Online Learning Update

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

Northeastern University has created a new Micro Credential program for working professionals in California’s Bay Area looking to hone their skills in computer science. The program was created in partnership with mobile security company Lookout and is an extension of Northeastern’s Silicon Valley campus. Students who complete three courses can earn a Micro Credential in computer science. The credential will also count as credit toward earning a master’s degree in computer science at Northeastern.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/02/09/northeastern-university-launches-micro-credential-program-in-computer-science.aspx

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, with funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York, convened the Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education (CFUE), comprised of leaders from higher education, philanthropy, business, and government. The Commissioners were charged with assessing the state of undergraduate education and making recommendations for a future with better institutions and better-positioned graduates. The report, The Future of Undergraduate Education, The Future of America, zeroes in on four national priorities that offer actionable solutions to improve undergraduate education and increase the number of students who complete their education without unmanageable debt, said said CFUE Co-chair Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., president and CEO of TIAA.

4 actions to improve the future of higher education

BY JENNIFER WILSON, eCampus News

Further, students’ expectations—particularly the Gen Z crowd—to manage all of their needs online has led senior institutional leaders to re-examine their processes, chiefly the back office or administrative tasks, enabling self-service capabilities and offering the next generation of paperless functionality. Implementing new or expanding the use of existing technologies, such as enterprise content-management tools that provide access to e-forms and reduce paper processes, can yield increased efficiencies and productivity, and offer value that improves the overall student experience.

How self-service options improve the student experience

by Lucie Lapovsky, Forbes

In terms of changes to the business model on the cost side a variety of strategies to reduce the cost of running colleges and universities are being implemented. These include the continued reduction in the percent of full-time faculty at private institutions which has declined from 78% of the faculty in 1970 to 51% today and the decline in tenured faculty among institutions with tenure which, in the last 20 years, has fallen from 50% to 44%. Beyond changing the composition of faculty, schools are offering programs in different formats including on-line and hybridwhich increase accessibility of the programs and minimize facility use. Forward-thinking institutions are working to minimize their idle capital by using their campuses much more fully year-round. A few campuses now operate year round with three terms where groups of students are required to attend the summer term.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lucielapovsky/2018/02/06/the-changing-business-model-for-colleges-and-universities/#662f315e5ed5

By Shalina Chatlani, Education Dive

The bill itself outlines appropriations for disaster relief aid toward institutions that were affected by wildfires and hurricanes, increases scientific research funding for groups like the National Science Foundation, exempts Berea College in Kentucky from having to pay a tax on its endowments as it provides free tuition, and provides state funding for abstinence education. The continuing resolution until March 23 — which is tacitly agreed upon but not concrete — includes “$4 billion [over two years] for programs that aid college affordability, including those that help police officers, teachers, and firefighters.”  The agreement doesn’t specify what the $4 billion will go toward beyond “affordability,” and includes no provisions around those students under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Though, House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) spoke for nearly eight hours opposing lack of action in the budget for Dreamers and called on Speaker Paul Ryan to address the issue in an immigration reform bill.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/what-approval-of-the-budget-deal-really-means-for-higher-ed/516766/

By Brittany Hawes, ULoop

Are you looking to take one or more online courses next semester? If this is your first time and you’re nervous about switching from a physical classroom to a virtual one, don’t feel too overwhelmed! Online courses and courses that you take on campus share many similarities. Here’s the low-down on online courses. Even if it’s an online course, you’ll still be earning the same amount of credits you would earn by taking the same course in a classroom instead. The material you cover should be the same but will most likely be given to you in a different format.

https://www.uloop.com/news/view.php/259171/Are-Online-Courses-for-You-8-Questions-to-Ask-Yourself

by Sean Tassi, Campus Technology

Until recently, colleges and universities that experienced a data breach had no unique reporting obligations to the U.S. Department of Education. Institutions were expected to analyze security incidents under applicable federal and state laws and, when appropriate, notify affected individuals and appropriate federal and state agencies. Because the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) does not contain a breach reporting obligation, ED had taken the position that a report directly to ED was optional. ED, however, has now changed its stance and has started levying Cleryesque fines — up to $56,789 per violation — against institutions that fail to report a data breach directly to ED.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/02/08/what-to-know-about-eds-new-stance-on-data-breach-reporting.aspx

By Ilana Kowarski, US News

Business school courses on AI should acknowledge its limitations and distinguish facts from exaggerations, experts say.  “AI is transforming everything about the way the world does business, so any aspiring business leader will be better prepared by understanding where we’re headed,” Josh Tyler, executive vice president of engineering and design at Course Hero, an online learning platform, said via email. Advocates of taking AI courses in business school point to the abundance of AI-based companies in Silicon Valley. Artificial intelligence powers the recommendation engines on Amazon and Netflix, and it is also the technology that makes ride-sharing apps and self-driving cars possible.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/articles/2018-02-08/look-for-high-quality-mba-courses-on-artificial-intelligence-robots

By: Angela Atwell, Cristina Cottom, Lisa Martino, and Sara Ombres, Faculty Focus

Research has shown that interactions with peers promotes faculty engagement (McKenna, Johnson, Yoder, Guerra, & Pimmel, 2016). Faculty learning communities (FLC) have become very popular in recent years. FLCs focus on improving teaching and learning practice through collaboration and community building (Cox, 2001). Usually, FLCs are face-to-face meetings hosted at a physical location at a specific date and time. We understand the benefit of this type of experience. However, we recognize online instructors will likely find it difficult to participate in a traditional FLC. So, we set out to integrate FLC principles to provide our faculty, living and working all over the globe, a similar experience.

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/faculty-development/faculty-learning-communities-making-connection-virtually/

by Anshika Agrawal, The Daily Collegian

“We are trying to work with different universities in the state to address how we can lower the cost of textbook prices, whether that be using an older edition of a textbook or using online editions,” said Andrew Ahr, the UPUA College of Arts and Architecture representative. One of their initiatives involves lowering textbook costs, known as Open Educational Resources. “[OER is] a huge thing that schools across the Big Ten… are looking into right now because they’re trying to make a huge shift [from] print resources towards online, more affordable resources,” UPUA At-Large Representation Sophie Haiman said.

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/campus/article_472f8e3c-0b7e-11e8-8688-df19262c0491.html

by Siobhan Treacy, Electronics 360

Kinesthetic learning is one of the most common types of learning. Hands-on learning is helpful for students in science classes. This is why science classes have a required lab period where students learn through experiments and projects. But one topic covered in science classes has been nearly impossible to learn hands-on until now: biological evolution. It is hard to physically show students how a species evolves over time in a classroom. But now there is a new online tool that can show students the evolution of populations over time.

http://electronics360.globalspec.com/article/11068/online-software-developed-for-hands-on-learning-about-evolution

By BETSY SMITH, KBIA

The University of Missouri Board of Curators discussed problems and goals of distance learning and collaboration among campuses at a meeting on Friday morning at the Columbia Campus. Choi wants to increase the number of online courses and programs offered. The board of curators says more online classes are necessary for student flexibility. Curator David Steelman says the four campuses need to find a way to use distance learning so students can graduate on time. The board of curators’ task force will work on solving problems and removing boundaries from online courses among the four campuses.

http://kbia.org/post/distance-learning-discussed-mu#stream/0

by Jeremy House, Education Dive
Citing a “recently discovered issue with data,” Temple University asked that its online master of business administration program not be considered for U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of best online programs, reports Insider Higher Ed. Earlier in the year, U.S. News & World Report removed the Temple M.B.A. program from its 2018 Best Online Programs list because its ranking was discovered to be based on inaccurately submitted data. Temple’s Fox School of Business joins a list of business schools to catch hot water over imprecise data submissions. George Washington University in 2016 and Tulane University in 2013 confessed to supplying erroneous data to U.S. News & World Report for its annual ranking. Additionally, the Financial Times removed Spain-based the IE Business School from its ranking because of irregular survey data.  Questions have also been raised about the value such rankings and the pressure university officials may face to fudge data.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/mba-rankings-in-question/516382/

by Patti Zarling, Education Dive
Apple’s co-founder joins growing pool of tech wonks launching independent programs to fill skills gap. Steve “Woz” Wozniak, a co-founder of Apple, has joined a growing pool of business leaders looking to take matters to upgrade higher education to meet the needs of today’s tech industries into his own hands. As businesses — including those outside of Silicon Valley — require employees with specialized computer, engineering and tech skills, alternative education programs are popping up to provide training for 21st century jobs some say traditional colleges, mired in 19th century teaching styles, aren’t prepared to meet.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/as-companies-step-up-to-train-workers-in-rapidly-changing-technologies-can/514208/

by Kristen C. French, Futurism

Today, the Replika chatbot is available for free for anyone over the age of 18 (it’s prohibited for ages 13 and younger, and requires parental supervision for ages 13 to 18). More than 500,000 people are now signed up to chat with the bot. To do so, users tap the app icon — a white egg hatching on a purple background — on their smartphones and start the conversation where they left off. Each Replika bot chats only with its owner, who assigns it a name, and, if the user wants, a gender. Many users are members of a closed Facebook group, where they share screenshots of text conversations they’ve had with their Replikas and post comments, claiming their Replika is “a better friend than my real friends ” or asking “Has anyone else’s AI decided that it has a soul?”

Your New Best Friend: AI Chatbot

by Baylor MBA

With technology breakthroughs and companies pushing the boundaries of possibility with augmented reality and artificial intelligence, employers and employees alike may be wondering what skills will be most valuable in the future. Technology has changed when and how workers perform their jobs. According to Deloitte’s report, millennials expect to be developed throughout their work life. Online learning platforms like Coursera, Udemy, IDEOU, EdX, LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com), and Khan Academy are just a few of the massive online learning repositories available today.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2018/02/04/how-to-be-a-relevant-leader-in-a-digital-workplace.html

Editorial: Bangor Daily News

The University of Maine System’s board of trustees has agreed to a preliminary plan to knock down up to 300,000 square feet of vacant, underused or deteriorating building space on university campuses across the state. It might seem a strange development to celebrate, but it’s worth acknowledging. It’s a sign the University of Maine System is taking steps to prepare for a future that won’t be as reliant on brick-and-mortar spaces and residential students straight out of high school. There’s a general consensus in the world of higher education that college campuses will likely have to grow smaller as more student learning moves online and adults who have no need for residence halls come to represent a greater percentage of students.

Maine’s universities are planning to knock down buildings. It isn’t a bad thing.

by Goodwill Industries

Goodwill is kicking off a collaboration with Google.org and Coursera, a leading online education provider, to help people obtain the skills they need to start careers in IT. Eighteen local, autonomous Goodwill organizations are now recruiting applicants age 17 and older to earn the Google IT Support Professional Certificate. This credential is designed to take beginning students to job readiness in 8 to 12 months using a Coursera platform, with content created exclusively by Google. Google.org is providing financial assistance to 10,000 learners over the next year. The scholarships will be awarded through nonprofit partners, including Goodwill organizations across the country.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/goodwill-googleorg-and-coursera-join-forces-on-tech-support-training-300592293.html

By Jessica Stewart, Modern Met

Ever wondered what it would be like to take a class at Harvard? If you’re interested in architecture, you’ll be thrilled to hear that Harvard’s Graduate School of Design is offering its popular course, The Architectural Imagination, for free online. From the comfort of your own home, you’ll get the benefit of Harvard’s world-class faculty teaching the fundamentals of architecture. The 10-week course is designed to teach you “how to ‘read’ architecture as a cultural expression as well as a technical achievement.” Students can elect to enroll in the online course free of charge or pay $99 to receive a verified certificate upon completion. And, if you are an architect enrolled in the American Institute of Architects, the course can be used toward continuing education credits.

Harvard Is Offering a Popular Online Architecture Course for Free

By Jordan Friedman, US News

Adult learners can take online classes at no cost to keep their job skills up to date and pursue their interests.  Getting an online degree can be a major investment. But there are other ways to learn online without spending a dime. Jonathan Payne, a marketing coordinator at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, has taken several free online classes. His coursework led to certifications in Google Analytics and Adwords, and he has dabbled in programming on websites like Codecademy and edX. When it comes to coding, the 27-year-old says, “It’s just something I’ve always wanted to learn. It helps a little bit in my job but not enough to make me want to pay $8,000 to $10,000 to get a master’s degree or another bachelor’s degree.”

https://www.usnews.com/higher-education/online-education/articles/2018-02-01/4-times-taking-a-free-online-course-makes-sense

by Matthew Jenkins, the Guardian

When Linda Eunson started her online degree in psychology at the Open University, she didn’t expect it to take eight years to complete. “During that time I have moved house four times, changed jobs once, and got married,” the 47-year-old explains. The death of her teenage stepson soon after her own mother’s death also meant she was forced to suspend her studies for a year. Now in her final year, Eunson has rolled with the punches, juggling family life with a demanding career as a litigation executive at a law firm. She admits the pressure to squeeze her study into an already jam-packed day was a shock at first. So how can e-learners stay on task?

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jan/30/studying-online-seven-ways-to-stay-motivated