An analysis of newly available federal data shows that a far larger proportion of college students take at least one fully online course than was previously understood. The analysis, first conducted by the ed-tech consultant and blogger Phil Hill, shows that based on 12-month reporting — which the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System only … Continue reading
Filed under Distance Learning …
Transforming Asynchronous Learning Spaces
Although there are many articles and recommendations to improve learning, often centered on a theory or concept, we have found a gap: Many of the recommendations fail to translate because there are no steps beyond the general. To enact a transformation of the asynchronous learning space, defined actions and obstacles provide instructors a way to … Continue reading
Can colleges compete with companies like Coursera?
If you believe the underlying premise of Arthur Levine’s and Scott Van Pelt’s new book, the country is moving from a national, industrial economy to a global knowledge economy — and that has significant ramifications for higher education…. They say colleges will see their control over the market slip while consumers increase their power. New … Continue reading
Blackboard, Anthology to Merge, Creating Ed-Tech Behemoth
Anthology, which emerged a year ago from the combination of three higher education administrative software firms, will merge with Blackboard, long the most visible company in learning technology, the two companies announced today. The deal will result in the end of Blackboard as a freestanding company, and could bring the end of its well-known, and sometimes … Continue reading
Moody’s Predicts College Closures to Triple by 2017
Closure rates of small colleges and universities will triple in the coming years, and mergers will double. Those are the predictions of a Moody’s Investor Service report released Friday that highlights a persistent inability among small colleges to increase revenue, which could lead as many as 15 institutions a year to shut their doors for … Continue reading
University-Run Boot Camps Offer Students Marketable Skills — but Not Course Credit
Level, a venture that offers students courses in data analytics, has a motto of sorts. It’s written in large letters across the program’s website: “Real skills. Real experience. Two months.” The motto sounds a lot like the boot-camp style of education offered by companies like General Assembly. But Level, a product of Northeastern University, is neither … Continue reading
3 Tips for Handling Discussions in Online Courses
I’ve been teaching a large online class for the first time this semester, and as the course involves looking at a number of challenge interactive works and games I put a lot of emphasis on discussion forums and critical debate. However, discussion forums of this kind present a lot of potential problems in an online … Continue reading
Overcoming Online Persistence Challenges With The Trojan Café (Part 2)
One of the first ideas that came out of the planning phase was to create student forums that would allow interaction between users. Students were already utilizing Blackboard discussion boards to meet course requirements, therefore the infrastructure was ideal for hosting casual student forums. Forums are moderated by staff and have been a significant attraction … Continue reading
Overcoming Online Persistence Challenges With The Trojan Café (Part 1)
Vincent Tinto’s conceptual “Schema for Dropout from College” correlated academic and social engagement with student success and learning. However, several factors make social engagement more difficult for non-traditional, online students. They don’t have the opportunity to participate in social engagement and institutional extracurricular activities that are afforded to traditional, on-campus students. Consequently, online students often … Continue reading
Going Online, Being Digital
It’s taken decades, but educational technology is finally beginning to change the way we think about education itself — not just the way we deliver it. Twenty-four years ago, I taught my first writing course in a classroom kitted out with 25 computers. A few years later, I team taught my first online and hybrid … Continue reading
