online learning

Where are the quality concerns for face-to-face courses, the (mis)use of adjunct faculty members, + other higher education-related items

On 03/06/2023, in adjunct faculty, career development, colleges, community colleges, face-to-face, faculty, higher education, online learning, pathways, United States, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

As Colleges Focus on Quality in Online Learning, Advocates Ask: What About In-Person Courses? — from chronicle.com by Taylor Swaak

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

As colleges’ online catalogs grow, so too has the push to develop standards of quality for those courses. But are in-person classes getting the same attention?

If you ask many online-education advocates, the answer is “no.” And the solution, many say, is for colleges to adopt standards and policies that set consistent expectations for quality across all courses, whether they’re remote or in a classroom.

While decades of research and the pandemic-spurred expansion of online learning have helped demystify it, and build confidence in its efficacy, these advocates say the misconception lingers that remote education is inherently lower in quality than instruction in the classroom. And that stigma, they say, puts a magnifying glass to online ed, while largely leaving in-person classes to business as usual.

The focus instead, Simunich said, should be on a big-picture question: Is this a high-quality learning experience for students?

From DSC:
These are great points. I find them to have been very true.

Reflections of a College Adjunct After 31 Years — from insidehighered.com by Stephen Werner
We’ve proven over and over that there’s enough work to give many of us full-time positions, writes Stephen Werner, but things are moving in the opposite direction.

Four Pieces of Advice (emphasis DSC)
In closing, I offer the following recommendations:

See the big picture. We adjuncts are workers in the gig economy. We are part of the new normal where so many jobs are on-demand, temporary work, with few or no benefits and no long-term security. Even with our M.A.s and Ph.D.s, we have much in common with workers at all levels, including the lowest-skilled workers.
Make a serious effort to meet and talk to other adjuncts. …
Unionize! Organize with your fellow adjuncts! …
Start saving for retirement. …

The fact is that college and universities are totally dependent on us. They know it. We adjuncts need to act like we know it, too. We need to overcome our isolation and work together to have a voice.

How Mega-Universities Manage to Teach Hundreds of Thousands of Students — from edsurge.com by Robert Ubell (Columnist)

Excerpt:

One key difference at SNHU is how it hires faculty, relying on an academic army of about 8,000 adjuncts who earn $2,000 per semester for teaching an undergrad course and $2,500 for a grad course. Reliance on adjuncts, especially in online instruction, is a national trend. Today, gig faculty occupy about three-quarters of all U.S. college instructors. But Southern New Hampshire and other online operations depend even more on contingent labor than most of their traditional peers.

For colleges to depend entirely on an Uber-style instructional workforce may be financially prudent, but I argue it’s academically risky, with little continuity and no permanent faculty. It’s also exploitative, with instructors ending up in precarious work arrangements without living wages and benefits.

First Person: Why college matters for people serving extreme sentences — from opencampusmedia.org by Rahsaan “New York” Thomas

Excerpt:

For incarcerated people, the quality or success of a college program is often measured by recidivism rates. By that standard, Mount Tamalpais, formerly the Prison University Project, is a success. Its students had a recidivism rate of 17 percent compared to the 65 percent recidivism rate for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a whole, according to a 2011 program evaluation.

Personally, I see education as the key to my success from behind bars. After getting sentenced to a term beyond my life expectancy I needed a path to redemption in the eyes of my mother, my sons, and society that didn’t involve going home. I came up with becoming a writer because my voice was the one part of me that was still free.

Teaching in an Age of ‘Militant Apathy’ — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie
Immersive education offers a way to reach students. But can it ever become the norm?

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

But as many students continue to exhibit debilitating levels of anxiety, hopelessness, and disconnection — what one professor termed “militant apathy” — colleges are struggling to come up with a response beyond short-term solutions. The standard curricula in higher ed — and the way it’s discussed as primarily a path to economic success — can exacerbate those feelings. Students are told the main point of college is to move up the economic ladder, so no wonder it feels transactional. And the threat of failure must seem paralyzing given the high cost of a degree.
…
Colleges try to counter that by telling students that critical-thinking and communication skills are important as well. “But that’s a pretty vague argument that isn’t obvious for students to internalize and motivate their behavior. So what you see then is widespread disengagement from the curriculum,” says Arum. “For educators like me, what’s missing is what education is about. It’s about psychological well-being and flourishing and growth and human development and encouraging a set of dispositions, attitudes and behaviors that lead to fulfilling lives.”

“In every context, the student needs to feel like they are driving, they are the ones managing their own learning,” says Immordino-Yang. Instead, students have come to expect “‘you tell me what to do and I’ll do it,’” she says. “We need to take that away. That is a crutch. That is not real learning. That is compliance.”

From DSC:
The liberal arts are so important. But at what cost? What are people willing to pay for a more rounded education? The market is speaking — and the liberal arts are dying. I think that less expensive forms of online-based learning may turn out to be the best chance of the liberal arts surviving in the 21st century. The price must come waaaay down.

And speaking of the cost of getting a degree, this item is relevant as well:

Colleges Fear Cost of Doing Business Will Become Much Costlier — from chronicle.com by Lee Gardner
Inflation, enrollment woes, and increasing intolerance of tuition increases have made this budget season especially difficult.

Excerpts:

In decades past, colleges might have mitigated precarious budgets by raising tuition, but that’s a hard row to hoe in 2023.
…
The public colleges most feeling the financial squeeze from lowered enrollments are regional universities and community colleges, which typically receive less state support per student than public flagship universities.
…
Inflation remains high, at around 6 percent, and the biggest worry that it presents for college leaders comes from upward pressure on wages, says Staisloff.

While the sky may not be falling for higher education, Staisloff says “the cloud ceiling keeps dropping and dropping and dropping and dropping, and that’s getting harder to ignore.”

Speaking of the cost of getting a degree as well as higher education’s need to reinvent itself, also see:

College Doesn’t Need to Take Four Years — an opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal by Scott L. Wyatt and Allen C. Guelzo
For many students, the standard bachelor’s degree program has become a costly straitjacket.

“Colleges and universities that contract with an online program management company need to submit details about those arrangements by May 1.”

On 02/21/2023, in instructional design, learning ecosystem, legislatures / government / legal, online learning, United States, universities, using teams, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Colleges and universities that contract with an online program management company need to submit details about those arrangements by May 1.

Oversight Coming for Online Program Providers — from insidehighered.com by Katherine Knott

Excerpt:

The Education Department is planning to increase oversight of the outside contractors that colleges and universities use to help run online programs.
…
To address that finding, the department said in guidance issued Wednesday that OPMs and any entity that provides recruitment services for a college are considered third-party servicers, subjecting the companies’ contracts with institutions to regular audits. Colleges and universities are required to report details of their agreements to the department by May 1.

Best Document Cameras for Teachers [Edwards]

On 02/04/2023, in A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, experimentation, faculty, higher education, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, learning ecosystem, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, student teaching/teacher education, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, tools, United States, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Best Document Cameras for Teachers — from techlearning.com by Luke Edwards
Get the best document camera for teachers to make the classroom more digitally immersive

Along the lines of edtech, also see:

Tech & Learning Names Winners of the Best of 2022 Awards — from techlearning.com by TL Editors
This annual award celebrates recognizing the very best in EdTech from 2022

.
The Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence: Best of 2022 celebrate educational technology from the last 12 months that has excelled in supporting teachers, students, and education professionals in the classroom, for professional development, or general management of education resources and learning. Nominated products are divided into three categories: Primary, Secondary, or Higher Education.

Unbundled: Designing Personalized Pathways for Every Learner [Nate McClennen & Co.]

On 01/31/2023, in assessment, Blockchain, change, changing business models, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, credentialing, Design Thinking, education, education reform, engagement / engaging students, ideas, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, leadership, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, love of learning, marketplaces, microlearning, more voice more choice more control, motivation, new business models, online learning, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, reinvent, society, streams of content, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technology (general), ubiquitous learning, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, youth, by Daniel Christian

Unbundled: Designing Personalized Pathways for Every Learner — from gettingsmart.com by Nate McClennen “with contributions from the Getting Smart team and numerous friends and partners in the field”

Excerpts:

In this publication, we articulate the critical steps needed to unbundle the learning ecosystem, build core competencies, design learning experiences, curate new opportunities, and rebundle these experiences into coherent pathways.
.

Vision

Every learner deserves an unlimited number of unbundled opportunities to explore, engage, and define experiences that advance their progress along a co-designed educational pathway. Each pathway provides equitable and personalized access to stacked learning experiences leading to post-secondary credentials and secure family-sustaining employment. Throughout the journey, supportive coaches focus on helping learners build skills to navigate with agency. In parallel, learners develop foundational skills (literacy, math), technical skills, and durable skills and connect these to challenging co-designed experiences. The breadth and depth of experiences increase over time, and, in partnership, learners and coaches map progress towards reaching community-defined goals. This vision is only enabled by an unbundled learning ecosystem.
…

Recommendations

Solutions already exist in the ecosystem and need to be combined and scaled. Funding models (like My Tech High), badging/credentialing at the competency level (like VLACS), coaching models (like Big Thought), and open ecosystems (like NH Learn Everywhere) provide an excellent foundation. Thus, building unbundled systems has already begun but needs systemic changes to become widely available and accepted.

1. 1. Build a robust competency-based system.
  2. Create a two-way marketplace for unbundled learning.
  3. Implement policy to support credit for out-of-system experiences.
  4. Invest in technology infrastructure for Learning and Employment Records.
  5. Design interoperable badging systems that connect to credentials.

“Being online is no longer a differentiator.”

On 01/28/2023, in business side of he, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, experimentation, game-changing environment, higher education, learning ecosystem, new business models, online learning, United States, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Phoenix Goes Nonprofit? — from read.letterhead.email by Paul Fain

Excerpt:

“We’re seeing dramatically increased competitive intensity,” he said. “Being online is no longer a differentiator.”

Also from Paul Fain:

A true alternative to a four-year college? — from workshift.opencampusmedia.org
The Marcy Lab School in New York City aims to offer a traditional college experience in just one year. We talked with co-founder Reuben Ogbonna about experimentation, growth, and student choice in higher ed.

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

In our current landscape, jobs for young people that fall into this category are incredibly slim, but we see this as our opportunity to systematically remove the barriers, such as degree requirements, that shut out students like ours. Together with our partners, we are actively reframing what early talent success can look like.

Partners that “get it” are energized by the ability to co-create innovative new programs like apprenticeships with us directly. They are incredibly student-centric, and firmly believe in the power of growth for our students in professional environments that are fun, challenging, rewarding, and safe.
…
The success of our innovative model has been through intentional experimentation and thoughtful listening to what is working and not working, and then iterating on it.

Let’s develop a nationwide, direct-to-learner campaign: “Learn how to learn.” [Christian]

On 01/23/2023, in 24x7x365 access, active learning, adjunct faculty, adult learning, career development, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, education, faculty, future, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, hybrid learning, Hyflex learning, ideas, informal learning, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning theories, legislatures / government / legal, liberal arts, library / librarians, lifelong learning, love of learning, metacognition / metacognitive skills, microlearning, mobile learning, online learning, online media, Personal Learning Networks (PLNs), personalized/customized learning, platforms, professional development, psychology, skills, society, sociology, strategy, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, traditional / tradition, training / L&D, United States, universities, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Let’s put together a nationwide campaign that would provide a website — or a series of websites if an agreement can’t be reached amongst the individual states — about learning how to learn. In business, there’s a “direct-to-consumer” approach. Well, we could provide a “direct-to-learner” approach — from cradle to grave. Seeing as how everyone is now required to be a lifelong learner, such a campaign would have enormous benefits to all of the United States. This campaign would be located in airports, subway stations, train stations, on billboards along major highways, in libraries, and in many more locations.

We could focus on things such as:

Quizzing yourself / retrieval practice
Spaced retrieval
Interleaving
Elaboration
Chunking
Cognitive load
Learning by doing (active learning)
Journaling
The growth mindset
Metacognition (thinking about one’s thinking)
Highlighting doesn’t equal learning
There is deeper learning in the struggle
…and more.

A learn how to learn campaign covering airports, billboards, subways, train stations, highways, and more

NOTE:
The URL I’m using above doesn’t exist, at least not at the time of this posting.
But I’m proposing that it should exist.

A group of institutions, organizations, and individuals could contribute to this. For example The Learning Scientists, Daniel Willingham, Donald Clark, James Lang, Derek Bruff, The Learning Agency Lab, Robert Talbert, Pooja Agarwal and Patrice Bain, Eva Keffenheim, Benedict Carey, Ken Bain, and many others.

Perhaps there could be:

discussion forums to provide for social interaction/learning
scheduled/upcoming webinars
how to apply the latest evidence-based research in the classroom
link(s) to learning-related platforms and/or resources

Closing the digital divide in Black America — from mckinsey.com
Five steps could help to bring broadband and digital equity to every Black household in the United States—urban and rural—while bolstering efforts to create a more inclusive economy.

Excerpt:

But broadband access is only part of a much bigger picture. Ensuring all Americans can fully participate in civic life and the digital economy requires affordable subscriptions, internet-enabled devices, applications, digital skills, and high-quality technical support. For example, while smartphone and tablet penetration are approximately equal among White, Black, and Hispanic and Latino adults in the United States, only 69 percent of Black Americans and 67 percent of Hispanic Americans have desktop or laptop computers, compared with 80 percent of White Americans (Exhibit 1).5 A 2020 OECD survey found that roughly half of Black workers had the advanced or proficient digital skills needed to thrive in our increasingly tech-driven economy, compared with 77 percent of White workers.6

Some example components of a learning ecosystem [Christian]

On 01/20/2023, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, Augmented Reality (AR), blended learning, blogs / blogging / vlogging, bots, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital textbooks, digital video, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, face-to-face, faculty, heutagogy, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, Hyflex learning, informal learning, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, learning theories, library / librarians, lifelong learning, microlearning, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, parents/guardians, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, podcasting, professional development, social learning / networks, social media, society, streams of content, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technology (general), tools, training / L&D, universities, videoconferencing, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vocational / trades, webinars, by Daniel Christian

A learning ecosystem is composed of people, tools, technologies, content, processes, culture, strategies, and any other resource that helps one learn. Learning ecosystems can be at an individual level as well as at an organizational level.

Some example components:

Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) such as faculty, staff, teachers, trainers, parents, coaches, directors, and others
Fellow employees
L&D/Training professionals
Managers
Instructional Designers
Librarians
Consultants
Types of learning
- Active learning
- Adult learning
- PreK-12 education
- Training/corporate learning
- Vocational learning
- Experiential learning
- Competency-based learning
- Self-directed learning (i.e., heutagogy)
- Mobile learning
- Online learning
- Face-to-face-based learning
- Hybrid/blended learning
- Hyflex-based learning
- Game-based learning
- XR-based learning (AR, MR, and VR)
- Informal learning
- Formal learning
- Lifelong learning
- Microlearning
- Personalized/customized learning
- Play-based learning
Cloud-based learning apps
Coaching & mentoring
Peer feedback
Job aids/performance tools and other on-demand content
Websites
Conferences
Professional development
Professional organizations
Social networking
Social media – Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook/Meta, other
Communities of practice
Artificial Intelligence (AI) — including ChatGPT, learning agents, learner profiles,
LMS/CMS/Learning Experience Platforms
Tutorials
Videos — including on YouTube, Vimeo, other
Job-aids
E-learning-based resources
Books, digital textbooks, journals, and manuals
Enterprise social networks/tools
RSS feeds and blogging
Podcasts/vodcasts
Videoconferencing/audio-conferencing/virtual meetings
Capturing and sharing content
Tagging/rating/curating content
Decision support tools
Getting feedback
Webinars
In-person workshops
Discussion boards/forums
Chat/IM
VOIP
Online-based resources (periodicals, journals, magazines, newspapers, and others)
Learning spaces
Learning hubs
Learning preferences
Learning theories
Microschools
MOOCs
Open courseware
Portals
Wikis
Wikipedia
Slideshare
TED talks
…and many more components.

These people, tools, technologies, etc. are constantly morphing — as well as coming and going in and out of our lives.

“Hard Truths That Higher Education Has Evaded for Too Long” [Mintz] + several other HE-related items

On 01/17/2023, in adjunct faculty, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), business side of he, career development, colleges, community colleges, credentialing, health, higher education, leadership, learning ecosystem, liberal arts, online learning, skills, strategy, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Hard Truths That Higher Education Has Evaded for Too Long — from insidehighered.com by Steven Mintz
The brutal truths that institutions don’t want to acknowledge.

If we want to make higher education truly equitable and produce the learning outcomes that we claim to seek, then we must confront painful truths no matter how uncomfortable they make us.

Preaching to, and Challenging, the Liberal Arts Choir — from insidehighered.com by Doug Lederman
In a conversation with presidents of small private colleges, tech company executives praise graduates’ leadership and critical thinking ability but say they need to develop skills for a first job, too.

Excerpt:

In that more competitive landscape, Ferrick and others said, colleges should think in terms of “both-and”—delivering a four-year degree grounded in the liberal arts that remains the best preparation for a lifetime career, yes, but also building into their curricula more practical digital and other skills that can help graduates compete for a first job.

The Edge: Momentum Builds for ‘Credential as You Go’ — from chronicle.com by Goldie Blumenstyk

Excerpt:

A higher-ed credential system that’s ‘not all about degrees.’
Holly Zanville has a clear goal for the Credential as You Go initiative she co-leads: Shift the entire “degree-centric” model of postsecondary education to make it easier for people to develop skills and knowledge in shorter chunks while recognizing “meaningful learning along the way.”

Whatever you think of its prospects, you can hardly fault the effort for a lack of ambition.

Ideally, students will layer incremental credentials over a lifetime of learning.

Goldie Blumenstyk

Issue #11: Navigating the credential maze — from theview.substack.com by Gordon Macrae
Running to stand still.

Excerpt:

The credentials market for degree and non-degree programs is… complex.

A recent report from the non-profit Credential Engine identified 1,076,358 different credentials – from specialized certificates to bachelor’s degrees to PhDs.

Credential Engine started producing these reports in 2018. Back then there were “just” 334,114 credentials. In the last four years, the number of certifications has more than trebled. And from 2021 to 2022, there’s been a 38% increase in providers issuing certificates.

.

When you eyeball the largest higher ed institutions by enrollment comparing 2012 to today, it’s pretty clear that online degrees have driven – essentially – ALL of the growth.

Brandon Busteed commenting on Phil Hill’s posting (also listed below)

.

Fall 2021 Largest Institutions by Total Enrollment and DE Type — from philonedtech.com by Phil Hill

Excerpt:

Based on reader request after yesterday’s post, I’d like to share another view of largest US higher education institutions, this one ranked by total enrollment with color coding of distance education (DE) type. This chart combines undergrad and grad student enrollments.

Mental Health Is the Top Student Stressor — from insidehighered.com by Johanna Alonso

Excerpt:

Fifty percent of college students cited their own mental health struggles as their top stressor going into 2023, according to a survey of 1,200 students nationwide conducted by the virtual health services provider TimelyMD. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they were most concerned about their personal finances, and 37 percent named academics, while mass shootings and inflation were each cited by 35 percent.

14 Technology Predictions for Higher Education in 2023 [Kelly]

On 01/17/2023, in accessibility / UDL, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, blended learning, career development, change, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, credentialing, data related items, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, global / globalization, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, IT in HE, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning preferences, liberal arts, lifelong learning, online learning, personalized/customized learning, skills, teaching & learning, technology (general), tools, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

14 Technology Predictions for Higher Education in 2023 — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly
How will technologies and practices like artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, digital transformation, and change management impact colleges and universities this year? Here’s what the experts told us.

Excerpt:

In an open call on LinkedIn, we asked higher education and ed tech industry leaders to forecast the most important trends to watch in the coming year. Their responses reflect both the challenges on the horizon — persistent cyber attacks, the disruptive force of emerging technologies, failures in project management — as well as the opportunities that technology brings to better serve students and support the institutional mission. Here are 14 predictions to help steer your technology efforts in 2023.

Playing with ChatGPT: now I’m scared (a little) — from tonybates.ca by Tony Bates

Excerpt:

Over the holiday season, lots of people play games such as Scrabble, cards or crossword puzzles. I decided to play with ChatGPT by testing it in areas where I consider myself an expert. (For more about ChatGPT, go to Broom, 2022)

I will first of all show you the responses I got from ChatGPT, then I will discuss the results, comparing them to what I wrote about these topics in Teaching in a Digital Age.

Example questions that Tony asked (emphasis DSC):

What is the difference between synchronous and asynchronous learning? Give references.
What are the limitations of teaching chemistry online? Give references
What are the affordances of video in teaching? Give references

“Why College Students Turned From Being Down on Remote Learning to Mostly in Favor of It” [Ubell] + other HE-related items

On 12/22/2022, in colleges, community colleges, digital learning, digital video, education technology, faculty, higher education, multimedia, online learning, programming, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, United States, universities, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Why College Students Turned From Being Down on Remote Learning to Mostly in Favor of It — from edsurge.com by Robert Ubell

Excerpt:

Over time, with months of practice as the pandemic proceeded, instructors and students learned how to use remote tools. Continuously online, enormous numbers gained proficiency with digital learning software. “The quality of a well-run synchronous, online class can now rival—and in some respects exceed—the quality of the in-person equivalent,” observes John Villasenor at the Brookings Institution.

The good news is that online learning is no longer reviled and resented, but after a rocky tryout in the pandemic, it’s now just another higher ed choice in which students and faculty, after years of digital stress, have largely adapted to it.

The above article linked to:

Noetel, M., Griffith, S., Delaney, O., Sanders, T., Parker, P., del Pozo Cruz, B., & Lonsdale, C. (2021). Video Improves Learning in Higher Education: A Systematic Review. Review of Educational Research, 91(2), 204–236. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654321990713

Conclusion
Online teaching allows for learning to be delivered affordably, at scale, and with fewer infrastructure constraints than face-to-face instruction—it does not require a university to have hundreds of people in the same room at the same time. As universities move content online, staff usually turn to teaching via asynchronous videos and synchronous videoconferences (Cook et al., 2010). Videoconferences may be more conducive to student–teacher interactivity (Al-Samarraie, 2019; Bernard et al., 2009), but most studies in our review had the same level of active learning in the video and comparison condition, meaning teachers can maintain active learning while shifting to video. When they do, videos lead to better student learning than many other teaching methods, even when compared with face-to-face teaching. We suggest that these results are because videos may provide students with control over their level of cognitive load, they allow authentic demonstrations of skills, and they enable teaching staff to edit according to multimedia learning principles. Pragmatically, videos allow students to fit learning around their other commitments, and are less reliant than videoconferences on stable, high-speed internet connections (Al-Samarraie, 2019), because they can be buffered to the user’s device. Many of these findings are still contingent on students having access to online learning (Warschauer & Matuchniak, 2010), so ensuring students have social and technical support is a critical challenge for universities around the world. Provided those supports are available, universities can effectively switch to video for efficient and scalable education. Video appears to have a range of benefits in higher education settings.

Online Tools and Web Applications — from schrockguide.net by Kathy Schrock

Excerpt:

Web tools and online utilities have become more full-featured and useful over the years.

Here are some links to various online tools to help both teaching and learning. The online tools all work with laptops and Chromebooks unless stated otherwise. The ones that have Chrome apps available have a link to the Chrome Web Store link.

Categories include:

- A.I. online tools
- Online graphic design tools
- Online video editors/creators/downloaders
- Online audio recorders/editors
- Online image editors/creators
- Online collage makers
- Online sketchnoting and drawing tools
- Online word processors
- Online animation creators
- …and many more!

Three Things to Know about AI Tools and Teaching — from derekbruff.org by Derek Bruff

Excerpt:

There’s lot more to say on this subject, of course, but I hope these three observations are useful as you make sense of this new technology landscape. Here they are again for easy reference:

- We are going to have to start teaching our students how AI generation tools work.
- When used intentionally, AI tools can augment and enhance student learning, even towards traditional learning goals.
- We will need to update our learning goals for students in light of new AI tools and that can be a good thing.

President Speaks: To put students first, colleges need to rethink the OPM model — from highereddive.com by Paul Pastorek
Paul Pastorek, president of the University of Arizona Global Campus, explains why his institution cut ties with Zovio, a former online program manager.

Following our separation from Zovio, UAGC has not only undertaken efforts that shift the structure and responsibility for critical decisions around enrollment, marketing and student advising to a fully in-house team, it unlocked resources that will enable us to make investments that better align with our mission: providing adult learners with affordable college credentials that prepare them for careers in a rapidly evolving global economy.

Savings from increased efficiency and reduced costs will be reinvested in the student experience — and entirely at our discretion. No longer stifled by the contractual obligations of a company primarily motivated by profit, our faculty and staff are already expressing they have greater freedom to innovate and find new ways to enhance student success. We are all aligned under one common goal, working together to move the institution in the same direction.

Colleges’ expenses rose 5.2% in FY22, the biggest increase since 2001 — from highereddive.com by Laura Spitalniak

Dive Brief:

The cost of running a college jumped 5.2% in the 2022 fiscal year, according to data from Commonfund, an asset management firm that tracks inflation in the higher education sector.
That’s the highest rate of inflation the Higher Education Price Index, or HEPI, has tracked since 2001, when it hit 6%. It’s also a sharp increase from 2021, when the college inflation rate was 2.7%.
But the HEPI increase was outpaced by inflation more broadly in the U.S., a rare occurrence according to Commonfund. The Consumer Price Index, or CPI, reached 7.2% in fiscal 2022.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to offer HR apprenticeships — from highereddive.com by Ginger Christ

“As demand for technology skills continues to grow across the region, UWM has a unique opportunity to solve two challenges at once: creating new pathways to high-wage jobs for our community, while also addressing a growing need for workers with those tech skills,” UWM Provost Scott Gronert said in a news release. “Together with Helios, we’re helping to address one of the most critical talent gaps faced by Wisconsin employers, and enabling our students and graduates to gain the skills that translate to success in today’s increasingly tech-driven labor market.”

Unusual majors help some colleges stand out from the crowd — and boost enrollment — from hechingerreport.org by Jon Marcus
A bachelor’s degree in automotive restoration has put a tiny Kansas school on the map

Excerpt:

That’s an unusual ambition for a small college — which is exactly the point. This particular small college has what it says is the country’s only four-year bachelor’s degree in automotive restoration, a major that combines engineering, history, business, communication, art and other disciplines.

It’s an example of the way a small regional higher education institution can stand out in a crowded field of competitors at a time when many other schools appear intent on trying to attract applicants by becoming more alike than different.

Excerpts from Michael Moe’s recent EIEIO e-newsletter (emphasis DSC)

Imagine my delight when co-founder of Coursera Daphne Koehler came into my office in 2012 to explain the radical concept behind her new business. What if you could Partner with the World’s best universities and professors to provide FREE online courses? Like other successful FREEMIUM models, you monetize the platform downstream by creating massive network effects and convert a small percentage to paying customers (we had invested in other successful FREEMIUM models such as Facebook, Twitter, Spotify and Snap, so why wouldn’t that work here?)
…

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Today, over 113 million learners from around the world access the platform to gain knowledge, to earn certificates and get diplomas from the top universities.

The Coursera ride has been amazing for most of the past decade, with over 100 million students, 200 universities and 5000 courses on the platform. And while the vast majority of the students on Coursera don’t pay a dime, the company has built a business with over $500 million in revenue and nearly a $2 billion market cap today.

Estimates are for the company to do $520 million in revenue in 2022, up from $415 million in 2021 and estimated $623 million in 2023. Coursera is losing money currently but has $424 million in cash and could turn profitable if it prioritized that and sells at 1.3x 2023 sales.

Michigan flags 112 low-performing schools for intensive intervention — from mlive.com by Matthew Miller

Excerpt:

“These are the urban high minority districts, right? So they were the ones that had the highest death rates, the highest case rates, the highest income and economic hits because of the pandemic,” she said. “We know that all of this goes into what we label as school quality even though it’s about so much more than the school or the district.”

The full list is here >>

From DSC:
I surely hope that what’s going on in the image below isn’t what’s going on within the state of Michigan (as well as other states) — but I have my fears/concerns in that regard. Though admittedly, my focus here isn’t so much about the financial pictures, but rather it has to do with the straight-jacketing of the teachers and students by legislators in Lansing (and other state capitals). If I were to redraw this image, I would have legislators in (far-away) Lansing seated in comfortable chairs and offices while frazzled/overworked educators are straight-jacketed in the classrooms.

We have too many standardized tests and too many one-size-fits-all methods of “doing school” that aren’t coming from the people on the front lines. Those same people, given the right environment, could unleash a far greater amount of joy, wonder, relevance, creativity, and counsel — for themselves as well as for their students.
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The ‘Digital Equity’ Students Need to Learn May Not Come Without Community Outreach — from edsurge.com by Daniel Mollenkamp

Excerpt:

And that means, more than ever, getting an education requires access to fast, reliable internet. But while the infrastructure to make sure that everyone can use the internet has improved in the last couple of years, the process isn’t complete.

If we want to keep the digital divide from growing, experts say, it’ll mean districts thinking about themselves as just one part of the larger community composed of families, nonprofits, businesses—all of them potential partners in expanding internet access for students.

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Missing an Opportunity: Ed Dept. Criticized by GAO for Teacher Shortage Strategy — from the74million.org by Marianna McMurdock
In recent report, GAO finds key recruitment, retention challenges impacting the profession, and why current federal strategy lacks teeth to succeed

Excerpt:

The challenge of cost of entry into the profession and concerns of return on investment, the GAO report found, is also significantly straining the country’s supply of teachers. Compounding the financial reality, many candidates fear being overworked and mistreated.

“The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare teachers’ discontent with aspects of their jobs, including a lack of support for their safety and value as professionals and an increasingly disrespectful and demanding workplace culture—and exacerbated teacher shortages nationwide,” the GAO stated, pulling data from focus groups held throughout the pandemic.

Addendum on 12/10/22:

What is Snopes and How Can It Be Used to Teach? Tips & Tricks — from techlearning.com by Luke Edwards
Snopes is a fact-checking website that can help students in education to better navigate online media

Learning Ecosystems

Where are the quality concerns for face-to-face courses, the (mis)use of adjunct faculty members, + other higher education-related items

“Colleges and universities that contract with an online program management company need to submit details about those arrangements by May 1.”

“Being online is no longer a differentiator.”

“Hard Truths That Higher Education Has Evaded for Too Long” [Mintz] + several other HE-related items

Playing with ChatGPT: now I’m scared (a little) [Bates]

“Why College Students Turned From Being Down on Remote Learning to Mostly in Favor of It” [Ubell] + other HE-related items

Nah…MOOCs don’t impact anything. NOT!

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