Institutional Competion in Distance Education

I had a discussion with a friend the other day who mentioned that traditional schools will soon HAVE to transition to offering more online courses to compete with not only each other but with these full-online schools, such as Capella University.

I began to think about competition. Honestly, HOW can traditional schools compete? Traditional schools that offer online programs carry with them the requirements to enroll. These requirements are often more demanding than the online for-profit schools that DON'T REQUIRE SAT AND GRE SCORES (I know from experience, Capella did not require GRE scores when I applied over a year ago).

If I were a BA graduate, already working but seeking an advanced degree to increase my pay, I would naturally look for a program that offers flexibility for my busy life; an online program would be great for me to pursue a masters.

If I'm busy, the last thing I want to do is jump through hoops to sign up for the program.

Opting for a traditional school would mean that I need to take time to study for the GRE or GMAT, prep samples of work to submit, transcripts, references, etc -Then if I'm awful at taking tests, I'd fail the mathematics portion!.

Opting for one of the for-profit online schools, all I have to do is write a few paragraphs about my intentions, send references, a transcript and a check. It may cost me more, but at least I'm in and I get the degree.

Questions: What can leaders in Distance Education do to remedy this situation? What can be done differently? Does the difference in application process affect quality of the program?

Technically Speaking . . .

It seems that the new generation of teens and early-twenty somethings are so very fixated to their screens-that is, their computer screens, cell phone screens, mp3 player screens, PSP screens . . .

Technically speaking, they should have no problem navigating and adjusting to the many GUI's available through different Learner Managements Systems, CMS's, VLE's, etc.

I would suspect that they would need less time to adapt to their eLearning environments. I am however curious as to how this generation of -"immediate gratification", "wikipedia resource searching", "copy and paste paper-making", "visually stimulated"- young learners will be able to manage a TRUE college educaion, and REAL, professional, up-to-Higher Ed-standards, course delivery online. Any research findings out there?
Tanacha Brown, MS

eLearning

I have spent the past year delving into the concept of Higher Education and online learning. What will become of us instructional and visual designers in the age of a technology that constantly reshapes itself in what seems like every 3-12 months?

Well, to infinity and beyond . . . right?

What teachers know . . . NOT!

So here's the deal,

I was just at an HOA meeting for my community and a candidate for the Educatoin Board spoke to us and educated us about changes that need to take place in the school system.

The speaker provided a scenario in which she visited a school and noticed that the teachers were provided with new technological equipment and resources to assist in their instruction or the learning of students but had made limited attempts to use all of the resources. When she questioned an administrator, he/she replied that their "older" teachers are a bit resistant and uncomfortable using the new resources so the school just "waits" for them to try it or eventually leave and they get new teachers with more skills.

The speaker made the point that in the regular job force, you either catch up with the work force or get fired and replaced. The point being that the teachers need to be proactive and start using the equipment and follow new standards as they arise.

My issue with that is, like our "roll out" of Edline, NO LEVEL OF TRAINING WAS PROVIDED (either formal or informal). And I'm finding this is usually the case.

Administrators with the forethought to move along with current advances and add new systems and technology to schools need to work out a deal with the sellers or vendors of these resources so that they can train the users.

This is not new, its common protocol for responsible leaders.

Edline Continued

Well,

So far, it as been quicker to simply instruct the few individuals in my department hands-on via a demo and I sit with them as they set up their grade books. I have offered to work with the contact for Edline and want to possibly set up a workshop and demo.

I have an interest in diffusion and adoption of this program and will analyze it further. I have seen no real change management occur thus far.

Edline - Who Knows?

I am currently working in Edline and am finding it hard to get support for small glitches or access issues. Is this common? Does anyone really know Edline? I was able to get help (visual instruction) from a co-worker who toyed with it as I did but "got it".

FORESEABLE BREAKDOWN IN COMMUNICATION
We are fortunate to have an assigned "contact" amongst our faculty for Edline assistance. Unfortunately, this person has just about the same schedule as the rest of us; causing me to assume any assistance will be on her spare time- responses will not be timely and physical/ hands-on attention will not be available (its just not possible).

INITIATIVE FOR THE GREATER GOOD
I have resigned to assign myself as the liason for my particular departement. We currently have 7 faculty in my department. I plan to read the manual front to back, develop the Edline gradebook for my class and demonstrate it as a model for my co-workers individually. In turn, we will meet our requirements of actually USING Edline and be better versed should our students need help navigating the software or faculty from other departments need assistance. The spread of knowledge is sure to follow. If anything I will volunteer to aid the assigned "contact" for Edline and provide technical demonstrations and larger meetings with all faculty.

Social Software

The social software that I have reviewed and used is Myspace.com. It allows users to Send messages via blog comments, email or instant message withing the software (i.e. you can see whether your friends are currently online while you are logged in and can begin a chat session). MySpace also has a music and video element that allows users to share personal or favorite videos and songs. The registration is free and it is widely used and highly popular.

A small setback is that there are no applications within the site available to allow for recording or some type of video or sound editing. You basically post what you've done. The advantage, as it relates to learning is that is is easy to use, it can be customized and it is free. Instructors/Teachers can create a blog using myspace and post an audio or video lecture and prompt students to comment within the blog by posting their own audio response. Chat meetings can be set up or teachers can post their times of availablity and have students check the class blog to see if the teacher is logged on should they need feedback or have questions. Or students can be directed to POST their questions in a specific blog initated with a subject.

Review the presentation about MySpace
Review the my podcast comments about MySpace