Note:
I have some very different viewpoints re: slide #6; please see my posting “The death of a question“.
On 02/24/2010,
in budgets, business side of he, change, changing business models, dangers of the status quo, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, policy, strategy,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
One of the questions mentioned on this posting from learn.5tein.com (which was focused on higher ed), was Question #2:
- What do we provide them that they can’t get anywhere else?
Great question for all of us in higher education to be able to (continually) answer. Also, I would add another question:
- How does my organization of higher education keep from becoming a commodity? What distinctive value is my organization bringing to the table?
Online college services company raises $5.5 million in venture backing — from statesman.com by Lori Hawkins
Austin-based MyEdu , an online service for college students, has raised $5.5 million from Bain Capital Ventures to expand its marketing efforts and product development.
Founded in 2008 by software veteran Michael Crosno , MyEdu operates a Web-based service that helps students make decisions about their courses, schedules, professors and majors. The company said more than 2 million students have used MyEdu, which offers academic data from 750 universities.
…
He started MyEdu by acquiring Austin-based Pick-A-Prof (emphasis DSC), which was co-founded in 2000 by Chris Chilek and John Cunningham , William Cunningham’s son.
Pick-A-Prof had built a base of 1.5 million users at 200 universities by providing online information about professors, including grading patterns, average drop rates and student reviews, as well as schedule planners.
…
MyEdu estimates that the average cost of a dropped class is $3,000 and that 70 percent of students transfer schools or change majors, resulting in five to six classes that don’t count toward their degree.
From DSC:
Why do I post this? Because it points out the continuing shift in power that is starting to be enjoyed by the students of our universities and colleges. They are now able to obtain information from other students who have taken course XYZ at U of ABC and can get information about that experience.
I’m not saying that all of this is a good thing, as many students might try to find out who’s giving all A’s and just go with those folks. This may not serve our students — and our society — very well in the long run. As frequently the case with tech-enabled directions like this, there seems to be advantages on one hand, and disadvantages on the other. For example, when the myEdu site says, “Choose the best professors” — the “best professors” for one student might be very different for what constitutes the “best professors” for another.
On 02/11/2010,
in changing business models, game-changing environment, online learning, online media, open courseware and systems,
by Daniel Christian
University finds free online learning classes don’t hurt enrollment – Jacqui Cheng, ars technica — resource and quote below from Ray Schroeder
Free online courses aren’t sapping enrollment numbers—in fact, they’re actually helping to spread the word. Those are the preliminary findings out of Brigham Young University, which experimented recently by granting free access to a selection of its distance learning courses. Though further study is needed in order to see whether there’s a significant impact, educators are beginning to see that offering free materials isn’t the end of the world after all.
On 02/10/2010,
in change, colleges, corporate / business world, future of higher education, surviving, training / L&D, universities,
by Daniel Christian
From –> The Ultimate Use for 360 Feedback (2008).
Starting at paragraph #3:
A much more powerful application of 360-degree feedback goes beyond the diagnosis to support changes in behavior (emphasis DSC). A doctor’s diagnosis can reveal the disease, but this information can’t cure it. Likewise, 360-degree feedback can identify priority areas for improvement, but this information isn’t enough to improve work habits. Changing a behavior pattern may require instruction, followed by months of reinforcement. Try changing the way you eat or the way you swing a golf club. Tiger Woods made changes in his swing early in 2004, and he didn’t start to win again until almost a year later, after persisting through hours of practice every day.
The problem is that even with the best of intentions, when people try to do things differently, initial attempts tend to feel awkward. When these efforts don’t achieve the desired result, frustration and discouragement follow. Without a formal program of follow-through reinforcement and without support from the direct manager and others in the workplace, people tend to fall back on what feels familiar and comfortable. They eventually return to their old way of doing things. (emphasis DSC).
To achieve the desired changes in behavior, 360-degree feedback needs to be followed by several months of reinforcement, involving ongoing learning, ongoing feedback, coaching and accountability. It takes that long for the brain cells to grow and reconnect into new pathways that are the physical basis for new behavior patterns.(emphasis DSC).
From DSC:
I’m reflecting on this in that I agree that:
- It takes time to change
- It takes a sustained, purposeful, often-times tough effort to change
- It takes buying into the need for change
Now…I’m thinking about what it takes to change behavior on a massive scale…say as in a university or college. Affecting the culture and/or the strategic directions of a university or college — to the point of a massive change in behavior — WOW! No wonder why culture is so hard to change.
It’s hard enough to get people to change when they see the need for change. But now consider our current predicament…how do you get people to buy into the need to change directions when they can’t yet see the need for change?
Problem is, a time is quickly coming on those of us in higher education where change is not going to be an option — not if you want to keep your doors open. The need for change (i.e. a significant decrease in enrollment) may not be seen until it’s too late. Even given a new game plan to deal with things, the culture may not be able to sustain that kind of change. It doesn’t know how. It’s not used to that level of change.
So my advice is to start sewing the seeds of change now within your university, college, or school. Develop a culture that is more responsive…more nimble…more willing to change and to try new ways of doing things. If you are successful in helping the culture be open to change, you have made an enormous contribution to what it will take to survive this next decade.
On 02/04/2010,
in future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation,
by Daniel Christian
Innovation: Rethinking the Future of Higher Education — from Educause Review
From DSC:
There’s that word again…innovation.
This issue of the Educause Review includes an article by Diana Oblinger, whom I quote below. The excerpt in my email said this:
Although the purpose of higher education has not changed in centuries, information technology—with its drive for innovation and entrepreneurism—has increased the options for widening that purpose from the campus of today to the future of society worldwide.
…and in the article, it mentions:
Consider a few changes already evident:
- Formal, traditional boundaries are becoming more permeable and porous. Interdisciplinary fields (e.g., nanotechnology, bioethics) are increasing. Leading faculty are being recruited worldwide. The physical constraints on when and where students participate in education are being removed through open and online education and competency- or experience-based credentialing.
- The classroom is no longer limited to a three-dimensional space for the dissemination of knowledge. Students have virtually limitless access to information, faculty, tutors, and each other. Digital libraries and repositories make materials instantly accessible. And learning is increasingly facilitated by exploration, interaction, and problem-solving. Thanks to large datasets and collections, students at small or remote campuses have access to large-scale resources.
- The library is not defined as a building for books. Many disciplines rely almost exclusively on online resources — whether books, journals, data, or artifacts. Students may consider the library more as a social place than a site for the reference desk or physical books. In addition, the size of library collections becomes less critical in an era when Google and other large-scale digitization projects make it possible for any institution to have access to millions of books.
- The digital environment is a “place” for social interaction and community exchange. Although the value of the campus as a physical place continues, an increasing number of interactions for students, faculty, and staff happen online, including the emergence of virtual, multinational research organizations.
- Scholarship and research are becoming more “conversational.” There is less reliance on communication through formal publications as an increasing number of exchanges occur through e-mail, preprints, and monitored blogs. The journal article may continue to serve as a means of credentialing authors for the purposes of promotion and tenure, but scholars’ contributions to a field are likely to be posted elsewhere.
- Digital technology and the unprecedented scale of data, as well as the nearly limitless ability to reconstitute the data, have altered the conduct of traditional research and scholarship. Theory and experimentation have been augmented with computation involving modeling, simulations, and visualization.
- The more traditional model of a university or college providing most of its services physically on (or near) a campus is changing. More and more services and programs originate off-site and are shared, distributed, or aggregated by other colleges and universities or outsourced agencies.1
On 02/02/2010,
in change, disruption, engagement / engaging students, expectations, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, innovation, student-related,
by Daniel Christian
From Campus Technology’s latest edition — quote below from Geoff Fletcher, Editorial Director
Per Geoff: Innovation is in. Innovation has always been in, but it really is in these days: According to economists, innovation will be America’s [or substitute any nation — per DSC] hedge in an increasingly-competitive global economy, but only if our education system is good enough — is innovative enough — to foster the same creativity and inventiveness in our students.
Per DSC:
Wow…do we have our work cut out for us. From so many of the articles and postings I’ve seen over the last few years, innovation and change comes hard to those of us in the world of education. Are we giving the students the chances to be innovative and creative? Are we encouraging those traits in them? If not, what will it take to turn the tides here?
Also, I’d like to comment on students’ expectations — in that we should not underrate them! (Particularly in light of the higher costs of obtaining an education and the movement towards a more consumer-based mindset of our students.) I wonder how long will it be before prospective students take a good, long, hard look at what assistance/training/education an institution of higher education will offer them in developing their learning networks? What technologies does that institution support? What philosophies does that school have concerning how open to be here? Hmmm…
Finally, this edition sports a great article (starting on page 23) entitled, “Managing the Student for Life” — I’ve often thought that more colleges and universities should focus more heavily on lifelong learning possibilities, and then to market themselves as being able to assist a person from age 18 – until “death-do-we-part”. 🙂
On 02/01/2010,
in budgets, business side of he, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, disruption, education technology, elearning, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, online learning, pace of change, virtual K-12 schools,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC: Here are a couple of items to highlight the continued power of the Internet to create exchanges & new business models within the worlds of education — both for K12 as well as for higher ed:
- Teachers selling their lesson plans online [1/24/10] from the Dallas Morning News by Matthew Haag — original posting from Ray Schroeder
- Check out this example pricing from powerspeak:
From DSC:
The above reminds me of a graphic I did last July:
Some potential/different models of pricing -- Daniel Christian -- July 2009
On 01/27/2010,
in business side of he, colleges, cost of getting a degree, disruption, elearning, face-to-face, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, internet, pace of change,
by Daniel Christian
A paradigm shift is ahead for higher education – Lori Sturdevant, Star-Tribune
Governor Tim Pawlenty at a Jan. 15 news conference said “You’re going to have the equivalent of iTunes in higher education, where instead of buying a song for 99 cents, you’re going to be able to click on Econ 101 for probably $199 or $399,” the governor predicted. “Unleashing technology … will massively decentralize the delivery of higher education in our country. The idea that we’re going to be here 20 years from now talking about how many more buildings can we put up is going to come into conflict with this new frontier.” Bona fide education forecasters say that Pawlenty isn’t all wrong about an explosion of online learning — though they’re not as sanguine as he is about its cost-saving potential or effectiveness.
On 01/27/2010,
in Apple, convergence, digital audio, digital storytelling, digital video, education technology, elearning, game-changing environment, internet, learning, learning ecosystem, mobile learning, multimedia, online learning, pace of change, podcasting, publishing, technologies for your home, telecommunications,
by Daniel Christian
- The iPad Ecosystem — Apple iPad: Winners And Losers — from Forbes.com by Taylor Buley
Steve Jobs has a way of shaking up the technology industry. Watch these companies for the fallout.” - Apple iPad: Everything you need to know — from Stephen Downes <– way to go on the prediction here Stephen; nice work!
- Apple unveils the iPad — from vatornews.com
Tablet details revealed. Cool device, but falls short on many features - iWork apps unveiled for the iPad — from the Download Blog on CNET.com by Jason Parker
- Steve Jobs unveils $499 netbook killer — from Forbes.com by Brian Caulfield
- Apple iPad: Publishing savior? — from Forbes.com: Technology News by Kym McNicholas
- ACU plans to publish first student newspaper on Apple’s iPad — from Helge Scherlund’s eLearning News Blog
Abilene Christian University’s student-run media staff announces its commitment to produce the first paper of its kind for Apple’s iPad. Dr. Cheryl Bacon, chair of ACU’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, says students and faculty already are working to achieve this goal. - A closer look at Apple’s new tablet, the iPad — from wired.com
- Apple’s iPad: Is it a game-changer? — from CNN. Money. com by Philip Elmer-DeWitt
- Full Interview: John Gruber on Apple’s iPad announcement — from Spark
- iPad: Does the iPad kill the Touch? Is this a transformative tool for education? — from iear.org
From DSC:
To me, this device has the potential to really move multimedia-based communications forward. For one thing, “magazines” will never be the same again.