Accelerated Learning

I have been studying and thinking about how to improve our online program and to meet the expectations of the ACCJC during their next visit to our school. During my research I found a presentation and posted it on this blog.  As I watched the video I noticed that someone from the College of Canyons was a presenter. I decided to go to their website and found myself more intrigued by the concept of Accelerated Learning.

The following is a screenshot from their website:

College of the Canyons offers a variety of courses in accelerated, or short-term, learning formats. Our GO! classes are 5-week, online courses. PACE classes are typically 8-week hybrid classes that meet both Saturdays (on campus) and online. PAL courses are offered in pairs: two 8-week Math or two 8-week English classes offered back-to-back in one semester with the same instructor and same classmates. Please click on the links above to learn more about each program

Quickly, I realized that their PACE program is a variation on a little experiment  that economics department is conducting now. The economics department offers two eight weeks classes back to back in one semester. The idea was to help students to complete both Econ 101 and Econ 102 in one semester. During the first eight weeks of the semester Econ 101 is presented and during the second eight week of the semester Econ 102 is presented. Unlike regular 16 weeks classes which meet three hours a week, these classes meet for 6 hours a week. These classes are 100% on the ground or face to face.  (NOTE: This idea was inspired by my discussions with Dr. Wetsman)
The College of Canyon has taken this concept of Accelerated Learning and has added an online component. At our school we call these classes Hybrid classes. They are basically leveraging the online technology to shorten the classes. Students in this program will take 8 weeks courses, same as our students can in Economics at our school, without having to sit in 6 hours of lecture per week. The other three hours per week is completed online. The students complete homework and complete classwork which can assess SLOs, freeing up the remaining time for lectures and/or discussions.  This allows students to complete more units in the same amount of time.
Also instead of only one Department doing this they have scheduled a series of classes which lead to a degree. This is an important point! Why? Currently, students who have signed up for the first 8 weeks Econ 101 class may or may not sign up for Econ 102 during the second eight weeks. There are many reasons for students not signing up for Econ 102. It could be that they do not meet the Prerequisite (Math 70) for Econ 102 or it could be they have realized that Economics does not suit them and wish to study another subject. However, if only one department (econ) is offering these classes, they will have a void in their scheduled during the second eight weeks.
In my opinion, this program will benefit our students.

Rethinking The Digital Divide

At Rio Hondo some of our trustees and faculty argue that students do not have computers because they can not afford them or that students do not have access to the Internet.This phenomenon is better known as the digital divide. These believers want to offer more on the ground face to face classes due to this divide. I thought this was a mistaken view of our students. I would argue this view point does NOT match the reality on the ground. Due to Moore's law  falling computer prices and free Wi-Fi at various locations such as McDonald and Starbucks the old digital divide based on income is conquered. I will admit that I was partialy wrong and missed the new divide which has less to do with  income and more with the technology being used. In this post I wish to argue that there is a new digital divide but it is more generational than income based.
I have noticed that most of the email I receive from students are from mobile devices. Also using a feature in the course management system tracking how the course was accessed most of them are accessing the course through mobile devices. I asked some friends in a more affluent college district and they verified that students are using mobile devices more than computers or laptops.

This use of mobile devices by students leads to a few interrelated problems for online education and creates a new divide.

1) They do not have access to printers and do not print physical documents. They try to read documents on a small mobile screen such as phones or their ipods.  The advantage of a physical document is that it slows down the cognitive process and forces concentration and better planning.   Also there is a tendency for students to miss important details on a small screen such as a handheld device. I see this with students registering for the wrong class, not reading the details in my syllabus, and missing important keywords in online quizzes.

2) The second problem is technical. Some features of our course management system (Blackboard)  does not work on mobile devices in the same way as on a laptop or a computer. There is a mobile application for blackboard but this application does not do a great job. Flash content used to create online lectures with programs such as Camtasia does not work on mobile devices such as the IPhone, Ipod touch.

3) Finally, the mobility of the device and the ability to complete assignments on the "go" means lack of concentration. Since the technology allows students to do their work anytime anywhere, the technology creates a mistaken self perception of understanding the material in our students.

There are two approaches to deal with this mobile phenomenon. One is to fight this trend and the other is to accommodate. However, both approaches require observation of student use of technology. In my next post  I will list some of the ideas I have to deal with this trend in online education.

Higher Education Going the Way of Manufacturing

Is Higher Ed going the way of manufacturing? Will the U.S. higher education system fall behind the rest of the world? Here is an interesting interview on this topic.