities has yet emerged, and while there’s no clear path to disrupting higher education, there are pain points which those of us in the education field and beyond could be confronting. At some point a viable alternative will likely emerge and we see six reasons that make the case for demanding something different:

https://hbr.org/2019/11/6-reasons-why-higher-education-needs-to-be-disrupted

Beverley Oliver, Campus Morning Mail

Certificates are marketed as career-focussed, affordable (go as fast as you like, pay only after a seven-day free trial), on demand (start when you’re ready) and “hands-on”. Most are provided by companies such as IBM, Google, SAS, Salesforce and Facebook, rather than traditional educators. Most are IT-related, though a few are in areas such as customer engagement and sales development, and many take less than six months. There is some evidence, particularly from Google, that their short courses enable learners to get jobs and launch new careers, including those who would been unlikely to enrol in higher education. By any measure, these certificates are relatively inexpensive as long as the learner can maintain commitment and pace.

https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/what-we-can-learn-from-coursera-professional-certificates-and-google-career-certificates/