1. Digital Learning and STEM: Is There a Special Role?
Elliot E. Maxwell
15 December 2015
Paris, France

2. The OECD has Long Been Concerned about STEM shortages
Focus has been on the need for more undergraduate and graduate degrees in the STEM disciplines
It may be better to think of a continuum of post-secondary learning, from short term training for “middle workers” through undergraduate and graduate degrees, to continuing education and professional development in STEM
No field in the economy is immune from the effects of digitization and the growth of the Internet, so workers as a whole can benefit from STEM skills
Employers around the world are concerned about the lack of fit between their needs and the skills of recent graduates
The emergence of a new form of online earning, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) suggested that digital learning could be part of the solution

3. Are Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) the Answer for STEM shortages?
MOOCS offer unprecedented free learning experiences from prestigious institutions around the globe to millions of learners.
MOOCS have captured the public’s attention but are just one of a number of digital learning techniques that can improve STEM teaching.
MOOCS have demonstrated the ability to reach millions. Relatively few complete them; many dip in for what they want. Many enrollees already have degrees, a substantial number are teachers. Completion incentives-- credits, other credentials, employment preferences—are limited but growing.
MOOCS are evolving into many other forms—small private online courses, massive online courses for a fee, group oriented online courses etc.—or are being “sampled” and used as resources in other learning settings.
Perhaps most important, MOOCS have refocused attention on the issue of how to use technology to improve teaching and learning.

4. The Focus in Education and Training is Changing, But the Process is Slow
From teacher centered to student centered
From one size fits all--an industrial model-- to personalization
From passive learning to active learning
From credits and degrees to outcomes and credentials – competency based education (CBE)
From standard length courses with fixed credits to shorter, cheaper modules and sequences--modularization
From a single integrated provider to unbundled offerings
From a one time experience—often 2-4 years—to “students for life”
From education and training tied to a specific place and time to anywhere, anytime, for anyone

5. What is Digital Learning?
There are no standard definitions of “digital learning” or “e- learning,” phrases which are often used interchangeably.
Digital learning, broadly defined, is the use of digital information and communications technologies to improve the processes of teaching and learning.
Digital learning includes examples that are predominantly digital, such as online classes. It also includes “blended learning” or “hybrid learning” such as “flipped classrooms” that are only partially digital.
This inclusive definition reflects this area’s rapid evolution and is intended to be directional rather than rigorous.

6. Digital Learning Benefits from Having Digital DNA
Digital technology is improving exponentially while the rate of improvement in traditional face-to-face educational processes is far slower.
Digital technology generates prodigious amounts of data that can help find better ways of teaching and learning and enable continuous improvement.
Digital content can be reproduced, revised, remixed, and redistributed at near zero cost. It also can be unbundled.
Digital technology eliminates distance and time as constraints.
Digital learning’s potential is linked to the Internet’s growth.

7. Examples of Digital Learning
Online courses: synchronous and asynchronous
Blended learning: flipped classrooms with prerecorded lectures
Machine mediated learning: the potential for personalization, adaptive learning, and major improvements via machine learning
Digital texts and open educational resources (OER): providing customized materials with OER distributed under open licenses
Social media: peer to peer support, tutoring, counseling, collaboration, meet-ups, and other forms of interaction— student/teacher, student/student, and student/content
Immersive environments, virtual and augmented reality, and simulations
Gamification: using game design principles, techniques, and motivators to keep learners involved and challenged

8. Examples of Digital Learning (2)
Video tutorials, podcasts, and webinars e.g. Khan Academy
Coding academies and boot camps
3-D printing and the “Maker Movement” providing experiential learning
Electronic portfolios and digital transcripts to show work and credentials
Automated translation
Machine based assessment, peer to peer grading
Alternative credentials: badges, nano and micro degrees, certificates, stackable credentials etc.
Some of these have long histories and are well understood while others are at the frontiers of knowledge. They are developing at different rates and will have widely varying impacts.

9. Why STEM and Digital Learning Are Meant for Each Other
Flipped classrooms can dramatically improve foundational courses, reducing the drop out rate for STEM concentrators.
Early MOOCs emerged in STEM disciplines—not surprising as STEM teachers and students are more comfortable with digital technology than others.
Personalization can be increased as STEM teaching materials, with their numeracy and lack of cultural sensitivity, and STEM teaching techniques, with their problem solving focus, are readily compatible with adaptive learning.
Virtual reality, immersive technologies, simulations, 3D printing, and other techniques provide increased opportunities for hands-on learning.
The data generated by digital learning is more likely to be employed by STEM teachers accustomed to analyzing, and being driven by, data.
The rapid increase in STEM knowledge requires better continuing education.

10. Recent Developments in Digital Learning, Continuing Education and Professional Development
Partnerships between digital learning providers, industry, and traditional post-secondary institutions are developing.
Industry and potential employers are becoming more involved in defining outcomes and even creating online courses with commitments to employing successful students.
Business plans of digital learning providers are being based on skills training, building customized courses, and sales of certificates.
There is increasing interest in developing alternative credentials.
Traditional institutions are offering credits for digital learning and reinvigorating their continuing education/professional development efforts.
Portals and search engines are emerging to help locate high-quality, curated digital materials.

11. Issues in Using Digital Learning
This is a time of experimentation. There will be failures . Change takes longer than predicted. It is important to avoid hype and overpromising.
Digital learning isn’t about replacing the teacher or ending face-to-face classes. It is about using technology to improve teaching and learning.
Providing interactivity in, and a social context for, learning is critical.
Mobile devices require different solutions, creating new challenges.
There is a real need for higher levels of support for teachers and learners as they are asked to act differently in the learning process.
Digital learning enables personalization but is often less successful for students with lower self-regulatory skills and poor preparation. Serving the underserved remains a daunting problem although the Internet’s spread increases potential access to distance learning.
We must ensure “accessibility” in human machine interfaces for those with physical challenges such as by using ”universal design” principles.

12. Issues in Using Digital Learning (2)
Privacy, security, and fraud
Quality assurance: accreditation evaluates institutions, not specific learning experiences. New methods that scale are needed to identify and locate high quality materials and processes that achieve clear outcomes.
Sharing data for research to improve teaching and learning
Funding for research—learning what works, improving accessibility, etc.
Intellectual property restrictions on re-using materials and on changing materials to improve access for disabled students
Lack of standards and interoperability among learning systems
Cross border restrictions on offerings and on recognition of credentials
Costs to create new digital offerings and sustainable business models

13. What Digital Learning is not and What it Should be:
A silver bullet for student success and cost reduction
A focus on technology replacing appropriate pedagogical judgments
Equally good for all students
Necessarily any better than traditional means; some uses will be better, some worse
The equal of great face-to-face learning; it may, however, be far better than what is available.
What it Should be:
Multiple new ways of teaching and learning to be used, as appropriate, based on the particular circumstances, and the needs of the individual learner
Quickly improving due to its digital DNA
A means to serve those who would otherwise have little or no access to education and training
It allows us to aspire to providing everyone the opportunity to learn at their own pace from anywhere at anytime: enabling education on demand based on the student’s learning DNA.

14. For Further Information: