Tag Archives: For Instructors

Blog posts that are for instructors

TED Tips – Issue 19: Quality Matters

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“Grounded in research. Driven by best practices. A community that puts learners first.”

As I mentioned last week, I was recently at the annual Quality Matters Connect conference in St. Louis. Quality Matters is an inter-institutional peer review process dedicated to the continuous improvement of online and blended course design. This week TED Tips explores Quality Matters (QM). I serve as a Quality Matter Coordinator for the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. I am an official liaison between UWW and Quality Matters and am a go-to person for anything related to it. Please contact me if you have questions!

online course design is at the heart of quality matters

Quality Matters (QM) is a faculty-centered, peer review process designed to certify the quality of online courses and online components through a continuous improvement process. QM promotes and improves the quality of online education and student learning. It does so through the use of current, research-supported, and practice-based quality standards and appropriate evaluation tools and procedures. It supports professional development in the use of rubrics, tools and practices to improve the quality of online education. A QM-Certified Course is an online or blended course that has met QM Standards for a QM Rubric in an Official Course Review. Quality Matters is supported by the non-profit MarylandOnline. The QM Certification Mark is more than an achievement for online course design — it is evidence of an interconnected, continual process provisioned with tools, support and professional development that helps you develop and provide successful experiences to your learners.

Quality matters is best known for its review process for online or blended courses. Four underlying principles guide Quality Matters:

  • Continuous: The Quality Matters process is iterative and committed to continuous quality improvement. Given review, revisions, and support, all reviewed courses will eventual meet expectations.
  • Centered. Quality Matters is supported by national standards of best practice, research literature, and instructional design principles.
  • Collegial. The process is faculty driven; peer reviews are diagnostic and collegial, not evaluative nor judgmental.
  • Collaborative. Reviews are flexible and offer constructive feedback. They are not prescriptive.

The three main elements of Quality Matters are the QM Rubric, the peer review process, and professional development. It is important to emphasize that Quality Matters addresses only the course design of online classes. Quality Matters does not address the delivery (how instructors actually teach courses).

Quality Matters does not address other factors that may impact the quality of online courses such as faculty or learner readiness, and our digital learning environment. Many of these other factors are themes we explore each week in this TED Tips Blog. The Learning Technology Center offers additional faculty development opportunities to learn about Canvas or methods to improve your online and blended teaching effectiveness through programs like the upcoming Winterim Online / Blended Teaching Institute. Quality Matters addresses one aspect of online course quality – course design.

 

The most recent QM Higher Education Rubric, Sixth Edition, released July 2, 2018. The Quality Matters Rubric is designed to provide a rigorous set of Specific Review Standards that can be applied to online courses as part of a commitment to continuous quality improvement . While the emphasis is on online or blended courses, many of the design principles could also apply to traditional face-to-face courses.

These General Standards are:

Quality Matters Sixth Edition Rubric Workbook

  1. Course Overview and Introduction
  2. Learning Objectives (Competencies)
  3. Assessment and Measurement
  4. Instructional Materials
  5. Learning Activities and Learner Interaction
  6. Course Technology
  7. Learner Support
  8. Accessibility and Usability

QM courses use a faculty driven peer review process. There are several options for reviewing a course ranging from formal official course review following QM processes and protocols, an internal review, or more customized consultations. Internal reviews can guide and improve existing courses. Quality matters standards can be introduced to help scaffold the development of new online classes.

The review process is faculty driven and starts with a self-reported worksheet that lists basic information about the course that is useful to the review team, such as the delivery format, instructional materials, and supplemental materials that may require review. A formal peer review team is comprised of three faculty members includes a course representative. Each team includes a master reviewer that manages the process to ensure consistency and rigor; a Subject Matter Expert to advise the team about disciple-related materials and practices, and an External Reviewer outside our school to assist in providing helpful recommendations. The recommendations are constructive, specific, sensitive, and balanced to the course being reviewed. There is opportunity for revision to the course based on that feedback. Only official QM-Managed reviews can lead towards official QM Certification.

If you are interested in learning more about Quality Matters in Online Learning, exploring additional professional development opportunities, or would like to discuss other factors of the design and delivery of online courses please contact me at wittt@uww.edu.

– Ted Witt
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant

RESOURCES:

https://www.qualitymatters.org/
https://www.qualitymatters.org/sites/default/files/PDFs/QM-Overview-Booklet-digital.pdf

Still time to apply for the 2019 Winterim Online/Blended Teaching Institute

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The UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center (LTC) is pleased to announce that registration remains open for the Winterim 2019 Online/Blended Teaching Institute. The Online and Blended Teaching Institute is a series of interactive workshops focusing on best practices for teaching online and blended courses.  The structure of the Institute allows participants to explore new instructional and course design methods, and participate in learning activities similar to what a student would experience. To apply, click here. The URL for registration is also available at the bottom of this post.  The deadline to apply is Monday, November 5. Participation in the Institute is competitive, as typically more applications are received than can be accepted. Expect that incomplete application forms will be rejected. Accepted participants will be notified following confirmation from their respective college.

Dates for the 2019 Winterim Online and Blended Institute:
January 4: Face-to-Face meeting, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
January 11: Face-to Face meeting, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
January 18: Online using WebEx, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Submission of final Institute content February 1st

This institute provides you with a foundation in the pedagogy of online and blended instruction focusing on key terminology, principles, and practices. You will explore practical guidelines for teaching online and blended courses, designing content for online and blended courses, and utilizing technology, tools and strategies to facilitate active, participatory, and engaging online learning experiences.

By the conclusion of the institute, you will have created an online or blended learning module which will include pedagogically-appropriate assessments, discussions, and additional learning materials. This module will be developed with feedback from the institute facilitators and your colleagues, and demonstrate what you have taken away from this institute.

If you have any questions about this workshop, contact the UW-W Learning Technology Center.

Application Link: https://uwwhitewater.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3f0THo4dRBWqqm9

TED Tips – Issue 17: Important Developments in Technology for Higher Education — 2018 NMC Horizon Report

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This week, I conclude the three part series exploring the New Media Consortium’s Horizon Report. The report “identifies and describes the higher education trends, challenges, and developments in educational technology likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry.” This week focuses on developments in educational technology.

These developments were chosen because they are likely to drive technology planning and decision making and are organized in time intervals related to their approximate time of wide spread adoption. The report identifies seven broad categories of technologies, tools, and strategies. The categories help us understand where we are today. The developments look ahead where we may be going in the future.

Categories of Technology

Consumer technology are tools originally created for recreational or consumer use. As the technologies become more utilized, they have been used as learning aids. Examples include: drones and wearable technologies like fitness trackers. The move from physical textbook to shorter videos highlights this “consumer demand” driving change in the classroom.

Digital strategies enrich teaching and learning by repurposing older activities for the modern digital classroom. They often reinvent conventional ideas to create meaningful 21st century experiences. The transformation of a pager to a cell phone to a smartphone exemplifies this march towards digitalization. Other examples include: The use of location intelligence (GPS), digital makerspaces, and applying concepts of gamification to the classroom.

Enabling technologies transform what we expect of our devices. The classic example is the voice activated computer as depicted in Star Trek; but more commonly realized through Alexa, Siri, and the Google Assistant. Those enabling technologies allow us to do more things. The trend towards cord-cutting is another example.

Internet technologies represent the underlying digital infrastructure. Internet technologies allow us to interact seamlessly and connect more devices in more ways. The “Internet of Things” is an example of how more components in the wired world are being connected to the internet. Another way to think about this is the idea that the Internet is a “utility” — along with the corresponding Digital Divide that highlight inequalities in the infrastructure.

Learning technologies are resources specifically developed for education. They help make learning accessible and available to all. Our digital learning environment is an example. Learning environments are increasingly customizable and personalized. Online courses and the related mobile learning platforms expand the access of education. Adaptive learning is another example of a learning technology. Larger systems like Lynda.com have been developed that offer training and learning at our fingertips. Fully online programs have redefined higher education possibilities…and created new opportunities.

The rise of social media technologies have changed communication and interpersonal relationships. Students communicate and collaborate quickly online. While research used to be the domain of the library, Google has become our primary search engine. Social networks, crowdsourcing, and issues regarding online identity and privacy fall in this category. Students can use sites like Facebook and Instagram to share and retrieve information and multimedia quickly.

Important Developments in Technology for Higher Education

Developments in Technology for Higher Education

Developments in Technology for Higher Education

Finally, visualization technologies are a growing set of tools that allow for large sets of information to be analyzed and displayed. They enable easier data driven decisions by making the complex simple.  Large sets of information can be visualized in real time.  New areas of virtualization and augmented or mixed realities fit into this broad category. Another example is 3D printing.

With the categories in mind, I want to briefly identify the important developments in educational technology for higher education as identifies in the Horizon Report. A key criterion for inclusion in the report was its potential relevance to teaching, learning, and creative inquiry in higher education.

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

Analytics Technologies: Data and big data are being used more frequently to support higher education…and there is a continued focus on measuring learning. Using “grades” as an analytics tool for students to measure their success is nothing new. Instructors, students, administrators and teachers are relying on more high tech analytics to provide insights to complete their tasks. For examples, analytics technologies can help identify at-risk students and trigger interventions. Analytics can be used by students to guide and improve their own learning and by teachers to improve outcomes and tailor content in the classroom. Post education career options can be enhanced by connecting into resources liked LinkedIn that offer data-driven, analytics to help customize pathways to employment.

Makerspaces work by bringing together experts and novices from a variety of disciplines to design, build, invent, and rethink various products. Makerspaces connect higher education and industry. These spaces often include computers, power tools, 3D printers, and other technologies. A perceived benefit of makerspaces is that it engages learners to develop hands-on learning.

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

Adaptive Learning: Last week we explored a pilot project on Adaptive Learning here at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. Adaptive learning is one technique for providing personalized learning, which aims to provide efficient, effective, and customized learning paths to engage each student. Finding the correct applications, developing the pathways, implementing the solutions, will take time.

Artificial Intelligence is no longer in the realm of fiction! Amazon uses it to predict products you may be interested in (and they want to sell); google uses it to guess what you will type next and search for; advertising uses it to find ways to connect individual products to users. Self-driving cars appear imminent. In education, Artificial Intelligence is becoming increasingly utilized for implementing today’s leading pedagogical trends, such as personalized learning. Analytics technologies allow us to do descriptive and diagnostic work; artificial intelligence will allow us to do more predictive and prescriptive work.

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years

Mixed Reality is an emerging environment where digital and physical objects co-exist. The augmented reality game Pokémon Go is an example of this intersection. In education, virtual reality simulations have be used to train and asses medical students; first responders have trained in mixed reality environment overlaying hot-spots and other hazards. In the social sciences mixed reality tools have allowed for the virtual recreation of historical landmarks and allowed students to interact with virtual residents.

Robotics: The Harvard Business Review notes… “We expect the global industrial robot population to double to about four million by 2020, changing the competitive landscape in dozens of fields — from underground mining to consumer goods and aerospace manufacturing.” They go on to provide an example: “Foxconn, which employs more than a million workers in mainland China, plans to automate 70% of its assembly work within the next three years.” Higher education faces a significant challenge: preparing students for success in the next generation workforce and addressing corresponding emergent societal challenges.

I hope this exploration of the 2018 Higher Education Horizon Report has provided a window into the future. The report is provides a lot of ideas to fuel our themes of Technology, Education and Design. Next week offers a change of pace as I will provide updates from the 2018 Quality Matters Connect conference from St. Louis!

– Ted Witt
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant

RESOURCES:
2018 NMC Horizon Report
Citation: Samantha Adams Becker, Malcolm Brown, Eden Dahlstrom, Annie Davis, Kristi DePaul, Veronica Diaz, and Jeffrey Pomerantz. NMC Horizon Report: 2018 Higher Education Edition. Louisville, CO: EDUCAUSE, 2018.
https://library.educause.edu/resources/2018/8/2018-nmc-horizon-report
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Examples and further Reading:

Learning Analytics: https://tech.ed.gov/learning-analytics/

Makerspaces: http://isam2018.hemi-makers.org/

Adaptive Learning: http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/trends/2923-the-role-of-adaptive-learning-in-education

Artificial Intelligence: 7 Roles for Artificial Intelligence in Education by Matthew Lynch
https://www.thetechedvocate.org/7-roles-for-artificial-intelligence-in-education/

Augmented Reality: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271706077_Augmented_Reality_application_in_Higher_Education

Robotics: Building Tomorrow’s Robots by Gregory Mone
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609004/building-tomorrows-robots/

The Age of Smart, Safe, Cheap Robots Is Already Here
https://hbr.org/2015/06/the-age-of-smart-safe-cheap-robots-is-already-here

Register for the final “Poll Everywhere” workshop of the semester

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There is still some time to learn how to use Poll Everywhere this semester!

Poll Everywhere allows students to submit answers on the Poll Everywhere website, the mobile app, or even through text messages to close or open-ended polls that you create. In the video below, Assistant Professor of Political Science Eric Loepp discusses how he used Poll Everywhere in his course.

If you are interested in learning more, register for the LTC’s workshop at noon on Thursday, Novermber 15th!

If you have any questions about Poll Everywhere or any other learning technology, feel free to contact the UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center.

TED Tips – Issue 16: Spotlight on Adaptive Learning

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This week, I want to explore Adaptive Learning and examine a pilot project running at Matt VickUW Whitewater. Over the summer of 2018, Matt Vick piloted adaptive learning in his own course using the platform “Realizeit.” He is now working with other instructors to use the platform in their courses. Matt is currently the Interim Associate Dean of the UW-Whitewater School of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education.

What is Adaptive Learning?

Adaptive Learning is an education method that creates a personalized, individual experience for a learner.

“Adaptive learning is one technique for providing personalized learning, which aims to provide efficient, effective, and customized learning paths to engage each student. Adaptive learning systems use a data-driven approach to adjust the path and pace of learning, enabling the delivery of personalized learning at scale.” – ELI 7 Things You Should Know About Adaptive Learning

Adaptive platforms likes Realizeit provide real-time feedback and data to assess student knowledge and progress toward mastery. Learners get customized content specifically tailored to their learning. If they can demonstrate that they already know a concept, they do not need to repeat it. It “adapts” to account for prior knowledge. Not every student is going to see every piece of content; they see just what they need to learn and do not already know.

Instructors get insights into their students’ progress through the class. An instructor would spend less time working on the content delivery or knowledge transfer but instead focus their interactions on higher-level applied thinking.

realizeit learning progress

Learning Progress as viewed by students

That is similar to what Matt experienced in his “Teaching Science in Elementary and Middle School” course this summer. After creating the map of the nodes, Matt created text and provided video links for learning objects in various nodes the corresponded to knowledge areas students needed to know. The Realizeit system determines knowledge for these areas – students that already knew the content would not need to work through those areas. They were able to review questions and information in places they may not be that strong. An example of a learning map is shown.

What are some the challenges to adaptive learning?

One of the challenges was building the banks of questions to differentiate levels of learning and determine what students knew. This was a large amount of work. Matt created additional content and assessment questions. The team hired a student worker to review the questions for formatting and display and to help troubleshoot and test the system. Students can repeat nodes to work towards mastery. Writing these questions requires more content. New models are needed to differentiate learning…if there are multiple paths you need multiple layers of assessment to determine knowledge.

It is important to note that adaptive learning does not replace reading, or homework, or other more traditional activities in the classroom. Each node requires content! While Realize it determines an individual student’s knowledge of a particular topic, the platforms delivers lesson plans and content. Not every student will know the same things about a topic. For the structure of Matt’s “Teaching Science in Elementary and Middle School” course, there were additional activities outside of the adaptive platform. An example of a Lesson Path follows.

Lesson Note in Realizeit

Screenshot of a lesson node from RealizeIt

What were some of the lessons learned?

While Matt spent a greater amount of time to set up the course, once it was in place, he was able to provide more attention to specific student needs in the class. He reported that he spent about 10% of his time teaching the course doing lower level remediation which was down from about 30% of a normal section.

Matt reported a few things that he learned this summer during the summer project:

  • It took a LOT of time to set up, map, and configure and configure the course. An adaptive platform requires that content be restructured and rebuilt. Because each student will know different things from a knowledge set more content is needed.
  • Students adapted to the system much more easily than anticipated. It was intuitive and easy to use from the student’s point of view.
  • The determine knowledge algorithms worked! This provided a great way to validate prior learning and provide individual learning experiences.

Adaptive learning could benefit others by rethinking course content into smaller chunks. Low stakes, granular assessments help adult learners or accelerated learners move through a course at different paces. These adaptive learning structures help validate non-credit learning processes and honor the time and information students already know. A system like Realizeit could benefit courses that contain a large body of knowledge…especially for content that instructors think students should really know.
Adaptive learning has a lot of potential. Creating personalized learning paths in an automated and individual way could benefit students. Adaptive platforms could deliver large bodies of knowledge more efficiently than traditional methods.

– Ted Witt
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant

RESOURCES:

7 Things You Should Know About Adaptive Learning

RealizeIt

Winterim 2019 Online/Blended Teaching Institute

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The UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center (LTC) is pleased to announce that registration is open for the Winterim 2019 Online/Blended Teaching Institute. Due to popular request, the Online and Blended Teaching Institute will take place in an accelerated format during the 2019 Winterim term. The Online and Blended Teaching Institute is a series of interactive workshops focusing on best practices for teaching online and blended courses. By the conclusion of the institute, participants will develop a course module utilizing best practices for online/blended teaching. To apply, click here. The URL for registration is available at the bottom of this post.

This institute provides you with a foundation in the pedagogy of online and blended instruction focusing on key terminology, principles, and practices. You will explore practical guidelines for teaching online and blended courses, designing content for online and blended courses, and utilizing technology, tools and strategies to facilitate active, participatory, and engaging online learning experiences.

By the conclusion of the institute, you will have created an online or blended learning module which will include pedagogically-appropriate assessments, discussions, and additional learning materials. This module will be developed with feedback from the institute facilitators and your colleagues, and demonstrate what you have taken away from this institute.

Institute Objectives:
• Develop a unit/module utilizing best practices in online/blended course design.
• Demonstrate technological proficiency useful in facilitating online/blended courses.
• Apply methods to facilitate assessment and evaluation.
• Illustrate approaches to building community online.
• Develop strategies for effective time management.

Dates for the 2019 Winterim Online and Blended Institute:
January 4: Face-to-Face meeting, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
January 11: Face-to Face meeting, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
January 18: Online using WebEx, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Submission of final Institute content February 1st

https://uwwhitewater.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3f0THo4dRBWqqm9

TED Tips – Issue 14: Feedback and Speed Grader

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This week, I wanted to explore some reflections on giving and receiving feedback in the context of an academic setting, share a specific tip as it applies to Speed Grader in Canvas, and finally highlight an upcoming LEARN / LTC workshop that will also explore feedback.

For feedback to be effective it needs a context in which learners have both the ability and opportunity to hear, understand, and act on that feedback. It should help learners reach a goal – provide clarity of what they did well or not do well, and how they can improve that work. Research shows that good feedback should be formative – it should help to improve performance or increase understanding. Feedback should be timely — happen at a moment when it is possible to learn and change. Finally, feedback should be descriptive – directed at fulfilling some clearly defined goal. Another way to put it is that feedback should tell a student what they accomplished (descriptive), what they were asked to accomplish (goal referenced), and what they must do next (goal directed).

ink

feedback can be painful

With that in mind, I want to share an example of actual feedback. It is fortunately not my onus of shame for personally receiving it; however, I was witness when my classmate actually did. It was so laden with ink it actually dripped red. It was fresh. This is likely not the type of feedback I would recommend using, but it is another example of how Fr. William Ryan, SJ made an impression on terrified students. I introduced Fr. Ryan in my Ted Tips Issue 9: First Impressions. This type of feedback definitely made a powerful first impression… and I apologize if I have inadvertently increased your anxiety!

What tools are available to assist in providing good feedback in Canvas?

Providing feedback in Canvas, has never been easier!  Canvas offers a tremendous tool:  Speed Grader.

Speed grader allows you to view and grade student assignment submissions in one place.  You do not need to download papers, then mark them up, and upload them.  Instead, you can directly assign points or use rubrics.  Canvas accepts a variety of document formats including URL submissions.  Some document assignments can be marked up for feedback directly within the submission. You can also provide feedback to your students with text or media comments.

You can use SpeedGrader to:

  • View submission details for each student, including resubmitted assignments
  • Leave feedback for your students
  • Track your grading progress and hide assignments while grading
  • Use rubrics to assign grades

For each student, SpeedGrader has five areas:

  1. View student submissions (text entries, website URLs, media recordings, and/or file uploads). Many file types are able to be previewed directly.
  2. Assign a grade based on your preferred assessment method (points or percentage)
  3. View Rubric to assist with grading (if one is added to the assignment)
  4. View comments created by you or the student about the assignment
  5. Create text, video, and/or audio commentary for the student

Video tip!

524 – SpeedGrader™ Overview from Instructure Community on Vimeo.

Upcoming workshop

If you are interested in learning more about feedback and strategies, I want to up invite you to check out then next LEARN Center / LTC workshop in the 2018-2019 “Back to Basics to Balance Workload.” Next Workshop: Focused Strategies for Providing Formative Assessment by Dana Prodoehl, Alexis Piper, Trudi Witonsky.

Thursday, October 18th, 12:30 – 1:45, UC259A (lunch is provided).  Sign up here:  https://my.uww.edu/signup/Public/Available/15834

At this workshop, panelists will draw on current pedagogy to discuss strategies for providing focused feedback to students at they are engaged in active learning activities. Some of the strategies will be time-saving. Others help instructors direct feedback in productive ways to foster student learning and development. An LTC representative will also be on hand to provide a brief overview of some of the feedback tools in Canvas, along with tips for utilizing them.

– Ted Witt
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant

RESOURCES:

https://my.uww.edu/signup/Public/Available/15834

https://blogs.uww.edu/instructional/2018/08/31/ted-tips-issue-9-first-impressions/

 

Still Time to Apply for the LTC’s Spring 2019 Adaptive Learning Project!

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Cerego Logo
Cerego
Adaptive Learning Platform

There is still time to apply for the LTC’s Spring 2019 Adaptive Learning Project using Cerego! 

Instructors participating in the adaptive learning project will receive a stipend to compensate the work they put into their course redesign. If all required components are completed, participating instructors can expect to receive a stipend of $1000.

Instructors have flexibility in determining the course in which to implement the adaptive learning platform. By taking part in the project, instructors agree to fully participate in, and complete, all project requirements. The following semester-by-semester breakdown conveys the expectations for participating instructors:

Cerego phone app
Cerego Phone App

Fall 2018

  • Attend faculty development sessions with LTC staff (dates TBD); and
  • Create, and present, a detailed plan for use that specifies how adaptive learning will be used in one Spring 2019 course.

Winterim 2018-2019

  • Revise detailed plan for use, and submit revised plan to LTC.

Spring 2019

  • Conduct at least one course using adaptive learning (as described in your plan for use); and
  • Complete early semester “check-in” form for LTC staff; and
  • Attend faculty development session focused on sharing experiences using adaptive learning (date TBD); and
  • Support the LTC in administering an end-of-semester (IRB approved) survey about the course to students.

Summer 2019

  • Complete video reflection on using adaptive learning in the course. This video reflection will be scheduled during late Spring semester or Summer 2019, at your convenience. The purpose of the video reflection is to share what was learned with other instructors who may be interested in using adaptive learning in the future.

Ready to get started? See the full call for participants, and apply here.

Need more information on the project? Attend an information session or contact the Learning Technology Center.

Need more information on Cerego and student learning? Read about how instructors at Western Idaho transformed their Microbiology course using Cerego.

TED Tips – Issue 13: 2018 NMC Horizon Report — Challenges

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2018 NMC Horizon Report Challenges

The New Media Consortium recently published its annual Horizon Report. The report “identifies and describes the higher education trends, challenges, and developments in educational technology likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry.” This week’s TED Tips is part two of a three part series exploring the Horizon Report. This week focuses on the significant challenges impeding technology adoption in Higher Education. The purpose of this blog is not to offer or propose possible solutions, but to report the challenges.

These challenges were identified because of their potential implications for policy, leadership, and practice. The challenges identified are likely to impede the adoption of technologies if left unsolved. They vary in scope and complexity. The Horizon report defines solvable challenges as “those we understand and know how to solve”; difficult challenges as “well understood but for solutions remain elusive”; and wicked challenges as “the most difficult…complex even to define, and thus required additional data and insights before solutions will be possible.”

Solvable Challenges:  Those that we understand and know how to solve.

Authentic Learning Experiences

Authentic learning experiences connect students to real world problems and immerse learners in environments where they can gain high practical, lifelong skills.  The challenge identified by the Horizon Report relates to the increased demand for students with skills directly applicable to the workplace and the perception that graduates may not have the skills needed. 

Possible solutions identified include vocation training, apprenticeships, and course projects situated in the community.  Job shadowing programs and project based learning through startups have become more common.  Colleges and universities have the opportunity to expand beyond their traditional roles.  They could provide instruction for more adults making mid-career pivots retraining from one industry to another.  Community colleges may offer a model to help provide access to apprenticeships and more direct industry experience.  “Learning by Doing” is a key tenant of programs like the LEAP initiative that reflect changes in this area.  Rethinking courses and programs to increase authentic learning opportunities seems something that is already underway at Whitewater especially as it applies to being “even better together” and the restructuring of UW-Whitewater and UW-Rock County.

Improving Digital Literacy

Technology has become essential to success in the workplace.  Are institutions of higher learning creating digitally literate students?   Digital literacy, however, is not strictly technical proficiency and competency.  Digital literacy also includes skills like:

  • netiquette
  • digital citizenship
  • understanding digital rights and responsibilities
  • articulating the boundaries between our personal, private lives and are more public persona. 

Solutions exist to help prepare students for digital literacy, for example, the University of Edinburgh in Scotland has developed a self-paced course, “23 Things for Digital Knowledge.”  These types of skills could become more integrated into existing curriculum.

Society is wrestling with some of these challenges too.  Consider the implications and fallout of the recent Facebook data “scandal”.  The use of social media and online consumerism has created buffets of data; various advertising and agencies are hungry to sample those delicious data items.  This creates additional ethical challenges and potential conflicts of interest.  There are implications for policy and leadership as drivers from other areas (like the need to track attendance) often lead to possible technical solutions that could potentially clash with student privacy concerns.   

Difficult Challenges:   Those that we understand but for which solutions are elusive.

Advancing Digital Equity

Another area that poses challenges to higher education is ensuring digital equity and opportunities for all students.  While MANY students use devices like smart phones and laptops, not all students have access to technology devices or can afford high-speed data.  While technology needs have expanded, the creation of formal policies to ensure equal access have often not kept pace. 

Adapting Organizational Designs to the Future of Work

Do the organizational structures of colleges and universities align with the practices of the 21st century workplace?  Do traditional educational models prepare students for success? Colleges and universities are finding new ways to integrate faculty from distance and interdisciplinary programs.  Technology creates new teaching and learning methods. More flexible degree paths and credentialing options provide new paths and opportunities for schools to offer new forms of stackable degrees and graduate programs.  There are possible consequences to the new models:  over two thirds of faculty members are now non-tenure, with half working part-time, often in teaching roles at several institutions.  In addition to changes in teaching roles, other services and programs may need to be re-evaluated.   What does do student services, which include financial aid programs, academic advising, and work-study programs look like?

Wicked challenges:  Those that are complex even to define, much less address

Economic and Political Pressures

While we have already identified some of the changes to staffing and programs, other economic and political pressures pose bigger, more complex challenges.  Several institutions, both for-profit and nonprofit, have closed recently.  Others have faced consolidations and mergers.  The Horizon report does not forecast an end to higher education.  However, other trends affecting higher education like changes in enrollments policy, tuition discounting, and funding through research pathways have forced all models to come under scrutiny.  There are opportunities.  As was identified in the authentic learning challenge, industry is looking to higher education to provide different types of education.  Foundations are looking to new community models and partnerships.   Can individual institutions adapt nimbly enough to meet these challenges?

Rethinking the Role of Educators

Not only is the future of higher education institutions in question, the role of faculty is changing.  New models of stackable graduate school degrees, competency based programs, online micro credentialing, and flexible learning paths have forced institutions to rethink the role of educator.  With an increase in the use and demand of technology, faculty need to be more tech savvy.  Many programs are becoming much more student-focused; as such, there is more demand for faculty that are facilitators and guides.  The role and expectations of tenure track instruction is changing.

The 2018 Higher Education Horizon Report provides a look into the future. It is a rich place to explore ideas connected to the themes of Technology, Education and Design. These glances can inform our thinking now, guide our planning, and inspire our journey.

– Ted Witt
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant

RESOURCES:

2018 NMC Horizon Report
Citation: Samantha Adams Becker, Malcolm Brown, Eden Dahlstrom, Annie Davis, Kristi DePaul, Veronica Diaz, and Jeffrey Pomerantz. NMC Horizon Report: 2018 Higher Education Edition. Louisville, CO: EDUCAUSE, 2018.
https://library.educause.edu/resources/2018/8/2018-nmc-horizon-report
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

UW-Whitewater/UW-Rock County Restructuring
UW-Whitewater LEAP program

University of Edinburgh, “23 Things for Digital Knowledge”: http://www.23things.ed.ac.uk/

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