Online Learning Update

April Glaser, NBC

Now, as the president’s choice to lead the agency, she’s likely to pick up the network neutrality baton again — which prohibited internet service providers from charging websites to reach users at faster speeds. When Chairman Tom Wheeler ran the agency under Obama, Rosenworcel boldly pushed him to create more aggressive network neutrality rules, a stance he eventually adopted and led to the network neutrality protections that were passed in 2015. And when Pai came to lead the agency with the intention to take a “weed wacker” to net neutrality in 2017, she didn’t sit quietly either.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/biden-picks-jessica-rosenworcel-run-fcc-n1255048

Justin B Hollander, University World News
Promises for a coronavirus vaccine and eventual herd immunity mean that the autumn 2021 semester at colleges and universities might start to feel normal again. But after almost a year of online and hybrid teaching, can we ever really get back to how things were before COVID-19? Do we even want to? If there’s anything truly endemic to higher education, it is probably its grounding in tradition. Few other industries regularly dress up their staff in robes (for graduation), continue to support massive libraries of hard copy books or celebrate bizarre and antiquated rituals surrounding odd events like baccalaureate or investitures.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210118070559840

KATHARINE BENTHAM, eCampus News

In a landscape where online instruction has become more commonplace due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some faculty face challenges associated with operating in an online environment. Even to those remote instruction veterans, there is certainly an element of frustration that can exist when it comes to finding unique ways to engage students as an online instructor. The following 5 tips can help you to be an innovative online instructor who engages students:

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2021/01/21/5-ways-to-be-an-innovative-online-instructor/

St. John’s University

Student success is not only a cornerstone principle of St. John’s University—it is the primary research focus for Ceceilia Parnther, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor in Administrative and Instructional Leadership in The School of Education. When the COVID-19 pandemic caused an abrupt shift in teaching modalities, Dr. Parnther was eager to uncover the virtues of remote learning. “I love the online environment,” Dr. Parnther stressed. “The modality provides an opportunity to express myself creatively and to support my students in doing so as well. We are also able to engage and work with experts from all over the country.”

https://www.stjohns.edu/about/news/2021-01-21/faculty-focus-st-johns-professor-embraces-challenges-online-learning

Colleges weighed down by failed program launches
Michael B. Horn, Christensen Institute

As many colleges and universities face not only the financial strains stemming from COVID-19, but also the challenges of a broken business model that was in peril before the pandemic, many have sought to dig themselves out by launching new programs that generate new revenue. But a new report from Burning Glass shows shocking failure rates from that strategy over the last several years. Titled “Bad Bets,” the report reveals that a stunning number—two-thirds—of new programs launched on the heels of the Great Recession were graduating fewer than ten students a year by 2018. Roughly half were graduating five or fewer students, and 30% reported zero degrees. This matters because, as the report makes clear, launching new programs costs money. And it’s money that colleges in many cases are hemorrhaging.

https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/colleges-weighed-down-by-failed-program-launches/

Christensen Institute

Most schools and programs wholeheartedly agree that relationships matter. But far fewer actually measure students’ social capital. Oftentimes, relationships, valuable as they may be, are treated as inputs to learning and development rather than outcomes in their own right. In turn, schools routinely leave students’ access to relationships and networks to chance. To address this gap, a host of early innovators across K–12, postsecondary, and workforce development are making important strides toward purposefully building and measuring students’ social capital in an effort to expand access to opportunity. Drawing on those emerging practices, this paper offers a framework for measuring social capital grounded in both research and practice.

https://whoyouknow.org/measurement-report/

Rory McGreal, the Conversation

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has declared that free digitalized teaching and learning materials known as open educational resources are essential for increasing access for global learners. These materials are key to supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Rorden Wilkinson, professor of international political economy, discusses the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Quality Education. The technology known as blockchain has also been recognized as an important resource to help achieve strategic development goals. Through the use of blockchain, it could be possible to ensure the availability of more affordable, equitable and quality educational content internationally.

https://theconversation.com/how-blockchain-could-help-the-world-meet-the-uns-global-goals-in-higher-education-152885

Manchester Ink Link

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) has announced the launch of its first MicroBachelor Programs, also known as the “SNHUx Programs.” The programs, conducted in collaboration with edX, provides offerings in business analytics and data management with Python and SQL for $498 per course. Pending admission, the courses can also be apply up to six credits toward associate’s and bachelor’s degrees at SNHU.

https://manchesterinklink.com/snhu-launches-microbachelor-programs/

Claire Warner, Daily Emerald

University of Oregon Senior Instructor of Biology Alan Kelly first learned that students were using Chegg, an education technology company, to cheat on exams from a colleague at the University of Maryland in November. After their conversation, Kelly pulled up the company’s website and copied his test questions into the search bar. The results showed almost every question had been posted and solutions provided.  Chegg’s honor code policy states it does not tolerate use of its services “for any sort of cheating or fraud,” while several UO chemistry and biology professors have told the Daily Emerald that some students are accessing solutions to exam questions through Chegg’s subscription-based service, Chegg Study.

https://www.dailyemerald.com/news/students-cheat-with-online-learning-service-professors-hope-to-identify-users/article_552d56f4-5a31-11eb-98ae-879264ec0299.html

Fred Cutler, Inside Higher Ed

Institutions should be embarrassed by the standard transcripts they have been issuing, unchanged for a century, and students should demand better, argues Fred Cutler. The University of British Columbia has worked to develop for its graduates a supplementary “rich transcript” that includes:

The student’s courses’ full titles; A word cloud built from the instructors’ detailed course descriptions for their courses (not the generic calendar descriptions); Aggregated statistics for each student on the number of writing assignments, pages written, peer reviews, oral presentations, hours of group work, research designs, primary research, internships and service learning; and A list of 23 skills showing in how many of the student’s courses each skill was a key learning outcome.

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2021/01/20/students-should-demand-better-college-transcripts-opinion

Danny Palmer, ZDNet

Some organisations that fall victim to ransomware attacks are paying ransoms to cyber-criminal gangs despite being able to restore their own networks from backups, in order to prevent hackers publishing stolen data. Over the course of the past year, many of the most successful ransomware gangs have added an additional technique in an effort to coerce victims into paying ransoms after compromising their networks – publishing stolen data if a payment isn’t received. As 2020 started, only the Maze ransomware gang was using this tactic. But as it ended, an additional 17 ransomware crews had taken to publishing stolen data of victims if they didn’t receive payment.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-victims-that-have-backups-are-paying-ransoms-to-stop-hackers-leaking-their-stolen-data/

BY ALEXANDRA KUBRAK, eCampus News

Our survey found that college students struggled with classes during the Fall 2020 semester. The majority of students, 85.4 percent, saw a negative impact on their academic performance. Only 5.5 percent of students say that the learning changes this year benefitted their academic performance.  Student responses were fairly consistent across surveyed freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Slightly more sophomores reported negative outcomes at a rate that was about four percentage points higher than students in other years. OneClass polled 14,712 college students to ask about the Fall 2020 semester during the coronavirus pandemic. Students surveyed include current freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2021/01/19/did-college-students-perform-worse-during-covid-19/

Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

Just one of the five chapters of Galloway’s Post Corona is devoted to higher education.  First, the good news. Too few books about the future include chapters on higher education. Our ecosystem (Galloway insists we are a business) is usually absent from discussions in which other industries (media, transportation, retail, etc.) figure prominently. This is too bad, as we can better think of new ideas about the future of higher education if we understand our industry through nonacademic lenses. Like every other professor, Galloway was forced to convert his course to remote in 2020. He bases much of his thinking and recommendations about the future of higher education on his teaching experience during the pandemic.

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/scott-galloway%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98post-corona%E2%80%99-vision-higher-ed

Biden elevates science adviser to the cabinet and picks Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute, for the post.|
Kery Murakami, Inside Higher Ed
President-elect Joe Biden on Friday nominated Eric Lander to be his science adviser and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy — and also elevated the role of science adviser so that it will have cabinet rank. Lander is president and founding director of the Broad Institute at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In a speech introducing Lander, Biden outlined five priorities for science in his administration.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/18/biden-elevates-head-science-office-cabinet-level

Coastline College

The irony is that the world interacts so virtually and digitally now that online learning is probably closer to real life than in-person education is. Learning online has come a long way quickly, with accreditation as well as intensive, cost-effective, and modern coursework that all seeks to elevate students. These types of learning platforms and models are here to stay. I’m all for it and you should be too.

https://patch.com/california/fountainvalley/coastline-college-blog-why-students-should-love-online-learning-when-it-s

Basia Spalek, University World News

The mental well-being of students has become a key priority within university settings. Student counselling and well-being services have expanded across many universities in the United Kingdom and internationally, and there is now much greater awareness of the mental well-being needs of students across university institutions. The psychological well-being of university staff, in contrast, has traditionally been a marginalised issue.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210111140929866

Jerry Jackson, PC Magazine

Wi-Fi 6E adds support for 6GHz wireless spectrum, for faster wireless speeds and lower latencies than previous generations, but you’ll need a new router and Wi-Fi 6E-compatible devices to take advantage of those new airwaves. Should you upgrade now? The Wi-Fi Alliance, a group of Wi-Fi platform vendors that work with the FCC and electronics manufacturers to set standards for Wi-Fi technology, announced the Wi-Fi 6E designation in 2020 for any IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) products that support 6GHz wireless spectrum. Essentially, this means Wi-Fi 6E enables faster speeds and lower latencies than Wi-Fi 6 and earlier iterations.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/what-is-wi-fi-6e

Amy Meuers and Shira Woolf Cohen, Youth Today

Educators across the country are using service learning to address problems in their community that have been exacerbated by the pandemic such as hunger, homelessness, mental health and education equity. In a recent survey conducted by the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC), educators shared how they are using service learning during distance and hybrid learning to engage youth and build a sense of community and belonging.

https://youthtoday.org/2021/01/service-learning-makes-online-learning-meaningful-and-engaging/

Rajesh Nagarathnam, Faculty Focus

In the current scenario, I am trying my best to make online teaching more dynamic. The bottom line is, “I am teaching—are they listening?” Two weeks into the fall semester, we had a Student-Faculty Class committee (SFC) meeting and it was noteworthy to hear that students found my approach to be genial and interactive. I realized that standing and delivering lectures enhanced a connection with my students. Although I am on a virtual microphone, I found that my students were more receptive to the lectures. Fine-tuning my teaching strategy certainly created a positive impact in virtual learning.

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-course-delivery-and-instruction/behind-the-mic-during-a-pandemic-making-virtual-instruction-more-engaging-for-students/

Reuters

During the pandemic, online learning company Udacity saw demand for its virtual courses surge, Udacity Executive Chairman Sebastian Thrun said. Its enrollment more than doubled. Its engagement with companies “massively” increased. “Is online going to replace universities? It’s never going to happen,” he said.  “Can we reach people that are currently not being reached? And there, the answer is a resounding yes.” Both Thrun and Richardson said the divide between those who have digital connectivity and those who lack it continues to make education a mark of privilege even amid efforts to level the playing field.

https://www.reuters.com/article/education-future/reuters-next-covid-19-fuelling-educations-tech-disruption-deepening-digital-divide-idUSL1N2JP36Y

Chandra Steele, PC Mag

COVID-19 means many of us are (still) working from home and swapping in-person meetings for video chats on Zoom, Skype, or Google Meet. Everybody was supposed to be famous for 15 minutes in the future, but now you’re appearing on video 15 times a day and you want some anonymity. That’s not going to be the case for a while as social distancing continues, so you might as well make the best of your time in front of the camera. Whether you’re in Zoom meetings with colleagues or having virtual cocktail parties with friends, follow these steps so you can spend more time focusing on others and not anxiously checking how you look in the corner of the screen.

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-look-good-on-video-calls