The document discusses the future of higher education and online learning. It examines two case studies: a traditional online degree from Syracuse University and a massive open online course (MOOC) from the University of Pennsylvania on Coursera. While technology has advanced, the commitment to open learning remains. MOOCs reach far more students but have minimal faculty involvement. Lectures remain important for structure. Discussions are not truly collaborative. Less educational technology may be best. The future may include credit for MOOCs and less traditional classroom lectures.

1. The Future of
Higher Ed?
#ne2
A Canary in the Coal Mine
of Online Learning Lori Packer
HighEdWeb New England
March 18, 2013
Monday, March 18, 13

2. “Online” learning
isn’t new
Walter Lewin, “Electricity and Magnetism” http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-02-electricity-and-
magnetism-spring-2002/ License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Monday, March 18, 13

3. “Online” learning
isn’t new
Walter Lewin, “Electricity and Magnetism” http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-02-electricity-and-
magnetism-spring-2002/ License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Monday, March 18, 13

4. “Online” learning
isn’t new
Walter Lewin
MIT Physics
professor
His courses have
been on MIT
CableTV for
almost 20 years.
Broadcast on
PBS stations in
the 1990s.
Walter Lewin, “Electricity and Magnetism” http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-02-electricity-and-
magnetism-spring-2002/ License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Monday, March 18, 13

5. Technology has changed.
Business models have changed.
Expectations have changed.
Commitment to open learning
and teaching is the same.
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

6. Case Study #1:
Traditional
Online degree in Library and
Information Sciences from
Syracuse University’s iSchool
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

7. Case Study #2:
MOOC
Gamification course offered by
University of Pennsylvania’s
Wharton School through Coursera
Taught by Kevin Werbach (@kwerb)
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

8. What is a MOOC, you ask?
• Massively Open Online Course
• Free, open to anyone who signs up, all
online (no classroom component)
• Udacity (Stanford), edX (MIT and
Harvard, Berkeley), Coursera (now up
to 62 partner schools in 16 countries)
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

9. What is Coursera, you ask?
• Consortium founded by Penn, Michigan,
Princeton
• Major expansions in September 2012 (17
new schools added) and February 2013
(29 new schools added)
• For-profit, venture capital funded
• 313 courses, 2.8 million students
• Costs universities ~$30,000 to produce a
Coursea MOOC
Monday, March 18, 13

10. Students
Monday, March 18, 13

11. Case Study #1:
Traditional
• Students apply to the graduate
program, are accepted or rejected
• 20-30 students per class
• Mix of students who need the MLS
credential and students changing,
expanding careers
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

12. Case Study #2:
MOOC
• 80,000 students enrolled
• 43,000 have watched 1st lecture video
• 12,800 submitted 1st written assignment
• 10,700 submitted 2nd written assignment
• 8,280 completed course & earned certificate
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

13. Case Study #2:
MOOC
• Students were STILL signing up
with only one week left in the
course -- Why?
• For future access to video
lectures, maybe?
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

14. Faculty
Monday, March 18, 13

15. Personal Takeaway #1
Faculty are HUGELY important to
the online learning experience ...
... maybe even more so than in an
in-person classroom experience.
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

16. Case Study #1:
Traditional
• Create syllabi
• Prepare lectures (usually)
• Moderate discussions forums (usually)
• Devise assignments
• Grade assignments
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

17. Case Study #2:
MOOC
• Prepare lectures
• Devise assignments
• ... and that’s pretty much it.
• Grading = online quizzes, peer grading
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

18. More on Peer Grading
• Must complete 3 written assignments
• Must evaluate essays from 3 students
• BUT ... why would a student in this
class know more than me on this topic?
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

19. Lectures
Monday, March 18, 13

20. Case Study #1:
Traditional
Monday, March 18, 13

21. Case Study #1:
Traditional
Monday, March 18, 13

22. Case Study #2:
MOOC
Monday, March 18, 13

23. Case Study #2:
MOOC
Monday, March 18, 13

24. Personal Takeaway #2
The lecture isn’t going away.
The lecture -- as a format, as
content -- is what binds the
students together in an online
class, more so than “discussions.”
It’s what we have in
#ne2 common. It provides
structure.
Monday, March 18, 13

25. Collaboration
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26. Personal Takeaway #3
“Discussions” are not discussions.
Discuss.
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

27. Case Study #1:
Traditional
• Discussions are treated as homework
• Effectiveness depends on the role
taken by the professor
• Blackboard makes following
discussion threads difficult
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

28. Case Study #1:
Traditional
• Other “collaboration” tools in Blackboard:
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Messaging
• File sharing
• However, real collaboration took place on
Google Docs, Facebook
Monday, March 18, 13

29. Monday, March 18, 13

30. Case Study #2:
MOOC
• Discussion forums actually didn’t
play a role in the class for me at all
• Real discussions were on Twitter,
mostly with friends outside the class
• Discussion platform in Coursera more
user-friendly
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

31. Technology
Monday, March 18, 13

32. Personal Takeaway #4
Less is more with educational
technology.
I don’t need a Swiss-army-knife
kitchen-sink LMS.
Make it easy to use, easy to collaborate.
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

33. Case Study #1:
Traditional
“Blackboard is
not awesome.”
http://goddessofclarity.com/
2011/07/18/blackboard-is-
not-awesome/
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

34. Case Study #2:
MOOC
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

35. The Future of
Higher Ed?
Monday, March 18, 13

36. “The world is simply
moving too fast.”
-- University of Virginia
Board of Visitors Rector Helen Dragas
#ne2
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2012/06/sullivan-
resignation-spotlights-long-running-debate-about-online-
education/
Monday, March 18, 13

37. “Rarely is the question asked,
‘Is our children learning?’”
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/hack-higher-education/dropping-out-moocs-it-really-okay
Monday, March 18, 13

38. “MIT and Harvard will use the
jointly operated edX platform to
research how students learn and
how technologies can facilitate
effective teaching both on-campus
and online. The edX platform will
enable the study of which
teaching methods and tools are
most successful. ”
#ne2
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/mit-harvard-edx-
announcement-050212.html
Monday, March 18, 13

39. Credentialling
•Coursera courses approved for college
credit by ACE
http://www.informationweek.com/education/online-learning/coursera-courses-
approved-for-college-cr/240148119
•Legislation would require all CA
systems schools to accept ACE courses
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/13/california-bill-
encourage-mooc-credit-public-colleges
•“Signature Track” offers potential for
for-credit courses for a fee
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/coursera-announces-details-for-selling-
certificates-and-verifying-identities/41519
Monday, March 18, 13

40. Credentialling
•Colorado State’s Global Campus offers
transfer credits for Udacity’s “Intro to
Computer Science” course
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/education/colorado-state-to-
offer-credits-for-online-class.html
•EdX offers students option to take
proctored exams
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/09/07/site-based-
testing-deals-strengthen-case-granting-credit-mooc-students
#ne2
Monday, March 18, 13

41. Adding value:
Education or Prestige?
“Think about how impressed you’d be if
your cousin got into Harvard. Then think
about how impressed you’d be if your
cousin told you she was going to enroll in
Harvard’s free online course. Then
subtract those two. The difference is the
value of a Harvard education.”
--University of Rochester
#ne2
professor Ben Hayden
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-decision-tree/
201205/how-harvard-and-mit-can-give-away-their-only-
product-free
Monday, March 18, 13

42. “In five to 10 years, people are going
to look back and wonder why
universities ever crammed 500
students into an auditorium to listen
to a lecture for an hour and a half.”
-- Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller
#ne2
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/30/162053927/online-education-
grows-up-and-for-now-its-free
Monday, March 18, 13

43. Questions?
@LoriPA
I’m all ears.
< do canaries have ears? >
Monday, March 18, 13