8 practices to build an online learning community - MIKE DI GREGORIO, eCampus News

Before COVID-19 turned the academic world upside down, community and connection happened almost spontaneously. Students could walk into a classroom and introduce themselves to the people around them and instantly feel part of their learning community. They could linger afterwards to ask a question or organize a study group. Outside of class there were endless opportunities to socialize through clubs, sports teams, and other activities. Fast forward to 2020 and, for most students, the campus experience, at least as we’ve known it, has become another casualty of the ongoing pandemic. For better or worse, the virtual classroom is now the place for students to find that all important sense of community.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2020/10/09/8-practices-to-build-an-online-learning-community/

A Student Perspective on Learning Remotely - Aya Hammouda, PharmD candidate at Touro College of Pharmacy

Overall, virtual learning has made it possible to have learning experiences very similar to those we enjoyed on campus. We have achieved an almost seamless transition for attending class in-person or remotely. Our college has made tremendous efforts to mimic the benefits of on-campus learning as closely as possible while meeting all accreditation standards. They’ve adjusted schedules and given us the means to reach professors when needed, and our education is not suffering. We recognize there are challenges even with face-to-face learning. As a P4 student, I look forward to even better online education experiences as we move ahead.

https://tcop.touro.edu/news/stories/a-student-perspective-on-learning-remotely.php

How cybercrime has evolved since the pandemic hit - REUBEN JACKSON, Big Think

McAfee's user base has been seeing an average of 375 new threats per minute during the pandemic. Once everyone got situated in their home offices and their company's security teams started taking the appropriate measures, how did the attackers adjust? Ransomware on cloud servers, hijack attempts on IoT gadgets and business email compromise (BEC) attacks increased in volume as well as sophistication over the course of Q3 2020.

https://bigthink.com/cybercrime-evolved-during-pandemic

Online Learning: Perseverance and Perspectives - Lena Cassidy, the Whit

Online learning is not universal. There is no global fix to conquer all of the learning curves between majors. A nursing major and a writing major cannot learn the same way. Zoom is not a comprehensive resource for everyone. The only commonality between all majors that were asked is that class and home cannot coexist. Being in class at home is emotionally draining and physically exhausting. Staying mentally active in class while having all of the distractions of home is the first challenge.

https://thewhitonline.com/2020/10/features/online-learning-perseverance-and-perspectives/

How to Make the Perfect Home Office - HomeHow UK

 There may have never been a more critical time in our careers that we have a comfortable location to work outside of the office. The ongoing global pandemic has made it a necessity that workers from around the world work remotely, usually from home. To maintain the same efficiency and productivity at home as we would in the office, requires a more than adequate home office.

https://www.homehow.co.uk/blog/how-to-make-the-perfect-home-office

The shift online has colleges looking to share courses - Alia Wong, Education Dive

Dozens of institutions have joined consortia for exchanging online classes since the pandemic began, and new options have sprung up. Course-sharing networks historically have tended to comprise small groups of neighboring colleges with similar curricular goals, such as the Five College Consortium in Western Massachusetts and the Claremont Colleges in Los Angeles County. While the early course-sharing happened in-person, newer initiatives let students take classes online from schools all over the country. But demand for course-sharing services has soared since the pandemic began. Forced to quickly adjust to remote instruction, some colleges looked to consortia for help filling out their online program offerings.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/the-shift-online-has-colleges-looking-to-share-courses/586346/

Student Loan Default Rates by School & State - Mike Brown, LendEdu

 The national student loan default rate for the 2017 fiscal year was 9.70%, which is a decrease of 0.40 percentage points from when the student loan default rate was 10.10% for the 2016 fiscal year (last year's report). Not surprisingly, for-profit institutions had the highest collective student loan default rate (14.70%), followed by public institutions (9.30%), and private institutions (6.70%). 

https://lendedu.com/blog/student-loan-default-rates-by-school-state-2020/

OPINION: Equity in online learning is about much more than technology access - Amy Smith, Hechinger Report

 Debate about the fairness of online learning tends to revolve around technology access. And there are indeed sharp disparities in home access to computers and reliable broadband service. But equity in online learning is more than simply making sure students have decent technology and fast internet. Every student — not just the marginalized and disenfranchised — needs sound course design, sufficient student support and testing programs that make sense and protect integrity.At this time in our history, the global pandemic presents a unique opportunity to establish and refine an online learning model that is fair and equitable for all students. 

https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-equity-in-online-learning-is-about-much-more-than-technology-access/

What’s on the horizon for higher ed? - eCampus News

 The Covid-19 pandemic has permanently changed higher education. While other sectors may rebound to pre-pandemic conditions and some may disappear forever, our nation’s colleges and universities are most certainly going to rebound to something that looks quite different from just one year ago, Forbes reports.  There is upside and downside to this fact. The upside: change was needed and perhaps long overdue. The downside: it’s expensive and not everyone will be successful.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2020/09/30/whats-on-the-horizon-for-higher-ed/

A hybrid education format is sticking around. Here’s how we can improve the model - Anant Agarwal, Fast Company

 In recent weeks, colleges and universities have had to radically adapt traditional learning to keep students safe as COVID-19 shows little sign of abating. Now, students and teachers are grappling with how to avoid learning disruptions and maximize engagement in a remote world. The good news is, the online learning space is more sophisticated now. EdTech (or educational technology)platforms have not seen this much demand, pressure, and energy around online learning since the MOOC movement (massively online open courses) first exploded onto the scene in 2012. The difference is that now we have experience and data about what resonates in the online learning experience to create the most seamless and engaging education journey for students.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90559185/prepare-for-a-blended-future-why-virtual-learning-is-here-to-stay

Is the US the next big market for outbound students? - Anthony C Ogden and Denise Cope, University World News

 There may be some major shifts under way in international student mobility patterns. The current upheavals in the United States higher education landscape appear to be driving greater numbers of US students to consider full degrees abroad. US universities and colleges were on the ropes prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with many institutions already facing shrinking enrolments, budget crunches and stagnating public funding. Add COVID-19 to the mix and the challenges only get worse for US higher education. The cracks in the system are growing into chasms and the landscape may be forever changed.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20201002154520979

Envisioning the Future of Higher Ed in a Post-pandemic World - Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

In a recent ASU+GSV session, five college presidents gave their views of what’s next for higher education. What does the future of higher education look like? A panel of five university and college presidents offered their crystal-ball visions in a recent session during the recent ASU+GSV Summit, which took place online this week. Moderator Michelle Marx, chancellor of the University of Colorado Denver, asked panelists — each representing a unique higher education model — to look forward five years and beyond.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2020/10/02/envisioning-the-future-of-higher-ed-in-a-post-pandemic-world.aspx

The Biggest Higher Ed Story of the Decade: How Online Degrees at Scale Will Transform Education - Chelsea Toczauer, Online Education

We spoke with professors that are also experts in the design and rollout of scaled online degrees to learn more about the development of online degrees at scale and what they could mean for students. 

https://www.onlineeducation.com/features/online-degrees-at-scale

Innovators Seek Zoom University 2.0 - Lindsay McKenzie, Inside Higher Ed

In the space of just a few months, thousands of students joke that they have transferred to Zoom U -- some even opting to make it "official" with the purchase of an unofficial sweatshirt. Zoom’s videoconferencing platform has become synonymous with remote instruction during the pandemic. But Zoom was not designed specifically for educational use. ClassEDU, a start-up created by Michael Chasen, former CEO and co-founder of Blackboard, aims to change that. ClassEDU announced last week that it has raised $16 million in seed funding to develop Class for Zoom -- a Zoom add-on that will give educators new features such as the ability to take class attendance, get data insights into student participation and issue interactive quizzes during class.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/29/companies-and-instructors-build-technology-take-remote-instruction-video-tools-next

Online learning cannot just be for those who can afford its technology -Nature - Editorial

All this means that students from the poorest families, without Internet access, are more likely to be denied education — widening already deep educational inequalities. Because education is strongly linked to later jobs, income and health, setbacks now will last a lifetime. In universities, the transition to online education is enabling institutions to reach out to students from underserved areas and under-represented communities. But paradoxically, if children from these communities are unable to access earlier schooling, fewer will be able to proceed to higher education. The pandemic will force a large number of institutions will remain closed, and online learning will substitute for the real thing. But if broadband and laptops are the equivalent of the teacher, the library and the laboratory, it cannot be acceptable that these are available to only a fraction of students.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02709-3

Reimagining Online Education: How Perceived Constraints Became Affordances in an Undergraduate Online STEM Course - Alex Rockey, EDUAUSE Review

Using integrated technologies in online courses to provide effective and meaningful feedback to students can leverage the unique affordances of online courses to support student success. With remote teaching being used in emergency situations, proactively knowing how to teach and learn online is more important than ever. Educators at all levels need to have a sense of empirically based pedagogy to guide them when they are called to teach online.

https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/9/reimagining-online-education-how-perceived-constraints-became-affordances

Dear Professors: Don't Let Student Webcams Trick You - Matthea Marquart and Roxanne Russell, EDUCAUSE Review

Instructors who teach live online classes should thoughtfully consider whether to require students to use their webcams during class. First is the issue of equity. Second, constantly being on webcam can detract from student learning.... We recommend that instructors stay on their webcams throughout the class and plan selective use of students' webcams for activities such as group discussions, role-play activities, debates, panel discussions, student presentations, and any other interactive activity that would be enhanced by seeing the students who are speaking. Even in those cases, if a student cannot be on webcam, participation via microphone or typed chat can suffice. 

https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2020/9/dear-professors-dont-let-student-webcams-trick-you

The Blockchain Future of Higher Ed - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

As higher education slowly adapts to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), spurred by the COVID crisis, students and industry are recognizing the need for a technologically supported way to document the full array of learning in the classroom and beyond. Soon to disappear will be the notarized paper transcripts that are controlled by the university. In the past, these 19th-century-type documents have been subject to withholding for unpaid fines and fees.  The American Council on Education has recognized the need to support this move to electronic credentialing and ledger dissemination. They have announced a $900,000 Blockchain Innovation Challenge with applications due Oct. 30.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/blockchain-future-higher-ed

Looking Beyond COVID‐19: Crisis Leadership Implications for Chairs - Ralph Gigliotti, Tomorrow's Professor

Effective leadership during times of crisis requires a dual focus on triaging immediate needs while also making strategic decisions that serve the long‐term interests of one's unit, department, or institution. As we make sense of the short‐ and long‐term effects of the pandemic, what follows are considerations for effectively navigating the present crisis while also looking ahead to collectively advance department strategic priorities.

https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1815

Wellness and Mental Health in 2020 Online Learning - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

Worldwide, lives are stressed and strained by COVID-19. Nowhere is that more evident than in the lives of students, staff and faculty members engaged in the transformed role of online learning. As higher education adapts to teaching and learning at a distance, the workload and the learning load of adopting a new delivery mode is taking a huge toll on the lives of those in higher education. This is an immense problem that is growing rapidly. While there are some students who are thriving through online learning, the toll of the virus, isolation, increased workloads and other associated effects are rising among many students, staff and faculty members. It must not be underestimated. Every institution must address these challenges that threaten the well-being of their constituents.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/wellness-and-mental-health-2020-online-learning

Debunking a few myths on online learning - Enrique Dans, Medium

Last week, in one of my articles, a reader commented that online learning basically consisted of “recorded videos and a web with tutorials and examples”. For someone who has been teaching online for twenty years in addition to delivering face-to-face classes, who has had the opportunity to abundantly compare both models, and who has also seen the institution where I work reach the top of the international MBA rankings for its online programs, I simply can’t accept that we’re going to lose the greatest opportunity ever to develop this type of learning due to myths, clichés and half-truths.

https://medium.com/enrique-dans/debunking-a-few-myths-on-online-learning-a6b33116d552