October 17th, 2008 by Learning Systems
More and more young people worldwide are aspiring to higher education of some kind. But building more universities to accommodate to this growing demographic is not economically possible for many countries. In India alone, over two thousand additional universities would be necessary to correspond to the escalating demand for higher education. Could online courseware be an answer to this problem?
As it is now, the “digital divide”–implying a lack of technological infrastructure in many countries–separates the technological haves from the have-nots, including access to online courseware. However, in both developed and developing countries, the internet holds the power to offer cost-effective means to provide access to higher education and training opportunities. Online courseware could transform dramatically from its elite status to a more popular one.
October 13th, 2008 by Learning Systems
So how can higher education systems work to create better teaching of meaningful learning content? The system’s status quo is so entrenched, it’s going to take a variety of different efforts to effect change. One way in which higher education learning content can be enriched and developed is to concentrate on students’ future career contexts. Professors should consider what students will actually be able to do when they have their degrees and step out into the job market.
Another solution is to open more dialogue between students and professors, concerning learning content as well as its format and delivery in a course. At the end of each semester, students fill out faculty evaluation sheets. But what happens as a result of this feedback varies from school to school. In some, these evaluations are merely a gesture, while in others, teacher performance is closely scrutinized.
October 13th, 2008 by Learning Systems
A major problem in the higher education learning system is that real learning is often hindered by a range of phenomena. Roger Schank points to a number of these occurrences. Professors who are mainly interested in pursuing their own research agendas don’t put their energy into their classes. Rather than meaningful learning, students look to get high marks out of a learning system, which will help them land good jobs after college.
Since professors are rewarded largely for their research, they have less incentive to improve their teaching. Then there’s the problem of course offering in higher education learning systems. Universities often offer courses that are easy to teach and grade, and not necessarily ones that will prepare students for their futures. The result of all this is that employers often need to “re-train” and motivate their employees.
September 11th, 2008 by Learning Systems
At the start of 2008, about 4 million students were taking online courses in universities and other higher education institutions, many of those courses hosted by learning management systems. How do students feel about online courses, and the experience of collaborative learning that constitutes the incorporation of a learning management system?
According to the Sloan report, which is based on a poll of academic leaders, students generally appear at least equally satisfied with their online classes as they were with traditional ones. Does this reveal more about the quality of online courses or of the traditional courses students experienced?
Regardless, with more educators able to instruct using learning management systems in their courses, greater quality and accessibility in course content offered online, and increasingly computer-savvy generations of students, the feedback is bound to become only more positive.
