seven (not-so-obvious) trends in digital higher education
TRANSCRIPT
SEVEN (NOT-SO-OBVIOUS) DEVELOPMENTS SHAPING DIGITAL HIGHER EDUCATION
KEITH HAMPSON PHD
Five, maybe six
1
CULTURE
HIRING/INCENTIVES
PROCESSES
STRUCTURE
DEFINITIONS OF SUCCESS
FUNDING SOURCES
2TECHNOLOGYINSTRUCTIONORGANIZATION
‣ Why it Works
‣ Use what you like, ignore the rest
‣ Based on classroom organizational structure
4LMS: ALIGNED WITH THE EXISTING ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL
“ . . . design has spread like gas to all facets of human activity, from science and education to politics and policymaking. For a simple reason: one of design’s most fundamental tasks is to help people deal with change.”
THE ECONOMIST
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ADOPTION RATES: MASS USE OF INVENTIONS
0
10
20
30
40
1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
electricitytelephone
radio
television
PCmobile phone
internet
RAY KURZWEIL, THE AGE OF SPIRITUAL MACHINES
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DESIGN IN DIGITAL TEACHING AND LEARNING
STENALT & GODSK
“ . . . the focus on the sensory dimension of e-learning platforms is in most cases non-existent on account of the ideals of hyper-functionalism.”
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MIGRATING TO A DESIGN-DEPENDENT ENVIRONMENT
But the migration from the classroom to a screen-based environment is a change like no other. It’s a migration to a design-dependent environment. The digital learner's experience is highly-dependent on the quality of design. The particular mix of colors, layout, audio, animation, words per page and other design elements can make the difference between a good and bad experience for learners on laptops, smartphones and tablets.
Image: a screen with content
“WHEN YOU PICK UP ONE END OF THE STICK, YOU PICK UP THE OTHER.“
THE “SCREEN” ENVIRONMENT IS HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON THE QUALITY OF DESIGN
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DESIGN MATTERS
GREAT DESIGN / GREAT EDUCATION
‣ Makes the complex simple
‣ Leverages the users/student’s existing knowledge (scaffolding)
‣ Seeks to stimulate a response
‣ Evokes an emotional response (which can improve cognition)
‣ Directs the users/students attention to the most important information
‣ Is memorable (i.e. “sticky”)
13
DANGER: CHASM AHEAD
ENROLMENT AND PARTICIPATION GROWTH: EVERYBODY PLAYS!!
▸ A year-to-year 3.9% increase in the number of distance education students, up from the 3.7% rate recorded last year.
▸ More than one in four students (28%) now take at least one distance education course (a total of 5,828,826 students, a year-to-year increase of 217,275.
▸ The total of 5.8 million fall 2014 distance education students is composed of 2.85 million taking all of their courses at a distance and 2.97 million taking some, but not all, distance courses.
BABSON SURVEY RESEARCH GROUP, REPORT ON 2015
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DANGER: CHASM AHEAD
TOP-DOWN, STRATEGIC APPROACH TO DIGITAL LEARNING . . .
▸ Arizona State University
▸ Western Governors University
▸ Rio Salada College
▸ Southern New Hampshire University
▸ Broward College
▸ Northeastern University
▸ And others . . .
enro
lmen
t
time
Top-DownTraditional
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STRATEGIC
‣ Program-defined outcomes
‣ 4-6 months
‣ 75k budget
‣ Programmers, graphic artists, instructional designers, copyright
‣ Analytics: measurement of success
‣ Institution-wide communication/sharing
ANALYTICS: MEASURING WHAT MATTERS
DATA-A-PLENTY
▸ From the world of business intelligence
▸ Making meaning out of data
▸ Predicting behaviourEx
abyt
es
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
2012 2020SOURCE: IDC/EMC2
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“BASING DECISIONS ON DATA SEEMS AN OBVIOUS WAY FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO IMPROVE OUTPUT AND PRODUCTIVITY, BUT FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND GUT INSTINCT CONTINUE TO DOMINATE POLICY AND DECISION MAKING, OFTEN CAUSING BARRIERS TO EDUCATIONAL REFORM.” MARY ROSE GRANT PHD
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ANALYTICS: MEASURING WHAT MATTERS
WHAT’S DRIVING THE INTEREST IN ANALYTICS IN HIGHER ED?
▸ Rising costs and the need for better decision-making
▸ Addressing retention concerns (completion goals)
▸ Greater regulatory reporting/linking performance metrics to funding
▸ “Because we can”: the rise of digital learning (i.e. more data available)
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ANALYTICS: MEASURING WHAT MATTERS
THREE CATEGORIES OF ANALYTICS
▸ Enterprise Analytics
▸ University/college reporting and internal management
▸ Student lifecycle (e.g. . . .)
▸ Course choices
▸ Graduation rates
▸ Socio-economic profiles
▸ Speed of completion
▸ Student loans
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ANALYTICS: MEASURING WHAT MATTERS
THREE CATEGORIES OF ANALYTICS
▸ Course Management Analytics
▸ Student activity within specific courses
▸ Primarily used by faculty
▸ Number of logins
▸ Assignment submissions
▸ Discussion participation
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ANALYTICS: MEASURING WHAT MATTERS
THREE CATEGORIES OF ANALYTICS
▸ Learner/Learning Analytics
▸ Tracks and measures student grasp of curriculum
▸ For use by faculty and student
▸ Estimates of student knowledge in real-time
▸ Can be used to report and / or modify curriculum
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‣ DON’T AVOID DATA; MORE COMING.
‣ GET INVOLVED: ENSURE THE INFORMATION YOUR INSTITUTION COLLECTS MEETS EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
‣ DATA SHOULD DRIVE INNOVATION, NOT POLICE EDUCATORS
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FACULTY & DATA
ONLY 12.2% OF THE FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES IN 1955 WERE STILL ON THE LIST 59 YEARS LATER IN 2014, AND ALMOST 88% OF THE COMPANIES FROM 1955 HAVE EITHER GONE BANKRUPT, MERGED, OR STILL EXIST BUT HAVE FALLEN FROM THE TOP FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES (RANKED BY TOTAL REVENUES).
Mark Perry, AEI
THE PACE OF CHANGE IN BUSINESS 30
"LOOK AT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. IT'S BEEN COMPLETELY OVERTURNED BY THE INTERNET. MY VISION OF THE WORLD IS THAT EVERYWHERE WILL BE LIKE THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, BUT WE'VE ONLY SEEN IT IN A FEW PLACES SO FAR. JOURNALISM IS IN THE MIDST OF THE BATTLE. AND HIGHER EDUCATION IS PROBABLY NEXT."
Tyler Cowen
IS EDUCATION NEXT? 32
UPSTARTS
PHASE 1: (BELLIGERENT) ALTERNATIVES TO HIGHER EDUCATION
▸ UnCollege
▸ Thiel (PayPal) Scholarship
▸ PMBA (Personal MBA)
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“YOU COULD’VE GOT THE EDUCATION YOU PAID 150,000 . . . WITH A BUCK-FIFTY IN LATE FEES AT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.” Good Will Hunting
UPSTARTS
PHASE 2: “GOING LEGIT”
▸ Lynda.com
▸ Nomadic Learning
▸ Koru
▸ General Assembly
▸ Codecademy
lynda.com
INVESTMENT / QUALITY / CREDIBILITY - INCREASING
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UPSTARTS
PHASE 2: “GOING LEGIT”
▸ EQUIP initiative from Department of Education
▸ Partnership between colleges and “alternative providers”
▸ Ambivalent about “going legit”
36
“EVERY MEMORABLE CLASS IS A BIT LIKE A JAZZ COMPOSITION. THERE IS THE BASIC MELODY THAT YOU WORK WITH. IT IS DEFINED BY THE SYLLABUS. BUT THERE IS ALSO A CONSIDERABLE MEASURE OF IMPROVISATION AGAINST THAT DISCIPLINING BACKGROUND.”
Mark Edmundson
THE LECTURE AND CREATIVITY 38
A. NOT AS MUCH AS IT SHOULD. AND NOT AS MUCH AS IT WILL.
39Q. DOES DIGITAL TEACHING FULLY HARNESS FACULTY CREATIVITY?
‣ DON’T INCREASE WORKLOAD
‣ IMPROVE LEARNING OUTCOMES
‣ HARNESS FACULTY CREATIVITY
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THE CHALLENGE FOR EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE