Online Learning Update

by Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed

Tech giant gets hands-on with its new online IT certificate, as a growing number of community colleges and Northeastern University create credit pathways with the curriculum. Google made its first substantial foray into postsecondary education in January, with the creation of a new online certificate program aimed at people who are interested in working in entry-level IT support roles. “It’s a whole new marketplace, and it’s driven by the employers and the students,” said Ray Schroeder, associate vice chancellor for online learning at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “These companies for the most part don’t want to get into education. They’re going to do it because it needs to be done.”

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/09/26/growing-number-colleges-partner-google-offer-credit-its-new-it

By James Paterson, Education Dive
The University of Pennsylvania will become the first Ivy League college to offer an online bachelor’s degree with the launch of an interdisciplinary program next fall aimed at working adults and other nontraditional learners. Offered through the School of Arts and Sciences’ College of Liberal and Professional Studies (LPS), the applied arts and sciences degree encompasses general education courses and interdisciplinary concentrations as well as two on-campus experiences. The program will take a different approach to instruction than traditional residential courses by using the unique properties of e-learning, officials said. An advisory board of management executives is working with LPS to advise on workforce trends and skills needs.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/penn-to-offer-ivy-leagues-first-online-bachelors-degree/532805/

by John Marcus, Hechinger Report

“When you look at college mission statements, they’re loaded with grand pronouncements about the skills and habits of mind they’re going to inspire in their students,” said Alexander McCormick, an associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Indiana University Bloomington. Yet “even as they teach their students to back up their claims with evidence, they don’t have much evidence to back up those claims.”  “What students are supposed to be doing or learning diverges wildly,” said Nate Johnson, founder and principal consultant of the firm Postsecondary Analytics, who follows this. “You have students majoring in everything from philosophy to heating and air-conditioning repair to accounting. Even if you had measurable assessments in all those different areas, adding them up to say students made X amount of progress isn’t the same as what you can say about 9-year-olds or 10-year-olds hitting certain benchmarks in reading.”

As students return to college, a basic question persists: What are they learning?

by MIT Open Learning
This week, the MIT Refugee Action Hub (ReACT) announced that it is now accepting applications for the second offering of the Certificate Program in Computer and Data Science. The one-year course of study is designed for refugees and other displaced people around the world, and offers them the opportunity to earn a certificate in a rigorous, yet accessible program that allows young adults to reactivate their potential and restart careers. The inaugural group of students will be completing their studies in January 2019. The blended program will continue to offer a core online curriculum of the edX catalogue along with an immersive set of in-person workshops and classes offered by MIT faculty and staff. These offerings include an entrepreneurship program, led by the MIT Bootcamps and a MakerLab run by the Little Devices Lab. Admir Masic, faculty lead and the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, founded ReACT in 2017 with a mission to provide blended learning opportunities to refugees around the world.

http://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-react-expands-learning-opportunities-refugees-displaced-populations-0921

by Mark Lieberman, Inside Higher Ed
Business students at the University of Central Florida agitate for alternatives to a model that heavily shifts their learning time to outside the classroom. Students in the University of Central Florida’s College of Business this week have gotten more than 1,800 signatures on a petition criticizing the college’s recent shift to a blended and active learning classroom model that some students describe as onerous and not conducive to learning. The business college, meanwhile, is standing behind its changes, arguing they’re sound and well intentioned from a pedagogical perspective, and more well liked by students than the petition suggests.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/09/21/blended-learning-model-university-central-florida-draws-business

By: Natassia Henry, Daily Toreador

Many students may think professors are not aware of the various cheating tactics students try, but Lisa Low, assistant professor of practice in public relations at Texas Tech, said that could not be further from the truth. “Very few (professors) are not, not aware of the many ways to collude,” Low said. Professors are understanding when it comes to the lifestyles of students. Low said if students are in a jam, it is better for them to talk to their professor rather than cheat, because once a student cheats, the professors are obligated to report it. Once that is done, it is no longer in the hands of the professor.

http://www.dailytoreador.com/news/professors-find-ways-to-prevent-cheating-for-online-classes/article_74838ffa-bdc1-11e8-81c8-d72d20ca3dc0.html

by 13 News Now
Virginia Beach City Public Schools is preparing to utilize three Virtual Learning Days to make up for three days-worth of missed classes due to Hurricane Florence. The school system canceled school for four days as residents prepared for the storm’s landfall. Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence has waived the fourth day for students by using time built into the school year.

https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/education/virginia-beach-schools-using-virtual-learning-days-in-aftermath-of-florence/291-595556102

By George Hagerty, Education Dive
George Hagerty is the president of Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida.  For many of us, our enthusiastic embrace of the latest technological conveniences has moved from “shiny-new-thing” novelty to indispensable daily companion: a sure harbinger of the growing role artificial intelligence will play in our lives.  It can be argued that few sectors have been more disrupted or transformed by technology than higher education — given our dual responsibilities as both transmitters and creators of knowledge. But when conversations on campus inevitably turn to the acquisition and application of new technology — deliberations further complicated by strategic purposes, cost implications and political overtones — we must safeguard against mistaking electronic-based systems as ends unto themselves, in favor of what they are: tools to benefit the delivery and quality of instruction and services.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/president-speaks-staying-high-touch-in-a-high-tech-college-world/532535/

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology
Nearly all of the courses for students earning an Associate of Arts degree in business will soon be covered by a free OpenStax textbook, thanks to a series of six new introductory business textbooks being produced by the Rice University-based publisher of open educational resources. The series includes texts for Introduction to Business, Business Ethics, Principles of Management, Entrepreneurship, Principles of Accounting and Organizational Behavior — all courses taught at most colleges and universities in the United States, according to a news announcement, and typically required courses for degres in business or related fields.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/09/18/openstax-adds-business-textbook-series.aspx

by ABILA, Forward Together

In the context of professional development benefits, 85 percent of members say they want their organization to provide continuing education opportunities. Members aren’t after just one learning method however, they want allthe options. Across the generations, members are craving variety and accessibility in learning formats. Your members are multimodal and are interested in an array of education mediums.  For associations, this can be a tall order to deliver. The first step to meeting this need is to reflect on the education you are already delivering and determine what additional learning formats may be beneficial to add. Here are some options to consider: 

http://blog.abila.com/meeting-needs-multimodal-learners-2/

by Ashford University

Learning in both a physical classroom and virtual online classroom have very similar recipes for success. However, taking classes within an online environment comes with many benefits as well as its own set of challenges. Linked below are 5 tips that will help you succeed while learning online at Ashford University.

https://www.ashford.edu/blog/online-learning/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-distance-learning-5-tips-for-success-when-learning-online

by Scott Davis, Daily News

Assistant Vice President for WSU’s Global Campus Rebecca Van de Vord said the university requires proctoring for as many as 18,000 exams a year, and that number is expected to grow by 20 percent over the next seven years. She said the roughly 3,000 students enrolled in the Global Campus will be affected as well as a smaller proportion of Pullman-based students who are taking online courses. “There are always questions about online programs as to ‘How do you know the person taking the course or doing the work is the person who’s enrolled?’ ” Van de Vord said. “The best way to determine that is through a proctored exam or activity where they show their ID and you see their face and they complete the work while someone is watching them.”

http://dnews.com/local/wsu-hopes-to-keep-students-honest-online/article_b2d1a928-ea2d-5ca3-b769-e3a006f15529.html

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

What we see is just a huge blending. Right now we offer MOOCs, we offer specializations (packages of those single courses), we offer master tracks, which are those modules that count towards a degree. We only have three right now, but we’re going to be building up that library. And then we have degrees now. I talk to people who take who take a MOOC on blockchain. All they wanted was about 10 hours of very high-quality instruction. They didn’t need a degree. They literally just wanted to learn the material. Those kinds of people are not going to buy a degree. Then there are people who get a degree, and you’re like, “Why didn’t you take a bunch of MOOCs?” Because the degrees help them get a better job. So long as we believe there will be a range of needs from very, very rigorous and that ends up in a high-pedigreed credential to smaller learning that nevertheless teaches you something that’s really important, there’s absolutely no reason that MOOCs won’t exist and degrees won’t exist with a link between them. I think it’s going to be a continuum.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/09/12/courseras-ceo-on-the-evolving-meaning-of-mooc.aspx

by Maria Danilova, Associated Press
A federal court has ruled that it was “arbitrary and capricious” for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to delay an Obama-era rule meant to protect students swindled by for-profit colleges. The decision is a significant blow to the Trump administration’s attempt to ease regulations for the industry. A judge in the nation’s capital ruled on Wednesday in favor of Democratic attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia and former students. They had sued DeVos over her decision last year to postpone the rules finalized under President Barack Obama.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-betsy-devos-student-loan-lawsuit-for-profit-colleges-fraud-20180913-story.html

By Ann Kirschner and Dana Born, Boston Globe

VUCA stands for “volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous,” a handy shortcut used by the military to describe these uncertain times, and a framework to shape its leadership programs. We have a graduation gap, an employment gap, and a skills gap. These are global trends but perhaps most acute in the United States, where we have championed college education for all at the same time that we have not paid enough attention to the link between learning and earning. The false choice between vocational training and the lofty devotion to the life of the mind is particularly damaging to first-generation college students with no parental safety net or networks of their own. Career services remain the Siberia of most college campuses, visited rarely and woefully under-resourced.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/09/12/education-not-preparing-students-for-fast-changing-world/96vTGowaDypumwyLtPtLjP/story.html

Kristi Hedges, Harvard Business Review

The reality is that most people are not set up to take advantage of development opportunities. Many organizations view learning as something extra, something to fit in on top of the regular work. But to create a culture that encourages employee growth, managers need to make learning an expectation — not an option. Learning helps people keep a broad perspective. When we feel expert at something, sociologists have shown, the earned dogmatism effect sets in, causing us to be more close-minded and to disregard new ideas and perspectives. For managers, suggesting that team members go to a training or take an online course isn’t enough; for many professionals, that’s just more work on their plates. Instead, managers need to encourage continual learning with supportive behaviors that, in turn, will shape their company culture. Be a vocal role model. Managers should frame learning as a growth opportunity, not as a quid pro quo for promotion.

https://hbr.org/2018/09/make-sure-everyone-on-your-team-sees-learning-as-part-of-their-job

By Asha McLean, ZDNet

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) Online will now be offering short courses in artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), thanks to a new partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). RMIT’s newly launched courses — Developing AI Strategy, Developing AR and VR Strategy, and Developing AR and VR Applications — are adapted from the AWS Educate global program and are designed to address tech-driven changes in the workplace, AWS added. “They are intended to provide embedded pathways for professionals to gain AWS Cloud computing skills and prepare them to gain micro-credentials and AWS certifications,” the cloud giant continued. According to RMIT Online CEO Helen Souness, the short course offerings are expected to help address the skills gaps in the AI and AR/VR fields.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/rmit-online-launches-ar-and-vr-courses-using-amazon-sumerian/

by Jeff Selingo, Washington Post

At the beginning of last decade, college students who went to public universities paid for about one-third of their education. Today, in more than half the states, they pay for most of it. In that time, the College Board has found that the average price of tuition, room, board and fees at public institutions has risen more than 60 percent, to $20,770. Research by Douglas Webber, an associate professor in economics at Temple University, has found that colleges raise tuition by about $300 for every $1,000 in funds cut by the state.  The rapid disinvestment by states this century in public higher education happened not because of one event, but a confluence of factors that has made it more expensive for students and their families to attend most state colleges. First, funding levels failed to keep up with the influx of students to public campuses last decade because of the rising numbers of high school graduates. Second, the Great Recession of 2008 decimated state budgets. While after previous downturns higher education eventually recovered those dollars, not this time. In only six states have higher education budgets returned to or surpassed their pre-recession levels; in 19 states, expenditures per student are at least 20 percent lower than before the recession.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/09/08/states-decision-reduce-support-higher-education-comes-cost/

by Michael S. Roth, President, Wesleyan
Many readers of this blog know that I have championed pragmatic liberal learning—a broad education that combines skills and contextual understanding to provide a resource for life “beyond the university.” Students at Wesleyan hear me repeat the great line of former Wesleyan president Victor Butterfield: “If these turn out to be the best four years of your lives, then we have failed you.” Wesleyans learn to translate liberal learning into purposeful work after graduation.

http://roth.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2018/09/11/the-work-you-want-to-do-after-graduation/

Rock Springs resident Laura Schmid-Pizzato, who was appointed to the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees on Tuesday, told the Laramie Boomerang she’s largely interested in increasing access to UW education for citizens throughout the state.  part-time lecturer at Western Wyoming Community College, Schmid-Pizzato said she thinks the university should be able to increase course offering to residents around Wyoming who aren’t able to relocate to Laramie. “I want to make sure they have the opportunity for higher education,” she said. “I taught online classes and there’s lots of different ways to provide the education.”

https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_7ce8363d-2472-5621-a4a2-3f18c25ed434.html

by Kate Bueckert, CBC

The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) has relaunched it’s #TextbookBroke campaign to highlight the high cost of textbooks and urge professors to choose free alternatives. The group initially launched the campaign in January, and during it, students shared stories about how not being able to afford textbooks impacted their education. “We saw students were spending about an average of $500 on textbooks,” said Shannon Kelly, vice president of student affairs for the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union and vice president of finance for OUSA. “Some students had to pick and choose between what textbooks they felt that they actually needed and could afford.”

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/university-waterloo-wilfrid-laurier-textbook-broke-free-1.4817656