Online Learning Update

Julia Pugachevsky, Business Insider

Popular e-learning platforms edX and Coursera both offer free courses through top universities, as well as certificates and online degree programs for a fraction of the cost of traditional school.  Each lets users audit at least some classes for free, pay to earn certificates to put on LinkedIn or your resume, and complete longer certificate programs that can be used as cheaper college credits to work towards a full degree.  Linked below is a comparison of the two platforms, including course offerings, program types, and pricing.

https://www.businessinsider.com/edx-vs-coursera-which-is-better-comparison

Christian B. Miller, Wake Forest Philosophy Professor; NY Times

In a widely cited study, Nina Mazar at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University and her colleagues had one group of students take a 20-problem test where they would be paid 50 cents per correct answer. It was a hard test — students averaged only 3.4 correct answers. A second group of students took the same test, but they graded their own work and reported their “scores” with no questions asked. The average in this group was 6.1 correct answers, suggesting some cheating. The third and most interesting group, though, began by signing an honor code and then took the test, followed by grading their own work. The result? An honorable 3.1 correct answers. Cheating was eliminated at the group level. Signing the honor code did the job.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/opinion/online-learning-cheating.html

Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
As we continue to advance online services to distant students, bandwidth becomes ever more important. Virtual laboratories are beginning to take advantage of virtual reality, augmented reality and an assortment of associated technologies that rely on highly sophisticated networking. How are you preparing to integrate these new potentials into the delivery of your curriculum? Is your institution equipped to incorporate the high-bandwidth, low-latency technology into the delivery of simulations and laboratories at a distance?

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/speedy-future-delivering-online-learning-5g-10g-confusion

Tom Mitchell and Maxwell Bigman, Tomorrow’s Professor

We borrowed the concept from the human-computer interaction world. “Beyond being there” is the notion that, rather than trying to replicate in-person experiences with technology, it’s using the technology to allow for opportunities that aren’t possible in — and in many ways are preferable to — the traditional in-person classroom setup. And so that’s been our lens. There are tools, specifically designed for education, like polling apps, question-and-answer applications, group messaging applications, plus reading apps that help the students to annotate and share thoughts, for instance, that can help in a way that’s not like the in-person classroom.

https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1826

the Economist

EDTECH HAS never quite fulfilled its promise to galvanise poorly performing school systems. Past investments in educational technology often failed because of badly specified hardware and clunky software, which put off potential users. But as with much else, the closures forced on the world by the covid-19 pandemic has put pressure on schools, parents and pupils to embrace innovation.

https://www.economist.com/international/2020/11/11/educational-technology-is-coming-of-age-during-the-pandemic

Susan Grajek, EDUCAUSE Review

Members of the 2020–2021 EDUCAUSE IT Issues Panel share their advice and ideas on how multiple institutions can collaborate or partner to make better progress on addressing the 2021 Top IT issues. Cross-institutional partnerships and consortia exert a major influence over IT strategy at 40 percent of higher education institutions.1 When the members of the 2020–2021 EDUCAUSE IT Issues Panel were asked how multiple institutions can collaborate or partner to make better progress on addressing each of the 2021 Top IT Issues, they were full of ideas (more than 65).

https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/11/collaboration-and-partnership-top-it-issues-2021

Rebecca Koenig, EdSurge

In some cases, the change interfered with the coping strategies students use to learn. But in other instances, institutions seized the unusual opportunity to encourage professors to redesign courses to be more accessible to people with varied needs. More than two-thirds of colleges saw additional students apply for academic accommodations during the spring 2020 semester, according to a national survey of 212 colleges that shifted to remote instruction because of the pandemic.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-10-28-college-students-with-learning-disabilities-are-asking-for-more-support-will-they-get-it

Jeffrey R. Young, EdSurge

Research shows that a professor’s attitude matters. So when filming educational videos, instructors should make sure they’re upbeat. “People learn better from a more positive instructor that has a more positive voice and more positive gestures than from someone who has a more negative emotional tone,” says Mayer. “How the instructor behaves has a very big effect on learning.”

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-10-16-richard-mayer-has-spent-decades-on-educational-research-here-are-his-pandemic-teaching-tips

Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

According to the results, when an instructor had prior online teaching experience, student scores were significantly higher overall. Students in classes with peer interactions earned scores that were similar to those earned by students in other classes and incrementally higher when the material was taught remotely. The use of polling didn’t seem to have any “significant effect” on student outcomes in the pandemic.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2020/11/10/active-engagement-improves-online-instruction-during-covid-19.aspx

Dennis Pierce, eCampus News

As CIO of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Raymond Lefebvre sees a key function of his job as “providing enhanced experiences using innovative technologies and approaches.” In today’s hyper-competitive higher-education landscape, the ability to recruit and retain students and faculty is critical — and providing a seamless, high-quality campus experience is fundamental to meeting this goal. “Educational institutions that strategically and effectively respond to the needs of students, faculty, and staff … will survive and thrive,” Lefebvre observes. Consumers have become accustomed to ordering food, scheduling a ride, and requesting other services instantly from the palm of their hand — and they’re coming to expect the same level of convenience from their experience both on and off campus.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2020/11/10/improving-the-student-experience-means-meeting-our-students-where-they-are/

By Jeffrey R. Young, EdSurge

Professors are still struggling to adapt to the new realities of teaching during a pandemic. And even experts who focus on improving instruction are having to get creative to find approaches that work. That’s the case for Bonni Stachowiak, dean of teaching and learning at Vanguard University and host of the long-running Teaching In Higher Education podcast. She’s also an EdSurge columnist, and she joined us last week for a live online forum to give tips on teaching during the pandemic, as part of our monthly EdSurge Live series. Listen to the conversation using the player on this page, or read a partial transcript below, lightly edited for clarity.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-11-05-hosting-class-afterparties-on-zoom-and-other-new-ways-to-reach-students

Chelsea Toczauer, Online Universities

There is also the consideration of whether blockchain technology could, in turn, further accelerate a transition to alternative college business models as a result of the continued persistence of the pandemic as vaccine development and rollout remains in testing. The big difference with blockchain dissemination of credentials is the student owns it, Schroeder explains. “You of course can’t change what the university puts on related to your grades and classes—that’s written in stone and will be included in their documentation,” he notes. “But let’s say that you intern at a newspaper or a radio or television station someplace. You can write that in and link it to that employer for the internship.

https://www.onlineeducation.com/features/blockchain-backed-college-business-models

CBS News
First colleges cancelled fall break, now spring break is on the chopping block, writes Carolyn Gusoff for CBS News, as many universities in New York are altering the spring calendar to discourage travel and the chances of COVID-19 spread. Among them is Hofstra University. “We felt building in a break where students leave and travel increased the chances they will be somewhere of a super spreader state,” said Dr Herman Berliner, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Hofstra. “And for safety concerns the spring break really needed to go.” In its place, five separate mental health or catch up days off – never on a Friday or Monday – in order to discourage unsafe travel that could bring COVID to campus.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20201107141259521

ERUDERA COLLEGE NEWS

A study conducted by the German Center for University and Science Research (DZHW) has revealed that most of the students in Germany are satisfied switching to digital semester amid the Corona pandemic. According to the study, 86 per cent of students did not face any challenges at all while using the online courses, whereas 78 per cent of them claimed they had enough technical equipment to pursue lessons remotely, Erudera College News reports. Among others, 66 per cent of students said they have embraced the flexibility that came with this way of learning and two-thirds of them also expressed satisfaction over the way exams have been organized or held so far.

https://collegenews.org/majority-of-students-in-germany-satisfied-with-transition-to-online-learning/

Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

I wanted to share the conversation I had with university CIOs Jill Albin-Hill and Paige Francis, from the summit session titled “How the Pandemic Gave IT a Seat at the Table.” They talked about the role of IT in pandemic response planning, and how they’ve been able to fast-track IT projects, provide critical solutions to campus challenges, elevate the position of IT within institutional leadership, and more.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2020/11/06/podcast-bonus-how-the-pandemic-gave-it-a-seat-at-the-table.aspx

HOWIE BERMAN, eCampus News

Academic institutions across the U.S. have resumed the fall semester, with many choosing to continue offering instruction in virtual or hybrid environments. While educators pivoted and quickly adjusted to virtual learning environments at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition was not without its challenges. In March, 41 percent of school districts reported they could not provide ongoing virtual lessons to all students due to educators’ lack of appropriate tech tools—a significant barrier to effective remote learning.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2020/11/05/tech-and-professional-development-are-key-to-remote-learning-success/

Daniel C. Vock, Education Dive

Congress is not expected to agree on another relief bill until after election results are confirmed, at the earliest. Higher education groups, meanwhile, have continued to press lawmakers for more money for the sector, with their latest ask at $120 billion or more. The stalled negotiations in Washington are significant, experts say, because, unlike in previous economic downturns, colleges and universities have few other places to turn. State governments that support higher ed face their own sharp declines in revenue and an uncertain economic outlook. And institutions cannot easily raise tuition or count on increased enrollment, because, on the whole, fewer students appear to be attending college this fall than last year.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/will-federal-relief-for-colleges-come-before-more-budget-cuts-do/588531/

Gwen Moran, Fast Company

Gartner data found that the number of skills required for a single job was increasing by 10% per year. And one-third of the skills listed in an average 2017 job posting would not be relevant by 2021. Gartner also found that role-based skills planning wasn’t helping organizations develop the right employee skill sets. Grouping unrelated skills doesn’t build the skills that will create competitive advantage. But several experts have ideas about what those necessary skills of the future will be. As organizations continue to operate in a pandemic and plan for the future, linked below are some of the essential skills that employees will need.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90568262/6-skills-employees-will-need-in-the-post-pandemic-workplace

ALEX WOODS, Brown and White, Lehigh
Following Lehigh’s temporary campus shut down due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, every student had to continue their education online, not just students who opted to take classes fully remotely before the semester started. While students and faculty face many challenges through remote learning and teaching, there have been some positive aspects, too.

https://thebrownandwhite.com/2020/11/05/students-and-faculty-reflect-on-positives-to-virtual-learning/

Shawna De La Rosa, Education Dive
Dyslexia interventions can be replicated virtually with online sensory tools and assistive technology, District Administration reports, noting applications that allow for interactive learning also help students engage in distance learning environments. Zoom, for example, has annotation tools that give students interactive capabilities, and using them to highlight, underline, and draw symbols can help students break down words and sentences to demonstrate their understanding. Similar tools are also helpful for students who lack the motor skills to write or use a mouse. Sound production is more difficult to replicate through a computer, so teachers may need to repeat themselves and try not to speak too fast. However, distance learning also allows educators to teach mask-free, which makes it easier for students to understand what the instructor is saying.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/translating-dyslexia-support-to-distance-learning-a-challenge-but-not-impo/588347/

Emma Whitford, Inside Higher Ed

Average student spending on textbooks and course materials continued to decline in the fall of 2020, while the number of units purchased or rented increased, according to data the research firm Student Monitor released today. On average, students spent $186 each on textbooks and course materials this fall, down from $199 in fall 2019. “During the fall semester of 2020, distance learning drove widespread adoption of less expensive eTextbooks in both sales and rentals — including through subscription models — leading to a 7 percent decline in spending as compared to the same period last year,” Eric Weil, managing partner at Student Monitor, said in a statement.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/11/05/student-textbook-spending-continues-decline