Emerging Technologies in Online

Education:
The Sloan-C Perspective

JOHN BOURNE
KATHLEEN IVES
BETHANY BOVARD

THE SLOAN CONSORTIUM, INC.

 Outline of Panel Presentations

y Sloan-C
y Emerging Technologies
{ Mobile e-learning

{ The social networking component of e-learning

{ Technologies for disabilities

{ Virtual Worlds

y Learn More
{ Emerging Technologies for e-Learning at the Sloan-C
Symposium in San Jose, July, 2010.
{ Online Workshops
 The Sloan Consortium

y We are a professional not-for-profit membership

organization for both institutions and individuals
y We operate on membership fees, workshop and conference
surpluses , research fees and publication income
y We provide professional development to higher education
professionals, hosts conferences, publishes materials,
conducts research and delivers online workshops.
y Our objective is to improve quality in online education
Elements of Quality – The Sloan-C Pillars

Frank Mayadas first proposed using the pillars for measuring quality.
Over 8000 enrollments in
1345 courses offered
At 158 institutions
 Mobile Learning

EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL OF MOBILE

LEARNING
 Mobile Learning Defined

y Learning that happens when the learner is not at a

fixed, predetermined location

AND/OR

y Learning that happens when the learner takes

advantage of the learning opportunities offered by
mobile technologies.
 Mobile Learning Facts

y Over 50% of undergrads say they own an internet-

capable handheld device
{ Email, student admin systems, and learning management
systems are the most accessed
y Almost half (45%) say they fully expect to be using
mobile devices more for learning in the next 3 years
y 97 percent of U.S. college students own a cell phone,
and 79 percent own a mobile computer.
 Mobile Learning Technologies

y Smart Phones / Pocket PCs- iPhone, Blackberry,

Droid
{ Use anywhere there is phone access
{ Capable of accessing web sites, variety of content

y Netbooks
{ Use anywhere phone or wireless access is available

{ Similar access to standard desktop computers

y eBook Readers / eBooks

 Mobile Learning Scenarios

y Accessing Content
{ Teacher creates podcasts of lecture materials that students access via
their smart phones or netbooks
{ Students attend live synchronous sessions via smart phones or
netbooks

y Interacting with Others

{ Instant messaging with instructor to get assignment clarification
{ Voice messaging with learner team to collaborate on group projects
{ Social networking (e.g. Twitter) to connect, engage in personal
learning, and locate relevant resources and support
 Teaching / Learning Benefits

y Anytime/anywhere access
y Just-in-time learning and support
y Increased opportunities for interaction/engagement
y Reduced communication barriers
y Increased support for diverse learning modalities
y Increased focus on self-directed learning
 Teaching & Learning Challenges

y Creating and maintaining content in appropriate

formats (due to rapidly changing technology)
y Learning curve increases for faculty and students
y Potential for inappropriate use (repackaging same
old content in new ways)
y Potential to bias learning opportunities in favor of
the more tech-savvy students
y Possibility of isolating non-tech-savvy students
 Institutional and Teaching Challenges

y Cost – infrastructure, training, support

y Usability – content creators and users
y Tech Choices – Smart Phones, Netbooks
y Security/Privacy – complying with national
requirements to protect student data and
information
 Overcoming Challenges

y Cost, Usability, Privacy - use infrastructure already

in place
{ Learning Management Systems
Ù Blackboard Mobile - iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry; podcasting
Ù Desire2Learn 2Go - Blackberry

{ Web Conferencing Systems

Ù Elluminate –podcasting
Ù Horizon-Wimba – podcasting

{ Lecture Capture Systems

Ù Tegrity – iPhones, YouTube publishing
Ù MediaSite – webcasting/podcasting
 Social Networking

HELPING STUDENTS CONNECT, LEARN, AND

ACCESS INSTITUTIONAL RESOURCES
 Social Networking Defined

y Connecting and communicating with others in a

community using tools provided by the social
networking service
y A social network service essentially consists of a
representation of each user (often a profile), his/her
social links, and various additional services. Most
social network services are web based and provide
means for users to interact over the internet
(wikipedia entry)
 Social Networking Facts

y 85% of U.S. college students use Facebook

y At least 136 universities have an education channel
in YouTube
y 65% of handheld computing users cite accessing
social networking sites as one of their primary
activities
 Social Networking Sites

There are hundreds of social networking sites. These

are a few of the more popular in higher education.
y Twitter / Yammer
y YouTube
y Facebook
y LinkedIn
y Ning
y Delicious/Twine/Diigo
 Scenarios

y A professor sets up a twitter tag so all her students

can share resources
y A university librarian establishes a twitter account to
support student access and use of library resources
y A university creates a YouTube channel to publish
student support, sports, news, and alumni videos
y A professor creates a facebook group for his class for
social and academic support
 Examples

NMSU Twitter: Campus Info, Berkeley YouTube: Lectures

Student Support & More and More
 Benefits

y Supports self-directed learning

y Can support important literacy (media, information
technology, and critical thinking skills
y Increases presence, interaction, engagement
y Promotes and supports collaboration
y Reduces communication barriers
y Provides for 24/7 access
 Challenges

y Copyright/Intellectual Property – social networks

make it very easy to copy/distribute materials.
Students and faculty need to be aware of
y Access & ADA – not all sites are ADA compliant
y Privacy – social networking sites ask users to create
profiles with email and personal information.
Faculty and students need to understand issues of
privacy, anonymity, etc.
y Institutional networks require dedicated staff to
establish policies, maintain networks, etc.
 Disabilities

LESSONS FROM THE FIELD ABOUT THE USE

OF TECHNOLOGY IN ONLINE EDUCATION
 Online Learning for Students with Disabilities

y Making education accessible/providing digital

opportunities to students high on White House
agenda
y Students with disabilities are make up close to 10%
of the population of students currently enrolled in
traditional institutions of higher education
y Disabilities can range from visual
impairment/hearing loss, to mobility restrictions
such as paraplegia/muscular dystrophy to traumatic
brain injuries/epilepsy
 Sloan-C Workshops

y Faculty-reported Challenges
{ Not tech savvy; do not know how to adapt curriculum to
accommodate individuals with disabilities
{ Too tech savvy; creating content with bells and whistles
without consideration of individuals with disabilities
{ ‘Not my problem’

{ Do not know how to facilitate in a disability ‘diverse’ classroom

 Sloan-C Workshops

y Observed Faculty Challenges

{ Online classroom limit’s instructor’s ability to watch student
and ascertain what s/he is capable of doing
{ Students do not self-identify

{ Students perceive disability not to be a problem

{ Lack of understanding on the part of disability providers about

the differences between onground and online students
 Sloan-C Workshops

y Common Faculty Questions

{ Are students with disabilities in my online classes supposed to
identify themselves to me or to the administration?
{ If students are to identify to me, what am I supposed to do
next? What is my responsibility in the accommodation
process?
{ How will I be notified if there is a student with a disability
enrolled in an online class?
{ Who should I contact if I have either questions or ideas about
the accommodation process?
 Sloan-C Survey (2008)

y A survey of faculty who teach online indicated that:

{ 50% of had never taken an online course

{ Majority were unsure of the process by which they would be

notified if a student with a disability was taking their course
{ Majority reported having no idea IF a student with a disability
was in their online course
{ Most had little or no knowledge of the technologies available to
assist a student with a disability in their online course
{ Most had little or no knowledge what types of disabilities
required special accommodations
 Current Sloan Consortium Initiatives

y Through a grant funded by the Alfred P. Sloan

Foundation and in collaboration with CANnect:
{ How-To Guide for Creating Accessible Online Learning
Content
{ Testing Moodle for Accessibility
{ Online Workshops: Accommodating Students with Disabilities
(third year); Web Accessibility for Online Learning (new)
 Basic Principles for Technology Usage

y Making an adaptation to one’s online course to

accommodate a student with disability helps not only
that students, but other students as well
y By being ‘disability conscious’, instructors pay more
attention to course navigation, clarity, objects, and
reason you are assigning certain activities and
assessments
 Social Model for Disability
Medical Model
Disability is a deficiency or
abnormality
Being disabled is negative
Disability resides in the
individual
The remedy for disability-
related problems is cure or
normalization of the individual
The agent of remedy is the
professional who affects the
arrangements between the
individual and society
Source: Gill, C. (1994) Two Models of Disability . Chicago Institute of Disability. University of Chicago.
Social Model
Disability is a difference
Being disabled, in itself, is
neutral
Disability derives between
individual and society
The remedy for disability-
related problems is a change in
the interaction between the
individual and society
The agent of remedy can be the
individual, an advocate, or
anyone who affects the
arrangements between the
individual and society
 The Good News About Technology

y Access to these tools assists faculty in better meeting

needs of students by tapping into learning styles and
strengths
{ Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences
{ David Kolb’s four learning types
y Innovations in technology tools allow faculty to
modify the way they teach so all students have
opportunity to succeed
 Technology Access Is Not Enough

y Blind students
{ Access to an institution's website is controllable; but not to the
rest of the Internet
{ Issue of text book conversion

y Deaf students
{ Audio components to online presentations
{ Need for oral communication during some elements of
coursework
 Technology Access Is Not Enough

y Mobility-Impaired Students
{ Architectural access may still be an issue

{ Physical limitations may prove difficult in accuracy/speed of

online participation

y Students with Non-Visible Disabilities

{ Asynchronous classes may have timed elements
 Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners

y Faculty should not assume they know what is needed

to accommodate a learner with a particular disability
y Ask!
y The learner can provide the best information on
what types of accommodations are needed
 Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners

y Some learners do not know what they do not know

y May not be up-to-speed on recently developed and
improved technologies that can aid/support learning
(e.g. screen readers, voice recognition, other
technologies)
 Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners

y Knowing key resources at one’s institution who can

help with issues listed on previous slide proves key
for faculty
y Faculty members do not have to be experts
y However, in addition to access to the needed
technology; a resource list is beneficial
 Creative Thinking

y Ideas learned from a learner with one type of

disability can be useful to persons with different
conditions
y For example, a student with back pain from an
accident who needs to lie down frequently may
consider audio books or a computer screen reader
y These are solutions typically employed by blind
students
 Summary

y Technology does not remove all the access barriers in

online education
y Various strategies are needed to accommodate students
with disabilities
y The more faculty members, staff, and distance learning
specialists know about technical problems facing
students with disabilities, their legal obligation to remove
barriers, and practical approaches to improving access,
the more likely these barriers can be removed
 Virtual Worlds

VIRTUAL WORLDS PROVIDE AN IMMERSIVE

LEARNING EXPERIENCE THAT ENHANCES
SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY.
THE EXEMPLAR VW WE USE IS SECOND LIFE
(SL)
 Higher education and Virtual Worlds

y Many institutions of higher education have islands in

Second Life for the purposes of
{ Teaching at a distance
Ù Supports presence, development and use of simulations, role
playing, and more
{ Marketing & Retention
{ Prototyping and Research
Ù .g. testing marketing layouts for grocery stores, museums
 Companies and Virtual Worlds

y Virtual Interviews
y Meetings of non-collocated staffs
y Testing consumer acceptance of products
y Distributed design meetings
y Organizing events, including conferences (cite IBM)
 ..and in the government and military

y NASA
{ Examples of what NASA is doing, tours

y NOAA
{ Examples of weather-related phenomena

y NUWC
{ Examples of Navy activities and training venues

Some examples:
Landing point for NUWC
Teleport to educational areas in Naval venue
Immersive education
Tactical Training
Collaborative Exercises
Meeting Spaces (war room)
 Rose Island Lighthouse – Newport, RI

y Rose Island historical monument; used in both world

wars by the navy as a Navy Torpedo Station
y SL great for tour of national monuments, battlefield,
etc.
Loyalist College massively improves test scores and training
outcomes in border crossing simulation
Tomb of Unknown Soldier
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
 Virtual Worlds initiative at Sloan-C

y Realistic, student-centered combined asynchronous

and synchronous learning experiences. Hypothesis –
create high quality learning in a virtual world.
Opportunities using virtual worlds include:

y Ways of reaching new populations with online education

{ Blended opportunities, localness

{ Corporate, alumni, and others

{ Workforce

{ K-12

y Improving retention, graduation rates

y Increasing Learning effectiveness
y Cost reductions, improving scale
y International connectivity and liaisons
y Creating “Do-learn” experiences that are risk-free
 Summary of Key Points

y Military educator persona – instructors that have

students who are needy; all army folks get 4500/year at a
top rate of 250/semester hour = 6 courses a year. Or 18
hours. There are about 100 schools with LOI (letter of
instruction) – can get reimbursed from others. Through
e-army page.
y Disability – how to deal with each type of disability
y Social networking – how to add in people at other
schools into the network and how to augment your
network
y Mobile – just the ticket for lectures
y VW – more immersive, interactive, engaging, social,
observable that classroom.
 Learn More

y Conferences
{ Annual Conference, Orlando, Florida, October, 2010
{ Blended Workshop, Chicago, Ill, April, 2010
{ Emerging Technology Applications for Online Learning, San Jose,
CA, July, 2010 http://sloanconsortium.org/et4online

y Online Workshops http://sloanconsortium.org/workshops

{ Accommodating Students with Disabilities: Leveraging the Online
Learning Environment 4/7 - 4/13
{ Supporting & Engaging Students Through Social Media 6/9 – 6/18
{ Selection, Incorporation, and Assessment of New and Emerging
Technologies for Online Courses 6/16 - 6/25
{ Great Web 2.0 Tools to Improve Learning 9/22 - 10/1
{ Beginning Second Life 10/20 - 10/29
 In conclusion, a beginning:

“The greatest real thrill that life offers is to create,

to construct, to develop something useful. Too
often we fail to recognize and pay tribute to the
creative spirit. It is that spirit that creates our jobs.
There has to be this pioneer, the individual who
has the courage, the ambition to overcome the
obstacles that always develop when one tries to do
something worthwhile, especially when it is new
and different.”

Alfred P. Sloan
 Questions?

Visit the Sloan Consortium

http://sloanconsortium.org