New research from Simon Fraser University suggests that students learning remotely become night owls but do not sleep more despite the time saved commuting, working or attending social events. The study, led by psychology professor Ralph Mistlberger, Andrea Smit and Myriam Juda, at SFU's Circadian Rhythms and Sleep Lab, compared self-reported data on sleep habits from 80 students enrolled in a 2020 summer session course at SFU with data collected from 450 students enrolled in the same course during previous summer semesters. The study results were recently published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Friday, May 21, 2021
Thursday, May 20, 2021
Online Cheating Charges Upend Dartmouth Medical School - Natasha Singer and Aaron Krolik, NY Times
He is one of 17 medical students whom Dartmouth recently accused of cheating on remote tests while in-person exams were shut down because of the coronavirus. The allegations have prompted an on-campus protest, letters of concern to school administrators from more than two dozen faculty members and complaints of unfair treatment from the student government, turning the pastoral Ivy League campus into a national battleground over escalating school surveillance during the pandemic.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/09/technology/dartmouth-geisel-medical-cheating.html
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
A Second Demographic Cliff Adds to Urgency for Change - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
Now, we see another major drop in births during 2020, with births down 4 percent over the year, but notably accelerating to 8 percent by December as the impact of COVID took hold earlier in the year, reducing births nine months later. In sum, competition is rapidly growing; the pool of “traditional” students is evaporating; employers are dropping degree requirements; and, with student debt now surpassing $1.7 trillion, we all know that families are looking for more cost-effective paths to the knowledge and skills they seek. "The fundamental business model for delivering education is broken," said Rick Beyer, a senior fellow and practice area lead for mergers and affiliations at the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. "The consolidation era started a few years ago. It will continue. We will see more closures." What, then, are the bright spots for postsecondary learning?
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
The Impact Of OER At the University - Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate
A large-scale study conducted at the University of Georgia discovered that students who received free course materials at the beginning of a class received much higher academic results than those who did not. The study drew a comparison between the final grades of students enrolled in eight major undergraduate courses between 2010 and 2016. Each course was taught by a professor who, at a point during the six-year study period, changed from using a commercial textbook that was valued at more than $100 to a digital, free textbook, otherwise known as an open educational resource (OER). When the results (before and after) were compared, it was concluded that changing to OER increased the quantity of A and A- results by 5.5% and 7.73%, respectively.
https://www.thetechedvocate.org/the-impact-of-oer-at-the-university/
Monday, May 17, 2021
Acceptance of the Widespread Transition to Online Learning Grows - FinancialBuzz.com
Thesurvey, conducted by The Digital Learning Pulse, includes responses from 772 teaching faculty, 514 academic administrators and 1,413 students who were registered at a U.S. higher education institution for both the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters. The majority of students, 73%, "somewhat" or "strongly" (46%) agreed that they would like to take some fully online courses in the future. Online learning is also structured to save time and opens several doors to immersive learning. Instead of being passive, learners can choose what they need to learn quickly and easily, from wherever they are. Overall, the global online education market size is projected to reach USD 245.9 Billion by 2026, from USD 153.18 Billion in 2020 while witnessing a CAGR of 8.2% during 2021-2026, according to data provided by Valuates Reports.
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Predicting Levels of Student Satisfaction during COVID-19 - Madison Foerderer, Sarah Hoffman, Natalie Schneider and J. Roxanne Prichard; EDUCAUSE Review
Based on our own and our peers' disappointment with the quality of online learning in spring 2020, we hypothesized that there would be a difference in student satisfaction levels across the three modalities. We predicted that face-to-face learning would have the highest level of student satisfaction and online would have the lowest. However, the data showed otherwise. Even when students had no choice but to enroll in the format their school was offering, there was not a significant difference in overall student satisfaction levels across the three learning modalities. When asked to rank their level of agreement with the statement "Overall, I liked the course," students' average endorsement scores ranged between "neither agree nor disagree" and "somewhat agree" (see table 1).
https://er.educause.edu/articles/2021/4/predicting-levels-of-student-satisfaction-during-covid-19
Saturday, May 15, 2021
What Ed Tech Could Be Today's Antikythera Mechanism? - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
The Antikythera mechanism is an astounding device dating to antiquity. It has been hailed as the first mechanical computer, but more precisely it is an educational device.This was an ed-tech device that was millennia ahead of general adoption. It is that revelation that gives me pause to question, what might be the educational technology in recent history that could be comparable in some more modest way to the Antikythera mechanism? Likely, any such comparison will be to virtual technologies such as apps or software.Or, maybe, in fact, it is the medium rather than the multitude of educational technology devices and applications that are developed that will go down as the most remarkable ed tech of our time.
Friday, May 14, 2021
The 4 stages of Zoom enlightenment - Tom Haymes, eCampus News
Digital environments, like their physical counterparts, can offer great opportunities but, in order for them to be sustainable, we need a system to define and understand how different online interactions actually work. Understanding how different online interactions lead to and support learning is critical as learning becomes increasingly digital. I call this system the Four Stages of Zoom Enlightenment.
https://www.ecampusnews.com/2021/05/03/the-4-stages-of-zoom-enlightenment/
Thursday, May 13, 2021
Engaging all higher education students with student-centric approaches - Anthony Salcito, Vice President, Microsoft Education
A new whitepaper, “Reimagining higher education as a student-centered experience” by Microsoft Education, explores some post-covid trends impacting higher education, and how technology can help address them.
Trend 1: Students are becoming more diverse and so are their expectations of higher education’s role in their path to employment Trend 2: Harnessing data and leveraging AI will increasingly help institutions provide more personalized experiences and operate with greater agility Trend 3: The integration of technology with pedagogy will enable more flexible, engaging, and inclusive learning experiences.
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
The Changing Face of Science - Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed
Academic science is much more diverse than it was a generation ago, even if it still has a ways to go. That’s according to a new report on women, minorities and people with disabilities from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics at the National Science Foundation. The share of academic jobs held by female doctorates in science, engineering and health fields increased from 26 percent in 1999 to 39 percent in 2019. Underrepresented minorities hold more of these jobs now than in 1999, but their share -- 9 percent -- is still “considerably less” than their share of the population, according to the NSF. By comparison, underrepresented minorities make up one-third of the U.S. The share of academic scientists with one or more disabilities also increased over the same period, to 9 percent. Their share of the general population is about 11 percent.
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
6 Key Technologies Moving Teaching and Learning Forward in 2021 - Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology
Educause's latest Horizon Report outlines the biggest trends shaping teaching and learning this year. In particular, the report identified six technologies and practices that are key to higher education institutions' future planning, whether those topics are newly emerging or evolving from previous years. They are topics that can come, go and return to Horizon Reports from year to year "more organically, reflecting the most current issues," the report explained. In this year's list of key technologies, the categories of artificial intelligence, open educational resources, and learning analytics have made a repeat appearance in the report. They are joined by three new categories: blended and hybrid course models, quality online learning, and microcredentialing.
Monday, May 10, 2021
Online learning remains high priority for higher ed, Educause report finds - Emily Bamforth, EdScoop
Higher education leaders and instructors interviewed by Educause reviewed 130 technology practices and identified six as the most crucial to the future. Blended and hybrid course models were rated as the most important as universities sought ways to maintain their operations through the health crisis. “Sustainability was something that I think we felt worldwide,” said Kathe Pelletier, director of Educause’s teaching and learning program. “If I had to trace that back, [that could be from] having come from a place of responding to the pandemic and at those panelists own institutions that they did not have a sustainable or a flexible plan that could help sustain.”
Sunday, May 9, 2021
Online learning remains high priority for higher ed, Educause report finds - Emily Bamforth, EdScoop
Higher education leaders and instructors interviewed by Educause reviewed 130 technology practices and identified six as the most crucial to the future. Blended and hybrid course models were rated as the most important as universities sought ways to maintain their operations through the health crisis. “Sustainability was something that I think we felt worldwide,” said Kathe Pelletier, director of Educause’s teaching and learning program. “If I had to trace that back, [that could be from] having come from a place of responding to the pandemic and at those panelists own institutions that they did not have a sustainable or a flexible plan that could help sustain.”
Saturday, May 8, 2021
Students Want Online Learning Options Post-Pandemic - Lindsay McKenzie, Inside Higher Ed
The experience of learning remotely during the pandemic left students with a positive attitude toward online and hybrid courses, a new survey suggests.The Digital Learning Pulse survey, published today, is the fourth in a series of surveys published by Bay View Analytics in partnership with Cengage, the Online Learning Consortium, the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies and the University Professional and Continuing Education Association. The majority of students, 73 percent, "somewhat" or "strongly" (46 percent) agreed that they would like to take some fully online courses in the future. A slightly smaller number of students, 68 percent, indicated they would be interested in taking courses offering a combination of in-person and online instruction.
Friday, May 7, 2021
Many left behind in this recovery have something in common: No college degree - Heather Long, Washington Post
The latest hiring numbers show encouraging signs that women are returning to the labor force, but major struggles remain for men and women without college degrees. Hiring has rebounded quickly for Americans with college degrees. In recent months, there has been a noticeable surge in people with two-year associate’s degrees getting back into the workforce, but Americans with only a high school diploma or less remain deep in crisis mode, even as employers claim they are having trouble finding workers.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/04/22/jobs-no-college-degree/
Thursday, May 6, 2021
Cultivating the agile university requires good leadership - Nita Temmerman, University World News
At the heart of the agile university is good leadership: a leader who is committed to and can successfully and clearly guide the people and operations of the institution towards ever better results and reputation; a leader who will steer the way to nurturing a healthy community culture in which people feel they belong, that their contribution is valued and that they are entrusted to work independently towards achieving expected outcomes. This might mean eliminating barriers between divisions and layer upon layer of bureaucracy that impedes progress and pits different sections of the institution against each other.
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210419105006889
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Here’s Who Was Hit Hardest by Higher Ed’s Pandemic-Driven Job Losses - Dan Bauman, Chronicle of Higher Ed
Mirroring trends in the larger economy, certain workers in higher education have endured a disproportionate share of the losses. Workers with limited labor protections, like those providing administrative support or working in food service, were particularly hard hit. So were employees of color, who saw outsized losses relative to their share of the overall work force. Job losses were worst in the early months of the pandemic, when higher ed shed hundreds of thousands of jobs in a relatively short period. Despite a significant increase in recent months, the net loss in jobs remains so large that it’s erased more than a decade of job gains for the sector, with higher ed’s work force now matching its size in February 2008.
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Higher ed’s role and opportunity in coskilling, upskilling, and reskilling- Vistasp M. Karbhari, eCampus News
The accelerating convergence of information and technology especially as related to AI and robotics is changing the knowledge and skills desired in the workforce, with some estimating that nearly 50 percent of subject knowledge acquired during the first year of an undergraduate degree program is outdated by the time the student attains a degree. Recent estimates predict that by 2022 about 54 percent of all employees would require significant reskilling and upskilling to meet the needs of a changing work environment.
Monday, May 3, 2021
Temple’s business school sees virtual reality as future of online learning - Zoe Rosenberg, Philadelphia Inquirer
Before the pandemic made online schooling a necessity, Bora Ozkan theorized that students learning remotely would be more engaged in virtual reality. Ozkan, a finance professor at Temple University and academic director of its online MBA, has tested that belief since March 2020, when he launched the class Fintech, Blockchain and Digital Disruption in a virtual reality, or VR, program. It took 18 months to research the technology and build the course at a cost upward of $100,000. The finished product was completed with the help of Glimpse Group, a New York-based virtual reality and augmented reality company.
https://www.inquirer.com/business/remote-learning-vr-mba-20210423.html
Sunday, May 2, 2021
Co-Facilitated Discussions to Truly Engage Your Online Students with Course Content - Murat Turk, Faculty Focus
There are many ways in which instructors might use AODs in their online courses, but traditionally, online students are asked in discussions to post once and respond a specific number of times. A challenge with this strategy is that once each student completes their postings and responses, they often quit reading, responding to, and engaging with what others say or think about the issue or topic under study, thus missing out on useful insights and experiences. One effective solution is to incorporate peer moderation or facilitation of online discussions, which I have been using in my own online courses since summer 2020 when I read Milman’s (2014) article about co-facilitation of online discussions.
Saturday, May 1, 2021
Two principles guiding this professor’s pandemic teaching - Byron K. Hargrove, eCampus News
A Berkeley College professor speaks about how responsiveness and compassion with students paid off during the pandemic. The two central lessons I found to be extremely helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic have to do with being more open and adaptive to online learning and finding ways to be uber responsive, flexible and caring with my students.
https://www.ecampusnews.com/2021/04/21/two-principles-guiding-this-professors-pandemic-teaching/
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