E-Learning in College and Corporate Settings: The Present State and Beyond Curt Bonk, Ph.D., Indiana University and CourseShare.com

What is happening in higher education?

Survey #1: 222 College Faculty (Early Adopters of the Web)

Survey Finds Concern on Administrative Computing Chronicle of Higher Ed, June 22, 2001, A33, Jeffrey R. Young “Campus-technology leaders say they worry more about administrative-computing systems than about anything else related to their jobs.” (survey by Educause—an academic- technology consortium)

Survey Limitations Sample pool Dated information Many were Web savvy The Web is changing rapidly Lengthy survey Some were administrators Does not address all issues

How Old Are Early Web Adopters?

Why post to MERLOT or the WLH?

Internet Access 78 percent had Internet access in their current or most recent classroom. 93 percent had computer lab accessibility. 97 percent had home access. –Note: This is more than double the 47 percent of Americans who are users of the Internet at home as reported in a recent UCLA study (The UCLA Internet Report, 2000).

Any Online Teaching Experiences?

Who Owns Online Courses?

Is Teaching Online Time- Consuming?

Course Quality Improved Online? 39 percent unsure; 32 percent agree it was improved; and 29 percent said no.

Courseware Systems 83 percent were provided a Web-based platform or courseware system 22 percent more than one. 27 of those making a decision had more than one. 10 percent had access to three courseware systems or conferencing tools.

Courseware Features Like with Current Tool Comprehensive, consistent, customizable Ease of use, flexible, reliable Data and course security Detailed statistics on bulletin board use Good online help Internal systems, drop boxes, chats Posting of tasks & due dates on Web Randomized test banks

What Percent of Time Teach Online?

Interested in Freelance Instruction?

Any Obstacles to Teaching Online?

Problems Faced Administrative: “Lack of admin vision.” “Lack of incentive from admin and the fact that they do not understand the time needed.” “Lack of system support.” “Little recognition that this is valuable.” “Rapacious U intellectual property policy.” “Unclear univ. policies concerning int property.” Pedagogical: “Difficulty in performing lab experiments online.” “Lack of appropriate models for pedagogy.” Time-related: “More ideas than time to implement.” “Not enough time to correct online assign.” “People need sleep; Web spins forever.”

Any Supports Needed?

Does technical support vary by size??

Online Technology Pushes Pedagogy to the Forefront Frank Newman & Jamie Scurry, Chronicle of Higher Education, July 13, 2001, B7. “Many faculty members are still concerned whether the technology is simple and reliable enough to use for more- sophisticated learning tasks. Increasingly, however, better software is emerging that engages students in more effective learning.”

What Instructional Activities are Needed?

General Recommendations 1.Develop Instructor Training Programs 2.Foster Instructor Recognition and Support 3.Create Instructor & Resource Sharing Tools 4.Develop Online Learning Policies 5.Conduct Online Learning Research 6.Form Online Learning Dev Partnerships 7.Create/Test Online Learning Pedagogy

What about the corporate world?

Survey #2: 201 Trainers, Instructors, Managers, Instructional Designers, CEOs, CLOs, etc.

Current Courseware System “Slow development time.” “Not interactive.” “Low interactivity, boring.” “…lack of bookmarking, tracking, eval…” “XYZ is powerful and intuitive. It is not always reliable.” “It is comprehensive, scalable, and intuitive.” “From a cost posture, they are, quite simply, unbeatable.”

How are costs calculated in online programs???

What are the Obstacles and Supports in Online Training Environment???

Sample Reasons for Obstacles “Skepticism on the benefits within the Healthcare environment.” “Ignorance about the advantages of using the Internet to save money.” “Generation gap and bias against anything not face to face.” “Poor support from IT managers to support organizational goals.” “Lack of foresight in the industry/no ability to see the big pic!”

Lack of Motivation or Incentive to Complete!!! Higher Ed Study 29% using blended approach had more than 10% attrition 44% of totally online had > 10% attrition 2% of blended > 50% attrition 10% of online > 50% atttition Corporate Study 55% did not track or did not know their completion rates Of those that did, 22% reported completion rates of less than a fourth of students. Nearly half reported less than 50% completion rates Only 2% reported 100% completion.

Future Trends Recognized Online Certificates Instructor/Trainer Portals Online Train the Trainer Fed Funding Instructor and Trainer Conferences Freelance Instructor Exchanges Global Online Instructor Ratings

The future of e-learning is learner-centric (Adler & Rae, Jan., 2002, e-learning mag) Imagine that in the future you will have your own personalized learning environment that reflects your individual style and learning needs, and is instantly available. Not only will it be your one point of learning entry for everything you need to learn, but it will continue to learn as you learn and modify its behavior based on interacting with you over time.

New Survey: Future of E- Learning and HRD

Future of E-Learning Survey Instructor-Led #1 in next 24 months, Internet/Intranet #2, Multimedia #3 Most use Web as supplement to instructor-led All Technology: –1. Knowledge management tools –2. Wireless Technology, –3. Reusable Learning Objects, –4. Peer-to-Peer Collaboration, –5. Mentoring, –6. Language Support Want White Papers on Course Design/Dev.

So, any questions about the state of things?