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The current recession has had a devastating impact on colleges and universities across the US and beyond. Layoffs and program closures have hit all of post-secondary education from community colleges, private colleges, public universities and even the ivy league schools have been forced to trim programs and staff. We will examine strategies, technologies, practices and practicalities that enable programs to thrive, not just survive, in the online environment.
Recession Realities in Higher Education
Strategies:
Reduce Costs, Web and Social Marketing, Extend Reach, Support Academic Core, Adapt Teaching Practices and Pedagogies, Learn from Others, Lead Innovation
Reduce Costs:
Sample Open/Free Technologies
Open source LMS http://moodle.org/
Ten free/low-cost Web conferencing providers http://tomuse.com/top-10-free-web-conference-services/
Web conferencing using Skype http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/prices/
Free wiki http://wikispaces.com/
Google Docs: better survey platform than monkey - shared development of presentations, word documents, spreadsheets, reports, etc. http://docs.google.com
Mini online Camtasia - Jing http://www.jingproject.com/
Online backup, hosting, and storage (2 gig free - class sharing of dropbox folder - faculty/student dropbox) http://dropbox.com
Text the Mob (substitute for clickers) - http://textthemob.com/Text
Free useful gadgets such as mindmaps, bibliography builders, maps, and much more http://sharedspaces.googlelabs.com/gallery/results?category=All
Slideshare your Power Point http://www.slideshare.net/
Slidecast your narrated lectures http://www.slideshare.net/jboutelle/slidecasting-101
Open Source Texts
Reduce costs for students
Offer more timely materials
Offer highly-customized resources
Examples
Efficiencies
Surprisingly, at the same time as it extends your marketplace worldwide, going online shifts a significant portion of the the delivery expense to those who attend. There are many efficiencies that are realized online:
Online delivery reduces delivery costs:
Eliminate food service costs
Eliminate facility fees
Eliminate parking fees
Eliminate speaker travel expenses
Capture of audio/video is far more economical than physical setup
Online delivery reduces attendance costs for your clients/students who also are on reduced budgets:
Eliminate travel expenses
Reduce time away from work/home
Asynchronous nature (including streamed playback of synchronous events) provides flexibility
Productivity
The Web becomes your free, open-source repository of resources
Parlay YouTube videos, Prezi, Websites, rich databases into content for your continuing ed sessions
Easily re-purpose online resources for multiple continuing ed offerings
Webinar to multiple remote locations on the same day
example https://sites.google.com/site/shunewtech/ in morning and back on campus for meetings in the afternoon
example http://nclc-online.ning.com/events/the-phoenix-google-reinvents when I arrived yesterday
Collaborations
Counterintuitive as it may seem, this is not the time to compete more fiercely; rather it is time to build collaborations, find synergies, and work with others
Inter-institutional team-teaching online to build breadth, depth and quality can give both institutions an edge in attracting students
Share marketing buys for non-competing events, workshops, etc. with same demographics
Where competing head-to-head seek to find ways both institutions can reduce costs and generate a higher margin
Web Marketing
The web remains the core of "free" marketing. Search engine optimization is important.
http://www.online.uillinois.edu
Social Marketing
It's cool, instant, viral and free! Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Branchout, and more. (check out targeted demographic Facebook ads as per Helena's presentation!)
Reaching 20,000 each week through searches, subscriptions, syndications:
Online Learning Update blog - among top three returns on Google for online learning
Educational Technology blog - among top three returns on Google for educational technology
Recession Realities blog - top return on Google for higher ed recession
Techno-News blog - oldest of Ray's daily blogs, began when blogging was new in 2000
Some 5,000 subscribe via RSS; nearly 1,500 subscribe via email; more than a hundred other sites re-publish the RSS feeds via syndication; thousands of online searchers find these resources each week via Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.
How Disruptive Innovation Can Deliver Quality and Affordability to Postsecondary Education - Clayton Christensen and colleagues, whose theory of disruption of entire industries by innovations that disrupt the marketplace, on February 8, 2011 issued a new report on how online learning is impacting higher education. Some interesting reading for high education administrators and regulators. Predicts 50% of college students will be taking online classes in 2014 - creating shakeout among traditional brick-and-mortar universities that fail to adapt. It's not just the price of education; it's the cost of education.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/02/disrupting_college.html
Disrupting College:
Online delivery enables worldwide reach. UIS online enrollments area fastest growing outside the state of Illinois. For the first time this semester our out-of-state online headcount exceeds 40% with students from every state except Montana. Students reside in the 49 other states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and nine foreign countries. The state with the largest representation (after Illinois) is California. UIS Online Enrollment Summary - Spring 2011
Higher Education Opportunities Act - Concerns over out-of-state students:
http://wcet.wiche.edu/advance/state-approval
Support the Academic Core:
Continuing Ed Programs as Gateways to Degrees
Continuing Ed can be the side door to the university. Beginning with a continuing ed class, a student can build confidence and interest in completing a degree. As part of the larger operation of an institution of higher education, we are in a unique position to help guide students into the mainstream of the academic program.
Open (free) Class Samples Highlighting Faculty and Degrees
Building Linkages to Degree Completion and Advanced Degrees
In many respects continuing higher education plays a key role in the continuum of learning in the 21st century. CE is not just the periodic capstone to degrees, but it is also the launching pad for new, extended deep learning. In some cases this can mean that we serve in the role to point participants to new degrees.
Teaching Pedagogies and Practices in a Recession
Tie theory to practice
Include a "field" assignment
Be open to internships
Incorporate relevant, current case studies linked to the workplace
Accommodate changing work schedules among students -- Blended Learning and Mode Neutral Pedagogy
Bring in virtual guest speakers for employment advice in this field
Construct an assignment that can be used as a resume-builder
Be open to assignment customization where/when appropriate such as technology used to deliver a presentation
Recession may result in large classes - use group projects on wikis
Include an assignment that will help students build a portfolio - use e-portfolio software
Learn from Others:
UPCEA new blog
Lead Innovation:
Lead your campus in the application of technology and use of the Internet in teaching and learning. Inform others of the potential and promise of the 'net. Provide weekly or monthly updates for faculty and administrators seeking to find the best new applications that may reach new student bases, enhance the teaching/learning process, and facilitate greater communication.
The unique role that continuing higher education plays is one that is not merely technology, not merely content, but as modeling, promoting, and practicing both pedagogy and technology to serve the professional.
Contact information:
Ray Schroeder, director
Center for Online Learning, Research and Service
University of Illinois Springfield
One University Plaza
Springfield, IL 62703
http://sites.google.com/site/rayschroeder
217-206-7531
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