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Should the owners of the “WEtakeyourclass.com” website go to jail? And other questions that come to my mind.

On 09/18/2012, in ethics, face-to-face, hearts -- matters of the heart, online learning, policy, strategy, student-related, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
The wetakeyourclass.com website below is very disturbing in terms of the questions it raises — though such questions and activities are certainly not limited to what occurs in the online classroom, as evidenced by The Shadow Scholar (from The Chronicle by Ed Dante) where a man confessed to writing ~5,000 scholarly papers for students, including grad students.

Questions:

  • Should the owners of this site go to jail? Or is this just capitalism gone awry? 
  • Does this business make a profit?  If so, why and what does that say?
  • Is this type of thing happening for just a handful of people out there? How would we know?  Can the turnitin.com’s of the world detect/stop this?
  • If their services are in demand, should that inform or influence any differences in the strategies or pedagogies we utilize within higher education?  Do we need to re-evaluate what’s really being achieved and not achieved? That is, if employers didn’t look to a college degree, would students come to learn anyway or would they be gone by morning?
  • What, if anything, does it say about students’ ethics?  Matters of the heart?

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WE take your class dot com -- should these people go to jail?

 

Look at some of the “services,” “benefits,” and messages being offered therein:

  • We take your online classes for you and you get an A
    Underlying message: We’ll help you get that piece of paper so you can move on to what really counts.  (Don’t worry about not knowing anything…you won’t have to prove yourself later on…and never mind about your work ethic, this is a one-time-cutting-the-corners type of decision, right? Isn’t it? Isn’t it?!)
  • Life is too short to spend on classes you have no interest in
  • Give us a deadline and we will meet it!
    Underlying message: Corporations outsource many things, why shouldn’t you?  (Never mind that learning should be your core business and should not be outsourced.)


How about you all, what are some questions that this type of thing raises in your minds?

 

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Reflections on “‘Clicks’ could be future of higher education” [Landphair]

On 08/13/2012, in Daniel S. Christian, face-to-face, online learning, universities, by Daniel Christian

‘Clicks’ could be future of higher education — from Voice of America by Ted Landphair

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

But a new survey of more than 1,000 Internet experts, researchers and observers of American education found that higher education may soon be more about “clicks” than “bricks.”

The survey was conducted by Elon University in North Carolina and the Pew Internet & American Life Project.  Sixty percent of its respondents agreed with the statement that, by 2020, “there will be a mass adoption of teleconferencing and distance learning” in order to give students greater access to real-world experts.

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But not all the experts who were polled are thrilled with this vision.  According Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project, they worry that long-distance learning “lacks the personal, face-to-face touch they feel is necessary for effective education.”

Colleges are realizing that traditional classroom instruction “is becoming decreasingly viable financially,” says Rebecca Bernstein of the State University of New York at Buffalo.  “The change driver will not be demand or technology.  It will be economics and the diminishing pool of students who can afford to live and study on campus. “

From DSC:
For those faculty members and institutions offering the majority of their courses with small classroom sizes of 10-20 students, I can appreciate such worries (though I would still say that there’s no where to hide in an online class of 15-20 students either). 

But for those faculty and institutions who are holding to this viewpoint — and who are offering intro courses to 100-300 students at a time — I have the following questions concerning this so called “personal, face-to-face touch” being alluded to:

  • If I were your student in your  Intro to Pysch or your Organic Chemistry class on your campus, and I had 150 other students taking such classes with me, would you even know my name if I met you walking down the street?
  • Would you know my major? My passions? My interests?
  • Would you know what I’m trying to accomplish or where I’m trying to get to?
  • Would you even care to know these things or would you be grudgingly teaching courses, while anxiously awaiting your return to your research lab?  (Not that research is bad at all…it’s just that few people can both teach well and research well at the same time — teaching is as much an art as it is a science and it takes a ton of work to do well…learning is messy.)

So this “personal, face-to-face touch” that’s often alluded to in order to achieve effective education simply doesn’t hold water for a great majority of the courses being offered throughout higher education today.  I’d loved to be proven wrong here —  and I hope that things have changed since my Big 10 educational experience.

 

 

 

 

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Conflicted: Faculty and Online Education, 2012 [Allen, Seaman, Lederman, Jaschik]

On 07/11/2012, in adjunct faculty, face-to-face, faculty/staff, online learning, teaching & learning, teaching online, by Daniel Christian

Conflicted: Faculty and Online Education - June 2012

 

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Excerpt:

The study was based on a pair of related surveys about online education, co-designed by Inside Higher Ed and administered and analyzed by the Babson Survey Research Group, which has studied online education for more than a decade. The surveys garnered responses from representative samples of 4,564 faculty members (of about 60,000 who were sent invitations to participate) and 591 academic technology administrators, from all types of institution. The surveys asked a wide range of questions of both groups about their perceptions of online quality, institutional support and training in instructional technology, and compensation, among other things. The response rates for both surveys were below 10 percent.

A PDF copy of the study report can be downloaded here. To read the text of the report, click here.

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From DSC:
I urge faculty members to give online learning a try — not only for your students’ sakes, but for your own career’s sake:
  • Take a course from an organization that has a good reputation for their online courses
    or
  • Take a course re: instructional design for teaching online
    or
  • Try your hand at teaching your own course online.
I don’t mention this piece of advice as a threat or to come across as a scaremonger.  Online learning has been — and continues to be — reality.  In Christensen’s terms, face-to-face classrooms practice sustaining innnovations but online learning is a disruptive technology that keeps gaining ground.   [When either mode are done well] it’s now not only at least as good as face-to-face learning, but the powerful tools that keep being added to online learning will take it far beyond what we are able to currently offer in a face-to-face classroom.
One comment at the end of the article stood out for me as well:
  • “In a capitalistic society consumer demand dictates the products it will provide and sell.”  

For those interested in this topic, take a moment to check out the other comments as well.

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A great illustration of what could be in our blended learning-based Smart Classrooms of tomorrow: Project Bridge by Intel

On 07/02/2012, in 21st century, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, analytics, attention, blended learning, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communities of practice, digital learning, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, engineering, face-to-face, future, hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, interactivity, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), project-based learning, real-world assignments, second screen apps, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, STEAM-related, tablets, telepresence, TVs, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Bridging Our Future, envisioned by Intel -- June 2012

 

Description:

By connecting education with smarter technology, Intel offers a look into the future of K-12 education. Watch as students use technology to collaborate with peers and industry experts to build a bridge model, from the initial design phase through the final structure testing. Intel’s education solutions help teachers provide innovative, personalized and secure learning environments to prepare students for successful futures in the 21st century.

I originally saw this at

 

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Some sharp learning spaces

On 05/03/2012, in architecture, face-to-face, learning spaces, play, by Daniel Christian

The Weston Family Learning Centre / Hariri Pontari Architects — from archdaily.com by Diego Hernandez

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© Tom Arban

 

© Tom Arban

 

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Addendum on 5/8/12:

 

 

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Lifelong learning ecosystems!!! A powerful vision for our future [Daniel Christian]

On 03/14/2012, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, accreditation, active learning, adult learning, analytics, Apple, blended learning, business side of he, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, digital textbooks, disruption, distance education, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, lifelong learning, love of learning, machine-to-machine communications, marketplaces, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multi-touch, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, passions, personalized/customized learning, reinvent, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, social media, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, 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

From DSC:
The vision below involves:
(click on the image below to access it) 

  • The convergence of the telephone, the television, and the computer
  • Cloud-based education stores/marketplaces/exchanges
  • Second screen devices and machine-to-machine communications
  • Social networking/learning
  • Smart classrooms/learning spaces
  • Content recognition/synchronization applications
  • Apps as “channels”
  • Web-based learner profiles
  • Video overlays
  • New business models in higher ed
  • New jobs/needs for the future
  • A new way for employers to hire highly-effective employees/contractors/consultants
  • …and more

 

Click this thumbnail image to access the larger image / vision

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This is exactly what I was getting at with “The Forthcoming Walmart of Education”

On 02/29/2012, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, innovation, interactivity, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, mobile learning, multimedia, open courseware and systems, personalized/customized learning, reinvent, staying relevant, teaching & learning, using teams, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
This is exactly what I was getting at with The Forthcoming Walmart of Education (2008) and it points out, again, that innovation is much faster and stronger in the online world than it is in the face-to-face world. The tools being developed to engage, track, diagnose, and adapt continue to be developed. What may have once been poo-pooed continues to pick up steam. (Christensen, Johnson, & Horn are right on track.) The trend will be towards more team-based endeavors that can be made available at a greatly reduced price. They will be multimedia-based, highly-interactive, and state-of-the-art (technically and pedagogically).

Treating Higher Ed’s ‘Cost Disease’ With Supersize Online Courses — from The Chronicle by Marc Parry

Excerpt (with emphasis from DSC):

Professors should move away from designing foundational courses in statistics, biology, or other core subjects on the basis of “intuition,” she argues. Instead, she wants faculty to work with her team to put out the education equivalent of Super Bowl ads: expensively built online course materials, cheaply available to the masses.

“We’re seeing failure rates in these large introductory courses that are not acceptable to anybody,” Ms. Thille says. “There has to be a better way to get more students—irrespective of where they start—to be able to successfully complete.”

Her approach brings together faculty subject experts, learning researchers, and software engineers [from DSC — a TEAM-based approach] to build open online courses grounded in the science of how people learn. The resulting systems provide immediate feedback to students and tailor content to their skills. As students work through online modules outside class, the software builds profiles on them, just as Netflix does for customers. Faculty consult that data to figure out how to spend in-person class time.

From DSC:
Such learner profiles will most likely reside in the cloud and eventually standards will be established to insert new data into these profiles. The access to view/edit these profiles will be controlled by the individual learners (hopefully!).  What if learners could selectively grant corporations access to this type of profile as their new resume?

For items concerning team-based approaches, see this recording (June 2009) as well as this collection of items.

For items concerning consortia and pooling resources, see here and here.

 

 

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Reimagining the classroom teaching and learning environment — from NewClassrooms.org

On 02/02/2012, in analytics, blended learning, education reform, face-to-face, hybrid learning, K-12 related, online learning, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, reinvent, strategy, teaching & learning, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

newclassrooms.org -- reimagining the classroom teaching and learning environment

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Some options for real-time polling of your students

On 01/27/2012, in collaboration, face-to-face, online learning, tools, vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Some tools to consider:

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Blackboard Collaborate has real-time polling features

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Poll Everywhere -- real-time polling

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From DSC:
By the way, faith-based organizations might want to consider using this tool as well.  Also, my thanks to Professor Randall Pruim, in the Mathematics Department at Calvin College, for bringing the options below to my attention. Note: Professor Pruim doesn’t necessarily recommend these tools — as both SMS Poll and Lecturetools.com require that students pay a subscription. However, I list these tools here in case you want to compare functionality/pricing/etc.

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smspoll.net -- real time polling of your students

 

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http://www.lecturetools.com/

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Addendum on 2/2/12:

 

socrative.com -- engage the class using any device

NOTE:  Randy mentioned that Socrative requires access to the Internet (laptop or smart phone); there is no cell phone interface at this time. So you must have a web-enabled device.

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Addendum on 2/21/12:

 

Addendum on 7/18/12:

TopHatMonocle.com
A web based clicker and online homework tool; polls and quizzes

No clickers to buy! Students can use any device to participate in class

  • For in-class and homework use
  • Questions, open ended discussions and interactive demos
  • Use with any presentation software, such as PowerPoint
  • Amazingly simple! Takes minutes to setup

 

Addendum on 11/15/12:

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Online students vs. traditional students [onlinephdprograms.com]

On 10/19/2011, in face-to-face, higher education, online learning, trends, by Daniel Christian

Online students vs. traditional students — from onlinephdprograms.com; with thanks to Mr. Muhammad Saleem for this resource
 

Online Students vs. Traditional Students
Via: Online PhD Programs Blog

 

From DSC:
I’m not sure I would use the word versus here (or the abbreviation for it).   Students can be involved with taking both types of courses — face-to-face and online — at the same time.  So although some students might be taking most of their classes in a face-to-face manner, they might also be taking some of their coursework online (as the schools provide more online-based offerings and programs).

My advice to students new to online-based learning:

  • “Do an immediate assumptions and expectations reality check!  Don’t think that online learning is easier. It isn’t. It will require more discipline and time than your face-to-face courses. But you will learn a great deal and you will be preparing yourself for the workplace. Stay on top of things — don’t fall behind.”

 

 

 

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Building Learning Communities 2011 Keynote: Dr. Eric Mazur [November Learning]

On 10/13/2011, in adjunct faculty, blended learning, collaboration, communities of practice, data related items, face-to-face, faculty/staff, higher education, hybrid learning, innovation, learning ecosystem, learning theories, physics, social learning / networks, strategy, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Building Learning Communities 2011 Keynote: Dr. Eric Mazur — from November Learning

Excerpt:

Today, we are officially relaunching our opening keynote from BLC11 with Dr. Eric Mazur. Dr. Mazur is the Area Dean of Applied Physics and Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.

In his keynote, Dr. Mazur shares his vast research on teaching and learning. Students in Dr. Mazur’s class are moving far away from the traditional stand and deliver lectures given in many k-12 and university classrooms around the world, and they are gaining a much deeper understanding of the material being taught in the process.

As you watch this video, we invite you to take some time and respond to one or more of the following questions…

 

From DSC:
What I understood the key points to be:

  • Teaching and learning should not be about information transfer alone; that is, it’s not about simply having students “parrot back” the information.  That doesn’t lead to true learning and long-term retention.
  • The more a teacher is an expert in his/her content, the more difficulty this teacher has in understanding how a first time learner in this subject struggles
  • Rather we need to guide and use peer instruction/social learning/collaboration amongst students to construct learning and then be able to apply/transfer that learning to a different context
  • Lecturing is not an effective way to create a long term retention of information
  • Peer instruction/human interaction creates effective learning
  • “The plural of anecdotes is not data.”
  • Eric is seeking data and feedback to sharpen his theories of how to optimize learning
  • Technology serves pedagogy — technology should afford a new mode of learning
  • Towards that end, Eric and team working on “Peer instruction 2.0”
  • How do I design good questions?  Optimize the discussions? Manage time? Insure learning is taking place?
  • Eric is working with several other colleagues to create a system for building and using data analytics to give useful information to instructor about who’s “getting it” and who isn’t; about how we learn
  • Peer instruction not without issues — how people group themselves and who students choose to collaborate with can be problematical
  • Why not have the system do the pairing/grouping?
  • System uses algorithms, facial recognition, posture analysis; cameras, microphones
  • Surveys also used
  • The system is attempting to help Eric and his team learn about learning
  • The system being used at Harvard and by invitation only

Eric ended with a summary of the 2 key messages:

  1. Education is not about lecturing
  2. We can move way beyond the current technologies and use new methods and technologies to actively manage learning as it happens

 

From DSC:
After listening to this lecture, the graphic below captures a bit of what he’s getting at and reflects some of my thinking on this subject as well.  That is, we need diagnostic tools — along the lines of those a mechanic might use on our cars to ascertain where the problems/issues are:
 


 

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[Due to budgetary situations] Use of “Interventionists” in the K-12 classroom — Kentwood, MI (USA) [Murray]

On 09/23/2011, in budgets, education technology, face-to-face, game-changing environment, K-12 related, teachers, by Daniel Christian

Kentwood looks to innovate with ‘interventionists’ sharing classes with lead teachers — from mlive.com by Dave Murray

Also see:

 

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Reflections on “The Digital Revolution and Higher Education” [Pew Research Center]

On 08/29/2011, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, attention, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, expectations, face-to-face, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, learning ecosystem, mobile learning, online learning, traditional / tradition, ubiquitous learning, using teams, by Daniel Christian

The Digital Revolution and Higher Education — from the Pew Research Center by Kim Parker, Amanda Lenhart, and Kathleen Moore
College Presidents, Public Differ on Value of Online Learning

Excerpt:

This report is based on findings from a pair of Pew Research Center surveys conducted in spring 2011. One is a telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,142 adults ages 18 and older. The other is an online survey, done in association with the Chronicle of Higher Education, among the presidents of 1,055 two-year and four-year private, public, and for-profit colleges and universities.

Here is a summary of key findings…

 

From DSC:
First, [perhaps it’s in the appendices, but] how many of the people out in the public who were surveyed have actually taken an online class? If so, how many classes (each) have they taken and when did they take them? From whom did they take them? My guess is that most of them have never taken a class online.

Secondly, I wonder how many people thought that the telephone was a useful instrument/communication device shortly after it was introduced? Perhaps not too many…but did you use one today? Yesterday? I bet you did. I did…several times; and I bet that the same will be true of online learning (as online learning didn’t really begin to be used until the late 90’s).

The question is not whether online learning will blow away the face-to-face classroom, it’s when this will occur…? There will be many reasons for this, but the key one will be that you are putting up a team of specialists instead of using just one person. If they are reeeeaaaalllyy good (and a rare talent), that person can do the trick for now; but their success/job will continue to be increasingly difficult to perform, as they continue to pick up new hats each year, as the students’ attention spans and expectations continue to change, as lower cost models continue to emerge, etc, etc…

As Christensen, Horn, and Johnson assert, the innovation is taking place in the online learning world, and it will eventually surpass what’s possible (if it hasn’t already) in the face-to-face classrooms.

 

 

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Finding the right learning mix [Dublin]

On 08/17/2011, in blended learning, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, face-to-face, hybrid learning, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, online learning, training / L&D, by Daniel Christian

Finding the right learning mix — from Chief Learning Officer by Lance Dublin
Learning organizations are experiencing a kind of renaissance, with new technology prompting new thinking about how to enhance, extend and enable learning.

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Talk about engaging students in music! Creative use of iPads by Neil Johnston from storevanmusic.com

On 07/05/2011, in active learning, attention, collaboration, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, drama/theater, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, ideas, innovation, interactivity, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, mirroring and/or multiple devices, multi-touch, multimedia, music, new media literacies, participation, passions, real-world assignments, social learning / networks, teaching & learning, UK, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
What a great way to engage, inspire, involve students in music!

See:

 

What a great way to engage, inspire, and involve students in music education!

Also see:

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