Songs in the shower...everyone's a great singer until they get on stage

Don't you hate it when someone really smart and famous steals your ideas!  And has the audacity to write them in a book?  It's like singing in the shower - I am a great shower singer, but my stage is just that small.  No one would, or probably should listen to my shower singing.  However, Mr. Khan has clearly hit upon a major future-forward idea here and even though I have been saying this in various meetings for a year or so, it's like singing in the shower for me.  Regardless, I think his comments are right on target and as is usual for his commentary, it is spot on.  Besides, he's apparently a much better singer!

Credentialing and teaching.  What should we hold and what should we drop as universities and colleges?  Read this small paragraph, excerpted from today's Chronicle of Higher Education website, in a story by Alisha Azevedo, to get a flavor for this idea.

Khan Academy Founder Proposes a New Type of College - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

In the book, Mr. Khan also advocates for a separation of universities’ teaching and credentialing roles, arguing that if students could take internationally recognized assessments to prove themselves, the playing field would be leveled between students pursuing different forms of higher education. Although students would not be graded in the imagined university he describes, they would compile a portfolio of their work and assessments from their mentors.

Competency-Based Education: A Primer for Today's Online Market

A nifty article in today's e-Literate blog brings us all up to speed on the competency based education discussion.  As the title suggests, it's a helpful primer and I commend it for your reading purposes.  I've shared a few of the most interesting points below, but read the entire article for context.

Competency-Based Education: A Primer for Today's Online Market |e-Literate

What actually is “competency-based education” and why has it taken so long to expand beyond Western Governors University?

Why has it taken so long? Although there is a newfound enthusiasm for CBE from the Obama administration, the biggest barrier thus far has been tacit resistance from financial aid and accreditation bodies.

In addition, I would add that the integration of self-paced programs not tied to credit hours into existing higher education models presents an enormous challenge. Colleges and universities have built up large bureaucracies – expensive administrative systems, complex business processes, large departments – to address financial aid and accreditation compliance, all based on fixed academic terms and credit hours. Registration systems, and even state funding models, are tied to the fixed semester, quarter or academic year – largely defined by numbers of credit hours.

Education badges - not like the one Barney Fife wore

Jeffrey Young writes a good summary of the badge concept - competency based learning - which seems to be taking hold (at least in publication and discussion if not in practice).  Comments from Belle Whelan and Kathy Davidson below provide a nice summary of where this issue rests in the higher education community.

'Badges' Earned Online Pose Challenge to Traditional College Diplomas - College 2.0 - The Chronicle of Higher Education

"The idea of badges hasn't risen to our radar as a concept, but I think we can't ignore it," says Belle S. Wheelan, president of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. "The whole idea of learning beyond high school has changed," she adds. "College used to indicate that not only did you have a skill set in a particular area, but that you gained a body of knowledge that made you a well-rounded person. People don't care about being well-rounded anymore, they just want to get a job."

Fundamentally, badges are all about perception, so it's difficult to predict whether the key players—employers and job applicants—will click the like button on the concept.

"The biggest hurdle is the one I had, which is prejudice," says Cathy Davidson, a professor of interdisciplinary studies at Duke University and author of Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn. She says she initially viewed educational badges as frivolous, but is now a leading proponent as a co-founder of Hastac.

"People seem to think they know what school is and they know what work is," she says. "We live in a world where anyone can learn anything, anytime, anywhere, but we haven't remotely reorganized our workplace or school for this age."

Classroom discussion forums - are they worth it?

Of note...relatively interesting, and possibly significant work related to the use of discussion in online classes.  It's always puzzled me to determine the value of discussion and this work pokes at the issue.  From Jeffrey R. Young in the Chronicle of Higher Education.  Worth a read.

What a Tech Start-Up's Data Say About What Works in Classroom Forums - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Professors may want to think carefully before giving formal grades for participation in online discussions, the data suggest. When professors required a set number of discussion posts, the number of submissions was higher than in courses where professors left participation up to students. But instructors reported the highest gains in student understanding when discussion was less strictly marked.

Google. And the news.

Who knew?  I think I'm relatively savvy on topics such as this - technology and the changing nature of the news.  But this aggregation and algorithm story from Megan Garber in The Atlantic is worth a read for a deeper dive into the topic.

Google News at 10: How the Algorithm Won Over the News Industry - Megan Garber - The Atlantic

There is, on the one hand, an incredibly simple explanation for the shift in news organizations' attitude toward Google: clicks. Google News was founded 10 years ago -- September 22, 2002 -- and has since functioned not merely as an aggregator of news, but also as a source of traffic to news sites. Google News, its executives tell me, now "algorithmically harvests" articles from more than 50,000 news sources across 72 editions and 30 languages. And Google News-powered results, Google says, are viewed by about 1 billion unique users a week. (Yep, that's billion with a b.) Which translates, for news outlets overall, to more than 4 billion clicks each month: 1 billion from Google News itself and an additional 3 billion from web search.

As a Google representative put it, "That's about 100,000 business opportunities we provide publishers every minute."

Google emphasizes numbers like these not just because they are fairly staggering in the context of a numbers-challenged news industry, but also because they help the company to make its case to that industry. (For more on this, see James Fallows's masterful piece from the June 2010 issue of The Atlantic.) Talking to Google News executives and team members myself in 2010 -- the height of the industry's aggregatory backlash -- I often got a sense of veiled frustration. And of just a bit of bafflement. When you believe that you're working to amplify the impact of good journalism, it can be strange to find yourself publicly resented by journalists. It can be even stranger to find yourself referred to as a vampire. Or a pirate. Or whatever.

Organizing to solve the big problem...interesting notes from Fast Company Online

9 Ways Great Companies Organize Their Teams For Success | Fast Company

Businesses exist for one simple reason: to solve a big problem. At the core of every great product or service is an unfulfilled need that reaches a big enough market. But it’s not enough to have a great idea that solves a big problem; behind each successful company stands a flexible team that can efficiently turn a vision into a growing business.

Classroom discussion forums - are they worth it?

Of note...relatively interesting, and possibly significant work related to the use of discussion in online classes.  It's always puzzled me to determine the value of discussion and this work pokes at the issue.  From Jeffrey R. Young in the Chronicle of Higher Education.  Worth a read.

What a Tech Start-Up's Data Say About What Works in Classroom Forums - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Professors may want to think carefully before giving formal grades for participation in online discussions, the data suggest. When professors required a set number of discussion posts, the number of submissions was higher than in courses where professors left participation up to students. But instructors reported the highest gains in student understanding when discussion was less strictly marked.

Wondering...pay to perform...hmmmm

Not sure yet what I think about this unique agreement between and institution and an educational vendor except that as long as we all continue to rely upon grades as the indicator of success, we will continue to chase our own tails.  Luckily, McGraw Hill's product does tie LearnSmart to learning goals and objectives so with some good work, the instructor could truly measure attainment of student learning outcomes tied to grades.  Next step: MH needs to allow customization of learning objectives within their materials.  Will watch with interest.

Western Governors U Signs Textbook Pay-for-Performance Deal -- Campus Technology

In this project, McGraw-Hill will provide e-books and access to software, such as McGraw-Hill's adaptive learning system, LearnSmart, and the university will pay a "significantly discounted flat fee" for the materials. In addition, Western Governors will also pay the company a premium for each student who uses the materials and receives a B or better grade in the course.

Education badges - not like the one Barney Fife wore

Jeffrey Young writes a good summary of the badge concept - competency based learning - which seems to be taking hold (at least in publication and discussion if not in practice).  Comments from Belle Whelan and Kathy Davidson below provide a nice summary of where this issue rests in the higher education community.

'Badges' Earned Online Pose Challenge to Traditional College Diplomas - College 2.0 - The Chronicle of Higher Education

"The idea of badges hasn't risen to our radar as a concept, but I think we can't ignore it," says Belle S. Wheelan, president of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. "The whole idea of learning beyond high school has changed," she adds. "College used to indicate that not only did you have a skill set in a particular area, but that you gained a body of knowledge that made you a well-rounded person. People don't care about being well-rounded anymore, they just want to get a job."

Fundamentally, badges are all about perception, so it's difficult to predict whether the key players—employers and job applicants—will click the like button on the concept.

"The biggest hurdle is the one I had, which is prejudice," says Cathy Davidson, a professor of interdisciplinary studies at Duke University and author of Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn. She says she initially viewed educational badges as frivolous, but is now a leading proponent as a co-founder of Hastac.

"People seem to think they know what school is and they know what work is," she says. "We live in a world where anyone can learn anything, anytime, anywhere, but we haven't remotely reorganized our workplace or school for this age."

Creating Jobs in America! (Or, the changing nature of the instructional workforce)

Social media and job titles: A pixelated portrait of labour | The Economist

LinkedIn, however, says it knows that, and much else gleaned from the profiles of its millions of members. The social-media website for professionals can tell you that one of the fastest-growing job titles in America is “adjunct professor” (an ill-paid, overworked species of academic). One of the fastest-shrinking is “sales associate". 

My thoughts: Two items of note - the mining of social media data from sources like Linked-In and Twitter as reflections of trends + the changing nature of the instructional workforce. 

This just in...breaking news about instructors and technology and media

Sarcasm aside, it's still mysterious that we are only beginning to admit to poor use of media related to student learning attainment and outcomes.  It's hard work so I'm glad the study gives a leg up on identifying the issue.

Study Suggests Many Professors Use Interactive Tools Ineffectively in Online Courses - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

It found that most professors relied on text-based assignments and materials. In the instances when professors did decide to use interactive tools like online video, many of those technologies were not connected to learning objectives, the study found.

Lecture: Epic Fail (or the Lecture Fail project) #lecfail

Good stuff from Jeff Young at the Chronicle.  @jryoung

Lecture Fail? - Technology - The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle is putting together a multimedia feature exploring the state of the college lecture, and how technologies point to new models. While some enthusiasts see the high-tech changes as a much-needed upgrade to an education model that is more than a thousand years old, others see dangers ahead. Is all that gear a distraction? Is academic freedom threatened when Web tools and video make public the once-sacred space of the classroom?

If you're a current college student, fire up your laptop’s Web cam, or your smartphone's video camera, and let us know whether your professor's lectures are boring, inspiring, or something in between. Would you rather something more interactive happen in class, or should lectures stick around for the long haul? Please don’t name your professors, and you don't have to give your name if you prefer not to.

@nextgeneducate

Cal State Online - is this where we are all going?

Cal State's plan for online is drawing praise and criticism.  It's quite an interesting proposition and should serve as a great experiment to see if this is the direction in which all large states and entitities should be headed.  I was struck, though, by the following statement.  It occurs to me that this effort to "create a standardized, centralized, comprehensive business, marketing
and outreach support structure for all aspects of online program
delivery" should be standard operating procedure for any distance education deployment.

California State rolls out plan for centralized online learning portal | Inside Higher Ed

The goal of Cal State Online is to create a standardized, centralized, comprehensive business, marketing and outreach support structure for all aspects of online program delivery for the Cal State University System,” says the draft RFP. In the open letter, the executive director offers assurances that “participation is optional” for each of the system’s nearly two dozen campuses, “all programs participating in Cal State Online are subject to the same approval processes as an on-campus program,” and “online courses will meet or exceed the quality standards of CSU face-to-face courses.”

Big Data. Analytics comes to Academia?

From Paul Fain in Inside Higher Ed

As the participants point out, this is cracking open a door that soon should be kicked down.  Congratulations to those who have invested in this project.  Thinking of friends Todd Gibby (@intelliworks) and David Yaskin (@starfish360) because this is where they've been trying to drag all of us academics for several years now!

Using Big Data to Predict Online Student Success | Inside Higher Ed

New students are more likely to drop out of online colleges if they take full courseloads than if they enroll part time, according to findings from a research project that is challenging conventional wisdom about student success.

But perhaps more important than that potentially game-changing nugget, researchers said, is how the project has chipped away at skepticism in higher education about the power of “big data.”

Researchers have created a database that measures 33 variables for the online coursework of 640,000 students – a whopping 3 million course-level records. While the work is far from complete, the variables help track student performance and retention across a broad range of demographic factors. The data can show what works at a specific type of institution, and what doesn’t.

Higher Ed Trends for 2012

Sometimes predictions seem to be written to attract attention. I don't place these predictions in the crazy category.  Seem pretty reasonable to me.  Consider the following from D.A. Barber as written in 5 Higher Ed Tech Trends for 2012 -- Campus Technology

In 2012, higher education institutions will look to improve the
learning experience through analytics and personalized learning
environments, while reducing costs with digital resources and cloud
technologies.

Washington, DC-based Gilfus Education Group
has released its annual list of the top five trends in education
innovation for 2012, which included three focused on higher education
technologies:

• Prestigious institutions will launch online experiences designed to be as unique as those available to students on campus:
• "Dynamic and flexible learning experience engines" will emerge to replace learning management systems (LMS); and
• Tablets will surge as a means of delivering courses and e-learning media.