This following excerpt is based on a post first published at The Chronicle of Higher Education. With all of the discussion around the role of online education for traditional colleges and universities, over the past month we have seen reminders that key concerns are about people and pedagogy, not technology. And we can thank two […]
Online Education
Historical Survey Of Competency-Based Education
I have previously written a primer on competency-based education (CBE) using SPT Malan’s seminal article as the basis for understanding the key elements. Chris Mallett, formerly associate provost at Western Governors University (WGU) and currently VP for online programs at Northeastern University, has just posted a broader historical survey on CBE that is well worth reading. His […]
Georgia Tech and Udacity MOOC Degree: Missing targets but still worth watching
Melissa Korn wrote an article yesterday in the Wall Street Journal giving a progress report on that Georgia Tech / Udacity MOOC degree (the master’s in computer science). The Georgia Tech online computer-science program is relatively massive: It has 2,789 students enrolled this semester, compared with 312 in the campus-based version. It’s on track to […]
Online Teaching Conference (#CCCOTC15) Keynote
Back in June I had the pleasure of giving the keynote at the Online Teaching Conference (#CCCOTC15) in San Diego, put on by the California Community College system. There was quite a bit of valuable backchannel discussions as well as sharing of the slides. The theme of the talk was: Emerging Trends in Online / […]
UF Online and Enrollment Warning Signs
The University of Florida Online (UF Online) program is one of the highest profile online initiatives to be started over the past few years (alongside other public institution programs such as California’s Online Education Initiative, OpenSUNY, Cal State Online, and Georgia Tech / Udacity). UF Online, which I first described in this blog post, is an […]
Worth Reading: Use of adjuncts and one challenge of online education
There is a fascinating essay today at Inside Higher Ed giving an inside, first-person view of being an adjunct professor. 2015 is my 25th year of adjunct teaching. In the fall I will teach my 500th three-credit college course. I have put in many 14- to 16-hour days, with many 70- to 80-hour weeks. My […]
2U Learning Platform Update: Removal of Moodle, addition of accessibility options
2U has now been a public company for over a year, and that had what is easily the most successful education IPO in recent history. Shares have almost doubled from $13.00 at IPO to $25.50 last week. At the same time, there is a swirl of news around their new partner Yale and the Physician Assistant’s […]