Online Learning Update

November 30, 2014

Online Learning: Outcomes and Satisfaction among Underprepared Students in an Upper-Level Psychology Course

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:07 am

by Dr. Colleen McDonough, et al; OJDLA

Online learning is on the rise, but research on outcomes and student satisfaction has produced conflicting results, and systematic, targeted research on underprepared college students is generally lacking. This study compared three sections (traditional, online, and 50% hybrid) of the same upper-level psychology course, taught with identical materials by the same instructor. Although exam scores were marginally higher in the traditional course, final grades and written assignments did not differ across sections, nor did student satisfaction. Student engagement predicted outcomes online. Taken together, these results suggest that outcomes and satisfaction are equivalent in online, hybrid, and traditional courses, and that a student’s own diligence and drive might better predict success in online learning.

http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall173/mcdonough_roberts_hummel173.html

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Increasing Accessibility: Using Universal Design Principles to Address Disability Impairments in the Online Learning Environment

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

by Candice N. Pittman & April K. Heiselt, OJDLA

With the increasing number of students enrolling in distance education, there is a need to consider the accessibility of course materials in online learning environments. Four major groups of disabilities: mobility, auditory, visual, and cognitive are explored as they relate to their implementation into instructional design and their impact on students in online learning, specifically for students with disabilities. This article highlights the ways in which universal design can assist in providing increased accessibility, not only for students with disabilities, but for all students in the online learning environment. Current standards for disability instruction and guidelines for creating accessible materials are shared.
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall173/pittman_heiselt173.html

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7 Ways Tech Can Raise Student Success Rates [#Infographic]

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:02 am

by D. Frank Smith, EdTech

From blended learning to analytics, an educational technology investment organization is identifying what works in classrooms. Pressure is mounting for colleges and universities to boost student graduation rates. At the same time, many see developing and scaling up learning technologies as a valuable strategy for keeping students engaged in the classroom and promoting success. A recent infographic from Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) identifies several ways technology can aid student success. The organization awards grants for technology solutions in education, including blended learning initiatives and learning analytics.

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2014/11/7-ways-tech-can-raise-student-success-rates-infographic

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November 29, 2014

The 5 Rs of Designing an OER Course

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

by eCampus News

5R Open Course Design Framework now available to support capacity-building as OER use enters mainstream. Open courseware experts announced plans to publish the 5R Open Course Design Framework, a set of guidelines and best practices for developing courses using open educational resources (OER). The framework, which will be freely available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY), encourages educators to capitalize on the unique rights associated with open content also known as the 5Rs: the ability Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix and Redistribute content for educational purposes.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/oer-course-design-475/

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Gates Goes Open

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:03 am

By Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will require grant recipients to make their research publicly available online — a multibillion-dollar boost to the open access movement. The sweeping open access policy, which signals the foundation’s full-throated approval for the public availability of research, will go into effect Jan. 1, 2015, and cover all new projects made possible with funding from the foundation. The foundation will ease grant recipients into the policy, allowing them to embargo their work for 12 months, but come 2017, “All publications shall be available immediately upon their publication, without any embargo period.”

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/11/24/gates-foundation-announces-open-access-policy-all-grant-recipients

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Leading and Learning for a Successful Digital Transformation

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

by Steve Webb, Edutopia

Education, like so many other aspects of our society, has been undergoing a digital transformation. Accepting this reality is inevitable. Embracing it would be wise. But my district has chosen to go a step beyond that as we strive to lead the transformation. Digital transformation in Vancouver Public Schools (VPS) began with our second-generation strategic planning process, which we call Design II. Launched in January 2007, the process engaged hundreds of staff and community members in shaping the future of our district. Flexible learning environments for the 21st century emerged as the strategic goal area for Design II, challenging us to think differently about the use of time, space, and technology to maximize learning potential. VPS approached this challenge from a “whole systems” perspective to ensure that our digital transformation would be executed in the right way from the very beginning.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/leading-learning-successful-digital-transformation-steve-webb

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November 28, 2014

Using Video Grading To Help Students Succeed

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:08 am

By Richard Rose, Campus Technology

Creating videos to supplement the grading process can personalize the instructor-student relationship, clarify expectations and help keep learners on track. But beyond these obvious strategies, one invaluable technique that is rarely employed to help push students in the right direction is the use of instructor-created videos to supplement the grading process.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/11/19/using-video-grading-to-help-students-succeed.aspx

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Building Mobile Apps for Faculty

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

By Toni Fuhrman, Campus Technology

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s application development team meets faculty mobile app needs by working collaboratively, managing goals and expectations, and emphasizing transparency. Recently, the application development team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison created a Web-based tool that allows students to explore genetic variation. Developed for a professor in the Biochemistry department, the application lets users manipulate a series of data in order to demonstrate the effect on a genome sequence. “The faculty member approached us with an Excel spreadsheet and a series of equations,” recalled Andrew Goldstein, the university’s assistant director for Learning Solutions, DoIT Academic Technology.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/11/20/building-mobile-apps-for-faculty.aspx

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Reality Check: Gates Looks for Impact of Digital Learning

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:02 am

by L.S. Hall, Inside Philanthropy

The Gates grant will support UTA’s Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge (LINK) lab in its efforts to connect researchers interested in digital learning’s impact on modern education. The grant will coordinate work between UTA and nine other institutions, including Carnegie Mellon, University of Michigan, and Stanford, to close the gap between digital learning research and its impact on instructional practices in higher education. In addition, UTA leaders hope the funding will address digital learning barriers and examine the conditions needed for all learners to succeed. Research topics will include learning analytics, competency-based learning, MOOCs, the growth of higher education globally, and credentialing of digital programs.

http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2014/11/21/reality-check-gates-looks-for-impact-of-digital-learning.html

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November 27, 2014

IEEE Teams with edX to Develop Series of Online Continuing Education Courses

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:08 am

by IEEE

IEEE, the world’s largest professional organization advancing technology for humanity, is collaborating with edX, a non-profit organization founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to offer massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other continuing professional education courses to a worldwide audience on www.edX.org. “edX’s commitment to innovation and quality has changed online education in the past two years,” said Saurabh Sinha, vice president of the IEEE Educational Activities Board. “Their global reach, reputation for quality, and engagement with the community of IEEE members and other technical professionals makes edX a great fit for IEEE’s online education programs.”

http://www.ieee.org/about/news/2014/14november_2014.html

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Clayton Christensen talks disruption in education at UVU

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

by Amy McDonald, Daily Herald

Clayton Christensen’s coined term “disruptive innovation” is the idea that innovation should allow people at the “bottom of a market” to access a product or service that was previously only available to people with a lot of money. In higher education innovation, he said, Harvard is behind. “Online learning makes education so much more affordable and accessible that all these people that couldn’t come to Harvard Business School to get their management education, now they can do it,” Christensen said. “And it’s not as good, but it’s good enough.” Christensen also said it is good to have a mix of old- and new-style products. “With online learning, if we are trying to compete with online consumption — that is, people who just don’t have access to higher education, we can do it purely online,” he said. “For the rest of us, who are in the mainstream of higher education, if we wanted to use higher online learning, it has to be a hybrid.”

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/education/college/uvu/clayton-christensen-talks-disruption-in-education-at-uvu/article_fd9e29bf-0020-5f9e-882b-3b35716d5b5c.html

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MOOCs at UNC benefit students, professors alike

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:03 am

By KATIE KILMARTIN, Daily Tarheel

More than 230,000 students from more than 180 countries have enrolled in massive open online classes, known as MOOCs, offered by UNC since July 2013. People across the globe continue to take advantage of world-class professors by enrolling in the classes, but UNC professors teaching the massive classes have also benefited. After teaching MOOCs as large as 40,000 students, economics professor Buck Goldstein, said he learned how to facilitate and communicate with his large lectures better. “Probably the biggest lesson of this semester has been that we can use techniques from the MOOC to make on campus class better,” he said.

http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2014/11/moocs-at-unc-benefit-students-professors-alike

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November 26, 2014

Students turn to online courses

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

by Nellie Owens, the Oswegoan

The number of college students that take at least one online course has risen to 32 percent nationwide, according to College Atlas. Many Oswego State students also fall into this category. Over 130 courses are offered to “distant learners” of Oswego State and currently, 58 of these classes are already filled for the spring semester. “Overall, the number of colleges that offer online courses grows from year to year,” said Gregory Ketcham, director of Innovative Academic Programs at Oswego State. “Oswego State is a part of this number and it offers students a large variety of online courses to choose from.

http://www.oswegonian.com/2014/11/20/students-turn-to-online-courses/

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Letting Faculty Drive

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

By Marie Norman, Inside Higher Ed

Of all the results from the survey, the one that strikes home most for me is instructors’ conviction that they should develop and own the courses they teach. Amen to that! If meaningful education were just about content, we never would have needed universities, just libraries. But it isn’t. Education is about apprenticeship and mentoring: about putting disciplinary experts and students together, where the passion of the teacher for his or her field brings the subject to life and influences the students’ desire to learn more. That relationship can’t be replaced by mass-produced courseware, nor can faculty bring the same passion to their teaching if they are merely facilitating a course someone else created. Teaching your own course your own way allows you to show students what you yourself love and find meaningful about your discipline. It’s central, not peripheral, to effective teaching.

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/11/21/faculty-members-must-own-online-learning-process-essay

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Online learning key to college readiness

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:02 am

by Dale Bernard, Detroit News

If the current online enrollment growth rate of 6.1 percent holds steady, half of all college students will be enrolled in an online course by 2020. What does this mean in the big picture? It means that in order for high school graduates to be prepared fully for success in college in the 21st century, it would be beneficial for them to have gained experience with online learning while in primary or secondary school. This experience will ensure they are familiar and comfortable with the subtle differences between online and in-class learning. At a time when only 26 percent of high school graduates taking the ACT tests are ready for entry-level college courses in English, reading, math and science, according to ACT’s annual report, “The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2014,” isn’t it on us, as educators, to provide students with as many resources and experiences as possible to promote success within our classrooms and beyond?

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2014/11/20/online-learning-key-college-ready/19290981/

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November 25, 2014

4.8 Million College Students are Raising Children

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

by Barbara Gault, Lindsey Reichlin, Elizabeth Reynolds, Meghan Froehner; Institute for Women’s Policy Research

Over a quarter (26 percent) of all undergraduate students, or 4.8 million students, are raising dependent children. Women are disproportionately likely to be balancing college and parenthood, many without the support of a spouse or partner. Women make up 71 percent of all student parents, and roughly 2 million students, or 43 percent of the total student parent population, are single mothers. Single student fathers make up 11 percent of the student parent population.

http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/4.8-million-college-students-are-raising-children

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‘We’re Replacing Pedagogy’ using Open Educational Resources

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:02 am

By Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

“When you look at the challenges the OER movement is facing — how to find content, how to get it to students, how to get it to faculty … — it’s something libraries are uniquely suited to be able to help with,” said Nicole Allen, director of open education for the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (or SPARC), an organization that promotes open forms of scholarly communication. Anchoring an OER initiative in the library could counteract the issues some faculty members report experiencing when they try to discover open resources; doing so could also help make them aware of the resources in the first place. In the Babson survey, for example, 65.9 percent of respondents said they knew little or nothing about open resources. Libraries have already helped support the growth of open access research, speakers said, and they can do the same for the discoverability of educational resources.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/11/21/oer-conference-speakers-push-academic-libraries-promote-adoption

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Create Killer Presentations with Explain Everything

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

By Ann Elliott, Edudemic

Explain Everything is a whiteboard and screencasting app that makes creating interactive lessons a simple proposition. Its full-featured editing options and its import/export functions allow it to stand apart from the other competitors I tested. Read on to find out why the Explain Everything app’s educational focus, adaptability, and user engagement make it the best its kind. According to MorrisCooke, the force behind Explain Everything, the app is a “unique interactive whiteboard and screencasting tool used by over 1.5 million students and educators.” The app’s tools allow users to create lessons, presentations, and tutorials to share in person or electronically. Users can annotate, narrate, and animate material, importing and exporting information to and from nearly everywhere.

http://www.edudemic.com/presentations-explain-everything/

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November 24, 2014

Next Generation Online Learning

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

by Steven Mintz, Inside Higher Ed

MOOC providers like edX and Coursera are not merely distribution channels; in the best cases, these platforms empower faculty to experiment and innovate. The critical difference between replication (with enhancements) of the classroom experience and the potential for the transformation of the classroom experience lies not necessarily in technology, but in four aspirations: A learner focus, an emphasis on interactivity, scalability, and a quest to reduce costs while maintaining quality. We see transformation happen when faculty members don’t see themselves as mere instructors, but as designers, coaches, and members of a learning development team with particular goals in mind. [Ed Note: Steve Mintz will be speaking at the UPCEA Summit on Online Leadership and Strategy January 21 in San Antonio]

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-beta/next-generation-online-learning

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Online Education Options Vary by More Than Cost

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

By Jordan Friedman, US News

Students looking to learn a specific skill may pay less for online education than those seeking a degree. When it comes to online education, there are a lot of different options with a lot of different price points. Prospective learners can choose between free massive open online courses, or MOOCs, that are not for credit, for instance, and for-credit courses, which can cost thousands of dollars. “Almost all free courses are leisure learning courses, or courses you’re taking because you want to,” says Vicky Phillips, the CEO of GetEducated.com, an advocacy website for distance-learning programs. “There’s usually no certification and no employment credibility. Usually when you have to pay you are paying for the certification, the standardization. The course has to meet certain quality standards.”

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2014/11/19/online-education-options-vary-by-more-than-cost

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Emphasis on Student-centered Learning Hits 25-year High

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

by Laboratory Equipment

In the survey, 82.8 percent of faculty reported using class discussions in all or most of their courses, up from 69.6 percent in 1989–90. Online teaching has generated plenty of discussion in higher education, but it’s still used by a relatively small percentage of professors. A UCLA study has identified a more pronounced trend in teaching at colleges and universities lately: a greater move toward student-focused teaching practices such as class discussions and group learning, and a corresponding move away from lectures and other teacher-centered styles.

http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2014/11/emphasis-student-centered-learning-hits-25-year-high

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