surviving

Free online university receives accreditation, in time for graduating class of 7 — from nytimes.com by Tamar Lewin

Excerpt:

Just in time for its first graduates, the University of the People, a tuition-free four-year-old online institution built to reach underserved students around the world, announced Thursday that it had received accreditation.

“This is every exciting, especially for the students who will graduate in April, with a degree from an accredited institution,” said Shai Reshef, the Israeli entrepreneur who invested millions of dollars to create the nonprofit university. “This has been the big question for anyone who thought about enrolling. We have 1.2 million supporters on Facebook, I think second only to Harvard, and every day, there is discussion about when we will be accredited.”

Now, with accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council, a national accrediting group, Mr. Reshef said, the university will expand significantly. He expects to have 5,000 students by 2016.

Also see:

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Two big forces underpin a university’s costs. The first is the need for physical proximity. Adding students is expensive—they require more buildings and instructors—and so a university’s marginal cost of production is high. That means that even in a competitive market, where price converges towards marginal cost, modern education is dear.

…

MOOCs work completely differently. Alex Tabarrok, an economist at George Mason University and co-founder of an online-education site, Marginal Revolution University, reckons the most salient feature of the online course is its rock-bottom marginal cost: teaching additional students is virtually free.

Some challenges, strategies, & opportunities within higher ed — distilled into several key graphics.

On 01/17/2014, in business side of he, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, economics, lifelong learning, reinvent, society, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, trends, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

DanielChristian-MiddleClassIncomesDown-TuitionUp

DanielChristian-No-longer-running-sprints--but-marathons

TheTrimtabInHigherEducation-DanielChristian

ThinkBiggerYet-DanielChristian-August282013

From DSC:
Consider Noisetrade.com (a resource graciously relayed to me by Mr. Michael Haan at Calvin College)

Using this site/service, people can download music for free and donate to the artists if they want to (and I think they should). The WIN for the artist is more visibility and the ability to create/expand a fan base.

This site/service is another example of people representing themselves…of selling what they have to offer…of people representing their own brands.

Add to this the continuing trend towards more freelancing, and I can’t help but wonder…

How should these sorts of things impact what we teach?
How can we model this for our students? (i.e. reinventing oneself, selling oneself, communicating with others, staying relevant, and more)

Also see:

The death of the office: What happens when the workspace is mobile, on-demand and all about networking — from forbes.com by Jeanne Meister

Excerpt:

As work becomes more flexible and communication more mobile, the office is turning into an increasingly complex and even abstract concept. As we look to the future, we have to ask: Will the workplace be on-site at our employer’s property, or on-demand at a collaborative space? Or will work simply be a mindset independent of place or time of day?

The answer is all three, and more.

Yale’s struggles signal broader challenges ahead for colleges [Horn]

On 11/18/2013, in 21st century, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, leadership, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Yale’s struggles signal broader challenges ahead for colleges — from christenseninstitute.org by Michael B. Horn

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

For some time, the business model that supports traditional colleges and universities has been breaking. The ability to continue to implement sustaining innovations—more research faculty, more extravagant facilities, more administrative positions—that add cost by using increased revenue from a mixture of tuition, government funding, endowment returns, and donations is in peril for many institutions.

As a result, we’ve written about how there are a number of traditional higher education institutions that will likely merge or even cease to exist in the coming years. Many have suggested that this could not happen—despite the fact that a state like Georgia is already consolidating its public institutions of higher learning; that the situation is not so dire; or that it is something for which there will be a fix at some point.

…

The article relates how even five years after the onset of the recession, revenue sources have not bounced back at Yale: “More and more students require financial aid, endowment investment returns are still down, government funding is declining and tuition and fundraising increases are limited by the weak economy.”

…

The bigger point for traditional institutions of higher education beyond Yale is that with the repeated annual tuition increases over the past few decades, the middle class is increasingly being priced out of much of higher education.

Faculty Coalition: Forget About Cost Savings with Online Programs — from CampusTechnology.com by Dian Schaffhauser

Excerpts:

Cost savings promised by the expansion of online education are tough to pinpoint, including those programs that promise to be free for students.
…
According to the Campaign, there are no guarantees that online courses save students money.
…
The Campaign declared the idea that MOOCs could lower the cost of college degrees a “pipe dream.”
…
But even as public institutions introduce their own online programs, they frequently charge students more for those courses, the report said.

From DSC:
(Dian, these thoughts are not aimed at you. Keep up the excellent work out there!)

The only way that online education costs as much as a face-to-face offering is if such a course/offering is ***highly*** sophisticated — that is, that it incorporates a ***significant*** amount of programing, educational gaming, deep analytics and sophisticated reporting, home-grown animations and/or simulations, etc.

Otherwise, there is no way in the world that an online course costs as much to produce and offer as a face-to-face course. Consider two key things:

Ask any Director of Physical Plant to lay out their annual budget and expenses ***just to keep their campus(es) up and running*** — let alone enhance them further — and you’ll quickly see what I mean!
In many cases, the infrastructures already exist to serve the face-to-face students (i.e. systems like the CMS’s/LMS’s, Student Information Systems, etc.). So offering online courses only serves to increase the ROI for this infrastructure. (If one couldn’t use the existing systems, then I could see where there would be additional expenses; with that said, the bottom lines are still not the same.)

Many colleges and universities are using the increased demand for online courses to keep the prices up; they are not passing along the savings to the students. (BTW, for those who claim higher education isn’t a business, how do you explain this? The argument that higher education isn’t a business holds no water at all; such viewpoints can no longer be taken seriously.)

By keeping the costs of online courses as high or higher than F2F courses, such colleges and universities are making a big mistake. By doing so, they are only causing the existing bubble in higher education to expand even further. It will pop. In fact, with the increased use of incentives and lowering the tuition that’s actually being paid by the students (vs. the “list” price), one can’t help but wonder if the bubble hasn’t already popped at many colleges and universities.

We need to start passing along more of the savings to our students. I can’t think of a good reason why everyuniversity and college in the U.S. should not offer a spectrum/variety of pricing structures. If you want to take a face-to-face course, you will need to pay more for that course, as there are greater expenses involved in providing that type of learning environment.

Last thoughts:

While I think that MOOCs are half-baked, they continue to improve.
If MOOCs morph into something that uses technologies like IBM’s Watson, that will be a game-changer for sure. We will still need SME’s, but the prices that can be offered will be drastically less. See this recent posting for further thoughts on this perspective.

Google Helpouts — Is this where things are heading?

On 11/06/2013, in adjunct faculty, collaboration, communications, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, curriculum, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, education technology, elearning, faculty, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, innovation, internet, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, platforms, reinvent, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, staying relevant, streams of content, surviving, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Items re: Helpouts by Google, which was just introduced on Monday, November 4th, 2013:

Google Helpouts: Need Help With Your Shakespeare? — video from The Wall Street Journal
Google Launches Helpouts, Paid Video Chats With Experts To Address Whatever Is Bothering You Right Now — from techcrunch.com by Alex Wilhelm
Google’s Helpouts could be the company’s secret weapon to take on healthcare — from gigaom.com by Janko Roettgers
Will Google Helpouts Undercut Freelancers? — from mashable.com by Chris Taylor
Per Paul Simbeck-Hampson

All things Helpouts
Thanks for compiling +Denis Labelle .

+Helpouts -> helpouts.google.com
1. Help/Support: support.google.com/helpouts
2. Google Help: support.google.com/helpouts/topic/3168357
3. Meet with a Helpouts Specialist: helpouts.google.com/supporthelpouts
4. Settings: helpouts.google.com/settings
5. On Google+: Circle +Helpouts
6. Helpouts Community on Google+:
plus.google.com/communities/103151120922119140466
7. On YouTube: youtube.com/helpouts
8. Mobile app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.helpouts

Video -> Introducing Helpouts by Google

From DSC:
This type of thing goes hand and hand with what I’m saying in the Learning from the Living Room vision/concept: “More choice. More control.” This type of thing may impact K-12, higher ed, and corporate training/L&D departments.

It this how we are going to make a living in the future? If so, what changes do we need to make:

To the curricula out there?
To the “cores” out there?
In helping people build their digital/online-based footprints?
In helping people market themselves?

“Learning in the Living [Class] Room” — as explained by Daniel Christian [Campus Technology]

On 11/05/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, analytics, animation, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, blended learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, computer science, consortiums, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, creativity, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, expectations, experimentation, flipping -- inverted learning, formal learning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, IBM, ideas, immersion, informal learning, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, lifelong learning, love of learning, machine-to-machine communications, marketplaces, media/film, Michigan, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, motivation, multi-touch, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), neurodivergent/special needs, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, organizational change, pace of change, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, professional development, programming, real-world assignments, reinvent, second screen apps, simulations, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, social media, society, staying relevant, STEAM-related, story, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, student-related, surviving, tablets, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, television, transmedia, trends, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Learning from the Living [Class] Room — from Campus Technology by Daniel Christian and Mary Grush; with a huge thanks also going out to Mr. Steven Niedzielski (@Marketing4pt0) and to Mr. Sam Beckett (@SamJohnBeck) for their assistance and some of the graphics used in making these videos.

From DSC:
These 4 short videos explain what I’m trying to relay with a vision I’m entitling, Learning from the Living [Class] Room. I’ve been pulse checking a variety of areas for years now, and the pieces of this vision continue to come into fruition. This is what I see Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) morphing into (though there may be other directions/offshoots that they go in as well).

After watching these videos, I think you will see why I think we must move to a team–based approach.

(It looks like the production folks for Campus Technology had to scale things way back in terms of video quality to insure an overall better performance for the digitally-based magazine.)

To watch these videos in a higher resolution, please use these links:

Alternatively, these videos can be found at:

.

Innovation imperative: Change everything — from nytimes.com by Clayton Christensen and Michael Horn; with a special thanks to Mr. Joel Adams at Calvin College for the resource here

Online education as an agent of transformation

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Like steam, online education is a disruptive innovation — one that introduces more convenient and affordable products or services that over time transform sectors. Yet many bricks-and-mortar colleges are making the same mistake as the once-dominant tall ships: they offer online courses but are not changing the existing model. They are not saving students time and money, the essential steps to disruption. And though their approach makes sense in the short term, it leaves them vulnerable as students gravitate toward less expensive colleges.

…

Still, the theory predicts that, be it steam or online education, existing consumers will ultimately adopt the disruption, and a host of struggling colleges and universities — the bottom 25 percent of every tier, we predict — will disappear or merge in the next 10 to 15 years. Already traditional universities are showing the strains of a broken business model, reflecting demand and pricing pressures previously unheard-of in higher education.

To serve them, it will enlist operators to create mini-campuses around the globe where clusters of its students will live and socialize together in residence halls, as well as take online courses and work together on projects.

50+ Percent Off! The Walmart of Education [Christian & Grush]

On 10/17/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, education reform, education technology, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, ideas, innovation, internet, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, reinvent, social learning / networks, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, trends, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
This piece is from a recent interview I did with Mary Grush (Campus Technology; @Campus_Tech) re: The Walmart of Education. Though this vision dates back to 2008, we are most assuredly seeing signs of this vision taking place today. Thanks Mary for your time!

It’s important to note that this vision also aligns with what I’ve been saying about Learning from the Living [Class] Room. Videos regarding this vision have been designed, shot, edited — and they are forthcoming. I’d like to thank Mr. Steven Niedzielski (@marketing4pt0) here at Calvin College and also Mr. Sam Beckett (@samjohnbeck) for their help and assistance with those videos.

Reflections on “Microsoft joins Degreed’s crusade to ‘jailbreak the degree’” [Heussner]

On 10/06/2013, in consortiums, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, Microsoft, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, strategy, surviving, using teams, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Microsoft joins Degreed’s crusade to ‘jailbreak the degree’ – from gigaom.com by Ki Mae Heussner

Excerpt:

Degreed, a San Francisco startup taking on traditional degrees and diplomas with a digital credential that reflects lifelong learning, has recruited its first corporate partner to its corner.

This week the startup said it will launch a partnership with Microsoft Virtual Academy, the tech giant’s online IT training site, which will give students who complete the program’s classes a way to display their achievements on Degreed.

From DSC:
AT&T and Georgia Tech.
Google and edX.
Microsoft and Degreed.
IBM sending Watson to school and partnering with 1000+ universities (see here and here).
JP Morgan and University of Delaware (see this addendum from 10/7/13)

Is there a new trend forming here?

Vice Provost of Experimentation [at Harvard University; by Carl Straumsheim]

On 09/23/2013, in dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, internet, reinvent, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, by Daniel Christian

Vice Provost of Experimentation — from insidehighered.com by Carl Straumsheim

Excerpt:

Harvard University on Monday became the latest elite institution that will seek to organize its online education offerings with the creation of a high-ranking administrative position. Although not a widespread practice, early adopters say institutions should consider following suit sooner rather than later.

Some serious 50,000-foot level thinking and debates occurring tomorrow in NYC!

On 09/16/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education reform, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, reinvent, social learning / networks, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Check out the agenda:

7:00 a.m.

REGISTRATION

7:45 – 8:45 a.m. The Hall

BREAKFAST PANEL: BRIDGING THE KNOWLEDGE GAP
Technology is giving educators and students more tools to promote the exchange of ideas and expertise. That exchange is key to improved knowledge and empowerment, but without a level playing field, equal access and the right tools, we will never take full advantage of the opportunity to connect. Panelists will discuss the knowledge gap and how new technologies and motivated citizens are bridging that gap to support formal education as well as lifelong learning.
Sponsored by Bank of America

Aditya Bhasin, consumer marketing, analytics and digital banking executive, Bank of America
Gov. Jack Markell, Governor of Delaware
Ted Mitchell, President and C.E.O., NewSchools Venture Fund
Jennifer Tescher, President and C.E.O., The Center for Financial Services Innovation
Joanne Weiss, Former Chief of Staff to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education

Moderated by John Merrow, Education Correspondent, PBS NewsHour

9 – 9:10 a.m.

WELCOME
Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher, The New York Times

9:10 – 9:45 a.m.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Sal Khan, founder of the Khan Academy

including 9:30-9:45 audience questions

9:45 – 10:30 a.m.

DEBATE: HAS THE UNIVERSITY AS AN INSTITUTION HAD ITS DAY?
Higher education has always been an array of autonomous institutions, each with their own courses, their own faculty, and their own requirements for their own degrees. But online education is starting to break down those lines in ways that are likely to lead to a lot more shared courses, consortia and credit transfers. In addition, there are a growing number of companies (not schools) providing higher education courses outside of the traditional higher education institutions. As we move towards the possibility of a multi-institution, multicredit qualification, is the traditional higher education institution in danger of losing applicants, income and identity?

Anant Agarwal, president, edX
Sal Khan, founder, The Khan Academy
Biddy Martin, president, Amherst College
Nancy Zimpher, Chancellor, SUNY

Moderated by David Leonhardt, Washington bureau chief, The New York Times

including 10:15 – 10:30 audience questions

10:30 – 11 a.m.

COFFEE BREAK

11 – 11:45 a.m.

THE DEALBOOK PANEL: WHAT’S THE NEW ERA BUSINESS MODEL FOR HIGHER EDUCATION?
The traditional idea that education is something the government provides, free, for the public good, is coming under assault from an increasing assortment of new ventures offering for-profit schools, for-profit online courses, tests, curricula, interactive whiteboard, learning management systems, paid-for verified certificates of achievement, e-books, e-tutoring, e-study groups and more. Which areas have the most potential growth — and where is the smart investment going?

Donn Davis, co-founder, Revolution
Tony Florence, general partner, NEA
Deborah Quazzo, founder and managing partner, GSV Advisors

Moderated by Andrew Ross Sorkin, columnist/editor DealBook, The New York Times

Including 11:30 – 11:45 audience questions

11:45 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.

CONVERSATION: THE DISRUPTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Michael Horn, co-founder, The Clayton Christenen Institute for Disruptive Innovation
In conversation with David Leonhardt, Washington bureau chief, The New York Times

12:10 – 12:45 p.m.

AUDIENCE DISCUSSION: INCREASING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
Student attrition is as high as 90 percent for some of the biggest online courses, and remains a problem even
in smaller-scale courses when compared with traditional face-to-face classes. The problem is exacerbated for
community college students who enroll in online courses, or for low-performing students. How can we increase student engagement in online classes, particularly among students who lack competence or confidence?

Yvonne Chan, principal, Vaughn Next Century Learning Center
John Palfrey Jr, head of school, Phillips Academy, Andover
Diane Tavenner, founder and C.E.O., Summit Public Schools

Moderated by Bill Keller, Op-Ed columnist, The New York Times

12:45 – 1:15 p.m.

COLUMNIST CONVERSATION

Senator Bob Kerrey, executive chairman, Minerva Institute

in conversation with Bill Keller, Op-Ed columnist, The New York Times

1:15 – 3:00 p.m.

LUNCH PANEL A: INCREASING HIGHER EDUCATION AFFORDABILTY AND COMPLETION THROUGH ONLINE INNOVATIONS
A thoughtful conversation about innovative online models that are lowering the cost of degrees and increasing degree completion. How do these models work – and where are they going?
Sponsored by Capella

(Held in The Hall)

Mark Becker, President, Georgia State University
Scott Kinney, President, Capella University
Jamie Merisotis, President and C.E.O., Lumina Foundation
Burck Smith, Founder and C.E.O., StraighterLine

Moderated by Melody Barnes, C.E.O., Melody Barnes Solutions (former Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council)

1:15 – 3:00 p.m.

LUNCH PANEL B: A MATHEMATICIAN, SCIENTIST, DOCTOR, AND SOCIOLOGIST WALK INTO A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE…WHO SURVIVES?
What skills give you the best shot at surviving a zombie apocalypse? Can you do anything to increase your odds of survival? Get an extended preview of UC Irvine’s MOOC “Society, Science, Survival: Lessons from AMC’s The Walking Dead” as we explore what math, science, public health, and sociology have to do with a zombie apocalypse and, in particular, survival. At the end of the panel, the audience will vote on who stands the best chance of survival: mathematician, scientist, doctor, or sociologist.
Sponsored by Instructure

(Held on 15th Floor)

Joanne Christopherson, Associate Director of the Demographic and Social Analysis M.A. Program, University of California, Irvine
Michael Dennin, Professor of physics and astronomy, University of California, Irvine
Sarah Eichhorn, Assistant Vice Chair for undergraduate studies in the mathematics department, University of California, Irvine
Melissa Loble, Associate Dean of distance learning, University of California, Irvine

Moderated by Josh Coates, CEO, Instructure

3 – 3:30 p.m.

COLUMNIST CONVERSATION
In an increasingly connected world, how do we ensure our students are being prepared to compete in a knowledge-based, global economy? What role does technology play in education, and what does the future of learning look like?

Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education

interviewed by David Leonhardt, Washington bureau chief, The New York Times

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

IS ONLINE THE GREAT EQUALIZER?
There is no doubt that we are in the middle of an online education revolution, which offers huge potential to broaden access to education and therefore, in theory, level the playing field for students from lower-income, lower-privileged backgrounds. But evidence to date shows that the increasing number of poorly designed courses could actually have the reverse effect and put vulnerable students at an even bigger disadvantage.

Karen Cator, C.E.O., Digital Promise
Dean Florez, president, 20 Million Minds Foundation
Candace Thille, director of the Open Learning Initiative (OLI) and assistant professor of education, Stanford University
David Wiley, founder, Lumen Learning

Moderated by Tina Rosenberg, Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times

Including 4:00 – 4:15 p.m. audience questions

4:15 – 4:45 p.m.

COFFEE BREAK

4:45 – 5 p.m.

COLUMNIST CONVERSATION

Daphne Koller, co-founder, Coursera

in conversation with Ethan Bronner, Deputy National Editor, The New York Times

5 – 5:45 p.m

GAMECHANGERS: HOW WILL ONLINE EDUCATION REVOLUTIONIZE WHAT WE KNOW AND UNDERSTAND ABOUT LEARNING?
Traditionally, pedagogical research has been done in tiny groups; but new-generation classes of 60,000 students make it possible to do large scale testing and provide potentially game-changing research on how students learn best. Using the Big Data from online courses, we have access to new information about what pedagogical approaches work best. MOOCs, and many more traditional online classes, can track every keystroke, every homework assignment and every test answer a student provides. This can produce a huge amount of data on how long students pay attention to a lecture, where they get stuck in a problem set, what they do to get unstuck, what format and pacing of lectures, demonstrations, labs and quizzes lead to the best outcomes, and so on. How can we use Big Data for the good of the education profession, and not for “Big Brother”?

Daphne Koller, co-founder, Coursera
Alec Ross, senior advisor on innovation and former senior advisor to Secretary Hillary Clinton at the U.S. State Department
Paula Singer, C.E.O. Global Products and Services, Laureate Education

Moderated by Ethan Bronner, Deputy National Editor, The New York Times

including 5:30 – 5:45 p.m. audience questions

5:45 – 6 p.m.

COLUMNIST CONVERSATION

Amol Bhave, student, MIT

in conversation with Tina Rosenberg, Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times

6 p.m.

CLOSING REMARKS

Gerald Marzorati, editorial director and general manager, conferences, The New York Times

Will it take joining a consortium to survive/thrive in the new world of higher education? (Will it even be called higher education?)

On 09/11/2013, in business, business side of he, consortiums, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, innovation, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, open courseware and systems, platforms, staying relevant, surviving, trends, using teams, by Daniel Christian

EdX announces partnership with Google — from web.mit.edu; w/ thanks to Mr. John Shank for the Scoop on this
Google and edX to collaborate on an open-source learning platform and research, among other things.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

As part of the collaboration with Google, edX plans to build out and operate MOOC.org, a new website that will help educational institutions, businesses and teachers build and host online courses for a global audience. The site — slated to go live next year — will be powered by Open edX and built on Google infrastructure.
…
EdX, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Cambridge, is a nonprofit organization comprised of 28 leading global institutions, called the xConsortium. According to EdX, its aims are to transform online and on-campus learning through novel methodologies, gamelike experiences and research, among other things.

Also see:

.

Excerpt:

Today, Google will begin working with edX as a contributor to the open source platform, Open edX. We are taking our learnings from Course Builder and applying them to Open edX to further innovate on an open source MOOC platform. We look forward to contributing to edX’s new site, MOOC.org, a new service for online learning which will allow any academic institution, business and individual to create and host online courses.

Also see:

From DSC:
Creating media-rich, professionally-done, well-designed, interactive materials can be expensive — especially if back-end analytics, programming, AI, etc. are called for. Such capital-intensive work may require the use of teams…of partnerships…of alliances…of consortia.

Once created though, such materials could be made available at a low cost, as the costs would be spread out on a large number of people/institutions — i.e. The Walmart of Education.

Work-based learning schemes: the future of employment [Belliveau]

On 09/03/2013, in 21st century, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, future, innovation, professional development, real-world assignments, student-related, surviving, training / L&D, trends, UK, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Work-based learning schemes: the future of employment — from hrzone.com by Vincent Belliveau; with thanks to Roger Francis for Scooping this item

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Apprenticeships are run by colleges who partner with local organisations to offer work experience. However, businesses are now going one step further and introducing their own work placement schemes. John Lewis recently revealed plans to develop its internal vocational qualifications programme through the ‘University of John Lewis’. The scheme offers a range of work based qualifications, giving staff the opportunity to gain externally recognised credentials and progress in their career simultaneously. This is a part of a growing trend, with accountancy firms KPMG and PwC and fast food restaurants KFC and McDonalds offering similar opportunities, transforming how they recruit and develop.

These schemes are beneficial to both the organisation and the candidate. By employing new recruits, businesses do not need to compensate for the bad habits that employees may have picked up at a different organisation or at university, allowing them to shape the candidates they want. By taking the time to introduce a programme that invests in employees futures, companies such as John Lewis will build employee loyalty and by association, productivity in their organisation.

Also see:

IBM’s Department of Education — from nextcity.org by Greg Lindsay

Accreditation and only doing what one’s peers do in higher ed: Not serving society well

On 08/30/2013, in accreditation, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, new business models, staying relevant, surviving, United States, by Daniel Christian

Issue #1: Accreditation

OPINION: How to make college better & more affordable — from edsurge.com by Paul Freedman
One powerful answer: Reform the accreditation process

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

How can our diverse, 4,300 two- and four-year schools collectively be failing to produce the outcomes we need, at the scale we need them, all at the same time?

How can this be?
…
…why have these solutions not yet driven the fundamental change the system needs? Innovators that could bring costs down and help our system stay on the leading-edge are being stifled by little-known organizations that possess tremendous unregulated power in higher education: accreditors. As a result, our system is sick–plagued by an institutionalized lack of adaptation.

…

If they are indeed stewards of the public trust responsible for ensuring the quality of our higher education system, then they are also responsible for its outcomes and therefore share a large portion of the blame for the failures in higher education that we see today. Accreditation is the one constant across all US higher education institutions.

…

The problem? Ivy Bridge wanted to change the status quo.

Also see:

A relevant side note from DSC:
The following statement in Downgrading Elite Colleges (InsideHigherEd.com) shows the impact of this straitjacketing, status quo situation (emphasis mine):

“We do see pressure on small private colleges as a group and that’s primarily because they don’t have a lot of different things they can do, so they are primarily dependent on tuition revenue,” said a Moody’s analyst, Edie Behr.

Moody’s advises institutions to try to diversify their revenue streams.

That is not an easy task, said Oberlin’s vice president for finance, Ronald Watts.

.
…they don’t have a lot of different things they can do…
…that is not an easy task…

.

From DSC:
Are these statements true? If so, why?
Is accreditation part of the issue/solution?
Who should be on the accrediting bodies? Whose agenda(s) do they represent?

(Related) Issue #2: Only doing what one’s peer groups are doing.

From DSC:
If the entire boat is sinking, does it matter what your peers are doing?!? Isn’t it time for bigger thinking? Bolder thinking? More (and careful/well-thought-through) experimentation?

Paul Freedman states this as well in his article:

I have heard people in the industry compare the current state of higher education to a sinking ship. If that is accurate, then accreditors should be viewed as the ones who are literally nailing down the deck chairs to the Titanic. We need to keep the students we are all dedicated to serving from going down with the ship. We, as the education industry and as US citizens, need to fight for accreditation reform.

I ask these questions and pose the above picture not to promote panic — but rather to strongly encourage change. Institutions of higher education need to adapt in order to stay relevant, survive, and to properly equip future generations for the world they will be entering.

If not, students will find other ways to be successful — and so will corporations.

Addendum on 9/3/13:

Higher Ed Accrediting Commissions: Transparency for thee, not for me — from mfeldstein.com by Phil Hill
Excerpt:
Why do I keep covering accreditation issues on e-Literate, a blog nominally about online learning and educational technology? The reason is that accrediting commissions have enormous influence on higher education institutions, particularly as the industry wrestles with questions of which changes are necessary, which changes are worth trying but might not work, and which changes should be avoided. If there really is a shift in the DOE’s views on accreditation or in the accrediting commissions’ interpretation of standards, then that could have fairly profound cascade effects on competency-based learning programs, private online colleges, MOOCs, and online service providers.That is also why the lack of transparency from the accrediting commissions is so troubling. They are making decisions that have profound effects on many institutions, not just the specific schools under review.

Learning Ecosystems

Free online university receives accreditation, in time for graduating class of 7 [Lewin]

Yale’s struggles signal broader challenges ahead for colleges [Horn]

Innovation imperative: Change everything [Christensen & Horn]

Reflections on “Microsoft joins Degreed’s crusade to ‘jailbreak the degree’” [Heussner]

Will it take joining a consortium to survive/thrive in the new world of higher education? (Will it even be called higher education?)

Accreditation and only doing what one’s peers do in higher ed: Not serving society well

Issue #1: Accreditation

(Related) Issue #2: Only doing what one’s peer groups are doing.

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