OLDaily

The Elite “College Experience” is Not Compatible with Covid-19
Steven D. Krause, 2020/04/27

Steve Krause hits the nail on the head with this one. Several nails. In elite education, he argues, "taking classes is just not what it’s all about... it’s also a whole lifestyle of dorms or near campus apartments, sporting events, frats and sororities and clubs, parties, beautiful buildings and campuses, etc." Also, "elite universities don’t like online classes because they are not the college experience (see above) and they still believe online classes are for poor people." And that creates a challenge. Because, yes, higher education institutions will need government support, and government support isn't going to include funding for sporting events, frats and sororities and clubs, parties, beautiful buildings and campuses. At a certain point, people are going to realize that the problems of equity exist not so much in online learning as they do in the higher education system in general.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Key Skill: Self-Directed Learning
Silvia Tolisano, LangWitches, 2020/04/27

If anything has become clear in recent weeks, it has been this: "Remote learning relies on students to being self-directed learners... We need to start planting the seeds early for a more self-directed learning vs. showing up for class and waiting-to-see-what-a- teacher-has-planned for us today!" This includes developing skills to create "documentation directed to aid self-awareness, fuel motivation to learn, and support decision-making concerning what wants or needs to be learned or can be learned next." Additionally, there's curation, "a vital skill that directly connects with self-directed learning, but it also develops and strengthens the now skills and literacies in the process." Tolisano also includes things like choice and voice, web literacy, and personal learning networks.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Crashing into online learning: a report from five continents – and some conclusions
Tony Bates, Online learning and distance education resources, 2020/04/27

Tony Bates brings together reports from reports from sub-Saharan Africa, Iran, Japan, the UK, Canada and the USA describing how institutions have responded to the sudden shift to online learning. I like what he has to say in his concluding section. One thing: "Covid-19 has magnified very clearly the current inequities in the system and the importance of universal and low cost internet access for education." Another thing: "let’s give some thought to the students. Their lives have been turned upside down by this crisis, and they should be always the first consideration."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Time to Talk Workloads
Alex Usher, Higher Education Strategy Associates, 2020/04/27

As is so often the case (and is so often the great failure of economists), "simple math" fails to tell the tale. And so also here. Alex Usher writes, "smaller classes mean more instructors. That could mean hiring boat-loads of graduate students and sessionals. But who has money for that during the crisis?  That leaves the existing professoriate." And so, he concludes, "until the end of the emergency, most non-COVID-related research (broadly defined) should be on hold...  Stop the tenure clocks, freeze promotion and merit increases (there will be no money for either, anyway). But change up the workloads." This may be what simple math says. But I can't imagine it being reality.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Two successful approaches to moving on-campus courses online due to Covid-19
Tony Bates, Online learning and distance education resources, 2020/04/27

The over-riding message in this article is that institutions that were prepared for online learning were much more easily able to manage the transition than those that weren't. The institutions in question - Arizona State University and Southern New Hampshire University both had significant online learning programs. SNHU, which has also historically made community access a priority, also significantly lowered tuition feeds. Bates wonders, "Could institutions start offering two-track degrees: regular full campus-based programs at a higher cost than fully online programs – or a mix of both? If so what would be the best mix: online learning for the large first and second year courses, or for the more specialist and usually smaller third and fourth year courses?"

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

We should be angry for our communities, not at them
Gerry Robinson, Schools Week, 2020/04/27

This is a sentiment I've heard a lot recently: "we don’t want it to go back to normal. Normal wasn’t working." And I'm sympathetic. The question, is, how do we get from here to there? The message in one deprived school district is this: "'we’re all in this together' and 'everyone needs to play their part'. How desperately insulting to suggest this has ever been the case. Our children have long lived with the pre-existing condition of staggering deprivation." Our focus with both relief and in the reconstruction that follows needs to be not at the top but at the bottom - making sure those most in need have housing, food, health care, education, clothing, connectivity, a voice.... That in itself is a sufficient challenge for the economy and morality of our times.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]