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.