EDUCAUSE Research in E-Learning July 31, 2013 Susan Grajek, EDUCAUSE Vice President

Topics 1.Interest in e-learning 2.Who benefits? 3.Delivering e-learning services 4.Challenges 5.A MOOC moment 6.Making headway with e-learning

POLL: Compared to last year, is there greater interest in elearning on your campus?  Yes  No

Widespread interest in e-learning  More than 80% of institutions offer at least several courses online  Motivations:  Serve the “post- traditional learner”  Reduce the cost of a degree  Increase enrollments  Improve the quality of teaching and learning

Who Benefits?

The ability for everyone in the class to respond, regardless of how shy they are or how much thought it takes for them to be able to put their words into coherent messages or whether they have a language challenge. —Teaching and Learning Director We’re seeing that our students who take online courses graduate faster. — Associate Provost I've heard so many faculty say, ‘I'm a better teacher now because I taught online.’ —Instructional Designer

It's all about access for us. This is a way for us to disseminate our content to our rural communities, tap into our international audience, and build business partnerships. —Teaching and Learning Director It's all about access for us. This is a way for us to disseminate our content to our rural communities, tap into our international audience, and build business partnerships. —Teaching and Learning Director E-learning helps us meet the strategic initiatives of the university in a rapidly growing environment of diminishing resources. —Teaching and Learning Officer E-learning helps us meet the strategic initiatives of the university in a rapidly growing environment of diminishing resources. —Teaching and Learning Officer Music education is a program that’s always under the gun, and for no other reason than low enrollments. Our e- learning initiatives have now given them the money to self-sustain. —Assistant Dean Music education is a program that’s always under the gun, and for no other reason than low enrollments. Our e- learning initiatives have now given them the money to self-sustain. —Assistant Dean

Benefits of e-learning

Who Benefits? Delivering E-learning Services

How e-learning is managed No clear model  Doctoral institutions are most likely to have multiple programs managing e- learning  Dedicated e-learning center is an advantage  More mature in their e-learning initiatives  Twice as likely to consider themselves e-learning leaders or innovators  Central IT is not involved in e-learning in 34% of institutions

Community colleges are e-learning leaders  Most likely to have a center dedicated to e-learning and  Most likely to offer a significant number of online courses.

Everyone needs more staff: 124% more

Some roles are needed more than others  Course designers  Professional development staff

Managing e-learning services Innovative services:  Least common  Most likely to be distributed (41% vs 24% of more mainstream services)

A gap with students What students most want more of…

A gap with students Fewest institutions provide  Open educational resources  Gaming/simul ations

A gap with students It is not clear whether students’ preferences are understood

Outsourcing e-learning services Average rate of outsourcing: 29% Most common for:  E-portfolios  Social networks Least common for:  Project management  Technical support

Challenges

Some institutions are not offering e-learning There are still a number of faculty on our campus who question what we are doing to our students. They think that if they are not going to get the campus experience, they aren’t going to get the interaction they used to get —CIO There are still a number of faculty on our campus who question what we are doing to our students. They think that if they are not going to get the campus experience, they aren’t going to get the interaction they used to get —CIO

Mission or resources hold some back Reasons for not offering online courses

Mission or resources hold some back Reasons for not offering online courses We’re a small, traditional, private university. People aren't going to spend the tuition money to come to us online when they could do it at a state university for a third of the price. But where we've really tried to gain our foothold is our master's programs, our graduate programs for our graduates. So someone gets a degree, moves away; well, hey, come back to our online program. You can have a master's degree from [your alma mater]. —Department Chair We’re a small, traditional, private university. People aren't going to spend the tuition money to come to us online when they could do it at a state university for a third of the price. But where we've really tried to gain our foothold is our master's programs, our graduate programs for our graduates. So someone gets a degree, moves away; well, hey, come back to our online program. You can have a master's degree from [your alma mater]. —Department Chair

Most concerns: Minor to moderate Concerns about e-learning initiatives

Smaller institutions Smaller institutions significantly more concerned Concerns about e-learning initiatives

Two-year institutions Two-year institutions least concerned Concerns about e-learning initiatives

Publics and privates Private institutions significantly more concerned than publics Concerns about e-learning initiatives

Implications of e-learning: Where are we headed?  Outsourcing and shared services  Faculty: Will some full-time, tenure-track faculty be based off- site?  Staff: Financial aid, registration, LMS  Niche programs, entire degrees  Longer prep time, less last-minute scrambling to pull a course together  On-demand courses  Tailoring for specific groups: Military, regional  Revised metrics for faculty productivity  Need for 24/7 IT support  Impact of “free” courses on mission and business model

A MOOC Moment

MOOCs vs. Online Learning MOOCs may have the headlines, but online learning is much more widespread

Which institutions offer MOOCs today? MOOC creation is primarily centered in large doctoral institutions, and likely to remain so.

Why are institutions choosing whether to offer MOOCs?  Strategy (risk vs. innovation)  Resources  Interest among leadership/f aculty Why institutions offer MOOCs Why institutions do NOT offer MOOCs

Which students know about and take MOOCs?  Men  Private doctoral  Hispanic/Whit e/other (but Black and Asian students are more familiar)  Over 25  Non-US

BUT, which students complete MOOCs?  Women  Community college  Black  Over 25 (same as take and know)  US and Canada

What is the value proposition? For institutions  Exploring the business case  Moody Investors Services has designated them as a “credit positive”  Among a select set of institutions that are offering MOOCs:  45% are discussing possibility of awarding credit  33% are considering monetizing

What is the value proposition? For students: What is a badge worth?

Making Headway with E-learning: A Maturity Model

Seven components of maturity: Where higher education stands today

Maturity strengths

Less progress

Least progress

Why does maturity matter? Mature institutions  Expand technology provisioning and support to meet the needs of the course and faculty  Have more staff and are more satisfied with e-learning staff levels  Have a dedicated e-learning center

Why does maturity matter? Mature institutions select e-learning technologies and services differently.  Selection emphasizes:  Ease of use  Features  Ease of integration  Contribution to learning objectives  Less mature institutions place greatest importance on cost  Security  Reliability  Effectiveness

Thank you!