Seven (Not-So-Obvious) Trends in Digital Higher Education

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

OPEN-ENDEDPRESCRIBED

EXCLUSIVETOP-DOWN USER-GENERATED

NETWORK-EFFECT

SOCIAL MEDIA 3

‣ Why it Works

‣ Use what you like, ignore the rest

‣ Based on classroom organizational structure

4LMS: ALIGNED WITH THE EXISTING ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL

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DEVELOPMENTS SHAPING DIGITAL HIGHER ED

6

DESIGN MATTERS

7“The M.F.A. is the new M.B.A” Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind

SOURCE: KPCB

8

“ . . . 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”)

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DANGER: CHASM AHEAD

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

16

17

TRADITIONAL

‣ 6 weeks

‣ Limited assistance

‣ Limited / no budget

‣ Little program coordination

18

STRATEGIC

‣ Program-defined outcomes

‣ 4-6 months

‣ 75k budget

‣ Programmers, graphic artists, instructional designers, copyright

‣ Analytics: measurement of success

‣ Institution-wide communication/sharing

19

WILL OTHER INSTITUTIONS FOLLOW SUIT?

A NEW BASIS FOR INSTITUTIONAL PRESTIGE?

20

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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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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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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▸ Course Management Analytics

▸ Student activity within specific courses

▸ Primarily used by faculty

▸ Number of logins

▸ Assignment submissions

▸ Discussion participation

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▸ 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

28

KEITH’S NAIVE DATA FANTASY: RECONFIGURING HOW QUALITY IS DEFINED IN HIGHER ED

TRYING TO ASCEND HIGHER EDUCATION’S WALLS

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ALTERNATIVE PROVIDERS

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

31IS HIGHER EDUCATION VULNERABLE TO NEW TYPES OF COMPETITORS?

"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

APPARENTLY, NOT . . .

33IS HIGHER EDUCATION VULNERABLE TO OUTSIDE THREATS?

UPSTARTS

PHASE 1: (BELLIGERENT) ALTERNATIVES TO HIGHER EDUCATION

▸ UnCollege

▸ Thiel (PayPal) Scholarship

▸ PMBA (Personal MBA)

34

“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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http://lynda.com

UPSTARTS

PHASE 2: “GOING LEGIT”

▸ EQUIP initiative from Department of Education

▸ Partnership between colleges and “alternative providers”

▸ Ambivalent about “going legit”

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HARNESSING FACULTY CREATIVITY

“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

40

THE CHALLENGE FOR EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE

HOW NOT TO DO IT.

41CREATING A CREATIVE “SPACE” FOR EDUCATORS

42

GREAT EDUCATION SOFTWARE WILL COME FROM DESIGNERS AND ETHNOGRAPHERS (I.E. WATCH AND LISTEN)

SEVEN (NOT-SO-OBVIOUS) DEVELOPMENTS SHAPING DIGITAL HIGHER EDUCATION

KEITH HAMPSON PHD

Five, maybe six

43