XplanaZine

At the Sloan-C conference, one of the premier gatherings for online learning in higher education, the mood was upbeat, but tempered with concern as attendees sought relief for their growing pains. There was no longer any need to convince anyone of the value of online education, nor that it was possible to launch a fledgling program in virtually any university habitat. In fact, many of the 1,000 or so attendees from around the world who came to Orlando to attend the event expressed surprise that their programs – no matter how fledgling – were embraced, often to the crushing point. Success ushered in severe and often unexpected problems.

In the 2-1/2 days of workshops, panel discussions, and breakout sessions, five basic tracks were followed, which gave presenters and attendees an opportunity to discuss their challenges and possible solutions:

Track 1: Cost Effectiveness and Institutional Sustainability

Institutions have found that trying to go it alone often results in an inability to meet demand for courses and skyrocketing course development costs. There were several presentations on the virtues of collaboration and cooperation in order to achieve economies of scale. For example, Loyola-Chicago, St. Joseph, and Marquette University decided to collaborate in order to develop a single online teacher certification program. Similarly, Florida Community College – Jacksonville collaborated with the University of Utah to develop the CREOLE program, a certification program for online instructors. In addition to developing content and collaborative curriculum, partnerships were forged to share online resources, including digital research resources, learning objects, and instructional tools.

Track 2: Improving the Breadth and Quality of Access

It was noted that access continues to be a fundamental issue in all online courses, particularly as students and instructors become more mobile. Because of the changing nature of online instruction and distributed education in general, it has been necessary to consider the full spectrum of access – from broad-band, high-speed cable access, to wi-fi networks, to pda-based delivery. Further, next-generation hybrid courses maintain an emphasis on flexibility, which remains mission-critical to the success of any online program. A special emphasis on reaching the under-served, including the elderly, was made. Future needs of the visually impaired and physically disabled were also discussed.

Track 3: The Faculty Experience Online: Rewards, Challenges, and Emerging Issues

The early fears of being supplanted by “webcourse in a box” have been replaced by a flattening playing field, where competition for instructional positions requires more than publications, research, and service. It also requires a very defined skillset. No longer is the online faculty member the dilettante with a “techie” proclivity. Although curiosity, exploration, and dynamism continue to be the watchwords of the successful online faculty member, many institutions are focusing more on facilitation, mentoring, and coaching to increase the likelihood of success. In addition to developing online teaching guides and requiring participation in workshops, many institutions are developing mentoring programs that extend throughout the academic year. In addition to familiarizing faculty with effective pedagogical approaches, institutions are trying to remove the technical barriers that often exist.

Track 4: Learning and Instruction: Changing Paradigms, New Challenges

Several sessions focused on “next-generation” course delivery and instruction. Some presentations looked at software, others looked at web applications, such as “Activeworlds.com.” Without exception, these new systems allowed more interaction and flexibility for both instructor and student. Instructional strategy takes a more holistic view of the activity of learning – instead of thinking of the transmission of content, the new applications look at how learners and instructors do hands-on “transformation” of content. Transformation means the students can take the content and work with it – integrate it into project, relate it to their lives, collaborate with other students to form a product (project, paper, etc.), or use it to make something else to display and critique (a website, project, etc.). In each case, the focus is on making the content come alive. The faculty member shows students how to master the learning tasks and achieve objectives. The student demonstrates mastery of content through performance.

Track 5: Learner Satisfaction: Next Generation Evaluation and Innovations in Services

The inadequacy of previous methods of course evaluation was highlighted in several presentations, which demonstrated how and why the traditional approach left too much time between diagnosis and intervention. The ability to identify problems as they emerge and to respond to them rapidly was considered vital. Learning styles must be taken into consideration, and a concern was expressed that online education continues to over-privilege the textual. The New Jersey Institute of Technology discussed their findings that student satisfaction is a function of the web-based course components used. Others showed how strategies from corporate training can be employed with success in higher education.

Sloan-C, a consortium of accredited higher education providers and organizations, was formed to help make education a part of everyday life, and to assure that it is affordable, accessible, and available for anyone at any time. In the last few years, much of the Sloan-C members’ energies have been devoted to the emerging practice of online learning. In addition to supporting publication and research, Sloan-C has published what are considered to be the standard works in best practices for online programs.