Online Learning Update

by MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN, EdSource

“This is a game changer for workers,” said Rebecca Miller, the political director of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, at a March legislative hearing about Brown’s proposal. Her members are “people who cannot get to the community colleges during the day, and even evenings and weekends,” she said.  The union, with its roughly 100,000 workers, expects the state will need to fill annually 65,000 allied health positions — non-physician jobs like medical assistant, MRI technician and billing coder — through 2024. “That is exactly what I have been looking for, waiting for,” said Tracey McCreey, a licensed vocational nurse since 1998 who wants to earn a college degree as a registered nurse. “I have searched on the internet everywhere for opportunities for me to advance online, because of my schedule.”

California’s online college proposal ignites support among workers and opposition among some lawmakers

By Audrey Williams June, Chronicle of Higher Ed
A rise in the cost of living chipped away at salary gains by full-time faculty members in the 2017-18 academic year, according to new survey data published on Wednesday by the American Association of University Professors.  Full-time faculty earned an average of 3 percent more than they did in the prior academic year. But that salary increase was cut by nearly two-thirds, to 1.1 percent, after adjusting for inflation. The average salary ranged widely, depending on rank: Full professors earned $104,820, associate professors made $81,274, and assistant professors took in $70,791. The average pay for lecturers was about $57,000 while, for instructors, it was $59,400.

https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Much-Did-Professors-Earn/243085

By Shalina Chatlani, Education Dive
Concerns over employers not being able to fill workforce gaps with qualified graduates has become a growing theme throughout higher education conversations; leaders throughout the U.S. News & World STEM Solutions in Washington, D.C. conference offered constructive solutions for industry leaders seeking to build more strategic, collaborative and meaningful partnerships across education and the workforce and establish pathways into lucrative careers.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/building-the-workforce-ready-generation-strategic-steps-higher-ed-leaders/520931/

By Henry Kronk, eLearning Inside

A study published last year by the WICHE Cooperative for Education Technologies (WCET) surveyed nearly 200 educators and administrators who “are on the front lines of offering distance courses.” They found that, “more than half (54.2%) of our respondents report[ed] that distance students pay more than on-campus students when tuition and fees are added. About three-quarters (75.1%) of institutions who completed the study indicated that tuition was the same, but the added fees continue to result in the price to students of distance courses being more.” The survey also looked deeper into the issue of the various costs associated with distance programs. Researchers identified 21 different factors in four general categories: preparing, teaching, assessing students, and supporting faculty and students. When asked about how these match up with the costs of on-campus courses, the results were again counterintuitive.

The Cost of Online Tuition: It’s Complicated

by Camille Dickson-Deane and Tutaleni Asino, EDUCAUSE Review

In this blog we offer a quick refresher on the origins of instructional design, which is especially valuable because the demand for what we do is increasing. As Kyle Peck reminds us, “a ‘perfect storm’ of forces both within and outside education are about to accelerate the evolution of learning and learning design, increasing the demand for well-prepared learning designers, learning-related tool builders, and learning-related researchers.”1  The importance of employing those who design instruction has risen exponentially.

https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2018/3/dont-forget-instructional-design-is-about-problem-solving

by Shalina Chatlani, Education Dive
Since launching its virtual campus in 2013, Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Florida, has tapped into Blackboard’s data analytics tools to close the online-residential achievement gap, seeing a 6 point increase in success rates for online courses from 74% in 2013-14 to 80.1% in 2016-17, as well as an 11% increase in its online baccalaureate success rate. The institution has seen positive results by implementing a master course model for online courses so that all virtual classes have the same user experience and faculty have an easier time developing curriculum. Additionally, the institution utilizes a centralized grade center and produces an aggregate report for deans and faculty to be able to see across an entire division of programs where students may be having difficulties. This allows advisors to step in and intervene if necessary, explained Kendall St. Hilaire, Assistant Dean of the Virtual Campus to Education Dive. https://www.educationdive.com/news/how-indian-river-state-college-uses-analytics-to-close-the-online-residenti/521128/

by Kelsey Dombrosky, Brett Templeton, Jim Fong, UPCEA Center for Research and Strategy

Generation Z remains a mystery for us, as well as business and industry. Only recently has the media and corporate America invested in better understanding them. In fact, they still argue about their definition and their ages. At UPCEA, we define Generation Z as those born between 1995 and 2005, or those roughly 12 to 22 years of age at the time of this report. Other organizations define Generation Z to be even younger. For greater relevance, we’ve taken the iGeneration segment of them, those age 14 to 22, for this study. We’ve chosen this group because the bulk of them are either in college, choose not to go to college or are in high school.

An Insider’s Guide to Generation Z and Higher Education

by Mark Lieberman, Inside Higher Ed

Authors of a study say their work supports that view. “Making Digital Learning Work,” a wide-ranging new report from the Arizona State University Foundation and the Boston Consulting Group, offers six case studies of prominent online offerings and concludes that strategic digital learning initiatives can pay off for students and institutional planners alike — if they commit to proper steps such as building infrastructure and engaging faculty members. The six spotlighted institutions range from innovative four-year universities (Arizona State University, Georgia State University, the University of Central Florida) to community colleges (Houston Community College, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, and Rio Salado Community College). Authors of the study, which was supported by funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, distinguish their efforts from previous research that drew conclusions mainly at the course level, rather than studying the impact of digital learning on an entire institution.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/04/12/online-programs-can-contribute-better-outcomes-lower-costs-and

ByDuke Chronicle Editorial Board
On Sunday, the Editorial Board held an hour-long interview with President Price. President Price also spoke potently about the future of the University when he addressed the role of technology in education, particularly in regards to online courses. He optimistically noted, “I think Duke is well positioned to a leader in these areas [related to online learning].” Having played an important role in implementing Coursera at Penn, he feels actively that online courses have the ability to fundamentally impact the way faculty members can teach at Duke.

http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2018/04/180411-thepriceofthefuture-edit

By Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

While I am an online learning evangelist, I am also an OPM industry critic. To Pearson’s credit, it is my critique of the OPM industry that largely motivated the company to have me come speak at their online learning event. It is not that I’m against the idea of a partnership model. It is more that I’m concerned about the direction of the OPM industry as a whole. Today, the online programs management industry is fragmented and chaotic. There are few agreed-upon standards of transparency in contracts. We have no independent sources that I know of, aggregating data on both student and institutional outcomes from across all school/company online partnerships.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/technology-and-learning/opm-companies-should-think-industry