Online Learning Update

by Marco De Novellis, Business Because
The days of whiteboards and ink cartridges are over. Developments in educational technology – or edtech – are revolutionizing the business school experience. irtual Reality (VR) headsets are in classrooms. Big data-crunching devices give students live feedback on their progress.  And, with flexibility in high demand, more and more learning is being delivered online. Today, online learning is increasingly seen as a direct alternative to taking a traditional classroom-based course. In a survey of over 2,000 professionals, UK research firm Maturity found that 80% of professionals think online learning can help them further their careers.

http://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba-distance-learning/4743/edtech-big-data-virtual-reality-five-online-learning-trends

by Michael Oved, Futurism

A new paradigm of transaction execution called blockchain could eliminate the need for all of these middlemen. In a blockchain, transactions are verified by distributed nodes, and anyone can join or leave the network as they please without disrupting the network’s ability to form consensus on transactions. Instead of using a single computer to manage transactions, like we do now, we could leverage a global computer. Bitcoin was the first example of a blockchain being used to communicate value globally, with trust and without middlemen, and Ethereum extends the power of the blockchain.

https://futurism.com/blockchain-will-eliminate-middlemen-and-usher-in-a-new-paradigm/

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/21/bill-gates-better-technology-must-be-developed-to-help-educate-people.html

by Associated Press

To push the boundaries of artificial intelligence further, one of the world’s most renowned researchers in the field says many more humans need to get involved. So his focus now is on teaching the next generation of AI specialists to teach the machines. Nearly 2 million people around the globe have taken Ng’s online course on machine learning. In his videos, the lanky, 6-foot-1 Briton of Hong Kong and Singaporean upbringing speaks with a difficult-to-place accent . He often tries to get students comfortable with mind-boggling concepts by acknowledging up front, in essence, that “hey, this stuff is tough.” Ng sees AI as a way to “free humanity from repetitive mental drudgery.”

http://www.vindy.com/news/2017/aug/22/why-andrew-ng-teaches-humans-to-teach-co/

by Gary Warth, San Diego Union Tribune

Van Ton-Quinlivan, vice chancellor for workforce and economic development of California Community Colleges, said the system is trying to address a projected shortfall of one million workers in what’s known as the middle-skills area over the next decade in California. Middle-skill job require more than a high school diploma but not a university degree, she said. Those jobs pay a good wage, and community colleges students can earn certificates or pick up skills needed to be hired in those positions through career education programs. “This is part of the economy that’s less well-known, and that’s why we have to get the word out about career education,” Ton-Quinlivan said.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/sd-me-college-career-20170818-story.html

by KYLE ORLAND, Ars Technica

I’ve been told that being present for a total eclipse of the Sun is a life-changing experience. But I wasn’t able to get my act together to travel to the path of totality for today’s event. Luckily, I am part of the first generation to be able to experience an eclipse vicariously through the magic of virtual reality. While seeing a total eclipse in VR wasn’t exactly a life-changing experience, it was one of the best examples I’ve seen of the power and promise of live, 360-degree video.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/08/i-was-one-of-the-first-humans-to-see-a-solar-eclipse-in-virtual-reality/

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News
A new study reveals surprising information about students’ confidence in their ability to reach college graduation. Nearly half of students entering college are arriving on campus already doubting their ability to reach graduation, according to a new study. According to the 2017 Allianz Tuition Insurance College Confidence Index, 48 percent are less than very confident they will finish college without dropping out permanently, and 55 percent think they will need to take at least some time off.

Wait-HOW many students doubt they’ll graduate?

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology
This panel of analysts examined the issues currently faced by post-secondary education and how tech and regulation can and will influence the outcomes. Even as technology continually promises to deliver a more effective education to a more engaged audience of learners, it hardly ever measures up in the classroom let alone institutionally. Could it be that current policies constrain schools from being able to innovate in deep and important ways? During Blackboard’s recent user conference, BbWorld, a group of leading analysts in education met to discuss the post-secondary landscape and how government policy and the use of tech can influence the outcomes.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/08/16/the-bittersweet-convergence-of-policy-higher-ed-and-tech.aspx

By Joshua Bolkan, Campus Technology

Stanford University is hosting its third annual cyber bootcamp for congressional staffers this week in an effort to bring policy makers up to speed on a group of thorny and accelerating issues with myriad ramifications. The university is offering informational sessions, panel discussions, role-playing exercises and networking opportunities for nearly three dozen staffers from the United States House and Senate, representing offices and committees such as Homeland Security, Commerce, Judiciary, Energy, Appropriations and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. “We created the cyber bootcamp precisely because many congressional staffers had told us this was the type of help they needed,” said Amy Zegart, co-director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), a sponsor of the event, in a prepared statement.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/08/15/stanford-hosts-cyber-bootcamp-for-congressional-staffers.aspx

by Joe Chapman, US News

As students determine which online degree program is the best fit for them, researching the available support services is essential. With the growth of online learning, more programs invest in resources and staffing for enrolled students. But it’s also important for prospective online students to consider the support and guidance they will receive after graduation. For online students, the merits of a school’s alumni association may not always factor into their selection process. However, having access to a quality post-graduate support system can make all the difference as students embark on a career and look to maximize their newly earned degree or certificate. These resources can be critical to developing their social and professional networks.

https://www.usnews.com/education/online-learning-lessons/articles/2017-08-18/look-into-alumni-services-when-choosing-an-online-degree-program

by Chris Parr, Times Higher Ed

There is a “crisis of capacity” on the African continent, Dr Andrews said, pointing out that half the population is under 19 – just one of the factors contributing to the spiralling demand for higher education. “To meet that demand,” he said, “Africa would need to build 10 universities a week, [with] each [one enrolling] 10,000 students every week for the next 12 years.” This simply isn’t going to happen. “I am not saying that all bricks-and-mortar institutions need to be closed, but it is impossible for African governments to build enough to [educate the population] in the traditional way,” said Dr Andrews, who was a lecturer at Bournemouth University for 13 years, leaving in 2006. “They have to think about innovations, to think about online as part of the solution.”

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/africa-must-embrace-online-learning-meet-demand-degrees

by Farleigh Dickinson University

Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) has announced its innovative LD Virtual Tutoring program will be offered to students throughout the U.S. and worldwide beginning this fall. Developed by expert learning specialists at FDU, LD Virtual Tutoring is the nation’s first online support program designed exclusively for high school and college students who learn differently. Students can receive personalized, one-to-one online tutoring and learning skills support regardless of their grade, academic major or location. Mary Farrell, Ph.D., founder of the program and a nationally recognized expert in language-based learning disabilities, said the program offers students a direct connection to a live tutor with sessions tailored to their individual needs. Tutors are learning specialists with subject area expertise.

https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/17/08/p9949470/fdu-announces-nations-first-online-tutoringlearning-skills-support-prog

by Peggy Semingson, Evolllution

Microlearning consists of microcontent that is delivered via an electronic device, including but not limited to a mobile device, app, learning management system, computer, and/or laptop. The goal is to “chunk” learning into smaller bits of content so as not to overwhelm the learner. Advantages include decreasing cognitive load for the learner and providing versatile content items that can be reviewed and practiced by students, as needed, for just-in-time learning. Microlearning can potentially provide for more engaging digital content rather than long disengaging and tedious lectures or “walls of text” that students are less likely to read and interact with. Research suggest millennials are increasingly accessing information via technology rather than through people .

https://evolllution.com/programming/teaching-and-learning/engaging-non-traditional-students-with-mobile-compatible-microlearning/

by Shalina Chatlani, Education Dive

University of North Carolina provost Dana Dunn stopped by the Education Dive office last week and spoke about her experience getting involved in higher education administration, as well as how she uses her position as an executive to support different initiatives on campus. Dunn said it’s important for leaders to be role models and encourage talented faculty members to consider taking on administrative roles — as these types of experiences can “whet the appetite” and inspire movement toward executive positions.  Dunn also spoke about the importance of administrators developing a broad array of support systems, such as financial planning or academic counseling. But truly, serving as students, she says, has to be a “part of the culture” or the “DNA” of the university to be successful.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/uncg-provost-dana-dunn-talks-leveraging-the-executive-role-for-change/503082/

by Brandon Busteed, Gallup
The term “liberal arts” no longer works as an effective means of communicating one of higher education’s most precious assets. “Liberal” is politically charged, and “arts” has a negative connotation regarding improving graduates’ job prospects, which is the main reason why Americans and currently enrolled college students value higher education. Putting the words liberal and arts together is a branding disaster, and the most effective way to save or defend the liberal arts may be to change what we call them. Note, the problem isn’t with the substance of a liberal arts education but with the words we use to describe it.

http://www.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/216275/higher-education-drop-term-liberal-arts.aspx

by Jordan Friedman, US News

An MBA may be a fit for those aiming to switch fields or move into managerial positions. But there are other online learning options for those who want basic business knowledge or concrete skills.  Online certificates may be either noncredit or for credit. A for-credit program may be structured so that the certificate is actually a portion of an MBA curriculum, allowing students to transfer credits if they decide to eventually pursue the MBA, says Vickie Cook, executive director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois—Springfield. “It allows students to really focus where at that particular time, to answer a direct need, and then if they have additional needs later on, they can move in that direction,” Cook says.

https://www.usnews.com/higher-education/online-education/articles/2017-08-17/study-business-online-5-options-beyond-an-mba-program

By Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed

The U.S. Education Department announced this week that it has delayed the implementation of another element of the regulation that holds vocational programs accountable for their graduates’ outcomes, and has eliminated some of the requirements on institutions to “reduce the burden” on them. The latest change, one of several the Trump administration has instituted to either delay or soften the so-called gainful-employment rules while it undertakes a wholesale rewrite of the regulations, postpones until next February the deadline by which programs subject to gainful employment must submit appeals of earnings data for their graduates. This is the second delay in that deadline.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/08/18/us-continues-delay-soften-gainful-employment-rules

by Ronald Machtley, EDUCAUSE Review
While all leaders recognize the need for innovation in product, process, and services, the word innovation has many meanings. It is perhaps the most ubiquitous word in both business and higher education lexicons today, yet there is seldom a common meaning of the term. Everyone wants an “innovative business model,” but what exactly does that mean? In higher education today, an obvious question is whether the traditional classroom lecture — even with PowerPoint, video, or other technology — is the most effective pedagogy. Teachers know that students readily use their search devices to find needed information and often tune out lectures while surfing their computers or handheld devices. Given this new reality, what is the best way to teach subject knowledge today?

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/7/six-steps-to-innovation

by University of Arkansas
Students and advisers should be aware of a new, streamlined method in place to enroll students in online classes from the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences in Spring 2018. This implementation follows a successful pilot test for similar online communication classes in summer and fall of 2017. The new method for enrollment in UAConnect will expand in Spring 2018 to include 1000-, 2000- and 3000-level online classes offered by Fulbright College. This method creates two separate sections of each online Fulbright College class for enrollment purposes only. One section will be reserved for students in online degree programs, and the other section will be reserved for students NOT in online degree programs.

http://news.uark.edu/articles/39278/fulbright-college-will-expand-new-method-for-enrolling-students-in-online-classes

By April Hunt, Emory

Global Internships, which grew out of a hybrid structure of online and study abroad program development, is ideal for online learning, says Dana Tottenham, who directs the program. The signature program — which plans to double to 10 cities next year from its current offering in Boston, Dublin, Hong Kong, Singapore and Toronto — demonstrates how a liberal arts education can translate into the workplace. The linguistics course is ideal for the experience, but given demand for repeat internships, Tottenham says a second online course may be developed to create deeper connections with Emory’s liberal arts curriculum.

http://www.news.emory.edu/stories/2017/08/er_online_courses/campus.html