By Jeanette Evans | STC Associate Fellow and Charles Dull
This column investigates emerging technologies in education and how we might use them in our work. Whether it is social media, wearable technologies, the latest in printers, personalization, big data, BYOD, cloud computing, mobile apps, MOOCs, analytics, digital identity, haptic interfaces, augmented reality, or the internet of things, we can all benefit from current thinking on these technologies. Contact the columnists at jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net.
Let’s look at some thoughts on online education, training, and new technology and how new technologies today no longer drive transformation and growth in online learning and training. Instead, the focus is on effectiveness and a fit within a larger offering.
We can look at this idea in light of quality pioneer W. Edwards Deming’s statement that “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” How can we apply this statement to today’s world of online learning? We can do this by seeing that survival today means that online classes are becoming similar to training courses designed for professional development. We see a blending of assessment technologies with learning. Outcomes are mainstream. Online education is tied to performance and productivity.
What Deming suggested is that a dynamic is needed in an organization to provide the basis for sustainability. Deming would support the idea that continuous learning and training are part of organizational survival. As a proponent of the process of continuous improvement, Deming would argue that learning, innovation, and creation are needed for continuous improvement.
Today, colleges close because they fail to change. There can be a number of reasons why colleges close, but one of the major ones is an inability to meet the demands of a changing student demographic or an inability to improve operational effectiveness.
The schools that survive are the ones that change, innovate, and improve. Schools, in turn, help people learn to innovate. Schools provide training to improve productivity. Here we see a symbiosis. Learning, training, and innovation become more and more related. Double loop learning is what some call it.
We can remember when online learning evolved because of new technologies. This meant bridging gaps due to location or resources. But today, new technologies do not mean as much in online education. Instead of a focus, for example, on how much we can do with Adobe Connect, we now focus on the quality of connection, cost, and service.
Adaptive learning is another concept we should look at now. Adaptive learning deals with creating learning maps for an individual. It does not deal with building learning for a group. We are looking now at how to make this adaptive learning approach more effective.
As online learning grows we see the need for instructional designers who can use technology to build effective assessments, create performance-based learning objectives, and understand what constitutes an effective learning experience.
Rubrics remain a useful tool. By automating rubrics to grade assignments, we can provide immediate feedback to students. Online learning now becomes more of a production process. The instruction has timelines and deliverables. Instruction becomes facilitation. Assessment is part of the design. That is what becomes effective online learning today.
Today’s online learning technologies focus on repositories. These repositories curate content for measurable and effective delivery. We discuss whether a video conference would be helpful, not whether it is possible. We focus on the content and learning objects, not the technologies.
Learning management system design has become more fluid. Course room design in Canvas and LoudCloud provides a fluid and seamless learning experience. You can now add a design factor to the learning management system, assessment, presentation, content, conference, assignment, and delivery. The learning management system for training and education have everything in common. Training has learned from education about advances in learning management system design. Education has learned from training about measuring learning and outcomes.
Ideally, technology should not drive education. Technology is a means of delivery. It is a tool for measurement. It is also an enhancement to content. It provides an opportunity for connecting to available resources anywhere. What counts is a personal connection. That is what people still want and need, regardless of how electronic or digital the world has become. We all try to make a personal connection, whether it is through chatting, Instagramming, social media, streaming, the WikiPages of an LMS, or journals.
For more on the topic of online education and training, please see Symbiosis: The New Paradigm in Online Education and Training.
DR. CHARLES DULL is Associate Dean of the IT Center of Excellence at Cuyahoga Community College.
Associate Fellow JEANETTE EVANS writes often for Intercom and is a co-editor for the award-winning newsletter of the NEO Chapter.
