Commentary - Blackboard's purchase of [insert name here]

From George Siemens - commentary on the way things are.  And as usual, I agree with Siemens, so in the sincerest form of flattery, I encourage you to read his full commentary but was particularly interested in sharing the following.  Areas of emphasis are mine.

elearnspace › Well Played, Blackboard

Blackboard’s purchase marks an important shift in trajectory – even maturation – for the LMS marketplace. Integration, not the platform itself, is now the critical focus. LMS companies have for years formed partnerships with content producers and with synchronous tools – I believe both BB and Desire2Learn had partnerships with Elluminate and Wimba. To be effective in the long term, large LMS companies will need to pull more and more of the education experience under their umbrella. Why? Well, technology is getting complex. Very complex. Which means that decisions makers are motivated (partly out of fear of appearing ill-informed, partly out of not wanting to take risks) to adopt approaches that integrate fairly seamlessly across the education spectrum. Why buy an LMS when you can buy the educational process?

This puts companies like Desire2Learn in a bind. I’ve met John Baker – CEO of Desire2Learn – numerous times. He’s an extremely informed and capable person. I suspect he has a good sense of the shift from LMS-as-platform to LMS-as-integration. And, in a small field like ours, the Elluminate/Wimba acquisition was probably signaled to insiders. But what does D2L do now that it has a competitor that has pulled a key market segment under its umbrella?

The most obvious response is to look for similar companies to purchase. But who is left? Blackboard did not buy into the synchronous education market with the Elluminate and Wimba purchase – they bought the market.

Organizing for Distance Education debate hits the mainstream media

What had been a lively discussion among distance education professionals has now gained a little steam and moves into a more mainstream media outlet - no doubt to draw some attention from more folks in academe.  Just passing this blurb from the Chronicle of Higher Education along as example of the conversation.

Texas A&M's Restructuring Stirs Debate Over Best Way to Run Online Programs - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Texas A&M's Restructuring Stirs Debate Over Best Way to Run Online Programs

By Marc Parry

One university's decision to close its central distance-education office has stirred a national debate over the best way to operate online programs.

Under a restructuring at Texas A&M University at College Station, individual colleges will now manage online learning. And tuition paid for those programs will flow directly through those colleges.

The decision follows a related move at the University of Texas system. As online education continues to grow, those reorganizations have prompted many educators to share their opinions about e-learning management on a listserv run by the technology cooperative WCET.

To some, decentralization is "doomed to failure." To others, a separate bureaucracy "simply doesn't make sense anymore." A third camp advocates a hybrid approach.

Chad Wootton, Texas A&M's associate vice president for external affairs, frames the question of managing online and traditional education like this: "Are we thinking of them as two separate educational opportunities? Or are we thinking of them as the educational opportunity of course delivery, and it just so happens to be a different delivery method?"

Family Arguments: No One Wins - the ongoing debate over online vs. face-to-face education

From Inside Higher Ed's Steve Kolowich comes this story about yet another study of online versus face-to-face education.  At risk of offending federal bureaucrats (and I have friends who are federal bureaucrats), this sounds an awful lot like a bureau (Education) vs. bureau (NBER) argument.  Or, put in terms to which we can all relate - it's a family argument where no one is likely right.

So, here's the gist of the debate.  Worth a read, but I don't find anything compelling in the new paper.

News: Seed of Doubt - Inside Higher Ed

...since a Department of Education meta-analysis last summer concluded that “on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction,” many advocates now consider the matter closed.

Not so fast, say researchers at the National Bureau of Economic
Research.  The Education Department’s study was deeply flawed and its implications have been overblown, say the authors of a working paper released this month by the bureau.“None of the studies cited in the widely-publicized  meta-analysis released by the U.S.  Department of Education included randomly-assigned students taking a full-term course, with live versus online delivery mechanisms, in settings that could be directly compared (i.e., similar instructional
materials delivered by the same instructor),” they write. “The evidence base on the relative benefits of live versus online education is therefore tenuous at best.”

And on the other hand...a refutation of the refutation:

Barbara Means, director of the Center for Technology and Learning at SRI International and lead author of the Education Department’s meta-study, says the bureau's paper, in addition to being rife with erroneous claims, draws conclusions that are essentially irrelevant to the debate over online education.
By taking pains to isolate the online-versus-classroom variable while keeping other variables constant, Means says Rush and his collaborators miss a crucial point: that what distinguishes online education from classroom education has little to do
with the fact that one comes on a computer screen and the other does not.
That narrow distinction “is something that most people in the field of technology feel is not particularly interesting,” Means says, That that is not how online education works. To the contrary, most modern online programs expressly try to present course content in a way that is unique to the online environment. If videotaped lectures are included, they are often a small part of a larger package. “The point of using the online technology," Means say, "is to do things that you cannot do face-to-face."

For a look at the new paper by Figlio, Rush and Yin, see this link.   To see the original DOE meta-analysis, check this link.

Is this the biggest news in higher education for 2010?

Did everyone sleep through this announcement?  Did we fail to notice this landmark agreement that has the potential to reshape higher education?  And oh yeah, it's distance education related.  Implications: public private partnerships in a new way; education the 'Walmart way'; reaching an unserved population; expanding educational opportunities; exploring the value of higher education for firms and their workers. 

Some will decry the potential for a 'Walmartization' of education, but hello - what's wrong with a major employer understanding the needs of their workforce and building something that supports it.  Not one thing wrong. 

Watch this one.  Let's see where it goes. It's not a slam dunk but it sure has potential to shake things up for all of us.

Wal-Mart’s Partner in Education Earns High Profile - NYTimes.com

What promises to be a lucrative arrangement between the country’s largest retailer and an education company based in West Virginia started with an unsolicited e-mail message in October.

The retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, was looking for a partner to offer online college courses to its work force in the United States. Might American Public Education — which runs two Web-based universities — be interested?

By January, American Public put together a team devoted to landing the Wal-Mart contract, and last week, the two companies announced an agreement. Wal-Mart committed to spending $50 million over the next three years in tuition and other assistance for employees who enroll.

Mayadas is a funny man: wry observations on the nattering nabobs of negativity at UC

In Crisis, U. of California Outlines a Grand and Controversial Online Learning Plan - Technology - The Chronicle of Higher Education

The University of California's decision to begin its effort with a pilot research project has also raised eyebrows. The goal is to determine whether online courses can be delivered at selective-research-university standards.

Yet plenty of universities have offered online options for years, and more than 4.6 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall-2008 term, notes A. Frank Mayadas, a senior adviser at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation who is considered one of the fathers of online learning.

"It's like doing experiments to see if the car is really better than the horse in 1925, when everyone else is out there driving cars," he said.

If the project stumbles, it could dilute UC's brand and worsen already testy relations between professors and the system's president, Mark G. Yudof.

As the system studies whether it can offer quality classes online, the bigger question might be this: Is California's flagship university system innovative enough to pull online off?

Women in higher education...make a note

All interested in higher education and education in general should make note of the following:

Census says women equal to men in advanced degrees, yet they still lag behind men in pay | Oregonlive.com

Women are now just as likely as men to have completed college and to hold an advanced degree, part of an accelerating trend of educational gains that have shielded women from recent job losses. Yet they continue to lag behind men in pay.

Among adults 25 and older, 29 percent of women in the U.S. have at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 30 percent of men, according to 2009 census figures released Tuesday. Measured by raw numbers, women already surpass men in undergraduate degrees by roughly 1.2 million.

Women also have drawn even with men in holding advanced degrees. Women represented roughly half of those in the U.S. with a master's degree or higher, due largely to years of steady increases in women opting to pursue a medical or law degree.

At current rates, women could pass men in total advanced degrees this year, even though they still trail significantly in several categories such as business, science and engineering.

"It won't be long before women dominate higher education and every degree level up to Ph.D.," said Mark Perry, an economics professor at the University of Michigan-Flint who is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank. "They are getting the skills that will protect them from future downturns."

Another reason institutions and organizations must be 'eyes up' in using cloud services or web 2.0

Ning, a great little network creation service, finally moves from free to fully paid.  Nothing wrong with that.  One always wonders how these folks earn a living providing free social network hosting for millions of people anyway.  But the lesson here is for anyone who builds a network:  Better have a backup plan, an escape route, or shell out for the services.  Any of these three options are acceptable.  Expecting free services - not too smart.

Ning Blog » An Update from Ning

As part of this change, we’ll be phasing out our free service. On May 4, 2010, we will share with you all of the details of our new offering, including features and price points, through a series of blog posts, emails, and conference calls. We recognize that there are many active Ning Networks for teachers, small non-profits, and individuals and it’s our goal to have a set of product and pricing options that will make sense for all of them. For Ning Creators using our free service who choose to move to another service, we will offer a migration path and time to make that change.

Change is inevitable, but sometimes unexplainable

In a case of "there's more here than meets the eye", it appears UT is determining a different direction for system support of distance education.  I'm neither connected enough, nor smart enough, to pretend to understand the full situation.  But I do have a solid understanding of the historic contribution made to higher education by the UT TeleCampus.  As I've commented in several other venues and forums, the TeleCampus has made groundbreaking in their impact on education.  Notice I did not say distance education - I say higher education in general has been transformed and moved as a result of the TeleCampus and their work.  For that, we all owe a great debt and should not let this organization slip quietly into the darkness without celebrating her success and achievements.

U. of Texas System Plans to Close Its Central Distance-Education Arm - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

"The decision has been made to cease the operation of the UT system administration TeleCampus, yes. And the reason for that primarily is because the sophistication of distance-education courses at the various UT institutions has really matured and grown over the last 12 years since the TeleCampus was created."

He added, "Their mission is completed and has been successful. ... There's no need for the current structure of the TeleCampus and what it currently offers with regard to services to the campuses."

Twenty-three employees will be laid off, said Mr. de Bruyn. They will be eligible to apply for work in a new, smaller office, he said. As the news release described it, that new office will support "campus efforts by serving as a central clearinghouse for innovations, implementing start-up programs, and assisting with distance-education marketing and recruitment efforts."

Who benefits most from online learning - student or school

NY Times has an interesting piece consisting of interviews with key educators, each of whom takes a position on the question of to whom the benefits of online learning accrue - student or school.  There's a little for everyone in this article.  Worth a read - particularly if you need a good summary of the key issues surrounding the viability and credibility of distance education.

College Degrees Without Going to Class - Room for Debate Blog - NYTimes.com

Online courses have been around for nearly two decades, but enrollment has soared in recent years as more universities increase their offerings. More than 4.6 million college students (about one in four) were taking at least one online course in 2008, a 17 percent increase over 2007.

Institutions like Rutgers University and the University of California system are looking at expanding online courses as a way to keep down tuition costs or increase revenues. Recently, Rutgers said it would triple online revenues from $20.5 million to $60 million in five years.

Who benefits most from online courses — students or colleges? Are online classes as educationally effective as in-classroom instruction? Should more post-secondary education take place online?

Under the category of "Did you see this?"

Check out this summary from iParadigms, the maker of Turnitin, which is a plagiarism detection technology.  All I can say is wow!  Really?  Are that many prospective college students copying and pasting their way into school?  I pass no judgment at this point, but if true, this study tells us a lot of what we all don't want to hear.

Personal statements attached to university applications should be the work of that applicant and help the university know more about the perspective applicant. It is safe to assume that more that 70,000 applicants that applied though this system did so with statements that may not have been their own work. The number of Internet sites that matched personal statement/ essay providing services leads one to question the additional 100,000 applicants whose personal statement contained a significant match (they may have borrowed or purchased all or part of their personal statement). It should be noted that Turnitin’s technology is configured to eliminate most random matches from the similarity reports. It should also be noted that the odds of writing the same 16 words, in the same order as another person (by chance) is less that 1 in one hundred billion (this is especially significant in a personal statement).

http://edgecastcdn.net/800404/static.turnitinadmissions.com/static/build/media/c67485a9a6b64b07d830f7c3173d4f4dcb_countrywide_report.pdf

Real Outreach to Students - Simply Well Done

I'm happy to share this excellent, but very simple, UStream video share of a live university event.  In this case, it's a tuition hearing - but the event is not the point.  What's important here is that the event is broadcast in real time and available for students off campus either live or as an archived video.  What an excellent effort using a common tool and inexpensive equipment.  My contgratulations to all those responsible, and to the hearing participants who were willing to share the important event.  Good work that needs to be acknowledged.

eLearn: Best Practices - 10 Ways to Ensure Distance Learning Success

eLearn: Best Practices - 10 Ways to Ensure Distance Learning Success: "10 Ways to Ensure Distance Learning Success

By Cindy Wolfe, University of Phoenix

December 17, 2009
Distance learning students must take a far more active role in learning and accessing information than traditional students in face-to-face classrooms. Written messages or posts from the professor and classmates replace other means of direct communication, and course materials are posted online. Rather than simply sitting through a class and jotting notes, you must take the initiative to download and read lectures and course materials."

Ms. Wolfe's excellent article has me thinking about student responsibility for learning. It's an interesting, but often overlooked concept. So, who is responsible for learning?

At the institutional level - we see universities contorting themselves to insure student "success". Fine. At the classroom level, we see courses designed and taught to insure student "success". We see a wide range of auxiliary and anciliary staff to support student learning (e.g. tutors, advisors, mentors). At the broadest levels of policy debate we see this concept playing out in the conversation about what role states and federal government play in higher education - through funding, accountability, and policy-making. Is it, in fact, the responsibility [or best interest] of the state to provide citizens with higher education [or make it accessible]? What responsibility does the individual citizen have when it comes to educating themselves beyond high school?

I don't have the answers here, but today's blog begins what I hope will be an ongoing exploration of these topics. Stay tuned...