At a meeting of the board of trustees recently, VC Andreea Serban—or maybe somebody else—explained that all of our growth in recent years has been in the area of distance ed—the online variety, I believe. We were led to believe that this is consistent with a general trend among community colleges.
Guess so. In this morning’s Inside Higher Ed, we find: Surge in Distance Ed at Community Colleges:
Community college enrollment growth is increasingly coming from online students, leading many institutions to create extensive online student service operations. Many of those institutions are also considering a shift in their course management systems — just as Blackboard’s purchase of WebCT would seem to have solidified its dominant position in that market.Those are some of the key findings from a new study on e-learning in community colleges, released Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges. The study was conducted by the Instructional Technology Council, a group of nearly 500 colleges — almost all of them two-year institutions — with a strong interest in online education….
In the survey — completed by 320 institutions, a representative sample of community colleges nationally — the council found that online enrollments had increased by 15 percent on average over the last year, during a period when community colleges’ total enrollment was up by 2 percent…In addition, 70 percent of responding institutions reported that there was more student demand for distance learning than they could meet.
…Other findings in the survey reflect the continued growth of online education at community colleges and the sense that it is becoming normal, not exceptional. Sixty-four percent of those responding (the survey was completed by those who run distance education) report to either a vice president for academic affairs or a dean of students.
…A few years back, those organizing distance programs at community colleges would complain that faculty skepticism was a big obstacle, but [a presenter of the report] said that the survey found that is no longer the case. Relatively few distance education directors identified that as a problem (they were far more likely to identify as problems the need for more training for support staff, budget issues, and the need for student services for distance students).
“I think there has been real buy-in,” [he] said.
In selected areas, the survey did find that either faculty skepticism or pedagogical challenges were limiting the growth of distance education. These included: lab-based science, speech, fine arts, nursing, mathematics, industrial technology, foreign languages and computer hardware.
…In many categories of student services, all or nearly all colleges identified themselves as either having those services now or as planned for the next one-two years….
In my corner of the district, skepticism still prevails among most faculty, especially old-timers. Or maybe it’s just foot-dragging. Or a bit of both.
Since distance ed is not (necessarily) tied to any place—I mean, if you need an Anthro course, you don’t necessarily have to take it from the community college down the street—the rise of DE promises some big changes. Or so it seems to me. But whaddoo I know.
11 comments:
I guess I am a foot dragger or an old timer (actually I am both). And before I get accused of also being a dinosaur or a luddite, let me say that I love what technology has to offer me in the classroom: Blackboard, Internet sites, PowerPoint presentations, etcetera. But I am unconvinced that distance ed is the way to teach foreign languages. I use a highly communicative and participatory approach that involves visuals, sound effects, dramatization and realia. I try to involve all five senses in the acquisition of a new language. I have asked students if they would rather have their foreign language taught as a distance ed course and they are never enthused about it. Their response is always "Why would you do that?"
Most of our foreign language students actually want to learn to comprehend and communicate in the target language and they understand that to do so, they need real discourse practice in the new language. They always remark that what they liked best about the class was the sense of community that developed while acquiring the new language.
So go ahead and teach anatomy, sociology, astronomy, American history and statistics on line, but let's agree that distance ed is not he optimal mode of delivery for every subject
RV--I suspect that you are right, that not all subjects are best taught using DE. Did not mean to imply otherwise. In my own area--philosophy--we are pursuing DE for now only in logic, which is less concerned with discussion/conversation and which concentrates on discrete skills that can be tested "objectively," as they say (I do wish they'd stop saying it). I mean, either you can do a truth table for modus tollens or you can't.
Chucky Cheese, the big cheese, Mr. know-it-all.
Did someone wander in from the third grade? Someone who can't tell modus tollens from modus ponens? Someone who thinks "logos" means those funny plastic blocks you put together?
One good aspect of DE is there's no chance of a nutcase "spree killing" students and faculty.
I understand there are businesses that will not hire people who have received DE degrees.
I suppose basic GE lecture courses could be somewhat "handled" in a DE setting - maybe. However applied courses in athletics, visual arts, performing arts, public speaking, lab sciences and so on, no way. What a bunch ignorant slacker HORSES-ASS morons who think we can do that.
Go on over to Confessions of a Community College Dean for a good discussion of DE, Be sure to read the comments.
--100 miles down the road
Chuck in response to your comment: "philosophy--we are pursuing DE for now only in logic, which is less concerned with discussion/conversation and which concentrates on discrete skills that can be tested "objectively," "
DE can have discussions. There are discussion boards, and Wikis. I believe we are having a form of discussion right now.
I teach economics both online and face-to-face. My online students have better discussion. Nobody can hide in the back of the room; their discussion posts are graded. Their posts must also be thoughtful, and I find students take themselves more seriously when writing for an audience. They're more careful with their ideas.
They can also ask for help on a discussion board, which I allow anonymously. Many students are quite grateful for that! They can review basics without embarrassment, asking questions they'd be afraid to ask in person.
I've had the odd experience of store clerks and waiters recognize my name from a charge card and say hello - it's odd not to recognize my students. But in several ways I know many of my DE students better than my face-to-face students. I know and have an instant record of what they have trouble with. I know what they've mastered.
I swore I wouldn't do it, and didn't until forced by a crisis in the availability of classrooms on campus. And there are definitely classes I would never do DE, I've been convinced that for some subjects it's wonderful.
I've also experienced DE as a student in programming & software classes. The class quality varied greatly with the instructor, the level of interactivity, and the quality of the support materials. But the best of the classes have been excellent.
well after the student goes on a campus rampage and is doing life without at High Desert State Prison as an inmate they can enroll in Lassen Colleges' Correspondence AA Liberal Arts Degree program that our dear leader connived to get FTE. Took quite a bite out of our on campus class enrollment when students discovered the pleasures of lack of academic rigor. Plus you can party till dawn! Look folks, I'm fairly hard right politically but I'm in total agreement with the need to clear out the riff raff that have taken over our learning institutions administration. They're charlatans, posers, and thieves. What's going on is going to hurt this country more and more . School is supposed to be hard and its being turned into candyland. If we the folks who work in education don't reverse the trend, who will?
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