No one needs reminding that we are in the year 2020, yet we continue to offer higher education in virtually the same manner as we have for millennia. Should we really continue to argue that this is the superior teaching and learning method? What if, instead, we acknowledge that online education is here to stay–and that the charge for higher education professionals is to ensure that this method of instructional delivery is at least equal to traditional face-to-face instruction?
Here are the top five things colleges and universities can do to make online education more effective—and valuable—today, tomorrow, and into the future.
1 . Recruit a champion
Every institution that wants robust, effective online education programs should recruit an online “tzar” who oversees all aspects of their distance learning initiatives: curriculum, student experiences, faculty hiring/onboarding; faculty development; and learning management systems, to name just a few.
Related content: Why online learning is here to stay
This position should be a member of the executive leadership team/president’s council and have the latitude (and funding) to run these divisions with fearless initiative. In the wake of the pandemic, these positions are emerging, and what is shocking is that they are usually location-bound. How can these visionaries fully demonstrate the efficacy, flexibility, and leadership of online education initiatives if they are required to do so from a campus office? Have the courage and the faith for your online champion to model best practices of leading, teaching, and managing from a virtual driver’s seat.
2. Reframe the narrative
Let’s stop using the word online as a descriptor. Why do we need to precede this program or that degree with online? Doing so underscores the perception of inferiority. Instead of saying that a student received her online data science degree, the statement should be that the student received her data science degree. Period. The modality will continue to matter until we stop sabotaging ourselves by allowing online as a qualifier.
Further, students argue that they are not paying tuition to teach themselves. Let’s reframe this narrative. Student One is sitting shoulder to shoulder with 40 other people, squinting to see the print on the screen, frantically typing notes while trying to listen to the professor. Student 2 is sitting in a comfortable chair in her home. Her tablet enlarges the professor’s lecture notes. Because this lecture is being recorded, Student 2 is not as concerned about taking detailed notes. She wants to watch and listen first because she knows she can go back and play the archive as often as she needs. Which student is teaching him or herself in this scenario? Is it one, both, or neither?
The argument about students teaching themselves is specious. Learners interact with content in myriad ways to gain knowledge and/or develop skills. In higher education, the narrative should be that colleges and universities define the competencies necessary to achieve a certain credential. They provide the teaching and learning resources as well as assessment and validation of mastery. That is what tuition buys, and that can and does happen regardless of physical proximity.
3. Reconsider the expectations
Higher education leaders have begun to dismantle the myth that time equals learning. Competency-based education (CBE) initiatives have shown that students and faculty are thriving in a learning environment in which they set their own due dates and milestones. There is structure, of course, in terms of solid rubrics, authentic assessments, and substantive faculty interactions.
In the short run, institutions need not scramble to build CBE program models. Rather, rethink expectations for students and faculty. Gather the stakeholders–preferably virtually–and start throwing everything on the table with questions about attendance, faculty/student interaction, assessment, etc. Your online education champion can provide strong leadership with these strategic planning sessions.
4. Remove the barriers
Conversations about online education cannot get very far without the digital divide being addressed. It is a critical issue, but solutions abound. Some of these take extraordinary creativity, but this falls to rethinking “the way we have always done things.” Gather your stakeholders for strategic planning on solving the digital divide at your institution. Challenge the naysayers and the status quo.
Another common barrier is faculty opposition. Here again, it’s more about a problem with “the way we’ve always done things.” Recruit the early adopters and tech stars who aren’t afraid to try new things and are already utilizing online tools in their classes. It is important to ensure these faculty mentors are a mixed demographic. It isn’t always the younger, tech-savvy faculty who should be tapped to encourage their peers. Putting those folks front and center as models may only serve to intimidate and/or annoy the more experienced faculty. Find out who among your veteran faculty members is willing to inspire her/his peers with suggestions, demonstrations, and support.
5. Rethink the assessments
The only thing worse than having to write a weekly discussion post and then at least two “meaningful” peer responses is having to grade 30 discussion posts and dozens of “meaningful” peer responses every week. The original thought behind these was to simulate live classroom conversations. Is that happening? What about the weekly written assignments? These are not typically required in on-campus classes. Why the difference?
Accurate measurement and evaluation of student learning outcomes is critical to an institution’s mission, so standards are necessary. The barrier occurs when these become double standards. Faculty who teach on campus present their content as they see fit and generally determine their own assignments, which often consist of only a midterm and final artifact.
Faculty who teach online are more likely to have requirements for how often, in what manner, and for how long they must present content. What’s more, they usually have the responsibility of grading weekly discussions, peer responses, and assignments. In an average class of 25 students, these faculty face an overwhelming 100 student submissions to grade every week, and that is just for one class. When comparing these work expectations, is anyone surprised that even the best faculty are reluctant to teach online?
The common thread is securing an online education champion at the table who can lead your institution through these five initiatives and continue to identify others. Just as we don’t really expect hard copy newspapers or shopping malls to make a resurgence, let’s face online higher education with the same healthy scrutiny tempered by insatiable curiosity then ultimate adoption we once felt for all the other technologic changes. Now they are seamlessly woven into the fabrics of our lives. Online higher education must become part of this tapestry.
Dr. Caroline Gulbrandsen is the Dean of Faculty for Graduate Studies as well as the Academic Dean at the Rockford Campus at Rasmussen College, where she has worked with faculty and students in multiple online platforms for over a decade. She has also been teaching online for twenty-one years, spanning from grade nine to doctoral courses. Her philosophy about “distance education” is that good teaching is good teaching, regardless of where or how it happens.
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