by Mei-Yan Lu, Anne Marie Todd, Michael T. Miller, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration

This case study describes the creation of a supportive culture for online teaching at a western university that was transitioning to a new learning management system. The case study highlighted the creation of a faculty learning community as one strategy to address the challenge of faculty working through a change process. The faculty learning community provided a space for the development of best practices in teaching, drawing from the pedagogical experiences of teachers from diverse disciplines. The learning community also provided a venue for expanding the technical knowledge level of faculty members with a range of comfort levels with varied technologies.

http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall143/lu_todd_miller143.html

by Tim Passmore, Leigh Brookshaw and Harry Butler, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology

An online testing system developed for entry-skills testing of first-year university students in algebra and calculus is described. The system combines the open-source computer algebra system Maxima with computer scripts to parse student answers, which are entered using standard mathematical notation and conventions. The answers can involve structures such as: lists, variable-precision-floating-point numbers, integers and algebra. This flexibility allows more sophisticated testing designs than the multiple choice, or exact match, paradigms common in other systems, and the implementation is entirely vendor neutral. Experience using the system and ideas for further development are discussed.

http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet27/passmore.html

by Beverley Oliver and Barbara Whelan, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology

The Assurance of Learning for Graduate Employability framework is a quality assurance model for curriculum enhancement for graduate employability, enabling graduates to achieve “the skills, understandings and personal attributes that make [them] more likely to secure employment and be successful in their chosen occupations to the benefit of themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy” (Yorke, 2006). Of particular note is the framework’s dependence on three foundations, including easy access to integrated and accessible tools for staff and student self-management. In other words, this approach to curriculum quality depends on staff and student access to tools that enable them to self-manage their learning. This paper examines two aspects which informed the design of a student e-portfolio system, iPortfolio, intended for students’ self-management of their learning, particularly recording evidence of their achievement of capabilities. The paper focuses on two particular considerations in the design of the iPortfolio: adoptability and learning analytics. Adoptability means the phase preceding adoption, whether students have the devices, platforms and technology skills to be able to use such an innovation. The iPortfolio also facilitates learning analytics: it has the capability to gather data related to learning indicators for course quality assurance purposes. Both adoptability and analytics are very dynamic fields: new devices, platforms and applications constantly spark changes in user habits, and policy changes mean institutions need to be able to provide new data, often at short notice. In the conclusion, the paper suggests how tools such as the iPortfolio can be designed for ‘future proofing’ and sustainability.

http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet27/oliver.html

by Wu He, Dan Cernusca, & M’hammed Abdous, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration

The use of distance courses in learning is growing exponentially. To better support faculty and students for teaching and learning, distance learning programs need to constantly innovate and optimize their IT infrastructures. The new IT paradigm called “cloud computing” has the potential to transform the way that IT resources are utilized and consumed in education and is expected to have a large impact on educational computing during the next few years. With its focus on helping distance learning administrators and practitioners to understand cloud computing and to make plans for successful cloud adoption, this paper provides insights into the adoption of cloud computing for distance learning, based on a thorough review of the literature about cloud computing. Implications and considerations for additional research are provided as well.

http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall143/he_cernusca_abdous143.html

by Jodi Rust, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration

A descriptive case study was used to explore how repurposing and a pedagogical-based instructional design model, the multimodal model (Picciano, 2009), were used to create quality distance education courses in a rapid development setting at a Midwestern land grant university. Data triangulation was used to secure data from faculty member interviews, course syllabi, and Desire to Learn (D2L) tours of the hybrid courses. From the research findings, the technique of repurposing did help faculty members develop hybrid courses in a rapid development setting. However, the multimodal model’s (Picciano, 2009) implementation was less successful. Faculty members found this pedagogical-based model easy to use; but it was not used to its fullest potential. The hybrid courses developed in this case study exhibited faculty-driven content. These faculty-driven courses led to implementation problems and quality issues.

http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall143/rust143.html

by Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed

What does the Saint Leo case say about the future of online outsourcing in higher education? Garrett, the Eduventures director, says Saint Leo is only the second university he knows of that has taken back full control of its online programs after initially outsourcing them. (The first was Regis University.) But as universities that paid companies to hold their hands through the transition grow more comfortable with the “new normal” of running significant online programs, more might shrug off their for-profit partners, says Garrett. “For schools for whom online becomes mainstream, [constituting] a significant portion of their total head count, then I think taking it in-house starts to feel logical,” he says. If running online programs has become a “core business,” then it makes sense for an institution to become self-reliant, Garrett says.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/10/04/university_takes_back_control_of_online_education_arm_from_for_profit_vendor

By Lexington Theological Seminary

Michael Junkroski was a church musician and a full-time business owner/operator in Florida when he felt the nudge to pursue ministry. “The idea of going to a school where I could learn more about that and become someone who could minister to the ills of the world was extremely appealing,” Junkroski said. However, with no seminary close to his Florida home, he wasn’t sure when or how he would take that step. Junkroski operates a business with his brother and had family who needed him close by, so moving away to attend seminary was out. Learning of the new program at Lexington Theological Seminary, with 2/3 of classes online, “was obviously a Godsend,” Junkroski said.

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/03/3955486/seminary-builds-community-in-online.html

By BILL KELLER, NY Times

For more than a decade educators have been expecting the Internet to transform that bastion of tradition and authority, the university. Digital utopians have envisioned a world of virtual campuses and “distributed” learning. They imagine a business model in which online courses are consumer-rated like products on Amazon, tuition is set by auction services like eBay, and students are judged not by grades but by skills they have mastered, like levels of a videogame. Presumably, for the Friday kegger you go to the Genius Bar. It’s true that online education has proliferated, from community colleges to the free OpenCourseWare lecture videos offered by M.I.T. (The New York Times Company is in the game, too, with its Knowledge Network.) But the Internet has so far scarcely disturbed the traditional practice or the economics at the high end, the great schools that are one of the few remaining advantages America has in a competitive world. Our top-rated universities and colleges have no want of customers willing to pay handsomely for the kind of education their parents got; thus elite schools have little incentive to dilute the value of the credentials they award. Two recent events at Stanford University suggest that the day is growing nearer when quality higher education confronts the technological disruptions that have already upended the music and book industries, humbled enterprises from Kodak to the Postal Service (not to mention the newspaper business), and helped destabilize despots across the Middle East.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/opinion/the-university-of-wherever.html?_r=1

By ALVAN UNG, Daily Titan

The workshop, titled “Power Up for Success in Online Learning,” was in held in the Education Building. Students who attended were treated to snacks, refreshments and a T-shirt. Speakers, who consisted of faculty and Information Technology, gave advice on how to tackle online courses and manage time. They also presented a tutorial on basic computer skills and TITANium, CSUF’s new learning management system. Computer science majors were also present to help configure students’ laptops. “We realized a need (for a boot camp, because) people are challenged by online courses,” said Lynda Randall, professor of secondary education and faculty coordinator of technology.

http://www.dailytitan.com/2011/10/03/power-up-for-success-pilot-program-assists-students-taking-online-classes/

by Empire State College

SUNY Empire State College President Alan R. Davis has announced the college has joined the Open Education Resource university as the first anchor partner in the United States. Further, the college has established a presence on the WikiEducator community website facilitated by the Open Education Resource Foundation. “By joining OERu as the first United States’ anchor partner and participating in advancing open educational resources, Empire State College will expand its own reach far beyond our 35 locations around the state and extend the national and global reach for SUNY,” said Davis. “Most importantly, we will join the global community of learners who contribute to and benefit from the expansion and dissemination of open educational resources.” WikiEducator acts as a collaborative node for the OERu concept and aids in achieving goals such as the planning of educational projects to develop free open education resources and to develop free content for e-learning.

http://www.esc.edu/news/releases/2011/-suny-empire-state-college-joins-open-education-resource-university-.html

By Theresa Harrington, Contra Costa Times

Charter schools and online learning could help turn around underperforming campuses such as Clayton Valley High School in Concord, an education reform advocate said Friday. Lance Izumi, who is an author and senior director for education at the Pacific Research Institute public policy think tank, said many school districts throughout the state and country are failing to adequately prepare students to be competitive with students around the world. “In a recent survey, three quarters of Americans surveyed said that college is important to achieving success in life,” he said during a Contra Costa Taxpayers Association luncheon in Pleasant Hill. “However, less than half believed that their local high school was doing an excellent or good job at preparing students for college.”

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_19015672?source=rss

By: John Orlando, Faculty Focus

I’ve long said that professors who want to explore teaching with technology should begin with a social media tool rather than a Learning Management System. Web 2.0 tools are simple to use, invite student collaboration, and are usually less administratively clunky and complex than an LMS. One of the easiest and most powerful tools is the regular old wiki. Wikis are simply web pages that can be edited by their users. Instead of only carrying content from the administrator, they harness the power of crowdsourcing to create a powerful communal resource.

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-with-technology-articles/wikis-in-the-classroom-three-ways-to-increase-student-collaboration/

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/

By Theresa Billiot, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Imagine making meaningful connections with your online students, using Twitter, that are as strong as your connections with your on-campus students. I fantasized about that possibility after completing my first semester teaching undergraduate marketing courses, both online and on campus. Despite engaging with my online students on discussion boards and over e-mail, I still felt a lack of true connection compared with my experiences with on-campus students. I felt unfulfilled as a professor, and I wondered how my online students felt about their connection with me. Finally, I decided to connect my online and on-campus students using Twitter.

http://chronicle.com/article/In-One-Online-Class-Twitter/129120/

by Todd Gutschow & Joseph Watson, San Diego Union-Tribune

Who knows how and where tomorrow’s education will be provided? We foresee a range of options from the public, private, not-for-profit and for-profit sectors, as well as community-based organizations. In a market where competition exists and individuals have options that best meet their learning needs, innovation and success in education should flourish. Personalized learning. Not everyone learns the same way or at the same rate. Recognizing that, we should offer a variety of options to suit individual learning styles. In person? Online? Small group? One-on-one? Yes to all of those and more.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/oct/02/how-will-we-learn/

By Kevin Simpson, The Denver Post

As specific training evolves for teachers of online courses, educators are learning to adapt. And as one expert points out, “If you’re not a good teacher, the technology will expose you.” As online education has rocketed ahead, teacher education programs have lagged in efforts to produce instructors well-equipped to tackle the virtual environment, some experts contend. Meanwhile, differences between online teaching and traditional classroom instruction have triggered debate over whether separate, additional training should be required of teachers who venture online.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19021890

By Arpi Nakashian, CSU Stanislaus Signal

I had a flat tire on my way to school” or “my dog ate my homework” are classic excuses that are not acceptable nowadays in some classes simply because of advances in technology. California State University, Stanislaus, is heading in the right direction by accepting technology and its benefits to help students in a multitude of ways. According to the CSU Stanislaus PeopleSoft, online classes are becoming more popular each year and the total enrollment of students this semester has reached up to 1,330 students. “Online education is the future,” emphasized the president of CSU Stanislaus, Dr.Hamid Shirvani, in his column, “Online Learning: The Future.”  Technology is now launching into the academic world. CSU Stanislaus is welcoming and guiding the powers of technology in different forms into the academia. CSU Stanislaus is now offering 44 online classes according to the CSU Stanislaus PeopleSoft.

http://www.csusignal.com/opinion/the-future-of-education-is-online-1.2618870

by JESSE YEATMAN, South Maryland News

Jasmine Jones, a senior at Great Mills High School, says now that she didn’t do so well the second half of her junior year, mainly because she stopped going to school regularly. “Second semester was horrible,” she said one day last week while working in a new computer lab set up near the entrance to the school’s cafeteria. Jones is signed up to take four semester courses online this year in addition to a full load of other courses so she can earn the required credits to graduate on time. She’ll work on two classes at a time; as soon as she is done one she’ll be able to move on to another. The new online courses are aimed at to help Great Mills students in jeopardy of not earning a diploma get back on track. “If that’s how we graduate, I’ll do anything,” Jones said. She plans to work during her lunches and at home, after she works a job in the evening.

http://www.somdnews.com/article/20110928/NEWS/709289721/1056/online-courses-aim-to-keep-students-on-track-to-graduate&template=southernMaryland

By Jennifer Howard, Wired Campus

The decision puts the university in line with Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a growing number of other institutions with policies that encourage or require researchers to post open copies of their articles, usually in an institutional repository. Unpublished drafts, books, lecture notes, etc., are not included in the Princeton policy, which gives the university a “nonexclusive right” to make copies of its faculty’s scholarly journal articles publicly available. Open-access advocates welcomed Princeton’s decision. Lorraine Haricombe, the university librarian at the University of Kansas, said she was delighted by the news. She helped put together the Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions, or Coapi, to share experiences and open-access strategies.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/princeton-u-adopts-open-access-policy/33450

by Betty Mitchell and Iris Geva-May, Journal of Distance Education

This study explores attitudes towards and affecting online learning implementation. In recent years there has been greater acceptance of online learning by institutional decision-makers, as evidenced by higher levels of institutional involvement; nevertheless, the increase in faculty acceptance lags behind. This gap affects the widespread adoption of online learning. This paper proposes that faculty acceptance of online learning is influenced by attitudes related to four variables that affect practice change: intellectual reluctance, support, change and cost-benefit. Inherently, these attitudes translate into behaviours that influence the level of resistance toward online learning.

http://www.jofde.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/43/825

by Margarida Romero and Elena Barbara, IRRODL

Along with the amount of time spent learning (or time-on-task), the quality of learning time has a real influence on learning performance. Quality of time in online learning depends on students’ time availability and their willingness to devote quality cognitive time to learning activities. However, the quantity and quality of the time spent by adult e-learners on learning activities can be reduced by professional, family, and social commitments. Considering that the main time pattern followed by most adult e-learners is a professional one, it may be beneficial for online education programs to offer a certain degree of flexibility in instructional time that might allow adult learners to adjust their learning times to their professional constraints. However, using the time left over once professional and family requirements have been fulfilled could lead to a reduction in quality time for learning. This paper starts by introducing the concept of quality of learning time from an online student-centred perspective.

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/999/1870