Online Learning Update

by Kenneth Rogoff, Boston Globe

Universities and colleges are pivotal to the future of our societies. But, given impressive and ongoing advances in technology and artificial intelligence, it is hard to see how they can continue playing this role without reinventing themselves over the next two decades. Education innovation will disrupt academic employment, but the benefits to jobs everywhere else could be enormous. If there were more disruption within the ivory tower, economies just might become more resilient to disruption outside it.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/02/09/when-will-technology-disrupt-higher-education/RDqq0tsJufA0dG2VEiRFgI/story.html

by Jodi Helmer, University Business

Most of the 2 million students participating in dual enrollment programs attend classes at their high schools or on higher ed campuses. Colleges in at least 35 states, however, offer students another option—online classes, according to research by the Education Commission of the States. Access is a main aim. Distance learning provides opportunities to students in areas with a lack of local colleges or high school teachers qualified to instruct college classes, notes a 2015 report by ACT, a testing company that also promotes college and career readiness. But it’s not as easy as simply moving content online.

https://www.universitybusiness.com/article/higher-ed-remote-reach

by Mariel Tishma, Chief Learning Officer

Darren Shimkus, general manager of online learning provider Udemy for Business, said that when millennial workers are given the choice between better learning opportunities and other incentives like vacation time or higher pay, “The millennial worker today overwhelmingly chooses the chance to build … skills.”  Udemy’s “2018 Learning Index Report,” which analyzed 18 million learners and polled 263 learning and development managers, discusses various key topics to pay attention to this year. According to the report, teams are learning skills across traditional boundaries. Soft skills like communication and public speaking have remained consistently important. “People seek out, at all levels: How do I become better at presenting my point of view?” Shimkus said. Technology teams are accessing content to brush up on soft skills, while those in soft skills positions are pursuing hard tech knowledge to better serve their clients.

http://www.clomedia.com/2018/02/15/trend-2018-learning-flexibility/

By Michelle R. Weise, EdSurge

Our postsecondary learning system will have to engage students differently than before. Many adults may have no interest in coming back to college. Out of the 37 million Americans with some college and no degree, many have already failed one or twice before and will be wholly uninterested in experiencing more educational trauma.We can’t just say, “Here’s a MOOC, or here’s an online degree, or a 6- to 12-week immersive bootcamp.” We have to do better. Let’s begin seeding the foundational elements of a learning ecosystem of the future—flexible enough for adults to move consistently in and out of learning and work. Enough talk about lifelong learning: Let’s build.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-02-22-michelle-weise-we-need-to-design-the-learning-ecosystem-of-the-future

by Elizabeth Kilpatrick, Daily Targum

While most Rutgers students take a bus to class and sit in a lecture hall, others enroll in classes that take place miles away from campus.  Online courses present students who cannot take traditional classes an opportunity to earn their degree. They benefit students with strong writing skills, said Ian Dunham, a doctoral student in the School of Arts and Sciences. “That’s 98 percent of the way I interact with students online,” he said. Considering that all assignments are written submissions in his class, this is a crucial area to do well in, Dunham said. There is also less emphasis on class-like participation, since there is no face-to-face contact.

http://www.dailytargum.com/article/2018/02/online-classes-help-alleviate-social-anxiety-among-other-perks-for-students

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

In addition to keeping track of student information, the LMS of the future will also be a tool for analysis. It will be able to collect and analyze imperative information helping educators see where students need more help. Through interconnected features, such as state standards, this analysis will prove helpful in planning.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/will-lms-future-look-like/

By Mary Grush, Campus Technology

Oklahoma State University’s first inaugural “Virtual + Augmented Reality Hackathon” hosted January 26-27 by the Mixed Reality Lab in the university’s College of Human Sciences gave students and the community a chance to tackle real-world problems using augmented and virtual reality tools, while offering researchers a glimpse into the ways teams work with digital media tools. Campus Technology asked Dr. Tilanka Chandrasekera, an assistant professor in the department of Design, Housing and Merchandising at Oklahoma State University about the hackathon and how it fits into the school’s broader goals.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/02/12/hacking-real-world-problems-with-virtual-and-augmented-reality.aspx

by Purdue University

Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab provides students with a guide to help them successfully complete writing assignments not only in writing classes, but also in STEM coursework and multimedia presentations. “As more high school and college students participate in online courses, they are more likely to find OWL helpful,” says Tammy Conard-Salvo, associate director of the Writing Lab. “The same is also true as students are producing non-traditional writing projects.” OWL provides students of all ages with information on the basics of writing, grammar and mechanics, writer’s block, conducting research and more. It also provides students with many subject-specific resources. These resources include presentations on how to write an engineering report, how to write an experimental report in psychology and how to write as a professional nurse. One of the most popular features on the site is the style guides for how to write academic papers.

http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2018/Q1/online-writing-resource-helps-students-in-all-areas-of-study.html

by Shalina Chatlani, Education Dive
Lou Pugliese, senior innovation fellow and managing director for the Technology Innovation Action Lab at Arizona State University, and Kate Smith, vice president of academic affairs at Rio Salado College revealed four conclusions of an extensive research project on the topic: take a strategic portfolio approach to digital learning; build capabilities and expertise to design for quality in the digital realm; provide the differential student support to succeed in fully online learning; and engage faculty as true partners, equipping them for success. Smith and Pugliese offered insight into the online learning models of their institutions to discuss some of the key aspects of the ASU report that focuses on three main components, including defining what return on investment in digital learning formats really means and developing common shared metrics for the industry to create benchmarks of comparison.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/how-to-effectively-scale-a-digital-learning-model/515936/

BY ANNE TRUMBORE, the Hill

by Adam Gordon, Forbes
The future shape of graduate and executive education is coming into focus with the surge of “MicroMasters” certificate programs on edX, to which 1.7 million students have registered in a year. The number of programs on offer has exploded from one to 46 during this time. This is the kind of extraordinary exponential growth that rips apart and rebuilds industries. MicroMasters certificates (MMs) are online, examined and graded, credit-eligible graduate-level courses that involve about a quarter of the coursework of a traditional Masters degree. At edX they cost about $1,000.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamgordon/2018/02/13/voice-of-employers-rings-out-as-moocs-go-from-education-to-qualification/#4caabd2c564b

by Mark Lieberman, Inside Higher Ed

Presidents of six small liberal arts colleges in rural Michigan have been talking for a decade about the possibility of adopting a consortium model to facilitate sharing courses and other resources. Online programs are increasingly popular solutions to this issue in higher education, but they don’t necessarily meet the small-classroom characteristics of a liberal arts education. Last fall, at long last, a surprising path forward emerged. Just three months later, at lightning speed for a cross-college collaboration, three of those institutions — Alma, Albion and Calvin Colleges — have begun a pilot course-sharing program that makes use of Google hardware, including its brand-new Jamboard for interactive videoconferencing.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/02/14/michigan-liberal-arts-colleges-use-google-share-courses

By Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed

The American Bar Association panel that accredits law schools has proposed loosening its restrictions on online education. Currently, the rules of the Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar say that no more than 15 of an ABA-accredited law school’s required credits can be completed in distance learning courses, defined as those in which at least a third of the course work is done online. Most law school programs include between 83 and 90 credits over all. The ABA has in recent years granted (and rejected) several law schools’ requests for variances from the restriction on online courses. Under the proposal initially approved by the ABA council last week, students could earn up to a third of their credits (between 28 and 30) in distance courses. The ABA proposal would also allow first-year law students to take up to 10 credits online; law schools are now barred from offering distance education to first-year students.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2018/02/13/law-school-accreditor-proposes-easing-limits-online-education

by Thomas Nugent, Business Because

At the MERIT Higher Education Summit in Lisbon last month, change was in the air. As executives and business school representatives mingled over Pastéis de Nata and espresso pods aplenty, the conversation was geared towards one thing: lifelong learning and the future of work. Online learning and technology, it seems, will impact heavily on the executive education space in the coming years, revolutionizing the way we approach the development of our personal and professional skills. For Carlo Giardinetti, associate dean of Business School Lausanne, that raises an important question.: “How do we redesign the on-campus experience knowing that the importance of technology and off-campus learning will continue to grow?”

https://www.businessbecause.com/news/emba/5069/technology-online-learning-future-executive-education

BY MARIA MENDEZ, Daily Texan
The UT System’s Institute for Transformational Learning was supposed to pioneer an online brand for UT, but it shut down two weeks ago. After investing a total of $75 million in the institute, the UT System decided the institute’s five-year revenue of $1 million was not enough for it to continue operating, according to the Texas Tribune. Francisco Cigarroa, former UT System chancellor, first allocated the institute with $50 million in 2011 from the UT System’s $20 billion Permanent University Fund. The institute was intended to make a UT education more accessible, UT System spokesperson Karen Adler said.

http://dailytexanonline.com/2018/02/12/ut-system-pulls-the-plug-on-75-million-online-learning-institute

By Elizabeth Hernandez, Daily Camera

Jane Goodall, known worldwide for her research on the relationship between chimpanzees and humans, will lead a new massive, open online course for the University of Colorado about developing compassionate leaders. The noted scientist and conservationist is holding the free course kicking off this summer through a partnership between CU and the Jane Goodall Institute’s youth program, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, according to a CU news release. “There are many reasons to be hopeful for the future of our planet but perhaps most inspiring is the energy, commitment, and hard work of young people who we can empower as they grow to be better, more compassionate decision-makers within their society,” said Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace.

http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_31661507/jane-goodall-lead-new-cu-boulder-online-course

by Louis Soares & Jonathan Gagliardi, American Council on Education, Evolllution

The analysis revealed patterns that have major implications for how post-traditional students engage in learning, and for how policymakers and campus leaders design policies, programs, and services that meet their needs. Post-traditional learners need academic programs that are stackable and which offer more structured entry and exit points to and from employment. Many would benefit from flexible learning models that give credit for applied and experiential learning, and which focus less on traditional measures of seat time. Better articulation agreements across campuses and within systems could help hedge against the potential for credit-loss that occurs in the transfer process. Services that make it easier for them to be parents, soldiers, full-time employees, and students could also help post-traditional learners integrate work, life and school.

Supporting Post-Traditional Students Drives Broad and Significant Benefits

by Neil Ridley, Evolllution

For four-year universities across the United States, the focus—and often the metric used to judge their success—is degree completion. But how important is a bachelor’s degree to finding good work and launching a career? Depending on the industry and geographic location, the Georgetown Center for Education and the Workforce has found that the degree might not serve as the only pathway to employment that we once thought. In their recent report, Good Jobs That Pay without a BA: A State-by-State Analysis, researchers dove deep into their prior national report findings to understand how sub-baccalaureate credentials support students’ pathways to good jobs across the United States. In this interview, Neil Ridley reflects on some of their findings and shares his thoughts on how colleges and universities could leverage this data to improve employment pathways for learners.

Forging Pathways to Good Jobs Without a BA: Assessing the Value of Sub-Baccalaureate Credentials

By Tabitha Prisinzano, Columbia College of Missouri

Online education is the way of the future and employers are viewing online education more favorably in recent years.  Since more and more jobs have entered the digital realm, studies show that employers increasingly view online degrees favorably, as opposed to just a few years ago. Increasingly, nonprofit, brick-and-mortar schools have started offering distance-learning programs, and at some point, most students enrolled in conventional college programs will take at least one class online. Plus, even as the stigma of online education continues to fade, the benefits of a computer-based classroom are becoming increasingly apparent. In fact, online classes teach students skills and learning techniques that are invaluable in a digital workplace, yet often go untaught in traditional classroom settings.

4 Ways Online Classes Can Make You More Attractive to Employers

By Meredith Roaten, the Hatchet

After a report raised questions about unequal standards and oversight of courses taught online, Provost Forrest Maltzman defended the quality of the University’s online learning programs in a presentation to the Faculty Senate Friday. Maltzman insisted the University’s online offerings are equally as strong as traditional classes, citing data showing that programs have high student satisfaction and often outperform peers in national rankings. But he also recommended departments and programs act to increase monitoring of those courses using surveys and retaining lectures. “There is no reasonable examination of this that anyone can walk away and say our online programs are worse than our other programs,” Maltzman told the Faculty Senate.

Maltzman defends online learning programs after report raises concern

by Jordan Friedman, US News

Students in online science classes should check how much time they must commit to coursework each week, especially if there’s a lab requirement. Between lab requirements and the use of classroom equipment to conduct research, the hard sciences – biology, chemistry and physics, to name a few – may not initially seem suited for the online format. But some schools have found ways for students to explore these fields remotely.Experts say online courses in the hard sciences may also attract nondegree students taking classes for general interest or to fulfill prerequisites before transferring elsewhere. Whatever their goals may be, here are six questions experts recommend prospective or incoming students ask as they research online science courses and speak with their academic or enrollment advisers.

https://www.usnews.com/higher-education/online-education/articles/2018-02-12/ask-6-questions-to-choose-an-online-science-course