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Focus
Are We There Yet?
10/29/2004
Since my 1999 predictions for distance education, subtle shifts in teaching and learning patterns have emerged.
Many of you may remember that in June of 1999 I shared a number of teaching
and learning predictions for 2007 with Syllabus readers (“21st
Century Teaching and Learning Patterns”). Now, here it is five years later
and—armed with the realities and perspectives of 2004—I have the
opportunity to revisit many of those predictions with Campus Technology
readers, to find out how close to the mark I came. What has happened in the
realm of distance education since those prognostications? How has technology
changed the way we deliver teaching and encourage learning?
Predictions vs. Reality
1—Students will be savvy consumers of educational services. To examine the outcome of this prophesy, I needed to focus on the impact on students, faculty, content, and environments.
One unexpected twist on this “consumer” perspective is that students’ expectations for faculty interaction with and support for online courses actually increased dramatically. The 24/7 environment of the Internet pumped up those expectations, rather than decreasing them. As for faculty and institutions, more and more, institutions are acknowledging that online courses cannot survive and thrive with only a “Lone Ranger” faculty member at the helm; they require a team for effective design, development, and delivery. More courses are now supported by an instructional team with a lead faculty, a course mentor or assistant, library liaison, and often 24/7 technical support.
The first wave of online faculty was often very committed and dedicated. Those pioneers tried diligently to accommodate expectations; they even felt guilty about not responding to student e-mail on weekends. Not surprisingly, the more recent response from many faculty has been, “Wait a minute—I have a life and many responsibilities outside of this course!” Faculty now routinely make clear to students when they are available and which types of questions it makes sense to pose to them; which to direct to others.
Yet another twist has been the learning response from students. Distance education students are now more engaged than they were previously. Emerging brain science research emphasizes the need for student engagement in learning (indeed, that is about the only time learning d'es occur), and students are maturing in their roles as learners, embracing the new technologies and the new philosophies that support their ability to personalize and customize their learning. Moreover, they often see themselves as resources for other students—a finding consistent with another growing expectation, that of students becoming part of “learning communities.”
From the vantage point of 2004, I now suggest a revised prediction: “Students won’t just be savvy consumers of educational services, they’ll be savvy participants in those services.”
2—Faculty work and roles will make a dramatic shift to specialization.
In May in San Francisco, experts from leading universities, libraries, and research institutions around the world met as part of an ongoing effort to address a pressing issue: archiving the world's history, right up to today. The Quilt, a coalition of 28 regional network organizations, has added XO Communications Services to its authorized vendor list. The Quilt represents 200 universities and thousands of other educational institutions across the United States. With this new relationship, Quilt members can purchase XO's high-speed IP transit and network transport services at competitive rates. At the NECC 2008 conference in Texas this week, Wimba launched a new version of Wimba Classroom, the virtual classroom component of the company's Collaboration Suite. The new 5.2 release expands options for classroom capture and adds a variety of other functional and ease of use features. The lure of automating workflow online so human intervention is minimized is continually reinforced in the minds of higher education administrators by examples of automated campus systems such as financials, student information systems, and other enterprise systems. But what's good for management is not always good for learning. Cognos, which IBM acquired in January, has released an update to its business intelligence software that will run on the Linux operating system on IBM System z mainframes. IBM Cognos 8 BI was being developed by the two companies prior to the acquisition, but assimilation of Cognos into IBM accelerated development. Facebook is a way to greet a colleague as if she or he is on your own campus: a wave at a distance, a hello at the corner burrito place, a honk as you both leave the campus parking lot. Informal collegiality has been extended over the miles.
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