Kalman's

Cameras to watch online test-takers

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 03:43:20 -0700

eSchool News Online reports about "Securexam", a camera developed by Software Secure which allows proctoring exams taken at the student's home through a combination of a 360 degree camera, microphone, and a software package that alerts when something unusual takes place during the exam.

I have always been a big fan of not testing online students, but rather grading them based on their submissions, projects and participation, and of avoiding fraud by getting to know students personally. When I work closely with a student, I can identify work that was written by someone else, or work that is of a different standard. Nonetheless, this seems like an interesting alternative to situations where proctoring is required. It raises some privacy concerns, and requires the setting of very clear and transparent policies about how and when the recordings can be used.

Study abroad and diversity

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 23:33:58 -0700

Inside higher education published an interesting article about Americans in study abroad programs, and the low participation rates of minority students in these programs. The article mentions a few interesting organizations and projects that aim to narrow this gap.

Google till you graduate, and beyond

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 23:01:28 -0700

The BBC reports that Google is now taking over the maintenance of the email systems of entire universities. The article focuses on students, who will now be able to keep their email address for ever (is this really such a good idea? What does it mean to have an email address from a university you graduated from 20 years ago? Will you also get a joe@thisuni.edu after having taken just a single course with the university?).

Since universities were some of the earliest adapters of email, many universities' email systems are slow and unreliable. I can see the huge temptation on all sides to accept the offer and move to Google. I too use gmail and most of the time I am very happy with it. Nevertheless, there are significant issues of privacy and commercialization related to gmail, and I would be very curious to learn how these universities are dealing with these issues. As a simple example, say that 10 years down the road one of these universities wishes to switch from gmail to another provider, how will that be handled? Will gmail transfer all of its archives in an orderly manner to the next provider?

Lastly, I am curious to see the intention behind the quote "Mr Nowlan says that Google is making a serious effort to enter the international higher education sector". I believe international higher education is full of interesting opportunities for a company like Google, and that it has not yet scratched the surface of these opportunities.

Ministers of education London meeting on Bologna

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:35:51 -0700

Today and tomorrow (May 17-18) ministers responsible for higher education in most European countries meet in London for a bi-annual meeting on the Bologna process. A very interesting document that was developed in preparation for the meeting is the Trends V report prepared by the European University Association. Of special interest to this blog is the section on lifelong learning (pages 62-70). It is not surprising to read that many universities are not giving lifelong learning the priority they should, focusing instead on the Bologna related structural changes. I would predict that only a small fraction of the universities in each country would develop a specialization in degrees for working professionals, and that in most other universities it will remain marginalized. Developing truly effective lifelong learning requires significant vision and leadership, as well as specific knowhow and skills that are relatively rare in traditional institutes of higher education. It is my experience that such a task is best achieved by harnessing the knowhow and experience of the private sector, to better understand the needs of the lifelong learning market, and to prepare the infrastructure to serve this emerging market segment.

As one who is interested in the development of online international academic programs, I have no doubt that the Bologna Process is creating a system that is much more welcoming to such initiatives, since it increases transparency on issues such as quality assurance, and facilitates mutual recognition of courses and degrees.

For more information see the commissioner press release, and this overview of the Bologna process.

Private-public academic ventures in the UK

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Wed, 09 May 2007 08:03:50 -0700

This Financial Times piece describes a joint project by US-based Kaplan (a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company) and The University of Essex. The concept seems similar to the one I was involved in setting up in the late 90's, with The University of Liverpool (today: Laureate Online Education B.V.). I'll be curious to track this collaboration. The FT's tone is somewhat skeptic about such ventures when "students never meet a tutor". In my experience, online students meet their tutors (instructors) much more often than in face-to-face teaching, though it is true that the meeting takes place in cyberspace. Note the quote

"Commenting on the Kaplan deal with Essex, Sally Hunt, joint general
secretary of the University and College Union, said there was no
guarantee that standards could be maintained if a university lost
control of academic provision."<snip>"Many students not following a 'traditional' route to higher education often need more support than teenagers moving away to university.
Returning to education is an incredibly big decision for many people to
take and it is absolutely vital that the necessary support is in place
so students complete their courses and standards are maintained," she
said.

It is my experience that the support Sally Hunt talks about, that extra support working professionals need, is exactly the type of support that private enterprises are better at providing than traditional academic institutions. So, assuming that, like the U of Liverpool, U of Essex is maintaining the full responsibility for Quality Assurance of its online programs, then I see no need to criticize the deal. On the contrary. Building such a QA system is not a trivial endeavour, but it has been accomplished in the past. And, once it is in place, all parties involved can work in synergy, and benefit greatly: the students, the university, and the private company.

Student Experience Engineering

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Sun, 06 May 2007 10:46:08 -0700

This podcast of a lecture by Lou Carbone, CEO of Experience Engineering Inc. was a helpful reminder for me that we are in the business of engineering student experiences. It also reminded me how many institutes of higher education tend to forget that. Lou brings the example of banks, who used to be in the "relationship" business, but moved away to making "products", and I think many universities are guilty of the same sin. Listen to Lou's presentation (at least to its first 40 minutes or so) to learn why so many customers who provide high rankings in customer service questionnaires are still likely to move away to a competitor, and what questions you should ask to identify those who are less satisfied. See what we, in higher education, can learn from barbers, Harley Davidson, Starbucks.

The strongest point is Lou's emphasis on constantly examining how we make our customers feel about themselves. If I look back at many right and wrong decisions I took in the past in regards to students, focusing on how the decision would impact the way students feel about themselves would have been a very good rule of thumb. In academic education making students feel good about themselves is a complex matter, if you wish to maintain high academic standards. The temptation to drop the standards is always there. Nevertheless, students are highly sensitive to that, and though they might like undeserved grades in the short term, at the end of the day they will know when the standards have been lowered, and with the lowered standards, they will feel less good about their academic accomplishments, and consequently about the institution that awarded them the grades and the degree. The best compliment from a student is always "it was hard work, but worth the effort". In our line of business the best student experience is a result of placing real challenges in front of students, and then giving them the tools to overcome these challenges and emerge enriched from the experience. And, if they can overcome the challenge using the power of collaboration, then the feeling of accomplishment gets mingled with a strong sense of a learning community, this being a winning combination.

Powerful for-profits moving into online high school education

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:50:00 -0700

This posting might be slightly off topic, discussing online high schools.

OLU mentioned this Business Week article, that describes the entry of big online higher ed players such as Kaplan and Apollo Group into the arena of online high schools. In my opinion, the move of such deep pocketed players, together with the stagnation in US-based academic enrollments, means that significant resources will be mobilized to increase the number of high school students who study online.

What are the benefits? Firstly, more hybrid (blended) courses that combine the best of online with the best of face-to-face should be encouraged at any age beyond which we are comfortable placing a child in front of a screen and keyboard. Secondly, those 700,000 precollegiate mentioned in the article who had enrolled to at least one online course surely benefited, as I already discussed before.

But, what are the challenges? Obviously, I would be very concerned about children and adolescents for whom the majority of social interactions take place online. It is true that social learning is a lifelong effort, but it is during the high school years that we acquire significant parts of these skills. Online social skills build upon those skills acquired offline, and it worries me to try and imagine a person whose skills were developed only online. But my concerns are beyond that. Some learning skills such as the taking of notes in a lecture (I mean one that can't be rewound or paused...) or that of browsing a (physical) library are mainly "offline" skills. How will purely online students acquire them? Moreover, as the article mentions, standards for assessing the learning of online high schools have not yet been established, and the combination of competing, bottom-line oriented companies, with vague or non existent standards for measuring outcomes, is an explosive combination. Lastly, online education requires more discipline than face-to-face. Will the average teenager find that discipline?

I would suggest that a key to successfully making the transition, is to learn from those who have dealt with similar challenges for decades, namely the home schooling movement, and distance learning organizations such as the Distance Education Centre Victoria in Australia. I have no doubt that it is possible to effectively teach high school students online. I am also quite sure that we still have a way to go before we can be confident about what is the best way to achieve that effectiveness.

managing academic staff in an intl. online academic programme

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 02:32:42 -0700

You might be interested in a paper I co-authored with Professor Paul Leng from the University of Liverpool. The paper appeared in this month's issue of Interactive Learning Environments. This paper describes the system we developed that allowed a traditional, campus based university, to recruit teaching faculty from around the world to teach in its online programs. We describe some of the mechanisms and processes that were selected to ensure that the quality and spirit of the online programs match those of the on-campus programs. I hope you will find it interesting and informative.

Mitigating Conflict in Online Student Teams

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 03:51:33 -0700

Continuing Education Trends pointed me to this eLearn article on a topic which is a source for a lot of friction in online classrooms: conflict in online teams. I think Dr Doole analyses the issue in an intelligent and constructive manner, and I would recommend adopting many of his suggestions. I differ with him on the issue of assigning groups. It is my experience that groups that are formed by the participants are more self reliant than groups defined by the instructor. Nevertheless, groups should be given guidance as to how to choose group members, and Dr Doole's points, such as paying attention to time zones, are valid.

Don't speak. Point!

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:33:47 -0700

Bruno Giussani quotes Ethan Zuckerman in his blog posting about the future of journalism. I already talked about how we are educating better citizen journalists in online classrooms, but Giussani's blog made me contemplate the parallels between what journalism is going through, and what higher education is undergoing, following the emergence of online tools. Online instructors in collabortive classrooms are at the forefront of this new reality, where the teacher (like the reporter or editor) is no longer necessarily the top authority and the only voice, where the teacher has many new roles, and where the teacher talks much less, and "points" (i.e. moderates) much more. This is most apparent in online classrooms, though the tools that are making this shift in what higher education is all about are influencing traditional lecture halls too. As usual, the weaker teachers see this as a threat to "proper" education, and the more confident ones are seeing technology as a tool that allows them to leverage their knowledge and skills, and to become more engaged with the learning process of individual students.

Thanks, Dennis, for, hummm pointing me to Giussani's posting J

Power to adjuncts

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:51:38 -0700

Inside Higher Ed reports on an idea by Robert Zemsky, who suggests that adjuncts could incorporate and offer their teaching services as groups. I am not sure if this is feasible, but I think he is ignoring the possibility already pursued by online "adjuncts" to incorporate themsleves as individuals. This trend is based described in a great book with the somewhat revolting title: Make Money Teaching Online, and even worse sub-title: "How to Land Your First Academic Job, Build Credibility, and Earn a Six-Figure Salary". Despite the off-putting titles, the book is an excellent one, and it describes the realities of being a professional online instructor who makes a living doing what he or she enjoys doing, which is teaching and intellectually engaging with students. It discusses a lot of practical issues, including moral and ethical issues, in a balanced and responsible way. I believe it describes an alternative version of what Zemsky is talking about, a version which is a reality for a growing number of professionals in the US, and is likely to spread beyond the geographical boundries of the US soon.

My favorite part of the book is that it refuses to see those in adjunct positions as victims of the system, but rather presents the new opportunities this adjunct status opens to professionals. It is an opportunity not to put all their eggs in one basket but rather work with a few institutions; It is an opportunity to reach the work-life balance which is right for them at every point in time; and, yes, it is also an opportunity to make as much money, and even more money, than tenured colleagues. Online instructors are knowledge workers, and as such, have the least to fear from the move away from the traditional structures (for example see this academic paper).

Geography matters

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:31:13 -0700

OLU points to this press release by Eduventures. Eduventures is still one of the best resources on online academic education in the US, and the industry figures are worth a careful reading.

The fact that many students study online at an institution that is in their geographical proximity is not a surprise (for example my post here), but it is very interesting. On the one hand it points to the fact that online is simply a preferred alternative for some students. On the other hand, it might be an example of conservatism, and of the fact that students are not yet using online education as a tool to meet and study with people who are from distant regions, as well as from abroad.

The Dynamics of Online Discourse

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 05:24:44 -0700

OLU points to a good paper by Xin and Feenberg titled "Pedagogy in Cyberspace:The Dynamics of Online Discourse". This paper provides a valuable in-depth look at the main tool used in asynchronous collaborative classes: discourse. I like the fact that they mention Herring's classic JCMC paper on the apparent interactional incoherence of text-based computer mediated communication. Especially useful is table 1 that summarizes the roles of the moderator.

Mandatory online learning

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 04:50:50 -0700

Inside higher ed reports that "Starting this fall, all students at Northwest State Community College in Archbold, Ohio, will be required to take at least one online course
to graduate". And the reasons? All the right reasons: it is good for the students, it is good for the institution, and it is good for faculty. This community college gets the fact that well designed online education provides and improves skills in ways that traditional face-to-face learning can't. Moreover, these are skills highly valued by future employers. Another point, not mentioned in the article, is that graduates of this community college, who have had a positive encounter with online collaborative asynchronous learning, are more likely to continue their studies some time after graduation, by going back to an online academic institution, and are probably less likely to drop out of such a program.

On magic, wizards and muggles, in the online classroom

nospam@example.com (Yoram Kalman) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:28:48 -0700

danah boyd's recent posting titled Incantations for Muggles links to an inspiring keynote she gave at Etech (O'reilly's excellent "Emerging Technology" Conference. Don't miss some of the best podcasts from recent Etech's).

It made me think of the magic that happens in a good online classroom, especially an international one, where technology allows magic to happen, the magic of truly connecting groups of people who would otherwise not be able to meet and collaborate.

As users (students, teachers), we often forget to think of the magic that enables all of this. Actually, maybe the real magic can't happen until we forget about the technology? Until we focus not on the medium, but on the message, on the person communicating with me across vast distances, through cyberspace. Often software developers kill this magic by adding features that seemingly improve the interaction, but too often kill the magic of simplicity.

danah's keynote also makes me rethink the whole issue of the success of online education with adults, and how that links to what she calls "life stages". It gave me a fresh perspective on this issue, but on that maybe some other time. Until then, the take away message is the focus on the people who make the magic emerge from the magical creations of technologists. Muggles and wizards might live in different worlds, physically and figuratively, and the majority of one despises/fears/knows very little about the other. But, would one exist without the other? One of the big tragedies of online education is that too often the wizards of technology know very little about how real people (i.e. muggles) really learn. I am thinking Ron-Weasley-speaking-over-the-phone-to-uncle-Vernon category of cluelessness. Under these circumstances, is it any wonder that the disconnect is so great?