Laslo Boyd, The Daily Record Newswire
If you have been reading the flurry of recent articles about online education, you have undoubtedly concluded that the “next big thing” is MOOCs. However, if even the acronym mystifies you, let me help. A MOOC is a massive open online course, and they seem to be springing up everywhere, including at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities.
In their most prevalent current form, thousands or even tens of thousands of students can, generally for free, enroll in an online class at a institution that they wouldn’t normally even dream of attending and be taught by a famous faculty member.
MOOCs are at an early stage, and their actual impact on higher education in this country is as yet far from clear. Significantly, few students actually complete the courses for which they sign up. Procedures for awarding credit and for granting degrees are not yet established.
The much more serious issue is that the basic educational premise of a MOOC is that what works in a classroom setting can be directly and relatively seamlessly transferred to the online environment. MOOCs tend to rely on streaming videos of faculty giving some version of a lecture that was originally developed for a classroom.
Of course, the ability to incorporate features from the Internet — the art class that includes a virtual tour of the Louvre or a collaborative class project through cyberspace — can enhance the educational experience. And the fact that well-known universities have given their imprimatur to online education effectively ends its second-class citizenship in the world of higher education.
The real revolution, however, is taking place in universities that are rethinking how the entire educational process can be impacted by the tools that are available through online programs and classes. At its heart, this revolution is focused on how students learn and how instructors can best facilitate that learning.
Faculty as guides
A saying that has been drifting through the halls of academia for a number of years is that faculty should no longer be “the sage on the stage” but should instead become “the guide on the side.” However, relatively little has been done in most universities to make that transformation a reality.
A significant initiative to turn the idea into reality is under way at Maryland’s leading online university, the University of Maryland University College. Starting with a small group of programs, UMUC is engaged in a fundamental redesign of its curriculum. The process is focused on defining, first of all, what the learning outcomes should be for a student enrolled in a particular degree program.
The next step is determining what each class within the program contributes to the overall learning outcomes and how all of them fit together. While there is much to be said for the broadening and enriching impact of a diverse undergraduate curriculum, you would generally be hard-pressed to relate the individual parts to any kind of collective whole.
UMUC’s student population includes lots of working adults, members of the military, and individuals who started at other colleges. By the time they get to UMUC, their focus is probably much more pragmatic than that of the average 18-year-old at a traditional institution. It makes sense that UMUC would be a leader in rethinking its approach to degrees and classes.
Increasingly, concerns about non-completion of degrees, the very long time it takes many students to graduate and the rising cost of college education have led to widespread interest in a more structured and efficient approach to degree completion. One piece of evidence for that conclusion is the phenomenal success that for-profit institutions such as the University of Phoenix are having in recruiting students.
But there’s more to the UMUC initiative. The course redesign is striving for competency-based models rather than traditional seat time. UMUC has begun shifting to eight-week terms for its undergraduate classes, which will certainly shock and dismay the traditionalists. The early results are that completion rates have increased and the measurable student outcomes are being achieved.
Collecting data
One of the byproducts of an online class environment is that so much student learning data can be collected. As a result, UMUC has instituted an early intervention process for students who are identified as falling behind or not mastering the material early in the class.
Additionally, that wealth of data provides insights into how students learn and what approaches are most effective. Similar observations can be made about the teaching techniques of faculty.
A major national foundation is now supporting efforts at UMUC to work with community colleges to develop predictive models of student success. A second grant is underwriting the redesign of a series of science, technology, engineering and math courses, an area of growing national attention.
The traditional university, with its residence halls, athletic teams and mega-classrooms, is not going to disappear. Online education will, however, continue to grow and adapt. Most significantly, lessons from the assessment of online education will lead to new approaches in both modes of instruction.
That’s revolutionary.
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Laslo Boyd is the managing partner of Mellenbrook Policy Advisors and can be contacted at lvboyd@gmail.com.
