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eCampus News Staff“Flipped” and adaptive learning programs gained traction on campus. A high-profile internet hoax involving a college athlete propelled the term “catfishing” into the public consciousness. MOOCs hit some key stumbling blocks, while the notion of a college degree became more fluid.
Udacity’s CEO Sebastian Thrun announces a partnership between the MOOC platform and San Jose State University in January 2013. The project was eventually put on hiatus.
These were some of the key ed-tech developments affecting colleges and universities in the past year—and we’ve got a full recap for you right here.
In this special all-digital publication, the editors of eCampus Newshighlight what we think are the 10 most significant higher-education technology stories of 2013.
To learn how these stories have made an impact on colleges and universities this year—and how they’ll continue to shape higher education in 2014 and beyond—read on.
1. MOOCs grapple with low completion rates, faculty skepticism, and mixed results.
MOOCs so dominated the national conversation this year that they deserve two spots on our list. And while there have been some successes, such as a MOOC offered by the University of London that garnered a 91-percent student satisfaction rating, the grades have been largely mixed so far, despite all the hype.
In February, a University of California-Irvine professor stopped teaching midway through a MOOC in microeconomics offered through the Coursera platform, saying he had disagreements on how to conduct the free class for thousands of students around the world.
That was hardly the only example of faculty unrest.
A plan to enroll 100,000 State University of New York students in MOOCs without increasing faculty drew criticism from a union leader who described MOOCs as “experimental.” And professors from San Jose State University’s philosophy department wrote
an open letter to Michael Sandel, a Harvard professor and the creator of a MOOC on Justice, saying they wouldn’t adopt his MOOC because “having a scholar teach and engage with his or her own students is far superior to having those students watch a video of another scholar engaging his or her students.”
SJSU’s battle with some of its faculty members began just days after Duke University faculty voted against an initiative that would have granted college credits to Duke students who took classes using an online platform called 2U. It continued in November, when SJSU’s Academic Senate voted to request an independent review of the university’s governance, arguing that faculty should have a say in all technology-related university partnerships.
Observers say the faculty backlash against the SJSU’s adoption of MOOCs could set a precedent for blocking technology adoption in higher education.
“Faculty governance is often at odds with rapid innovation. Often when you get a consensus among faculty, the consensus is to maintain the status quo,” said Michelle Rhee-Weise, senior research fellow at the
Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
At least some of the faculty skepticism seems warranted. MOOC completion rates have been a sore spot; a University of Pennsylvania study showed just 4 percent of students actually completed the courses. Penn researchers also found that MOOCs aren’t reaching their intended audience: MOOC students were predominantly male, well educated, and young—a far cry from the under-educated diverse masses for which many MOOC platforms first were designed.
For MOOCs to live up to their potential, a lot must change, wrote John Ebersole, president of Excelsior College, in an article for eCampus News.
“With no apparent due diligence, major universities rushed to be a part of the ‘MOOC movement’ without assessing whether any real learning was being produced,” Ebersole wrote.
But “MOOCs have tremendous potential if we think about finding ways to hold student interest, provide better instructional design, improve interactivity, strengthen our faculty, and carry out meaningful assessments of outcomes.”
See also:
UC Irvine professor stops teaching online course in disputeProfessors’ open letter: MOOCs a ‘compromise of quality education’MOOCs and the potential for learning sociallyAre students ‘too busy’ for MOOCs?The ABCs of MOOCs: What it’s like to enrollLack of experience, technical issues hurt MOOC programUnion concerned with New York MOOC expansionStudents: Online courses require more disciplineMOOCs: ‘Nightmare’ or a ‘tremendous opportunity’?Satisfied students: 9 in 10 pleased with MOOCMOOCs aren’t reaching their target audienceMOOC advocates meet a major roadblockA story of learning: My brother’s MOOC experienceLow MOOC completion rates back in the limelightThe problem with the MOOC movement
