Online Learning Update

by Mike Sharples, Nature

Teachers in much of the developed world now use smartboards, tablets and student-centred, collaborative and project-based learning. Universities are adopting flipped teaching: students learn online, then solve problems in the classroom. Some can access remote lab equipment and telescopes. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) involve people around the world in study and conversation. The continuing change is provoking existential dread among some faculty members, who envision teachers replaced with computer-based tutors and universities moving to online-only courses in the next decade. Those shifts can also foster an excitement that Robert Ubell’s Going Online captures. The book is the view from the control room of the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, where Ubell heads the digital-education unit.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v540/n7633/full/540340a.html

By Helen Mayhew, Tamim Saleh, and Simon Williams, McKinsey Quarterly

Does your data have a purpose? If not, you’re spinning your wheels. Here’s how to discover one and then translate it into action. The data-analytics revolution now under way has the potential to transform how companies organize, operate, manage talent, and create value. Advanced data analytics is a quintessential business matter. That means the CEO and other top executives must be able to clearly articulate its purpose and then translate it into action—not just in an analytics department, but throughout the organization where the insights will be used.

http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/making-data-analytics-work-for-you-instead-of-the-other-way-around

BY JULIA MCCANDLESS, Converge

Similar challenges appear in both traditional and digital learning environments when it comes to collaboration. Most can agree that the days of the “traditional classroom” are limited. More schools and universities are implementing technology — from iPads to classroom websites to complete digital environments — to enhance student learning. Moreover, technology has brought increased opportunities for enhanced student collaboration and communication. But while the potential may be there, when it comes to actually developing the 21st-century classroom, educators are facing some familiar challenges.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/higher-ed/Educators-Face-Familiar-Challenges-in-Increasing-Tech-Enabled-Student-Collaboration.html

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

Entangled Solutions is forming a Quality Assurance Task Force to drive accountability and transparency for emerging models of education. The higher education consultancy today announced the initial members of the task force, who will “collaborate in the development of quality assurance standards that can be used to measure and report on outcomes for a diverse, cross section of education providers,” according to a press release. The task force includes representatives from the University of Texas at Austin, Western Governors University and Bellevue University, as well as higher education industry leaders, former policymakers and associations, who will collect feedback from stakeholders to codify “transparent, outcome-oriented standards for evaluating educational programs.” A draft of the standards will be published for public comment. Once the standards are finalized, an independent nonprofit organization will be created to maintain and update them over time.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/12/14/new-task-force-to-develop-quality-assurance-standards-for-nontraditional-education-programs.aspx

by Carlos Rivers and Judith Sebesta, EDUCAUSE Review

Competency-based education offers the opportunity to accelerate learning and thus time-to-credential; alternative pricing structures such as all-you-can-take subscription models; and credit for prior learning. The Texas Affordable Baccalaureate Program, a competency-based BAAS in Organizational Leadership at Texas A&M University–Commerce, illustrates how these time and cost savings can benefit students. The TAMU-C Institute for Competency-Based Education will assist additional higher education institutions across Texas in developing their own TAB programs.

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/12/competency-based-education-saving-students-time-and-money

by John Suess and Henry Childers, EDUCAUSE Review

For institutions to fully benefit from their investments in student success and to position themselves for continued improvement, IT leadership must get engaged and develop an IT strategy that supports student success and can evolve with the institution’s needs. The issue of student success has risen to the forefront of public attention thanks in part to the Obama administration’s goal of making the United States the world leader in four-year degree attainment among 25–34 year olds and the Gates Foundation and its emphasis on postsecondary success. If you type “student success initiative site:.edu” into the Google search box, you will get 15,200 results, providing one indication of how widespread campus efforts to improve student success have become.

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/11/modeling-an-it-strategy-for-student-success

by Jarrett Carter, Education Dive

Bloomberg examines the bubble-bursting potential that surrounds coding bootcamps, which some officials say once offered access to in-demand computer science jobs at a fraction of the price of a college degree, but are now being frowned upon by premier companies like Google. California-based Coding House was shut down by the state’s Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education last month, amid charges of falsified job placement rates and a multitude of allegations that graduates were unprepared for basic interview questions from computer programming firms. Coding bootcamps will graduate about 18,000 students this year, triple the number of graduates from two years ago. Representatives from multiple firms speaking with Bloomberg say they all but disqualify applicants from the hiring process who list bootcamp credentials on their resumes.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/are-coding-bootcamps-the-next-higher-ed-bubble-to-burst/432343/

by Dhawal Shah, Class Central

By the end of 2016, edX will cross ten million registered users. EdX is the second largest MOOC provider in the world but, compared to Coursera’s 23 million registered users, it’s a distant second. EdX seems to be closing the gap on Coursera. It added four million new users this year, compared to Coursera’s six million new users in 2016 (six million being the same number Coursera added in 2015). EdX made further inroads in its push for credit by expanding its MicroMasters program, which has now been adopted by fourteen universities located in eight different countries.

https://www.class-central.com/report/edx-2016-review/

By Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

Education Department finally issues rule on state approval of online programs, but with opposition in Congress, it may never go into effect. The U.S. Department of Education, with a month to go until the transition of power, has finalized a rule that clarifies how colleges become authorized to offer online programs to students in other states — an effort in the works since the first years of the Obama administration. But the rule is by all indications dead on arrival. President-elect Trump has support for undoing Obama’s regulatory legacy in Congress. Representative Virginia Foxx, Republican of North Carolina, said in an interview with Inside Higher Ed last month that her party is looking to “deal with” certain “onerous rules and regulations” as part of how it approaches higher education. Foxx, the incoming chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, specifically mentioned the state authorization rule as one example. She has over the last several years introduced bills that would block or repeal that and other rules issued by the Education Department.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/12/21/state-authorization-rule-long-works-faces-opposition-new-congress

By Jordan Friedman, US News

Many massive open online courses, or MOOCs, now offer both free and paid options. This article provides an overview of the advent of for-credit MOOCs and MOOC-based degree and certificate programs. Quoting UPCEA/UIS’s Ray Schroeder along with Daphne Koller, Anant Agarwal and other leaders, the article touches on the high points in the evolving nature of MOOCs.

http://www.usnews.com/higher-education/online-education/slideshows/10-things-to-know-about-moocs-in-online-education

By Crystal Browning, KQED

Building relationships between students can be tricky. In order to create a positive classroom community, I need to do the impossible — get teenagers to push passed the gossip and drama that rests on campus like a fog. An online community is a great place to break down some of the barriers that exist. Discussion and blog post assignments provide opportunities for students to communicate digitally with classmates that they might not speak to in person. I take an active role in building these new relationships. When I first assign a discussion question on Schoology, I make sure to leave comments. When students create blogs, I choose a Blog of the Day and highlight what makes that student’s blog unique.

https://ww2.kqed.org/learning/2016/12/13/building-an-online-learning-community-that-fosters-relationships/

by Jarrett Carter, Education Dive

Forbes reports on a growing trend among college students who begin school after the age of 24 and make up more than 24% of the enrollment population, but who drop out of school at nearly double the rate of younger students. According to National Student Clearinghouse Research data, students aged 30 and up are four times more likely to pursue a credential or an associate degree from higher education than students younger than 30 years old, but even in these categories, older students still finish at a lower rate. Some observers suggest that older students with family, jobs and homes are limited in college options, and thereby quicker to drop out of a program which proves to be too difficult or a mismatch with their personalities or professional goals.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/older-college-students-face-completion-crisis/432157/

By Rhea Kelly, THE Journal

Teachers around the world have a new resource for connecting, problem-solving, innovating and sharing best practices in flipped learning. The International Flipped Learning Innovation Center (IFLIC) is an online platform designed to support collaboration and innovation among flipped learning practitioners worldwide. The center was created through a merger of the Flipped Learning Community, and the Flipped Learning Global Initiative (FLGI), devoted to “expanding adoption of flipped learning all over the world.” (Earlier this year, FLGI launched a certification program for flipped learning pedagogy and practices.) The merger “connects some 29,000 registered members to a larger global network of flipped learning, practitioners, researchers, master teachers, technologists, administrators, advocates and thought leaders,” according to a press release. The mission: “to build bridges between the silos of robust flipped learning activity occurring worldwide.”

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/12/05/new-innovation-center-provides-global-hub-for-flipped-learning.aspx

by eCampus News

The Media Services department at the University of Delaware was looking for a live streaming solution to help raise the profile of the school and keep students, parents, donors and alumni connected to the school activities, sports, and special events. University of Delaware hosts many world renowned speakers on campus for lectures, live talks, debates, and special events. Previous speakers include Sonia Sotomayor, DeRay Mckesson, Michael Chertoff, Maya Angelou, Bill Cohwer, Daryl Strawberry, Cornell West, John Quinones, Wynton Marsalis and Anderson Cooper.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/live-streaming-events/

BY MERIS STANSBURY, eCampus News

New list of recently added or dramatically updated higher education apps are geared to both campus staff and students and allow for functionalities needed next year and beyond. From apps that manage finances and credit scores to those that find scholarships for all education levels, and from apps that better organize collaborative projects to those that allow for unprecedented organization of scholarly articles, late 2016 saw a boom in higher education apps with major potential for 2017.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/mobile-and-handheld-technologies/higher-education-apps-2017/

by Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed

Overall college enrollments declined 1.4 percent this fall compared to one year ago, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, a dip of more than 270,000 students. Nationwide enrollments began their slide in 2012 and have now continued for the last 10 consecutive college terms. The biggest drop this fall was in the for-profit sector, which saw a 14.5 percent decline. Community colleges experienced a 2.6 percent decline. Enrollments were down slightly (0.6 percent) at four-year private institutions and up a small amount (0.2 percent) at four-year public institutions.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/12/19/national-college-enrollments-continue-slide

by Russ Poulin and Cheryl Dowd, WCET Frontiers

The U.S. Department of Education released its final version of the its long-awaited regulations on “State Authorization of Postsecondary Distance Education, Foreign Locations” earlier today. They will be published next week with an effective date of July 1, 2018. What is proposed may be bad for the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement, but the regulations may be all for naught. It is highly likely that these regulations will be killed in the next few months. This post will provide some initial highlights and reactions. Additional analyses will be forthcoming.

https://wcetfrontiers.org/2016/12/16/a-lump-of-coal-for-sara-and-other-goodies-in-the-state-authorization-regulations/

by MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN, Hechinger Report

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

Cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab today recognized three universities for their work on using blockchain technology to secure digital voting systems. As part of the 2016 Cybersecurity Case Study Competition, the participants were tasked with designing blockchain-compliant systems to address specific security challenges, such as voter privacy, undecided voters and voter fraud. A total of 19 teams from universities across the United States and United Kingdom provided written and video submissions detailing their proposals. Entries were judged by a panel of Kaspersky Lab experts. The top three proposals, as described by a company statement:

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/12/08/3-universities-recognized-for-proposals-to-use-blockchain-to-secure-digital-voting-systems.aspx

BY MERIS STANSBURY, eCampus News

It’s a blessing and a curse: As more needs and services are required by colleges and universities, more technology solutions are entering the market. But with so many options available for practically every type of implementation, how can purchasers make the best decision possible? According to higher education directors and deans, and industry CEOs, making the fiscally responsible, effective decision on technology purchases requires a combination of research, planning and foresight. Also, choosing the technology that allows for the most collaboration possible is always a wise choice.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/it-newsletter/higher-ed-technology-investments/