Online Learning Update

November 30, 2010

Online learning college classes: An answer to budget shortfalls?

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:10 am

By Dennis Carter, eSchool News

Sharing online content could save California colleges tens of thousands of dollars per course, a new report says. California’s use of online distance education is “limited,” and campuses across the state should partner with a leading online university to expand students’ access to a college degree through online college classes, according to an extensive review of the state’s college access. “Using Distance Education to Increase College Access and Efficiency,” released Oct. 25 by California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), suggests campus officials could create more college access through online college classes despite the state’s budget woes that have raised tuition at many public institutions.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/11/15/online-college-classes-an-answer-to-budget-shortfalls/

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University of Kentucky online learning sees spike in students, earnings

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:05 am

by the University of Kentucky Kernel

In an effort to help students complete their degrees quicker, the new Summer 2010 online courses earned more than $1.5 million in tuition. According to numbers supplied by the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office, 29 new courses were added during the Summer 2010 session, including general education and upper division courses. Arts and Sciences Dean Mark Kornbluh, who led the effort for these added online classes, brought the idea from a similar one he was involved with while at Michigan State University. Kornbluh said the goal was to help students complete their degrees quicker, while still allowing out-of-state students or students wanting to return home for the summer to complete required hours or to retake a course. He said almost 5,000 credit hours were completed.

http://kykernel.com/2010/11/14/online-classes-see-spike-in-students-earnings/

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27th Annual Distance Teaching and Learning Conference

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

by University of Wisconsin Extension

The Call for Proposals is now open!

We invite you to submit your proposal(s) to present at the 27th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning that will be held next August in Madison, Wisconsin. Learn more about the presentation formats by selecting from the session types on the left menu.

Lead sessions on the planning and management of distance education/training programs.

Share your research and expertise.

Network with other professionals in your field.

Distill essential knowledge/skills.

Demonstrate your successful course and/or training materials to others.

Guide interactive discussions with your colleagues.

http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/

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November 29, 2010

Subprime Opportunity: High Dividents, Low Baccalaureates at For-Profit Colleges

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:12 am

by the Education Trust

Picture an industry that systematically puts its customers in hock—and provides them with very little in return. This is the experience of far too many students who put their hopes for a better future in the hands of for-profit colleges. These companies aggressively market to low-income individuals and people of color whose dreams of a secure place in the American mainstream include a college degree. And yet these institutions do a far better job at turning a profit for stockholders than ensuring that their students graduate. And while too few of their students acquire degrees, too many end up saddled with crippling debt.  “Subprime Opportunity: The Unfulfilled Promise of For-Profit Colleges and Universities,” a new report from The Education Trust, represents one of the few pieces of independent research on this fast-growing yet underregulated industry. 

http://www.edtrust.org/sites/edtrust.org/files/publications/files/Subprime_report.pdf

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Black Colleges Are Slowly Adding Online Degrees

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:06 am

By Eric Kelderman, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Online education has become the fastest-growing segment of the higher-education market, driven by booming enrollments at for-profit institutions and steadier efforts at nonprofit colleges to cut instructional costs and reach more students with electronic courses. But historically black colleges are moving more cautiously toward adopting online-degree programs, according to a new report from the Digital Learning Laboratory at Howard University.

[Editor’s note: Hampton University in Virginia is one of the emerging leaders in online learning http://huonline.hamptonu.edu/]

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/black-colleges-slowly-adding-online-degrees/28385?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

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Older college students boost online learning rates

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

By Encarnacion Pyle, The Columbus Dispatch

The popularity of online classes jumped almost 29 percent last school year, with more than 93,600 Ohio public college students taking Internet-based courses in the fall, according to a statewide report released today. “The fast growth … makes a college education more convenient and accessible and allows us to invest more in teaching and learning by saving on facility costs,” said Eric D. Fingerhut, Ohio’s higher-education chancellor. More than half of all Ohio students taking online courses are at least 25 years old.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/09/older-college-students-boost-online-learning-rates.html

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November 28, 2010

The Many Faces of Online/Blended Learning

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:10 am

by eSchool News

Technology is transforming education, most notably in the way students have access to learning opportunities. No longer must students sit in a classroom, plodding along at the same pace as their peers, if they wish to learn—as online instruction has opened a new world of possibilities. But despite the potential benefits that virtual learning offers, traditional, face-to-face learning has significant strengths of its own. That’s why a growing number of schools are discovering that blended learning—a combination of traditional and virtual education—opens up even further learning possibilities for students, combining the best elements of both face-to-face and online instruction.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/11/05/the-many-faces-of-blended-learning/

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The 21st-century retreat from public higher education

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:04 am

By Michael Konczal, Washington Post

One striking thing about the current global recession, a crisis that has hit those in the United States with weaker education backgrounds much harder than others, is that one response has been the massive retrenchment, austerity and abandonment of the promise and ideal of public college education. This is not only a U.S. phenomenon. One thing I learned in graduate school is that the best thing a professor can do is tell you who to read, so let me give you a reading list of the best of what I’ve seen recently.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/11/the_21st-century_retreat_from.html

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Online Learning: An Opportunity to Transform Public Education in Georgia

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

by Michael Horn, Gwinnet Gazette

Nationwide, online learning is booming. A decade ago, fewer than 50,000 K-12 students took an online course; today more than 3 million students do, and the growth of online learning is accelerating. Twenty-seven percent of high school students report taking at least one online course in 2009. The state of Georgia is no stranger to online learning. According to the Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning report, 13,000-15,000 Georgia students took online courses in 2008-09. The Georgia Virtual School, a state-run entity under the auspices of the state Department of Education, boasted 9,793 enrollments[2] in the 2008-09 school year. Georgia has full-time online charter schools as well, including the Georgia Virtual Academy, a K-8 school operated by the online learning company K12 Inc. that served 4,400 full-time students in 2008-09.

http://www.talkgwinnett.net/main/section/6-guests/2002-online-learning-an-opportunity-to-transform-public-education-in-georgia

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November 27, 2010

Modest Gains for Black Colleges Online

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:10 am

by Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed

Do historically black colleges and universities need to get serious about online education? Perhaps, says the latest report from the Digital Learning Lab at Howard University. An increasing number of historically black institutions are wading into the online medium — often with the help of for-profit developers. Still, the vast majority of HBCUs do not offer online programs.

[ed note: One emerging leader in online learning is HBCU Hampton University in Virginia where the university has made a commitment to reaching out to students online: http://huonline.hamptonu.edu/  ]

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/11/23/hbcu

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Online Learning: 5 Digital Community College Trends from 2010

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:05 am

By Converge

Community Colleges Awarded for Digital Technology Across the country, community colleges keep adding to their arsenal of digital technology. And in five areas, they’ve really stepped up their game. These five major trends have emerged on the 2010 Digital Community Colleges Survey when compared with the 2009 results. The Center for Digital Education conducted the survey, which Hyland Software and TechSmith underwrote. Keep reading to find out what digital technology the community colleges in the survey use to improve their services to students, faculty and staff.

http://www.convergemag.com/awards/digital-community-colleges/community-college-trends-2010.html

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World of Warcraft – Online Learning Platform?

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

By Tanya Roscorla, Converge

Last year, Lucas Gillispie started a World of Warcraft club at Cape Fear Middle School in Rocky Point, N.C. After fourth period, students ran into the media center to play the massively multiplayer online videogame. With students from Suffern Middle School in New York, they formed a guild — or a play organization — called The Legacy. At the end of a long day of sitting in class, Gillispie couldn’t be overtly instructional without turning them off. So the instructional technology coordinator for Pender County Schools took a ninja-like approach. “We would sneak the learning in through the game, which is actually very easy to do,” Gillispie said during a presentation at the Global Education Conference this week.

http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/World-of-Warcraft.html

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November 26, 2010

Online Learning Forum At MSU

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:10 am

by WLNS, Lansing

Some school districts are looking for new ways to improve learning and graduation rates while working with a limited budget, and one Michigan group says a good way to do that is to head to the web. Tuesday, Michigan Virtual University held an online learning symposium on the MSU campus. Education leaders from around the country, along with local students, were on hand to talk about why online classes are a good tool. One leader says they are a cheap alternative and help students get more prepared for college. “They need better course content opportunities. And the content that they are able to acquire through online opportunities is often a great supplement to the learning that they get in schools,” said Steve Midgley, U.S. Education Department.

http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=13472789

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Students consider option of online learning

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:05 am

By Nike Ogunbodede, Daily Eastern News

With only four weeks left in the Fall 2010 semester, many students are meeting with advisers and logging on to PAWS to select classes for next semester. Online classes are offered through the Office of Continuing Education, but for most Eastern students, enrolling in online classes does not seem like an option, and with limited courses offered, many are choosing to just walk to class.

http://media.www.dennews.com/media/storage/paper309/news/2010/11/10/News/Students.Consider.Option.Of.Online.Courses-3956730.shtml

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Pupils without internet ‘disadvantaged in education’

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

by the BBC

An increasing amount of homework requires use of the internet for online learning. More than half of teachers believe that children with no internet access are seriously disadvantaged in their education, a survey has suggested. A fifth of the 585 teachers surveyed for the Times Educational Supplement and charity E-Learning Foundation said internet access was essential for pupil’s homework. The charity also warned it was seeing support from the government cut. It is estimated two million children live in homes without internet access. An increasing amount of schoolwork, especially at secondary school, is dependent on computer use.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11738519

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November 25, 2010

Path to Learning: In Class or Online?

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:10 am

by Paul Azrak, professor of economics at Queensborough Community College, CUNY (letter to editor of NY Times)

As someone who has been teaching online classes for the last eight years, I found the online experience that was described in “Still in Dorm, Because Class Is on the Web” (front page, Nov. 5) unfamiliar. Students get a large dose of one-on-one interaction with the instructor that is often missing in a traditional classroom setting. Some students who would be loath to discuss their views when face to face with their professor thrive in an asynchronous discussion in which they have the time to digest what is being said and formulate their thoughts before replying. Others, however, find the high level of weekly interaction too much to take and would prefer to sit in the back row and take notes. Online education is clearly not for everyone, but it certainly doesn’t have to be the impersonal experience that you describe.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/opinion/l12educ.html?_r=1

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UC leaders downplay plans for online learning

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:05 am

By Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle

University of California students will be able to enroll in the schools’ first top-tier, UC-quality online courses by January 2012, but UC officials have strongly scaled back their expectations about what such courses can achieve. “The faculty is a long way from approving a fully online (bachelor’s degree), but I hope a successful pilot will pave the way to an online AA (associate) degree offered in partnership with community college,” law school Dean Christopher Edley said Wednesday. “My fantasies, or perhaps delusions, are somewhat bolder.”

http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-11-04/bay-area/24811612_1_online-courses-online-education-online-classes

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The Fourth Online-Learning Revolution

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

by J. Bradford DeLong, Grasp Reality with Both Hands

Today we are in the middle of a fourth online-learning revolution. To properly understand and manage it, however, we need to understand something crucial about the third online-learning revolution. What is it about the institution of the university that allowed it to survive the third online-learning revolution? For the fourth will be a catastrophic bust and distance-learning will die—unless we figure out how to replicate online those features of the university which kept it alive in the post-Gutenberg years after the third online-learning revolution.

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/11/the-fourth-online-learning-revolution.html

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November 24, 2010

5 Reasons Online College Classes Are a Good Idea

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:10 am

by Kristen Hawley, Geek Sugar

Ever since I read The New York Times piece about online college classes, I’ve been going back and forth on whether or not I think it’s a good idea. The article opens with details of a lecture broadcasted online to 1,500 students because they can’t all fit in the classroom. While undergrads are still traditionally enrolled students that often live in dorms and have the same experiences one would have at any school, I don’t think it’ll be long before many colleges and universities take their classes completely online.

http://www.geeksugar.com/Five-Reasons-College-Classes-Good-Idea-11926544

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United States Distance Learning Association Releases White Paper on Successes and Barriers to Online Learning

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:05 am

by the USDLA

The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) released a white paper titled, “Enabled By Broadband, Education Enters A New Frontier.” The paper highlights the successes and growth of distance learning, and suggests policy measures to ensure that barriers to continued growth are removed. “In order for 21st century distance learning opportunities to continue to flourish and allow more consumers immediate availability to convenient and affordable education, immediate access to affordable broadband must continue to grow,” said Dr. John G. Flores, Executive Director of the USDLA. “This paper highlights the measures we believe need to be taken in order to advance online learning and opportunity; and broadband access is a huge component of that need.”

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/united-states-distance-learning-association-releases-white-paper-on-successes-and-barriers-to-online-learning-107050198.html

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UW starts online course portal: eCampus website links to all degreed programs

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

By Becky Vevea, the Journal Sentinel

The UW System announced the launch of eCampus, a new website intended to act as a central portal for all online degree programs offered across 26 two- and four-year campuses. “We have a lot of great distance learning programs at our institutions around the state, but it’s very hard to find those programs at a single place,” said Rovy Branon, interim associate dean of online learning and technology at UW Extension Continuing Education Outreach and E-Learning. From a master’s in business administration to a bachelor’s in nursing, the site aggregates more than 70 online degrees and certificate programs currently available. Branon said several new programs are in the works to launch in the next two years. One of the fastest growing online programs in the UW System is the two-year bachelor’s degree in sustainable management.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/107128288.html

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