As a writer, editor, and now Editor-at-Large for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jeff Selingo has observed and written about higher education for more than 15 years. My assessment of his observations noted in his book, College (Un)Bound: The Future of Higher Education and What it Means for Students, is not unlike a statistician analyzing a very large dataset where every independent variable is technically significant. Similar to a statistician looking to hone in on the most significant independent variables in the previous situation, Selingo has directed the primary focus of the book to the coming disruption of traditional colleges and universities.… Read the rest
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College (Un)Bound by Jeffrey J. Selingo
Education Innovation: Fad or Burgeoning Industry?
I had the pleasure of attending last week’s Education Innovation Summit 2013 in Phoenix. Co-sponsored by Arizona State University (ASU) and GSV Advisors, this year’s event was the fourth and the largest by far. Because of my role in online education at American Public University System (APUS), I have been a member of the ASU/GSV advisory board and have attended all four conferences. Each year attendance has grown at an impressive rate with estimated figures of 200, 400, 800, and 1400 for each consecutive annual conference. … Read the rest
Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States
For the last ten years The Sloan Consortium has been publishing the results of their annual survey about online learning in the United States. This year’s edition, “Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States,” contains some noteworthy information. Published in partnership with Pearson and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, this year’s survey focuses a significant amount of attention on MOOCs.
I’ve written about MOOCs several times on this blog and the topic is receiving increased attention from a variety of sources. … Read the rest
Another Conversation About MOOCs
As an alumnus of the doctoral program in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education (GSE), I attended Penn GSE’s recent conference entitled “Innovation in an Era of Disruptive Change.” Conference attendees and alums of the grad school heard Dr. Jack Wilson, President Emeritus of the University of Massachusetts, discuss his topic “Evolution or Revolution: Everyone Wants Universities to Change but Exactly How is Not so Clear.” Dr. Wilson discussed his experience with online education in the early days of establishing UMass Online. … Read the rest
Pilot Program Forces Discussion of Online Learning, MOOCs, Student Retention, and the Future of Higher Education
Earlier this week, the California State University System (CSU) announced an online pilot program with Udacity, a for-profit provider of MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses). Udacity will provide a remedial algebra course, a college level algebra course, and a statistics course as part of the pilot that will initially be limited to 300 students at San Jose State University and several local community colleges. The cost of each course will be $150. Udacity will provide mentors to the students to answer their questions and encourage them to complete the assignments and stay enrolled in class. … Read the rest
Considering the Rising Cost of College and Administrative Bloat
During the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, fewer articles about higher education are published, primarily because colleges and universities are closed and faculty, students, and administrators are not around. On December 28, 2012, however, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “Deans List: Hiring Spree Fattens College Bureaucracy- and Tuition.” The article doesn’t appear to have been picked up in too many other places. I read an article entitled “Administrative Bloat at America’s Colleges and Universities,” however, on December 30 in Outside the Beltway that wrote about the WSJ article and added a few comments as well. … Read the rest
What to Make of All the Rapid Innovations in Higher Education?
I was a panel participant at a conference last Thursday in Washington, DC. The conference was sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute and was called Stretching the Higher Education Dollar. The five panels that were convened included: The Case for Reform, Opportunities and Obstacles at Existing Institutions, Unbundling College Degrees in Theory and Practice, College in Pieces: Cost Effective Approaches to Student Services and Credentialing, and Implications for State and Federal Policy. Videos of the discussions are available at the previous link and papers written by some of the panelists on the topics will be available as well.… Read the rest
Barriers to Adoption of Online Learning Systems in U.S. Higher Education
Ithaka S+R recently published a report funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and titled, “Barriers to Adoption of Online Learning Systems in U.S. Higher Education.” I have written extensively on this blog about the economic constraints facing institutions of higher education, issues of student persistence and retention, and the litany of other issues daunting the American higher education system today. In their report, the authors explore many of these same topics explaining why they believe online education could be a boon for higher education in general and students, faculty, and individual institutions specifically. … Read the rest
Alternative Certification – A Good Idea?
I have read three articles in the last three days about alternatives to earning a college degree, primarily through certification of one kind or another.
The first article, from The Chronicle of Higher Education, discusses the concept of “badges” that are awarded by various websites, training companies, individuals, etc. The concept is that the badge is relatively easy to earn (to keep the learner motivated and engaged) and indicates that they have achieved a certain skill level or learning competency. … Read the rest
- Celebrating Innovation in Education at the 2013 Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition
- College (Un)Bound by Jeffrey J. Selingo
- Nature and Needs of Higher Education
- Contagious: Why Things Catch On
- Education Innovation: Fad or Burgeoning Industry?
- Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns
- The “Myths” About Online Education
- Charlene Li’s Groundswell
- Higher Ed’s Economic Challenges
- My Vote is For Apple
- WallyBoston.com | Education Innovation: Fad or Burgeoning Industry?: [...] the disrupters by utilizing the technology a...
- WallyBoston.com | Earth Day: [...] is Earth Day and it seems fitting to share a...
- Disruption in Higher Education | Wallace Boston: [...] written about MOOCs in the past (see “What...
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Juan Rosado: All, Dr. Delbanco is giving a webinar/class on th...
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