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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.
Beck Technology recently announced that it will donate its DProfiler software platform to colleges and universities for use in construction-related coursework. Microsoft is initiating the fourth in a series of datacenter upgrades to enable its cloud computing services, according to a Microsoft blog post Tuesday. And, like everything else in the software world, being highly modular is a good thing. Now that we are conducting at least a part of our business of education virtually and often meeting in virtual environments, let's explore the really big question for academics in a Web 2.0 era... A college or university without a Web site is inconceivable today, but with every site comes the challenge of managing content. Some sort of automated system is a given, but how much should the site's content management system integrate with other aspects of the campus computing infrastructure? How IBM's new release is following through on old challenges... big ones. North Idaho College will be implementing a new classroom capture system as part of an effort to provide accessible education to students with disabilities. The college will be using SpeakerBox from ClearSky Systems for the lecture capture program beginning in January 2009.
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