Distance Learning in Higher Ed (Section 2 Activity)

The U.S. Department of Education’s, National Center for Education Statistics reported in 2008 that of all 4,200 U.S. higher education institutions, 66% of them offered distance education courses. These distance education courses included online and hybrid modes of delivery. The sampling of this mode of delivery was “all postsecondary institutions that were Title IV degree granting” and public 2-year and 4-year institutions topped the scale at 97% and 89% respectively.

Statistics aside, the number of online learners continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Some of the reasons online learning is ever expanding are:

• anytime/anywhere access to coursework
• working adults and parents can continue their education in their free time
• individuals residing in rural areas can save the expense and time of travel to and from school

Since I’ve mentioned some of the positive attributes of online learning I feel obligated to also note some of it’s less than positive ones:

• no synchronous interaction with piers or instructors (unless tools such as Skype are used)
• no lecture from the instructor (unless lecture capture is performed)
• not knowing your instructor or classmates like in face-to-face
• the internet occasionally crashes

Online learning can be a rewarding way to earn a degree or continue one’s education for people who have basic computer skills and can manage their time wisely. Online learning is not only for credit or degree earning purposes. For my own online learning personal enrichment I visit the following sites to keep up on what is going on in Distance Learning and IT:

• FeedBlitz [feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com]
• Faculty Focus [ezine@facultyfocusmail.com]
• Inside Higher Ed [newsroom@news.insidehighered.com]
• Academic Impressions [events@academic-impressions.com]
• IT Trends [CampusTechnology@1105Newsletters.com]

Coupled with the training I’ve received on the job and the formal courses I’ve completed, visiting the above websites keeps me informed.

Online Learning Student Authentication

I Googled Higher Education Student Authentication in response to the possible upcoming changes in my institution’s online learning student authentication policy. In the past (through Summer 2010 term) students could register for an online course if they met it’s prerequisite and simply log into our LMS with their assigned username and default password (which they could update after initial log in) and participate in the course as described in the syllabus and addendum. Upon successful completion of the course the student would receive credit (in the case of our credit courses) for that online course without any face-to-face meeting.

If our new authentication policy goes into effect all students who register in an online credit course will be required to take the final exam in a proctored environment to complete the course and receive credit. The Journal of Online Learning and Teaching sighted Heberling’s statement from 2002 which I believe summarizes the necessity of authentication, “While technological advancements of the past decade have leveraged the any time/any place advantage often associated with online learning, similar progress to create a regulated environment for controlled activity has been somewhat of a challenge.” Our new policy will be a cost effective way for us to ensure authentication and in doing so, comply with the federal and accreditation standards behind its implementation.

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