Online Learning Update

By Audrey Watters, Mind/Shift

But there are some important questions unanswered — and worse, they’re not even asked. If students are not excelling in face-to-face settings, can online learning provide them with a better — or different, or another — opportunity? And can online learning open new doors that just aren’t possible in a classroom, with access to different types of creative and collaborative possibilities with students and teachers worldwide? What about reports that show the value of blended learning?

Online learning does not just offer courses to K-12 students; it opens up learning options — and that’s the promise of technology.

http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/04/criticism-of-online-learning-misses-important-questions/

by Colleen O’Neill Conlan, Three Credits at a Time

Without further ado, I give you the final installment of my interview with Jodi Williams and Sarah Hentges, two professors at University of Maine at Augusta who teach online classes to distance learners all over the country and even the world. …I also don’t think that enough of us really think about the best way to deliver material and to engage students with that material. Many of us in the liberal arts do not believe that on-line teaching can be effective. We want the on-line classroom to be like the live classroom. However, it cannot be the same experience. It must be adapted, rethought, and seen as a different but potentially equally valid form of education.

http://threecreditsatatime.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/online-learning-and-online-teaching-part-3/

By SALMAN KHAN, Wall Street Journal

We all know the standard drill for a math class. The teacher delivers lectures on a new concept, students do some homework problems, and after a few weeks they take an exam. Some do well, some do poorly, and then it’s on to the next topic. The problem with this model of instruction is that it leaves behind large gaps in understanding. For A students, it might be a 5% gap, for C students a 30% gap. But all of them end up with a Swiss-cheese education—full of holes. Little wonder that, when they reach algebra and calculus, they often struggle. It’s like being trained to juggle oranges half-competently and then being expected to juggle knives.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704101604576248713420747884.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

by Greg Clift, Letter to Editor – News OK

All public university classes, courses and lectures should be made available online, either for free or for a nominal audit fee, so that all taxpayers could take advantage of the instruction they’re paying for. Parents and taxpayers would know what they’re paying their hard-earned money for. Prospective tuition-paying students would be able to better determine what classes they want to take. And all can judge the quality of classroom instruction. After all, these are public universities.

http://newsok.com/everyone-should-have-access-to-public-college-courses/article/3556671

by KCTV News

While it’s been a hard year for area schools losing several days because of snow, at least one local school has come up with an idea of how to make up the time without leaving home.It’s an idea that St. Therese School came up with a few months ago. Instead of adding snow days at the end of the year, the school tries to find a way to make up hours on normally scheduled days off. St. Therese in Parkville is the first area school to try the new online teaching system. The teachers prepare an online assignment daily when school is canceled, and the students do their work at home. Parents said it’s a great idea.

http://www.kctv5.com/news/27481179/detail.html

By Patricia Mazzei, The Miami Herald

More students could learn from a laptop in their bedroom rather than a whiteboard in a brick-and-mortar classroom under a pair of proposals in the Florida Legislature that would dramatically expand virtual school. The most immediate change: Starting next year, students entering high school would have to take at least one online course to graduate. Scores of students across the state already take Internet-based classes, often to make up credits for courses they found difficult. Particularly in rural counties, students turn to the Web for more exotic courses — such as Latin or Mandarin Chinese — that are not available at their schools. But up to now, Florida has not required students to go online, though some districts have pushed Internet-based courses to save money on teachers and classrooms.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/08/2156877/florida-lawmakers-seek-expansion.html

by UK Virtual College

Online learning courses provide students with a platform where class and geographical barriers are transcended, an expert has claimed. Michael Van Beek, director of education policy at research institute the Mackinac Center, wrote in the Detroit Free Press that the “greatest advantage” of e-learning technology is its ability to offer an environment where people of all kinds can benefit. “Students in the most impoverished neighbourhood can learn from the same teacher and material that’s available to students from the wealthiest community,” he said of online learning. Mr Van Beek also explained how there are more choices on offer to people looking to enrol on e-learning courses, of which there is a greater number than traditional alternatives in a school district.

http://goo.gl/Pz7ev

By KATHERINE SCHULTEN, New York Times

Some experts estimate that more than a million students in the United States, from kindergarten through 12th grade, are taking courses online. Have you ever taken a class for credit online? What was the experience like? In general, do you think K-12 students can learn as much in an online course as they can in a traditional class? Why or why not? What makes for a good online course, in your opinion?

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/is-online-learning-as-good-as-face-to-face-learning/?partner=rss&emc=rss

by UPI

U.S. researchers say a lack of common definitions makes it difficult to determine effective strategies for e-learning, online learning and distance learning. While the definitions of these terms might seem trivial, researchers at the University of Missouri say they are necessary to give students accurate previews of courses, as the new learning environments are presented in many different ways in schools, colleges and the business world, a UM release reported Wednesday. Some online learning includes occasional face-to-face meetings, the researchers said, while some has synchronized video classrooms. Some courses might have instructors available to students through e-mail, while others are entirely self-directed by students.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/04/05/Study-Online-learning-needs-common-terms/UPI-11511302057648/

BY HEATHER EDELMAN, Daily Iowan

As the popularity of online programs grows, universities nationwide still differ in how they evaluate web-only courses — and some have few standardized methods at all. Ray Schroeder, the director of the center for online learning research and service at the University of Illinois, said officials there conduct annual performance reviews for faculty members as well as student-evaluation forms to assess online programs. “[Students] provide much more feedback in online evaluations than they do when they are rushing out of the classroom,” he said. Iowa State University uses a similar practice to the UI, asking students to evaluate the class and working with instructors to continue improving courses.

http://www.dailyiowan.com/2011/04/06/Metro/22625.html

By Kelley Bouchard, Kennebek Journal

The University of Maine System has launched a new website that provides a convenient, one-stop source of information about online programs offered by the state’s seven public universities. Online.maine.edu provides overviews of more than 45 online programs, direct connections to staff members and links to admissions resources. “This website represents another step forward in expanding access to higher education in Maine,” said Curt Madison, the system’s director of distance education

http://www.kjonline.com/news/maine-UMaine-system-website-online-learning.html

By Sara Bernard, MindShift

Inevitably, Miller says, “The economy of the old model — mass consumption course books designed for a global audience — led to a generic content approach.” But now, mashups are the norm, or should be, in education. Why? Because teachers in the classroom have an understanding of a key element in education that no publisher can ever have: their students. “They know what their students needs, strengths, and weaknesses are” and content publishers do not,” he says. Thus, a paradigm shift: When teachers use the resources that work well for them and mix it with their own self-authored content, they can create a truly customized — and therefore effective — curriculum. (This is the basic premise behind the open textbook movement).

http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/04/open-source-a-new-paradigm-for-language-learning/

by MERLOT

MERLOT is a free and open online community of resources designed primarily for faculty, staff and students of higher education from around the world to share their learning materials and pedagogy. MERLOT is a leading edge, user-centered, collection of peer reviewed higher education, online learning materials, catalogued by registered members and a set of faculty development support services. MERLOT’s strategic goal is to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning by increasing the quantity and quality of peer reviewed online learning materials that can be easily incorporated into faculty designed courses.

http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm

by CoSN and Pearson

“Learning to Change/Changing to Learn” is an effort to stimulate a global dialogue about the need for change in education, and the role that technology might play. In addition to making the video available via YouTube, and from a variety of education-focused social networking sites, all involved will broadcast and share this message in the hopes of encouraging this conversation.

http://www.pearsonfoundation.org/education-leadership/video-series/cosn-voices-in-education.html

by Reggie Smith III, Diverse Issues in Higher Ed

Now is the time for HBCUs to deliver this power via online learning. Obama said HBCUs have a real opportunity to flourish and contribute to the president’s national goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020. However, many HBCUs find themselves at a crossroads, not only in terms of dwindling enrollment and diminishing endowments but also in the area of technology, especially when it comes to online learning opportunities.

http://diverseeducation.com/article/14983/

by Steven G. Vegh, The Virginian-Pilot

Elaine Marrion, the division’s senior coordinator of media services, said NovaNet is available to students who failed a course but passed the subject in the state Standards of Learning test. In some ways, the online alternative is harder than teacher-led classes, Marrion said. In a classroom course, a student can eke by with a D grade. But with NovaNet, the division doesn’t pass anyone earning less than 80 percent on the online tests, she said.

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/04/flunked-course-norfolk-make-it-online

by School CIO

School teachers and students everywhere now have a way to find each other for collaborative projects and shared learning through a new online platform provided by Skype. Skype in the classroom is a free global community created in response to, and in consultation with, the growing number of teachers using Skype to help their students learn. Teachers can use the tool to collaborate with other teachers, and find partner classes and guest speakers. Skype in the classroom is designed to help like-minded teachers find each other and relevant projects according to search criteria such as the age groups they teach, location and subjects of interest; and teaching resources can be easily shared and found.

http://schoolcio.com/showarticle/37806

By Josh Keller, Chronicle of Higher Ed

In the midst of a budget crisis, the University of California plans to borrow at least $2-million to pay for a controversial project to build online courses rather than relying entirely on outside grants or donations, as university leaders had previously said. The pilot project, which seeks to offer up to 20 online undergraduate courses by next January, is one of the system’s most ambitious efforts to reshape itself during a historic decline in state support. Leaders hope to eventually expand enrollment and make money by offering fully online undergraduate degrees.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/reversing-course-u-of-california-to-borrow-millions-for-online-classes/30853?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

By Bridget McCrea, Campus Technology

The University of Kansas offers more than 120 different online courses. Barbara Romzek, interim senior vice provost for academic affairs, said she wants that number to grow over the next year or two, but not before the Lawrence, KS, institution takes the time to thoroughly assess its distance learning program and the value it provides to those students who use it. In place for several years, and in its current state since 2009, KU’s distance learning program allows students to receive college credits using the same materials and instruction offered in the college’s classrooms. The online courses cost the same as traditional classes, plus an additional mediated, per-credit course fee, which is used to fund the program. The online classes can be started at any time and must be finished within six months.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/03/30/evaluating-distance-learning-at-u-kansas.aspx

by the Sloan Consortium

The call for papers for the 17th Annual Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning is open. The theme of this year’s conference is “Online Learning, Teaching, and Research in the New Media Ecology” It is clear that we are in the midst of rapid and ongoing changes in the way that we communicate and represent ideas and these changes have profound consequence for how we know, learn, think, and teach in higher education and beyond. The dizzying pace of change is highlighted by the fact that even the relatively new conventions of online education associated with asynchronous learning networks are being challenged by emerging means of access, such as mobile and cloud computing, new forms of communication, such as video streaming and instant messaging, as well as the innovative modes of participation represented in social media.

For more information about the conference:

http://sloanconsortium.org/aln

For the Call for Presentations:

http://sloanconsortium.org/conferences/2011/aln/call_for_presentations

by Julie Young and Jeff Livingston, Huffington Post

It is critical for students to understand the “why behind the what” and know that incorporating online instruction — even in a hybrid format — offers them the best preparation for an increasingly digital working world. In helping them to develop a sense of ownership in the virtual learning process due to its highly independent nature, students will begin to assert self-selection — which is ultimately key to their achievement in this format. Exposure to the unique requirements of online coursework, most notably independent study and virtual collaboration, ultimately provides students with experience in developing self-motivation. Students learn time management, prioritization and — despite misconceptions about online learning — practice community building more in tune with today’s actual professional environments. Understanding these benefits will help foster an enthusiastic virtual student body.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-young/florida-virtual-school-e-learning_b_842313.html