Online Learning Update

By David Raths, Campus Technology

Martin Dougiamas, the founder and CEO of the open source learning platform Moodle, does not mince words about the conflict he sees between open and proprietary developments in educational technology and in society at large. “There is a bit of a war going on around the planet right now,” Dougiamas said in his opening comments to a recent Future Trends Forum video chat hosted by futurist Bryan Alexander. “We find ourselves at the vanguard of people who believe in openness, who believe in social good and social justice. On the other side of the fence, as you have in your country right now, there is a corporate takeover of the government. There is an increasing effect of very large, wealthy organizations focused on profits and increasing the inequality gap and focused on commercializing public services.” Speaking from his home in Perth, Australia, Dougiamas said he has started to refocus Moodle’s activities to do a more effective job of spreading openness — particularly in education.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/07/17/moodle-community-platform-to-offer-closer-ties-to-oer-crowdfunding-mechanism.aspx

by Arun Rajamani, Economic Times CIO

Learning has becoming operationally mission critical for individuals and companies. Learning is driving talent transformation, business agility and ROI for the business. Chief Learning Officers are finding seats in executive decision making more than before and are collaborating actively with the C-suite to find ways to effectively operationalize business strategies. For individual, skill development will be a key career catalyst helping them find jobs in the new tech-led services market. Indian enterprises will shift more of their learning investments to online platforms. With digital-led services being the next growth lever for the Indian IT industry, online platforms will be used to re-skill employee base on digital technologies via talent transformation initiatives. Individuals who are already used to consuming content in a multi-channel environment (desktop, laptop, tv, mobile) will welcome digital-enabled learning platforms

http://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech-talk/reskill-before-restart-e-learning-is-imperative-to-build-individual-and-workforce-capability/2485

By MERIS STANSBURY, eCampus News

Recent data shows just how much college students, and their experiences, have changed in just a few short years. Gen Z, the digital generation, non-traditional students, and potentially many more descriptions have been used to label the current postsecondary body of students, but what may not be so evident is exactly how much their preferences, lifestyles and experiences have radically changed from even a decade ago. And it’s these large changes that are critical for colleges and universities not just to take notice of now, but also to anticipate what students and their needs may look like in 2027.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/campus-administration/college-students-different/

by LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News

A new survey tracks online education’s growth, along with technology innovations. Online education programs are seeing steady growth, though lower tuition and the use of innovative technologies and tools seem to be lagging, according to the Changing Landscape of Online Education (CHLOE). CHLOE is a new survey of chief online officers at community colleges and four-year public and private nonprofit institutions and focuses on the management of online education as it becomes more mainstream at U.S. institutions. The emergence of the chief online officer position at many institutions is strong evidence that online education is becoming more mainstream, and the CHLOE survey draws upon feedback from 104 chief online officer responses to inform its report on current online education trends, including resource allocation, emerging tools, instructional innovations, and more.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/online-learning/online-education-wheres-innovation/

by Roger Riddell, Education Dive

A new study of enrollment at business schools, published in the Journal of Management, highlights gender disparity in enrollment and the resulting impact on the barriers female faculty face while trying to advance in their careers — and researchers say the results could likely be reproduced in other academic settings. According to eCampus News, the researchers looked at professorial appointments by gender among a sample of 511 management faculty from top institutions with over 10 years of post-doc experience, finding that women were less likely to be appointed as professors and that their achievements saw lower returns in endowed chair appointments. The researchers, however, also concluded that the disparities were also not likely the result of a conscious effort, but of deeply embedded biases that can be addressed and stamped out with more awareness.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/study-deeply-embedded-biases-hinder-women-in-academia/446824/

By Jeffrey R. Young, EdSurge

Some employers are starting to focus more energy on offering educational benefits to their employees, while colleges are struggling to respond to the growing interest by students in helping them land a job. A new center at Northeastern University sits at the intersection of these two areas—called the Center for the Future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy. Its director, Sean Gallagher, thinks it’s time for college leaders and employers to sit down and collaborate, even as he stresses that colleges need to assert their broader educational goals (such as preparing people to continue learning beyond just the skills of today). EdSurge sat down with Gallagher during the ASU+GSV Summit in May to learn about why he predicts that when it comes to education, the line between colleges and companies will continue to blur.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-07-10-how-boundaries-between-colleges-and-companies-will-continue-to-blur

by Monique Snowden, Evolllution

Many institutions are embracing immersive technologies, such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to meet students’ learning needs and expectations, particularly those who are digital natives. AR and VR, respectively, bring digital content into students’ physical locations or transport students to virtual spaces where they can interact in digitally constructed environments. As a former chief enrollment officer, I am captivated by the use of immersive technologies to enhance the recruitment process by enabling prospective students to attain a sense of what their collegiate experience might be like at a particular institution.

https://evolllution.com/programming/teaching-and-learning/enhancing-student-experience-and-success-through-technology/

By Sharon O’Malley, Inside Higher Ed

Four authors of books about online course development offer guidelines for engaging learners in distance education courses. Inside Digital Learning asked for their expert advice on how instructors and their institutions can excel in virtual course instruction. The authors agreed that the online classroom is different enough from the traditional one that faculty members and adjuncts need to create courses for digital delivery that are substantially different from those they teach on campus. And they said teaching online requires an even keener focus on student engagement than the face-to-face model does.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2017/07/12/7-guidelines-effective-teaching-online

by DAVID A. GRAHAM, the Atlantic

News flash: In the era of Trump, institutions—and especially those that are perceived as liberal—are unpopular, and opinions divide sharply along party lines, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center. Alright, maybe that isn’t surprising. But there is one startling result in the survey: a sharp decline in conservative impressions of universities. Most of the results are about what one would expect. Churches and religious organizations are popular, though more popular with Republicans and Republican-leaning voters than their Democratic counterparts. Banks are somewhere in the middle. Neither group likes the national news media, though the Democrats are more favorable. (We get it, you don’t like us.) It used to be that colleges and universities were another one of those institutions that could generate at least theoretical goodwill on both sides of the aisle.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/why-do-republicans-suddenly-hate-colleges-so-much/533130/

by Raghu Krishnan, Business Standard

Infosys, India’s second largest software exporter this year, has set a bet for graduates who are given campus offers. A graduate is asked to pick a paid course on front-end development (of website or an app) on Udacity, the online technology education provider. The person must get a nano degree or pass the course before being put on training at its Mysuru campus. Once he or she gets placed after training, Infosys pays back the student the course fee on Udacity. With this, Infosys is ensuring that it gets trained engineers in thousands who are ready to be put on digital projects — a segment that is disrupting the company and the Indian IT services industry. For a perspective, business from newer digital technologies is growing at 25 per cent, while legacy business is shrinking at 2.5 per cent, according to Everest Group, a global technology consultancy.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/indian-techies-are-taking-these-online-courses-to-get-reskilled-amid-layoffs-117071201440_1.html

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

Before 2015, faculty at the University of Arizona who wanted to teach online didn’t have much in the way of formal support for building their online courses. There were no established processes or requirements. For some faculty, that was the end of the onboarding experience. “That’s all you got,” said Angela Gunder, associate director of the Office of Digital Learning (ODL). “You [were] now an online instructor.” Instructional designers assumed that meant a more structured approach with “benchmarks” and “steps,” but Melody Buckner, director of ODL, had a different idea: focusing on faculty. Buckner decreed, “[Instructional designers are] going to listen to faculty about how they teach, how their students prefer to learn and the unique challenges they face in the classroom,” as Gunder recalled. “The faculty are going to drive the process, with the instructional designer there to support and facilitate production.”

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/07/12/how-to-help-faculty-build-online-courses.aspx

by Meghan Bogardus, Education Dive

In college classrooms, detecting cheating can sometimes be as simple as catching a student looking at someone else’s exam. But for online educators, who may have students in various corners of the country, catching cheating on an exam, assignment or essay is a lot more difficult. Thanks to digital tools with elements of analytics and online proctoring, universities can keep cheating at bay. In higher education, data analytics has emerged as a useful tool to boost retention, create personalized courses and drive more efficient business decisions. With a new tool called examiDATA, schools can now use data to stop cheating. “The explosion of online education has allowed us to make huge strides in supporting a growing population of nontraditional students. However, data-driven approaches that shed light on macro trends in online test security remain nascent,” Dr. Lauren Cifuentes, Texas A&M director of distance education and learning technologies, tells eCampus News.

https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2017/07/universities-use-analytics-authentication-prevent-cheating-online-courses

by Pat Donachie, Education Dive

Carnegie Mellon University Professor Bob Monroe discussed in a recent interview with Education Dive how the largely-held perception that Massive Open Online Classes would replace the traditional college lecture was largely overblown. The result, of the introduction of MOOCs into the higher ed landscape has been subtler, with it becoming increasingly clear that online learning opportunities offer an “evolution” of classroom instruction which allows faculty members to create a unique classroom experience via an online platform. Monroe said many higher ed institutions are also incorporating more focused learning opportunities into shortened programs, and online instruction is opening the door for class discussions to go deeper as they unfold over the course of days, rather than be confined to a classroom schedule.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/carnegie-mellon-professor-better-tech-enables-higher-quality-online-course/446984/

by JON BRODKIN – Ars Technica

Microsoft wants to connect two million rural Americans to high-speed wireless broadband by 2022, and it will get started with 12 pilot projects over the next year. The company is also offering free access to its intellectual property to help the rest of rural America get connected. Microsoft isn’t planning to become an Internet service provider itself. Instead, the company will “invest in partnerships with telecommunications companies” building wireless networks using TV “white spaces” spectrum, Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a blog post yesterday. “We and our partners will have at least 12 projects up and running in 12 states in the next 12 months.” The 12 states are Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/07/microsoft-will-help-isps-bring-wireless-internet-to-12-us-states/

By Jack Uldrich, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

This would not be just about the school’s future but about the state’s. The alternative is a hollowing-out, faster than you might think. In short, a strong online presence could make accessing lifelong learning a real possibility for every Minnesotan. The plan is not without risk, but maintaining the status quo also contains significant risk. The choice before Minnesota is akin to the words of the great economist John Maynard Keynes. He said: “Worldly wisdom teaches that it is better for reputation to fail conventionally rather than to succeed unconventionally.” What will Minnesota choose? Should we do nothing and fail conventionally, or take a chance and risk succeeding unconventionally?

http://www.startribune.com/university-of-minnesota-should-go-all-in-on-online-learning/432352023/

By STEVE BUCKSTEIN, the World

As one high school teacher put it in an Atlantic magazine article on this subject last year, “If educators do not find ways to leverage mobile technology in all learning environments, for all students, then we are failing our kids by not adequately preparing them to make the connection between their world outside of school and their world inside school.” The bottom line is that, while smartphones in school can be a distraction, they can also pave the way to better, more efficient use of educational resources. It is up to us as adults to harness their power for good instead of just bemoaning their power to distract.

http://theworldlink.com/are-smartphones-in-class-a-problem-or-an-opportunity/article_dedb0973-1a2a-58a8-91ae-3228a146ec5d.html

By Bradley Fuster, US News

Online faculty assign discussion board questions because there is an overwhelming amount of research saying students deeply learn and grow through frequent conversations and debates on salient academic topics. Researchers say the online forum promotes deeper engagement with subject matter and gives a voice to those feeling stigmatized. Online discussions are a great way to think deeply about content by sharing ideas with classmates. In a post-first discussion, students can offer opinions free from the influence of classmates. Be bold, state and defend what you think, and you will enhance your learning experience.

https://www.usnews.com/education/online-learning-lessons/articles/2017-06-30/online-course-discussion-boards-what-to-expect

by Byron Dobson , Tallahassee Democrat

Florida A&M University is seeking more than $24 million from the state in its education budget next year, with most of the money directed at hiring faculty and support staff, strengthening its academic portfolio and advancing online education. Of that, more than $7 million is needed for technology improvements throughout the campus, while another $1.3 million is needed for upgrades at the 3,800-acre agricultural research campus in Brooksville it inherited from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2015. The legislative budget requests call for a combination of one-time funding and money FAMU needs annually.

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/06/30/famu-seeks-millions-invest-stem-faculty-technology-upgrades/444055001/

by Coursera Blog

Robert Shiller, who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, is the instructor of Financial Markets, one of the most popular courses on Coursera. Broadly, I think that the internet age is a fundamental revolution in our society, and I want to see it work. I think that the kind of education that used to be reserved for a few people at elite colleges should be shared around the world, and I’m happy to be a part of that. In terms of my course specifically, after I received the Nobel Prize, I had the opportunity to think about my role as an academic and what I could do to support others in the field. I realized that the Coursera platform could help me reach thousands of learners and give back to the community by sharing my knowledge. So, in February 2014, I partnered with administrators at Yale to launch the Coursera Financial Markets course.

https://blog.coursera.org/conversation-yale-university-nobel-prize-winner-robert-shiller/

by Nick Morrison, Forbes

Coventry University is to offer 50 wholly online degrees over the next five years, in one of the most significant steps yet in the development of a new model of higher education. If successful, it could herald the long-awaited disruption of the degree market away from the traditional campus approach and towards an entirely online experience. ‘Higher education is not limited by the physical or geographical boundaries that it once was, and we believe online learning has a huge role to play in the future of undergraduate and postgraduate scholarship,’ said Ian Dunn, Coventry’s deputy vice-chancellor for student experience.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2017/06/28/this-is-what-a-university-of-the-future-looks-like/#62dba2dc4296

by Autumn Arnett, Education Dive

Equity took center stage in the day two conversations at the Education Commission of the States National Forum on Education Policy Thursday. One resonant statement reflected how principal preparation programs didn’t include equity components, meaning that now leaders are struggling to approach their work through an equity lens. Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education President Joe Garcia — who shared with the audience that his school counselors never once mentioned to him the idea of his going to college— said working harder to close achievement gaps from early education on through to higher ed is everyone’s work. “It’s not just an issue of racial justice — although that’s important — it’s a question of our economic sustainability” as a nation, Garcia said. Professional development is perhaps the single most important aspect of the equity conversation.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/i-dont-know-how-to-lead-for-equity-that-was-not-part-of-my-program/446094/