"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." — Elbert Hubbard

Teaching online is increasingly an option for higher education instructors. Traditional institutions are expanding their reach by adding online versions of their existing programs and online universities continue to add new programs to their catalogs. And in some cases, teaching online is a requirement, as traditional faculty are encouraged or assigned to take their face-to-face courses online.

Online instructors can realize benefits from the virtual delivery of an academic course, but they also face a number of challenges. While they enjoy some of the same benefits that draw online students in terms of convenience and flexibility, online instructors must also master additional skills associated with the technology and administration required of a virtual learning environment.

Comparing Online and Traditional Classrooms

Making the move from face-to-face instruction to virtual instruction is becoming less complicated, as traditional classrooms incorporate learning management systems (LMS), such as Blackboard, eCollege, Moodle, and Sakai. The LMS is now used in many course formats traditional, blended, and completely online to manage and organize course content and provide additional methods for students and instructors to interact and communicate.

When online course sites are used to deliver the course materials, the online instructor’s role is to facilitate the learning experience, student interaction with the materials, and student-to-student interaction. This facilitation involves several considerations that are not typically part of a face-to-face course.

Communication Tools and Techniques

Communication in an online course can be categorized as either synchronous (occurring in real-time) or asynchronous (participants contribute at times of their own choosing). Synchronous tools allow instructors to meet with students as a group or one-on-one when participants are all online at the same time, providing instant feedback. These tools range from text-only instant messaging to virtual classrooms with audio, video, and tools for working collaboratively (i.e. whiteboards, application sharing, web tours). Synchronous tools may be built into an LMS, accessed through a commercial license (e.g. Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting) or available as open and web-based options (e.g. Skype, GoogleTalk). Managing a synchronous event involves a number of skills related to both technology and moderating.

Asynchronous tools allow students to provide their input, feedback, responses, etc. at times that are convenient to them, but within deadlines established in a course. Threaded discussion forums are perhaps the most prevalent asynchronous tool and are usually part of the LMS for each course. This tool allows for class discussions in which students respond to a posted question, and to each others’ responses, at different times. Managing an effective asynchronous discussion involves creating good questions that encourage exchange, moderating via text, and a great deal of reading and writing.

Creating an Online Presence

Online instructors often never meet their students face-to-face. This environment and the relationships between instructor and student are enhanced by the creation of online presence. Patrick Lowenthal and Tina Parscal of Regis University published a list of specific strategies available to online instructors for the development of presence in a course using computer-mediated communication. These strategies are categorized into three areas ñ instructional design, teaching, and social learning. Examples of strategies for creating teaching and social presence in an online course include posting student and instructor profiles within the LMS, sharing personal stories and professional experiences, and using expressions of emotions.

Often universities with online programs will provide some guidance for online instructors on developing an online teaching presence. The Center for Teaching Excellence at Duquesne University is just one example. This information can be valuable, especially if it is based on information and feedback from the university’s online students and successful online instructors.

Developing an Online Community

Developing an online presence is closely linked to the development of an online community. Palloff and Pratt describe the need for an effective learning community in their 2011 book, The Excellent Online Instructor: Strategies for Professional Development. Creating an environment in which students feel they belong promotes engagement, sharing, collaboration, and support, as well as a feeling of responsibility among members.

Wayne Hall, a professor from San Jacinto College, published his list of "5 Ways to Build Community in an Online Course". This list includes: requiring extensive student introductions; sending personal email messages to students weekly; conducting frequent student surveys or polls; providing opportunity for discussion; and conducting synchronous chat sessions. Hall also recommends the use of video throughout the class, in the form of brief introductory presentations to begin units or lessons.

Recent research conducted by a group of instructional designers and faculty at Eastern Kentucky University also found that faculty introduction videos had value from the student perspective. A majority of students felt that viewing their instructor’s videos helped them prepare to participate in their online courses and gave them the opportunity to meet their instructors virtually.

As an online instructor you will also be the one to set the tone for the course in terms of etiquette and netiquette. Your students will look to you for cues. Model the professional behavior you expect from your students in online communication and participation. Be explicit about how you want to be addressed in the course as the community’s leader and facilitator.

Qualifications and Competencies

Each institution will have its own preferences and policies for hiring online instructors. Basic qualifications usually include a minimum level of education in the field in which you will teach, work experience in your field, and teaching experience. You will find these requirements along with a list of skills as part of teaching position announcements. An overview of typical items you can expect to see is provided below. Some of these competencies are not so different from what is required for traditional courses, while others speak specifically to the needs of the online environment and the tools used there to facilitate learning at a distance.

Professional Preparation

• Education. Level will be based on requirements for the courses and programs. Instructor positions in higher education usually require at least a master’s degree and a doctorate is often preferred.
• Experience. Many online universities specifically recruit faculty who have recent experience working in the fields they plan to teach. Previous teaching experience may also be a requirement.
• Expertise. Subject matter expertise in the area you are teaching is typically required as evidenced by at least 18 graduate credit hours of coursework in the academic discipline you are teaching.

General Skills

• Facilitation. In an online environment, instructors are often referred to as guides or facilitators. Students will have access to course content and supplementary materials on their own. As the instructor, you will guide their progress through this content and the related activities, evaluating their learning with formal assessments. Explore online instructional strategies that can help you serve as guide. An essential component of guiding your class is your ability to facilitate and moderate synchronous and asynchronous discussions. Review a collection of specific suggestions for discussion forums.
• Organization. Online courses require instructors to have the ability to conduct the course and as well as complete all of the related administrative requirements. You may find yourself teaching courses in overlapping terms or at multiple institutions. Keeping everything straight will be an important part of your duties.
• Problem-solving. The virtual environment will present numerous opportunities for problem-solving, such as helping a student find the support resources he/she needs and troubleshooting your own computer’s Internet connection. Not all issues can be anticipated and you will be responsible for taking the initial steps toward finding solutions.
• Time management. Online courses often take place over shorter terms than the semester-based academic schedule used at traditional universities. During the term, your course will be "live" 24/7, so your ability to manage progress and respond to students in a timely manner is important. Some programs have standard policies regarding time commitments for instructors to provide feedback to students. If these guidelines are not in place it will be up to you to clearly communicate what students can expect.
• Employment negotiation and tracking. Many online instructors work as adjunct faculty and on a contract basis. It is important for you to understand issues related to pay equity, fairness in employment, salary expectations, unions, and employment contracts. You will also want to track your hours and expenses for potential reimbursement and tax implications.

Technology Skills

• Hardware. As an online instructor, it is likely you will also be a remote employee of the universities where you teach. This may mean using your own computer system for work. Online courses, especially those with synchronous sessions, have additional requirements for speakers, microphones, and web cameras, as well as the skills necessary to use this equipment effectively.
• Software. Check with your Dean or supervising instructor to find out what software you will need to be able to use in your courses, as well as additional applications such as Skype or Adobe Connect. As a course instructor, it will be your responsibility to use the software and applications effectively with your students.
• Digital and media literacies. Online instructors, as well as online students, need to be skilled in conducting an online search and assessing Web-content for credibility in terns of its currency, source, purpose, and relevance.

Personal Characteristics

• Self-confident. An online educator must have the self-confidence to embrace the ever-changing nature of technology and to engage students in the learning experience. Theodore Sizer, former Harvard University Dean of Education, describes the self-confidence necessary to be a successful educator: "A fine teacher does have confidence, but the honest confidence that flows from a fair recognition of one’s own frailties as well as talents and which accommodates both joyfully." (reprinted here) The truly self-confident online instructor embraces the changing nature of technology and the potential for collaboration in the technology-facilitated class as a learning experience for all participants.
• Collaborative. Online instructors are sometimes called upon to work on committees, participate on online course development teams, and help mentor newer instructors. As in traditional university settings, there may also be the opportunity to participate in collaborative research projects and presentations.
• Flexible. Being comfortable with change and anticipating the possibility of change is important in the online learning environment where technologies and policies may require a quick shift in procedures.
• Willing to learn. The online learning environment is a dynamic one. As an instructor you will constantly be required to learn how to use new technologies and innovative course components. Considering the incredible pace of change in technology, even if you are an expert with hardware and software today, there is a real possibility that those systems will soon be obsolete. Be open to learning new systems and to learning from your students who may know more about a particular program or tool than you do.
• Committed to student advocacy. Online students are also working remotely and will rely on their instructor as a front line resource for assistance with a wide range of questions and issues. You will be their link to additional resources, such as the help desk and library, which may not be a formal part of your course.

There are ongoing efforts to refine competency lists for online instructors through both research and practice. While each school or program may have a list of instructor skills available for you to review, there are others that may be helpful resources as well.

• Penn State’s Learning Design Community has posted a list of 30 competencies for online instructors organized into five areas: Administrative, Design, Facilitation, Evaluation, and Technical.
• Education researchers Alvarez, Guasch, and Espasa published a 2009 article in the European Journal of Teacher Education that lists 5 key roles, and associated competencies and tasks, for online teachers. These roles include: Designer/Planner, Social, Cognitive, Technological, and Managerial.
• In a 2007 publication titled "Master Online Teacher Competencies" by Virgil Varvel from the Illinois Online Network, a list of 7 roles was developed: Administrative (systems, ethical and legal issues), Personal (personal qualities and characteristics), Technological (technology knowledge and abilities), Instructional Design (process, knowledge, and abilities), Pedagogical (teaching processes, knowledge and abilities), Assessment (student learning and abilities), and Social (processes and presence).

Each of these lists, and others like them, provide critical information about the skills and qualifications required for successful online instructors. There is some overlap but each list offers an interesting perspective. There is a lot to think about and prepare for, and a wealth of resources to help you get ready.

Becoming a Successful Online Instructor

The path to achieving success as an online instructor is made up of steps that include preparing for the work ahead, achieving realistic perspectives through assessment and experience, and learning from the pedagogy of online teaching. Some of the resources required are provided by universities and others you will need to find on your own.

Preparation

• Formal and informal training. If you are brand new to online learning, consider preparatory workshops, courses, and certificate programs offered by private companies, universities, and professional organizations. There are informal options as well in the form of open courseware focused on faculty development and topics related to online teaching.
• Your school. Once you are hired, explore all of the resources provided to you by your new department. Look for opportunities, and potential requirements, to attend new instructor orientation sessions. You will also find helpful information and guidance in faculty handbooks and other policy and procedures manuals. Locate faculty development resources in the form of tutorials and workshops. Ask your supervisor for information related to online instructor performance expectations, to better understand how the university will measure your success as an online instructor. Ask for access as a visitor to another professorís online course at your university, so that you can learn what is expected at the school.

Perspective

• Assess yourself. Self-assessments can help you identify your current strengths and weaknesses as an online instructor. Tools such as the Faculty Self-Assessment from Penn State provide a list of critical competencies, feedback on your current levels of experience with each one, and guidance on helpful resources for you to pursue.
• Take a course. Consider experiencing the online learning environment as a student. This experience and fresh perspective will be invaluable as you work with online students in your future courses. Some schools will pay for you to do this ñ research available options for tuition reimbursement and fee waivers.

Practice

• Transition. Seek out opportunities to integrate technology into your traditional courses as a way to transition into a completely online course. Taking small steps in this direction will help you build your skills and comfort level with both technology and online communication.
• If at first you don’t succeed. Take the time to assess what went well and what didnít go well in each online course you teach. Then, formulate a plan for improvement that builds on the successes you’ve had in the past. You will be better able to anticipate problems, and enhance your skills, with every new course and term.

Being an online instructor means more than posting information online and standing back. It also means more than strictly presenting lecture content on the Internet. Effective online instruction requires interactivity both in terms of the course content and the community of learners participating in the class. Prepare yourself for your role as an online instructor with a thorough review of both your current skills and the wide variety of resources available to support your efforts.

"Change is the end result of all true learning" — Leo Buscaglia

You’ve seen all those great commercials about attending school from home in your pajamas, or maybe you’ve heard from someone you know that taking university classes online is a wonderful solution for working parents who want to get a degree. It could be that you just want the freedom that seems to go with online learning. But how do you know if you’re ready to be an online learner? These ten tips may help you figure out what is right for you.

Tip #1: Consider What Type of Learner You Are and What Your Preferences Are

Some of us like to have hands-on involvement when we are learning; others prefer listening to someone explain how to do something. These two different approaches are called "learning styles," and it is helpful to determine what type of learner you may be. Most studies have shown that the major consideration with learning styles is whether you are more of a dependent or independent learner. If you feel you need or want the physical presence of your instructor, you are most likely a dependent learner who would do better in the face-to-face (F2F) traditional classroom environment. On the other hand, if you don’t feel you need the physical presence of the instructor or classmates, and you enjoy reading, researching, and studying on your own, online learning may be good for you. To be sure, take a few of the online tests to see if you have the aptitude for online learning.

Tip #2: Have the right personality for online learning

Are you an outgoing, social person who enjoys being around people, or are you more introverted, preferring instead to work alone? Although the online learning environment can certainly provide opportunities for students to socialize within the course itself by holding online discussions or externally with blogs and Facebook study groups, you should think about whether or not you are content with social media or if you need human interaction.

Another aspect of personality to consider is your level of self-motivation. Do you typically set and pursue goals on your own, or do you need frequent encouragement from others? Are you able to follow through on projects by yourself, or do you need someone to set and remind you of deadlines?

Tip #3: Consider your communication skills

Think about how you typically communicate and which type of communication is your preference. For example, would you prefer to hear an instructor explain course information and ask a question in person, or would you prefer to read the information on your own and to ask your instructor questions by email? Do you have experience with the various forms of virtual communication: email, telephone conferences, and video chat? If not, would you be comfortable communicating in these ways?

Consider how well you are able to read and interpret the written word. Much of the content in an online course is typically written, leaving students to understand directions for assignments, textbook chapters, and other course materials on their own.

Tip #4: Make sure you have the basic technical availability and fluency needed

In order to succeed in online learning, you must have regular access to the Internet for large, regular amounts of time. Your service needs to be something more than basic dial-up or the limited library access. It’s also recommended that you have at least one backup plan in place. If your home Internet access goes out, for example, how could you access your course? Could you go to the house of a friend or a family member to use their service and/or computer?

Also, consider carefully the types of tasks you will need to perform. Most colleges and universities posts lists of technology and skills needed to succeed in online classes. For an example, see Antonelli College’s quick inventory to rate your computer fluency for online learning. Your own institution of choice will most likely have a similar list.

Tip #5: Ask questions. Lots of questions!

The decision to pursue online learning should not be taken lightly. Climbing the educational and career ladder offers potential benefits for you and your family. The decision about the delivery method, whether you attend on a ground campus in traditional F2F courses or online, has the potential to influence your success. Therefore, ask a lot of questions of potential programs and institutions before you enroll. Crafton Hills College has a good "general questions" section that should help you get a great start. Be sure to visit the website and if possible, the ground campus of any institutions and programs you may be interested in pursuing.

Tip #6: Understand both the similarities and the differences between F2F and online learning.

Keep in mind that with online learning, some aspects of post-secondary education will not change. Applying for admission and financial aid may be identical in both environments; courses will still require regular attendance and the time commitment to learn materials and to create assignments.

However, there will also be some differences that should be carefully considered. For example, F2F courses are set within a specific time and place and learning activities are somewhat limited by this. On the other hand, online courses are not limited by time and place. For instance, a F2F classroom discussion will have to take place during a class meeting that is typically one-three hours whereas an online class discussion may be open and available for a week or even for the entire semester. Likewise, communication in a F2F class will be mostly vocal, and students will be unable to review some of it (e.g. a lecture). However, in an online course, communication will be mostly written, and students will have the ability to review all of that content. Finally, online learners must be more independent and self-motivated as they will not have the regular class meetings with their instructor and classmates to keep them moving forward. (See Visual 1 for some additional differences.)

In summation, it would be fair to say that in a traditional F2F classroom, the instructor guides and coaches moment by moment, while in an online environment, the student becomes the master of his or her own progress and success to a larger degree.

F2F

• Mostly synchronous meetings bound and limited by specific times and days in a physical classroom
• Instructor, classmates, tutors, and other supporting personnel available in person
• There is no personal anonymity or avoidance of personal or group dynamics
• Discussions and other classroom activities will involve more oral communication that can not be reviewed or continued beyond the class time allotted
• Learners can be a more dependent, externally motivated
• The workload is paced more in a linear, step-by-step manner and the participants proceed through this together
• Participants are largely unaware of what others are doing in some activities like group work
• Offers more experience with F2F socialization

Similarities

• Admissions, registration, and financial aid will have similar processes
• The academic policies, standards, objectives, and outcomes will be the same
• The resources available for assistance will be the same (e.g., tutoring and ADA)
• The workload (assignments, etc.) will be the same
• Good study skills, organization, and engagement are needed

Online

• Mostly asynchronous meetings not bound or limited by specific times/days or a physical classroom
• Instructor, classmates, tutors, and other supporting personnel may only be available virtually
• Participants are largely anonymous, known mostly through their written postings
• Discussions and other classroom activities will involve more written communication that can be reviewed and unlimited
• Learners must be more independent, self-motivated
• The workload is typically more self-paced and with options for adaptive learning
• Participants often have the ability to review and engage beyond their own group
• Offers more experience at virtual socialization

Tip #7: Take online learning for a "test drive."

Did you know you can often take programs for a "test drive"? Kaplan University, for instance, offers its Kaplan Commitment program, where students can attend their courses for up to five weeks or one half of a term. If at any point the students feel that the online environment is not for them, they may withdraw. Likewise, if the students are not passing their courses with at least a 65% at the end of the fifth week, they are withdrawn automatically. Either way, students receive exit advising to help them decide on a plan of action if they still wish to further their education elsewhere. The only money students pay for this program is the initial application fee; there is no tuition or other cost involved unless the student decides Kaplan University and online learning are the right choice. If Kaplan Commitment students choose to continue, only then do they pay any tuition. Check with the school if you are interested in to see if they offer something similar.

Tip #8: Follow the advice of successful online students

A study by Alan R. Roper for Educause shares tips from successful online students that reflect both the tips given above and the research about online learning. What did these students suggest?

• Develop a time-management strategy. Of the students surveyed, 78.9% set a specific time for coursework and 31.6% recommended devoting time daily to the course; these strategies also helped to prevent procrastination and falling behind. "Another student stated that an upfront planning process was critical to succeeding in the online course because studying was integrated with many other responsibilities." This means students should take their syllabus and course calendar the very first day of class and integrate it with the other responsibilities they may have, especially in relation to work and family.
• Make the most of online discussions. Most online courses have online discussions centered on course topics. Students will typically post an initial response to a prompt and then be required to reply to a certain number of other students’ posts. The students in this study found it helpful to be engaged in these discussions by replying to other students with more in-depth responses than just saying, "Good post."
• Use it or lose it. Most students found it helpful to apply what they learned to the online discussions, class activities, their work life, or personal experiences. This helped them to retain the information and to see the value in learning it. [This also tends to help students stay motivated, too!]
• Make questions useful to your learning. One of the advantages to an online class this group of students realized is that there is no time limit for discussions as there would be in a face-to-face course. Therefore, they found it valuable to ask more questions, probing deeper and deeper into topics and their applications.
• Stay motivated. Some of these students set their sights on good grades while others focused on graduation with their family and friends proudly in attendance.
• Communicate the instruction techniques that work. Share with your instructor(s) and classmates the teaching strategies that are most helpful. Help to keep your instructor and classmates engaged by asking questions in discussions.
• Make connections with fellow students. Do all that you can to build an online "learning community" by reaching out to classmates and the instructor for individual and shared success. Many students develop meaningful connections with their online classmates that can translate into career networking opportunities later." In other words, your classmates are a wonderful resource as you move up the educational/career ladder!

As with any major decision, you want to take it seriously and do your research. It may be helpful to see if the institutions you are interested in offer an assessment that will help you reflect on your readiness for online learning or use the ones available at some other universities. Penn State and San Diego Community College both offer these. You will be glad you reflected on your readiness for online learning and that you obtained the helpful advice of an online assessment. Otherwise, you might waste your time, energy, or money if the program is not a good fit for you.

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<a href="http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2012/02/pros-and-cons-of-social-media-in-education/" ><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/infographics/Social+Media+Education.png" alt="Surviving the College Dining Hall" width="500" border="0" /></a><br />Via: <a href="http://www.onlineuniversities.com">Online Universities Blog</a>

(The Carlisle Indian School Football Team – Cumberland County Historical Society)

A Historic Lesson
Prior to 1905, football was strictly “ground and pound.” It was a brutal sport where finesse was illegal and 18 players lost their lives that year alone (Morrison, 2010). The violence of the sport led to reform in the rules, spurred on by President Theodore Roosevelt, and those reforms opened the door for the Carlisle Indians — led by coach Pop Warner — to become a football juggernaut.

The major rule change to come out of the tragic 1905 season was that the forward pass was made legal. Warner and his undersized, but quick and skilled Native American players adopted the forward pass as their secret weapon, and took the football world by storm.  In their first season using this new tactic, they defeated perennial powerhouse Penn 26-6 and went on to outscore opponents in the first five games of 1907 by a collective margin of 148-11 (Morrison, 2010). Their supremacy continued until the school was eventually closed, but the spirit of innovation behind their rise to dominance has lingered in football to this day.

Recent rule changes to make the sport less violent have again changed the game, and for the first time in league history, two poor defensive teams are playing for the Super Bowl championship. The New York Giants ranked 27th in the league in yards allowed per game, and the New England Patriots ranked 31st. Yet these two teams are playing for the world championship in a few short days. How can a league which has subscribed to the unwritten rule "defense wins championships" suddenly change so dramatically? The answer is innovation, forward-thinking, and timely legislation. The calls for reform in higher education to start this century parallel the rule changes in football at the start of the previous one and may inspire the same sorts of innovative thinking.

The Importance of Innovation
The most successful franchise during this time of transition has been the New England Patriots, and what’s interesting to note is that they started their run of championships as a defense-first team. Since 2007, however, when new league rules went into effect, the Patriots have slowly morphed into an offensive juggernaut, establishing many records for offensive production along the way, including most points scored in a season, most touchdown passes thrown, and most touchdowns caught by a wide receiver and tight end. They have been able to capitalize on the changes in the rules because their head coach is an innovative thinker. He, like Pop Warner of the Carlisle Indians before him, adapted his personnel and approach to the game to take advantage of the changes. Online education is poised to do the same by taking advantage of recent calls for educational reform.

This brings me back to education. Our global, connected economy has left very little room at the table for Americans, and one of the last things we have to offer is our ability to think creatively and to innovate in the face of adversity. There is no better place to cultivate this characteristic than in the classroom, and no better classroom venue in which to do it than online.

Grab the Ball and Go
Like the forward pass for the players at the Carlisle Indian School, innovation, both in what we teach and how we teach, needs to be the hallmark of 21st century education in America. The rules have been rewritten by the connected world in which we live and we can either adapt to them or become extinct. The following are several facets of an information age (IA) education that should be considered as we begin adjusting to the changes confronting us:

• Social/Cultural – One of the distinguishing things about education in the IA is that it is operates largely via social media and digital social networks. Education must take advantage of these networks to transmit instruction and as a means of communicating within the system to enhance learning.
• Systemic – IA technology is integral to almost all other human systems through its ability to facilitate communication and interaction. Our social, political, economic, education, and other societal systems rely on, or are strongly influenced by, technology. An understanding of the interrelated systems and how they affect one another is an important part of a contemporary education.
• Participatory/Learner Centered – Because of the incredible diversity of resources available, learning with and about computers and the Internet necessitates user input and interactivity to work. Education in the IA requires that the learner be an active participant in his or her own knowledge formation.
• Power Conscious – Technology and information are both the source of power and the vehicle by which it is created and transmitted. Understanding the relationships of power inherent in IA communication and technology is central to learning in the 21st Century.
• Critical – The sheer volume of information available to the IA student and the complex systemic relationships that technology produces require that learners be critically aware of systems, how systems may be manipulated, and their own roles within those systems.
• Economy Driven – Information and the technologies that facilitate its growth are not only a product for the economy, but also provide new markets and the channels of distribution for the economy. One cannot be educated in the IA without an understanding of the complex relationship between information, media, power, and the economy.
• Evolutionary – Because of the rapid pace of technological innovation, education in the IA is in a constant state of change. Being literate in the 21st century entails cultivating an ability to adapt to changes in the technology around us.
  (From  Information Age Education –Currently Available Online Only, Marquis, 2011)

Online learning is not the only way to adapt, but it is well-positioned to be a force for positive change. Efforts such as MITx and Sebastian Thrun’s Udacity.com are making moves to take the opportunities that a changing world and the power of the Internet have presented them. Online learning could well prove to be to education what the forward pass was to football – an innovation that moves beyond the archaic methods of the past to establish an exciting new way to play the game.

Thrun’s announcement at the Digital Life Design conference in Munich this January (Hsu, Jan. 25, 2012) is just the latest bombshell in an explosion of high profile free or extremely low cost initiatives designed to broaden the reach of higher education around the world. Thrun cited his own experience teaching 160,000 students in Stanford’s first free online computer science class, the Google and Gates Foundation-supported Khan Academy, and The Floating University as the inspiration for his transition from tenured professor at an elite institution to founder of the free educational enterprise. So what motivated him and what are the implications for the future of higher education?

A Need for Change
There is no shortage of noise about the need for reform at all levels of education – from President Obama’s recent State of the Union Address calling for universities to cut costs and tuition, to a push for acknowledgement of informal education, the scramble to adopt digital textbooks, student cries for game-based learning, and the proliferation of new online learning resources. We are at a watershed moment for education in America, and possibly even in the world at large. That is likely what Thrun sensed when he made his choice to leave Stanford in pursuit of that brighter future.

The Udacity of It
Thrun, beginning with his unprecedented 160,000-student online class at Stanford, thrust himself prominently into the discussion about the way education is changing. Choosing to go with the flow, he established Udacity.com, which employs an entirely new model of education. The mission statement of the school is, "We believe university-level education can be both high quality and low cost. Using the economics of the Internet, we’ve connected some of the greatest teachers to hundreds of thousands of students all over the world" (Udacity.com).

As of right now, there are just two course offerings— CS101: Building a Search Engine, and CS 373: Programming a Robotic Car. Both courses are taught by David Evans from the University of Virginia and Thrun. But there are more courses scheduled for release in 2012, such as Theory of Computation, Operating Systems, Computer Networks, Distributed Systems, Computer Security, Algorithms and Data Structures, Software Engineering Practices, and Building Web Applications. No information on these upcoming courses is currently available, but, according to the Udacity site, they will be taught by some of the world’s greatest teachers.

I’ve signed up for CS101 (beginning February 20th) out of personal interest (it is an intro Python programming class) and also so I could see what one of these free courses is all about. Currently, only a rough outline of the syllabus is available, but that provides some insight into the course and its quality.

The seven-week course (six weeks of lecture/homework, followed by a final exam) seems to employ the "flipped classroom" model, where students watch recorded lectures online at their own pace, then receive additional support from the instructor. How much additional support will be available is as yet unknown. However, if the class is anywhere near as popular as the previous Stanford offering, there simply won’t be time for the instructors to engage with even a small fraction of the participants.

Each week, there is a 50-minute lecture with built-in interactive quizzes between segments and a programming homework assignment. The seventh week is dedicated to the course wrap-up and final exam. The end result is that each participant who completes the course will have created their own Internet search engine. In addition, each student who completes the course will receive a certificate signed by the instructors.

What Does It Mean?

(REM, 1987)

“That’s great, starts with an earthquake.”

February 20th, 2012 may not represent the actual end of the world as we know it, but for higher education, the launch of Thrun’s first Udacity class may represent the beginning of end for the education model we’ve known for hundreds of years. Depending on the popularity of the class, how many other academics sign on to provide content, how good the course actually is (stay tuned for my insights once the class begins), and if the free model is sustainable, we may know a great deal more about the future direction of higher education very soon. Sign up for the class at Udacity.com and see the future first hand.

1. Brian Williams: Famous news anchor Brian Williams has been called the "Walter Cronkite of the 21st century." He’s the anchor and managing editor of NBC news and is clearly doing very well these days, but had it not been for an inspiring teacher, he might not have done so well. Williams credits his success to the help of an English literature teacher, Mr. Bob Kitzin, who Williams says, "turned me around." Williams was a young man who could go either way, down a dark path or a great one, and Mr. Kitzin helped him go the right way, making him excited about learning. Williams says that without him, he "wouldn’t have become a serious thinker in life."
2. Patti LaBelle: Grammy Award-winning singer Patti LaBelle has a special place in her heart for her high school teacher, Ms. Eileen Brown. LaBelle says that Ms. Brown was her mentor and very helpful not just to the singer herself, but her family as well. She has continued their special relationship, and the two have remained good friends, speaking often on the phone.
3. President Bill Clinton: Bill Clinton is best known for two things: his legacy as the 42nd president of the United States, and his love of playing the saxophone. Clinton’s high school band director, Mr. Virgil Spurlin, helped to grow both of Clinton’s identities. Mr. Spurlin didn’t just support Clinton and his classmates as they developed musically, he took an interest in their lives and was always there to help if they were having trouble at home or in school. Clinton says that he has thought of Mr. Spurlin and his influence all his life, staying in touch with him until he passed away. He believes that his years with Mr. Spurlin made him what he is today, and that he convinced him that he could "organize and run things," doing whatever he wanted to do in life.
4. Bipasha Basu: Bipasha Basu is now a famous Bollywood actress, but she wasn’t always so comfortable in the limelight. As a young girl, she was very shy and uncomfortable with public speaking. Yet her teachers helped her work past her shyness and become the outgoing woman she is today. Basu says, "I want to thank all my teachers in school for who I am today. I was an academically good student but my personality developed because of their encouragement. They gave me responsibilities like being a prefect and then the head girl of the school. My shyness of public speaking went away. Happy Teachers Day! Respect for all the teachers."
5. Maya Angelou: So many schoolkids read Maya Angelou’s works in class, but without the help of a teacher, those works might not ever have existed. Angelou’s neighbor-turned-teacher, Mrs. Flowers, encouraged her to read, taking her to the library and telling her to read every book within the small room. As she read, Angelou found a love of poetry, a love that was deepened as Mrs. Flowers had her come to her house and read to her, so that Angelou could really learn to love poetry as she spoke it aloud. Thanks to Mrs. Flowers, we are able to enjoy the voice of Maya Angelou today.
6. Jerry Penacoli: Extra host and multiple Emmy Award-winner Jerry Penacoli is well versed in culture, but that might not have been the case if it wasn’t for his drama teacher, Mr. Bauer. Penacoli credits Mr. Bauer with taking him to Philadelphia to experience the theater and ballet, things that his parents could not afford to do for him. Mr. Bauer encouraged him to open up and try out for school plays, and even wrote him a glowing letter of recommendation when it came time for Penacoli to go to college. It was this letter, and Mr. Bauer’s encouragement, that helped Penacoli earn a full scholarship to college, and a lifetime of success.
7. Senator John McCain: Senator John McCain has been a naval aviator, prisoner of war, a Senator for nearly 30 years, and even almost became president. He’s lived an amazing life, and much of his success is due to his high school teacher, Mr. William Ravenel, a World War II veteran. At the time, McCain was living a transient life as the son of a naval officer, and Mr. Ravenel gave him what McCain calls "some moorings and a compass," as he taught not just English, but values, standards, and morals. Mr. Ravenel was admirable, and stood out as an example that McCain and his fellow students wanted to follow. McCain says that Mr. Ravenel’s lessons taught him about real honor, lessons he drew upon even as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Mr. Ravenel’s influence over McCain’s life was incredible, and McCain says that he was an inspirational man, not just to him, but his fellow classmates as well.
8. Narada Michael Walden: Narada Michael Walden has met and worked with the likes of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Aretha Franklin as a three-time Grammy Award-winning producer. But before he met these famous singers, he was encouraged by a Catholic school nun in 3rd grade, who was very supportive of his talent in playing the bongo drums, even getting him to enter and win the talent show, sparking a lifelong love of music. That talent was further curated in high school by Walden’s band teacher, Mr. Agney, who supported his love of playing the high school drums, as he even became the drum major and led the whole band. It was this young love of music, and great support from his teachers, that helped Walden become prominent and successful within the industry.
9. Hilary Swank: Hilary Swank is an Academy Award-winning actress and one of the leading ladies of Hollywood, but she came from humble beginnings. Her very first acting job came in elementary school, when Mr. Sellereit at Happy Valley Elementary gave her a part in the school production of The Jungle Book. Even after so many years, Swank has not forgotten about the impact that Mr. Sellereit had on her life: after receiving her Academy Award, she told an interviewer that she wanted to say hi to him and thank him, pointing out that it was a skit he had her perform in his class that helped her find her calling. Mr. Sellereit is still teaching, and says that Swank’s recognition "is really an honor and I’m really embarrassed."
10. Tom Brokaw: Former anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, Tom Brokaw is a trusted face to many. He has stood out as a leader in the news world, and that’s thanks to his schoolteacher, Mrs. Frances Morrow. Brokaw credits her with spotting him early on, encouraging him to read above his grade level and be imaginative in class. Brokaw says that with her support, he was able to build confidence, a trait that has served him well in his lifetime. The two were able to meet up once again years later, as Brokaw took her to lunch and thanked her for her influence on his life.
11. Oprah Winfrey: Oprah Winfrey is a teacher and mentor to many around the world, but she got her start with the help of her fourth-grade teacher Mrs. Duncan. Winfrey says of her teacher, "I know I wouldn’t be where I am today without my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Duncan." Winfrey says that Mrs. Duncan believed in her and made her embrace a love of learning, and one of the defining moments of her life was in Mrs. Duncan’s classroom when Winfrey was no longer afraid to be smart. In 1989, Winfrey’s producers surprised her by bringing Mrs. Duncan in as a guest on the show, and she was able to publicly thank her beloved teacher.
12. Richard Dreyfuss: Richard Dreyfuss played a high school music teacher in Mr. Holland’s Opus, and the success that brought him to that amazing role can be credited to a very grumpy teacher, Mrs. Wilcox. Dreyfuss’ inspiring teacher does not have the usual story, though — instead of inspiration and support, Mrs. Wilcox made Dreyfuss successful because she had no patience and constantly expected the class to fail. It sounds like a harsh stance to take with students, but Dreyfuss insists it worked for him. He says that everything he came to love in his life was learned in her class, and as Mr. Holland’s Opus opened, he was compelled to track her down and say thank you. To that, Mrs. Wilcox said, "Thank you very much" and promptly hung up.
13. Bill Gates: Can you imagine a world without Microsoft? Without the help of Bill Gates’ teachers, the software giant might never have been created. Gates is one of the world’s most famous dropouts, leaving Harvard behind to found Microsoft. But even he acknowledges that he would not be where he is today without the guidance of his math and drama teachers growing up. Gates says, "There’s no way there would have been a Microsoft without what they did." He’s now put his staggering amount of money where his mouth is. Through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates and his wife donate millions to expanding educational opportunities worldwide.
14. Antwone Fisher: Antwone Fisher, today a New York Times best-selling author, spent his childhood in foster homes, but he found trust in an elementary school teacher, Mrs. Profitt. Fisher says that Mrs. Profitt was the first adult he ever trusted, because she spoke to her students with a tone of respect. He believes that being in her class made all the difference in his life, and he and his classmates took her trust and confidence with them into their lives.
15. Megan Mullally: Will and Grace star Megan Mullally hadn’t considered a career in acting until she was cast in a high school role by her English teacher Mr. Surbeck. Assigned the role of Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Mullally had to read her parts aloud in class, and it was the first time she’d ever done any kind of acting. In that moment, the wheels began turning and Mullally was inspired to follow acting into what has now become a successful career.

Educational Exports
The first question that occurred to me when I heard that education was a significant export was; "What aspects of education are we actually sending abroad?" The main source of education "exports" for both the UK and the U.S. is technically not exported at all. It seems that when foreign students attend British or American schools, the money they spend on tuition, books, etc. counts as an export. This expenditure alone accounted for more than $20.2 billion in the U.S. in 2010-2011 (Istrate, Nov. 17, 2011) and a significant portion of the 29 billion pounds of U.K. educational exports (Powell, 2012). This figure came from the nearly 700,000 foreign students enrolled in U.S. higher education and more than 400,000 in the U.K. (U.K. Council for International Student Affairs).

Where the U.K. is far ahead of the U.S., however is in the actual exporting of educational materials such as digital textbooks, online curriculums, and the like. Powell reported that the U.K. has a significant contract in place through which they export a large quantity of digital content to China (E-Learning Goes Global). The exact value of this business was not revealed, but it comprises a considerable portion of the 29 billion pounds of annual British education exports.  China has more than 200 online schools, which serve an estimated 600,000+ students through a digital K-12 curriculum. Much of the material to feed that giant education machine is imported. In addition, the importation of educational material to China is only likely to increase in the immediate future as it is estimated that there are still 100 million new students to be brought into the system (Powell, 2011).

A few innovative U.S. online education providers are beginning to branch out into overseas markets, but there is room for many more at the table.

Getting Our Own Exports Out
The January 30th edition of NPR’s On Point discussed the decline of the U.S. as a world superpower and the rise of China’s status. The program presented both sides of the issue (that the U.S. is and is not in decline), but one point struck me when the conversation turned to education. Michael Beckley, research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s international security program, made the point that a significant percentage of China’s elite students are coming to the U.S. to study – and they are not leaving! His point was that, even if our education system were failing, we are still attracting some of the world’s best and brightest and welcoming them as American citizens (NPR, Jan. 30, 2012).

The point that I took away from this observation is that an American education is one of the most desirable commodities that we have to offer in the global marketplace. This observation is supported by my own experiences as  graduate student and college administrator, and by several recent articles like this Chronicle piece by Francisco Sánchez, No Better Export: Higher Education (April 3, 2011) and this New Republic article by Emilia Istrate, America’s Stealth Education Export. Both articles point to a rapidly growing number of foreign students pursuing higher education in the U.S. But then that begs the question – if our product is so superior and popular, why aren’t we making a more concerted effort, like the U.K., to bring our educational products to others around the world?

Time to Capitalize
I am the first to rail against the evils of capitalism. I think it is the new opiate of the masses – a delusion-inducing drug that makes us follow self-serving leaders like mindless sheep. However, making a significant push towards exporting our online educational offerings seems like a win-win situation to me and to the capitalist establishment.

First, educating more people is a good thing. It is an easy justification for exporting our online e-educational products to the rest of the world because we will be serving a major need, bringing learning to the world and simultaneously fighting poverty, starvation, war, ignorance, and genocide, all the while improving the economic well-being of the entire planet (Marquis, 2012).

Then, on the capitalist score sheet, our own GDP will improve, higher education will gain a much needed financial boost, new markets for other U.S. goods and services will open, and democracy will spread its wings over the world. Okay, so this may be a bit grandiose, but education really is a vast, untapped market and a place the American spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship can to flourish. As Beckley very convincingly argued during the On Point discussion, America is not in decline. We just need to get our bearings and begin exporting the American product that the rest of the world really wants – education.

Image: happykanppy / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

While longer school days may work for some students and districts as a whole, research on the issue is divided. Some studies have found little to no benefit to extending the school day, at least not without making serious other changes to the school’s curriculum as well. Others take a more positive view. We’ll leave it to you to make up your own mind whether lengthening the school day is a good move for America’s schools (it comes at a pretty hefty cost, too). No matter how you feel, make sure to check out these studies that will help you better understand the real-life impact extended school days may or may not have on American education.

1. One study showed that longer school days resulted in a big jump in test scores.

   One of the studies that has helped to popularize the idea of lengthening the school day is this one, conducted by the Department of Education in Massachusetts. The study, conducted in 2006-2007, found that increasing the school day by 25% in 18 schools around the state caused test scores to rise by 4.7-10.8 percentage points. Other pilot programs conducted in regional schools, including one in New Hampshire, were found to improve not only test scores but grades as well. Additional funding from state grants has helped to offset the costs associated with the extra in-class time required by these new plans, and with the success of these early programs, more schools are expected to apply for the grants this year.

2. Other research has found no link between longer school days and improved scores.

   One of the reasons studies on extended schools days can be so confusing is that many come up with quite different results, making them hard to reconcile with one another. While Massachusetts may have had great success in extending the school day, other school districts and states haven’t found the same to be true. An independent evaluation of DC-area schools found that, with the exception of higher science scores for fifth graders, there were no statistically significant differences between schools with expanded schedules and those with conventional days. Fans of extended-program schools point out, however, that the extended day at these schools (only 30 minutes more) simply may not be long enough to produce any real results.

3. Some scholars have argued that it isn’t longer school days that improve scores, but the quality of interactions students have with teachers.

   When it comes to the school day, quality is much more important than quantity. At least that’s what some researchers believe. Larry Cuban, a professor of education at Stanford, argues in his book Hugging the Middle that too much attention is being focused on the length of the school day, when the real issue is the quality of education students receive while they’re in school, no matter how long they’re there. He showcases a range of studies showing that there’s little evidence to suggest that lengthening the school day alone is enough to create a marked change in student performance. Schools use extending the school day as a way to avoid making real, sustained, difficult changes in how schools are run.

4. Extended school days may be most beneficial to at-risk students.

   Those who stand to benefit the most from extended school days may be students who are at-risk, low-achieving, or who come from low-income areas. Numerous programs like KIPP schools and the LA’s BEST program have helped thousands of low-income students improve their grades, stay in school, and even go on to college. The numbers don’t lie when it comes to these programs, but they aren’t accurate representations of the average American school. When it comes to public schools in general, the results of studies are much less clear on the benefits of an extended day, even for at-risk students. Research results have been mixed for both extended-day and after-school programs, leading many to question if they are truly worth the cost.

5. Studies find that some students are only on task for about a third of the hours spent in school.

   More time in school may not make a bit of difference if students aren’t using it effectively. One study found that students weren’t on task for a majority of the hours they were in school, citing problems that ranged from motivation to poor delivery of instruction. These findings suggest that money may be better spent on improving curriculum, delivery, and teacher development rather than extending school days.

6. Extended school days are most effective when the added time is carefully structured and planned.

   In 2010, a paper called "Extending the School Day or School Year: A Systematic Review of Research" reviewed a decade’s worth of studies on extended school days. It found a number of things, including that extending the school day could help improve student outcomes, but only under certain circumstances. Extending the school day alone doesn’t lead to an increase in student achievement. The best and most reliable gains were achieved by schools that didn’t just add extra time but that made plans detailing exactly how that extra time was to be used. This may be part of what causes so much confusion between research that supports extended school days and that which doesn’t, reemphasizing the importance of the quality not the quantity of time spent at school as the deciding factor.

7. Shorter summers may benefit students more than longer schools days.

   The Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness conducted a study on the difference between extended school days in charter schools versus public schools. While they didn’t find a major difference in how the extended day programs were working for students, what they did find was that schools that had a shorter summer, using a year-round or extended school year program, had better long-term outcomes for students than those that didn’t. Students in a year-round program spend less time out of school on break and thus have less time to forget what they’ve learned, get in trouble, or otherwise set back their education. Students in these schools returned to school in the fall at a higher level than their peers, showing that spreading vacation out through the year may have just as big an impact as adding hours throughout.

8. For some students, any supervised time in school may be beneficial.

   Whether it’s after-school programs or extended days, for some students, simply having activities to keep them in school and out of trouble may be enough to improve their educational outcomes. Activities like marching band, drama, chess, and a variety of academic clubs may help motivate struggling students get through the school day and increase their engagement in school activities. Studies have shown that 8 million children ages 5 to 14 regularly spend time without adult supervision, in some cases as much as 25 hours a week. This time is generally spent watching TV, playing video games, or using the Internet, not on school work or self-improvement. Additionally, studies have shown that students without adult supervision are at a greater risk of accidental death, drug use, crime, and dropping out of school. Of course, critics argue that schools aren’t babysitters, and that parents should be responsible for watching children at all times, not teachers.

9. Extended school days are less successful when schools start earlier.

   Extended school days may have their benefits, but those are greatly reduced when students are required to come to class earlier. Numerous studies have shown that later school start times are directly correlated with lower truancy, better student health, and decreased tardiness. Additionally, students were found to have an easier time staying awake in class and as a result got better grades than students with earlier start times. Schools hoping to extend their days would be well advised to do so in the afternoon, not the morning, as any gains from additional hours in school may be negated by a group of tired, cranky students. Additionally, student safety may be an issue to consider as well, as one study showed that students driving themselves to school had far fewer accidents when their start time was pushed back an hour.

10. Many countries with shorter school years and school days also boast high test scores and grades.

    While many educational reformers point to high-performing schools around the world with extended hours as examples of what American schools should be doing, it isn’t quite that simple. Many of these schools have quite different curricula, methods, and expectations of students, not to mention differences in culture and support from public programs. What’s more, many of the best schools in the world actually have shorter school days than the U.S., suggesting that it’s not more time that students need in the classroom but better instruction and more support from teachers. Take Finland for example, where education programs have been lauded worldwide. The average Finnish student spends only 600 hours a year in school, which is just more than half the average of 1,100 hours for U.S. students.

What’s the Situation?
Situational Football is a straightforward concept. Rather than practice plays without regard to the context in which they will be used, a coach presents players with specific scenarios in which a particular play will be used: attempting to simulate the pressure of that situation. In this way players are trained not only in the physical skills needed to execute the play, but also in the mental aspects of executing the play so that they are not surprised by the intensity of the situation when it arises in a game. In this way even the mental aspects of executing under pressure become routine.

Here is an anecdote I once heard regarding former Patriot place kicker Adam Vinatieri (who kicked the only two Super Bowl winning field goals in NFL history). Most NFL kickers spend the bulk of their practice time off on a separate field, calmly kicking field goal after field goal from every possible distance. Not true for Patriots kickers. They hang out on the sidelines during practice and are thrust onto the field in situations that closely resemble actual game conditions. That might mean that they are asked to make a high-pressure kick with only four seconds on the clock, or they might have to sprint onto the field to kick a 48 yarder as time expires. Patriots coach Bill Belichick and some of his players provide more clarification on the importance of situational practice in this video from Elite Sport Leadership Central.

But how do these concepts relate to education?

School Zone – No Context Allowed!
One of the biggest criticisms of American education is that much of what is taught is irrelevant, or that students can’t relate what they are studying to events in their lives. Schools, at least in our Industrial Age model, are known for having students sit in straight rows, for arbitrarily determined amounts of time, studying disembodied facts, figures, and equations. There is almost literally no context for any of this information, either in how it relates to other areas of inquiry or to the world outside the classroom.

In this way, traditional schooling is very much like the NFL placekicker who goes off on his own to casually practice kicking under ideal circumstances. This means that when students, like the kicker, get into actual game action, they do not know how to respond. That is where situational training can make a profound and immediate impact on our educational system and what we expect from graduates at every level.

School Are Parts of Communities!
Schools of all types exist within real communities where opportunities to gain meaningful, contextual experiences are readily available.  That makes it all the more shocking that schools are missing opportunities to tie student learning into the community in which they exist.  John Dewey knew the value of having students actively engaged with real world tasks to support their learning (History of Experiential Learning, UC Davis), and even before Dewey, apprenticeship was a model in which students learned directly by participating in the work they would ultimately do for a living. This concept changed radically with the Industrial Revolution, where the idea of children as raw materials that were to be shaped into plug-and-play worker drones for factories was prevalent. Specific skills were not necessary because factory work was generally broken down into very small, context-free tasks. In short, students didn’t need to know how to integrate into a community of practice because they literally needed to be able to repeat one meaningless motion thousands of times a day.

The world we live in now however requires much more from workers. In a globally connected, information-based economy, broad-based thinking – thinking that can connect knowledge from various fields – is absolutely necessary. This means that having students engaged with people in the community is one way of providing them with an understanding of the ways in which what they are learning in school can be applied in the world. In addition to the benefit to the student, this sort of interaction begins to cultivate the kinds of skills that will provide employers with workers who already know what is expected of them and can step right in to a position and contribute.

Injuries Happen in the NFL
This notion of being able to step right in and contribute ties in nicely with the concept of situational football. Let’s return to the Patriots – another part of their sustained success is the fact that all of the players on the roster have been prepared to play as if a situation could arise on any given play where their immediate contribution would be necessary. This happened in 2008, when starting quarterback Tom Brady was injured (knocked out for the entire season). Backup Matt Cassel, who had not started a meaningful game since high school, stepped in and led the team to 11 wins, mostly because he was prepared to contribute. This is the kind of meaningful and useful preparation that we can give our students if we can break free of the classroom and allow them to participate in relevant activities before they become essential for earning a living.

Dewey had the right idea, as do present-day Montessori schools. Both of these models incorporate real world tasks for students and encourage them to interact with adults outside of the classroom. Swinging our curriculums towards a model where more learning occurs outside the classroom and students use technology to connect with instructors, or where virtual learning, games, or simulations are used to allow students to gain hands-on experiences before they need to use their education in the game of life.

Let’s make our own students Super Bowl winners by providing them with meaningful experiences before they hit the playing field.

Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Web Curation
The Web is a social system. People post information and others read, respond, repurpose, repost, forward, and rank that information in many different ways and for many different reasons.  This leads to an incredible amount of material with no real rhyme or reason to its organization. Google, Yahoo, and Bing all do a nice job of helping you locate useful sites when you search for them, but what if you want to collect a bunch of sites, videos, images, and people’s comments about them, and save all of it for later or share them with classmates or your students? Enter the relatively new concept of online tools for site curation – meaning to keep, maintain, or catalogue something. Some tools allow you simply to keep track of online information that is of interest to you, but the best curation tools allow you to remix information from various sources and share it via a variety of social networks. Here are some of the best tools currently available.

• Pearltrees – This Firefox extension allows you to capture content from the Web and graphically organize it into meaningful patterns. It also has a nice option to create collaborative trees which form a sort of hybrid semantic map.
• Delicious – One of the first curation sites, Delicious, allows users to collect web-based resources into stacks which can be shared within the community and added to by others.
• Curated.by – Curated.by operates by creating "bundles" of tweets which contain links, images and videos collected around a specific topic. The site provides a repository of all of these bundles which can be shared.
• Scoop.it – This curation program allows users to create and share their own themed magazines designed around a given topic.
• Storify – Storify is used by many journalists. It has a powerful drag and drop interface to allow users to search multiple social networks and pull pieces from different sources into one place and add their own text to tie it all together.
• Bundlr – Bundlr combines elements from several other tools to allow users to "clip" specific content from multiple sources and visually organize it in new ways.
• REDUX – This video-based site allows users to create their own channels which combine Internet videos to create unique collections.
• Keepstream – This Twitter-focused tool allows users to collect pieces of their Twitter streams and save them as collections that can be displayed on a web site.
• Bagtheweb – This program allows the collection of information into "bags" which can then be linked together into larger networks, including the "bags" that others have assembled.
• Eqentia – This program does the social networking for you by suggesting connections to others with similar interests based on the collections you create.
• Paper.li – Based on the newspaper metaphor, Paper.li allows users to assemble their curated content into virtual newspapers that include social media information as well as traditional website clips and media.

Online Annotation
Whereas curation programs allow you to collect and organize information, annotation tools allow you to clarify that information for yourself and others by adding notes that appear connected to web pages that you can save, sort, and even share with others.

• Diigo – This annotator allows you to highlight information on a page and add sticky notes associated with the highlights. Saved annotated pages can be shared via email. One drawback to this is that it doesn’t work with dynamic web sites.
• Stickis – Literally place a virtual sticky note on a web page and save it. Not as precise as a highlighter, but sufficient for broader commentary.
• SharedCopy – This program allows both highlighting and notes, however the notes tend to cover some of the text that they are intended to illuminate.
• MyStickies – Uses the same concept as Stickis (above).
• Trailfire – This unique metaphoric take on annotation allows users to place comments on pages and link them to other comments on other pages to create a trail of knowledge that others can follow.
• DrawHere – This bookmarklet allows users to doodle on web pages as they browse. The drawings can be saved and will appear to other DrawHere users who visit the same page.
• Protonotes – When installed on a website, Protonotes allows visitors to the site to leave notes concerning the content on a given page.
• JumpKnowledge – This application allows for highlighting and comments which are then placed in line with the text.
• A.nnotate.com – This service allows multiple users to collaboratively comment on a variety of different types of documents online including Word and PDFs.

For the Online Student
Think of these tools as your keys to making sense of the vast amounts of information you are bombarded with as a student. You can take notes on all of your online readings, save them, sift through the information and synthesize your own meaning. They also present a nice way to connect with your fellow students in order to learn collaboratively.

At another level, these tools can provide you with a way of finding or making connections between subjects. Particularly for the online student whose face-to-face interactions with other students or professors may be limited or non-existent, using both types of tools can help you see how different topics interconnect. This will broaden your knowledge base and make your learning relevant across all of your courses. This is one way of starting to craft your own liberal arts-like experience even as an online learner.

For the Online Educator
Realistically, if properly planned for, all of the content for an online class could be collected using curation tools and shared with students with your annotations included. Students themselves could add resources to the collection, include questions, make new connections, and share them with you and the other students in the course. In a broader context, they could be used to provide an interactive conceptual framework for an entire program or course of study.

Minimally these tools provide a way to support your own research and teaching by developing, cultivating, and annotating collections of related materials that can later be accessed for publication, shared with colleagues, or presented to students as course materials. The great thing about these collections is that they can grow as new information becomes available. Depending on your diligence and the tools you choose, that new information can be integrated into an existing knowledge framework on the fly. Even more interestingly, you can establish groups of colleagues and students who collectively curate and annotate content bundles to create shared knowledge in your field.

For the Adventurer
Using these tools for class assignments allows students to collect and synthesize their own knowledge and share it with you or the class. Requiring students to create their own Paper.li newspaper, or to blaze collaborative trails of knowledge with Trailfire, gives them an opportunity to interact with course-related information and take ownership in a way that simply reading a text never can. Using these tools allows students to become stewards of their own knowledge and to be able to invest in their own learning in new and exciting ways.

If you go exploring the virtual jungle of the Internet or decide that you are going to set up a permanent camp there, you had better bring the right equipment so you don’t get lost or eaten by the big bad information overload. Web curation and annotation tools are some of the handiest things you can bring on your journey to the Web, particularly if you are an online student in search of knowledge or a more permanent resident – an online instructor.

Image: taoty / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

(Whitehouse.gov – education section begins at 16:40)

The Importance of Education
President Obama began the education portion of the Address by proclaiming the importance of education as a central tenant of his revival of the American Middle Class. "To prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, our commitment to skills and education has to start earlier," said the President. He illustrated this fact with the story of Jackie Bray, who benefitted from an industry/community college collaboration program. The story culminated with a proposal to begin a program that will lead 2 million Americans directly to jobs in hi-tech industry through partnerships with community colleges.

This idea was concluded with a call to provide community colleges with the resources necessary to become “Community Career Centers,” and provided a transition to allow the president to discuss education funding in general. He began by contrasting the actions of other countries that are spending more on education as a vehicle to begin recovery from economic crisis with the fact that many states are reducing their education budgets and laying off teachers.

Rewarding Teachers for Being Accountable
The discussion of teacher accountability was begun by referencing a new study by Harvard and Columbia economists that shows that good teachers can increase the lifetime earnings of their classes by up to $250,000. He was very flattering of teachers’ dedication and hard work in relation to their modest salaries and proposed the following:

"Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let’s offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn" (Whithouse.gov, Enhanced State of the Union Address).

While no specifics of this plan to reward effective teachers were revealed, a document distributed prior to the Address specified a new state and district-level competition that aims to improve teacher quality by revamping teacher education, having personnel decisions tied to performance, reshaping tenure, and altering the ways in which teachers are evaluated.

More Graduates = More Revenue
Moving on to the impact of our high rate of high school dropouts, the President stressed that, "We also know that when students don’t walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. When students are not allowed to drop out, they do better. So tonight, I am proposing that every state — every state — requires that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18."

This was an acknowledgement of the fact that those with a high school diploma are generally rewarded with higher average annual earnings than those who drop out (Whithouse.gov, Enhanced State of the Union Address). There was a missed opportunity here to make clear how a higher graduation rate would ultimately increase the overall economic health of the country. This was, by far the boldest proposal of the night, though no information was provided about the added cost associated with keeping students in school.

A Laundry List for Higher Education
More high school graduates would, more than likely mean more potential college students, and the issue of college tuition presented the President with an opportunity to cover several important points about higher education.

• Interest Rates – President Obama urged Congress to stop student loan interest rates from doubling in July of 2012 (Stafford Loan interest rates are set to move from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1).
• Tuition Tax Credit – The American Opportunity Tax Credit also needs to be extended by Congress before the end of 2012. This credit saves nine million families up to $10,000 each over the four years of a college education.
• Work Study – The President proposed doubling the number of work study jobs available in the next five years. This would improve college access to low income students.
• Prioritizing Higher Education – State governments were urged to make higher education a budgetary priority.
• Reducing College Costs – A general call was made for colleges and universities to keep costs down by redesigning courses to help student graduate faster, or using technology more efficiently (Whithouse.gov, Enhanced State of the Union Address).

President Obama did, however conclude his remarks to higher education with a threat: "The point is, it’s possible. So let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down." He tempered this threat somewhat by stating that, "Higher education can’t be a luxury – It is an imperative that every family in America should be able to afford" (Whithouse.gov, Enhanced State of the Union Address).

This sentiment is appreciated and timely, but making sweeping threats to further cut funding is not a viable solution to lowering college costs. More funding and an emphasis on alternative paths to learning and graduation are needed to help reduce college costs. Investing more money in higher education is the long term solution to reducing costs, not threats that would ultimately lead to higher costs for students by further reducing aid.

A Contradictory Message
While the proposal to shake up the teaching salary and tenure structure is bold, and surely appeals to the popular opinion that teachers are solely responsible for student performance, it leaves several large questions unaddressed. The first is how will teachers be evaluated?  Mike Hladio, a Pennsylvania teacher, in an interview with the Huffington Post, was critical of the plan, saying, "You can’t say ‘stop teaching to the test’ while continuing to advocate high-stakes testing as the measure of [teacher] effectiveness." (January 25, 2012). This reaction was in response to the ambiguous statement on the part of the President that we should "replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn." 

What was left unsaid in the State of the Union is the larger societal accountability for educational performance. Holding teachers solely accountable for student achievement without any consideration of the socio-economic variables that also contribute to their performance in school is an educational witch hunt. Certainly a great teacher could reach some of the lowest-achieving students. But even the best teacher cannot reach every student in a class of 30 or more, who come to them performing below grade level, with parents who won’t or can’t support them, and no realistic expectation for any intervention outside of the classroom. This is like holding the President solely accountable for the economy when he inherits a recession, two wars, a ballooning deficit, and an opposing political party that blocks every attempt for reform.

There are answers for holding teachers (and college professors) accountable for what they can control. Any measures of teacher effectiveness needs to be very broadly defined and based on a qualitative evaluation system that considers not only the teacher, but also the students, parents, resources, and the community in which they all coexist. Until such a system and large-scale societal reforms that support early education and adequate teacher resources and compensation is in place, holding teachers "accountable" for student learning is criminal. This seems like one more symptom of a society that is unwilling to accept responsibility for its own actions, preferring to push the blame onto those who are doing all that they can with a lack of resources and support that cripple their well-intentioned efforts.

Overall, while the message of hope and the feeling that we can take control of our educational destiny were appreciated. The ambiguity of many of these proposals came across as little more than sound bites intended to appease prospective voters without offering much concrete hope for sweeping reform. Maybe after the elections we will get some unambiguous actions that really make a difference in the American education landscape.

What is Digital Citizenship?
Cyberwise.org quotes Anne Collier from her "Connect Safely”" blog to explain that digital citizenship is "Critical thinking and ethical choices about the content and impact on oneself, others, and one’s community of what one sees, says, and produces." Cyberwise also presents a video "Guide to Digital Citizenship," which is focused primarily on children, but is nonetheless informative about the key components of digital citizenship.

Adult Learners Need to be Good Citizens Too
Translating this to the online classroom for adults is simple and expands the definition to all virtual interactions. Digital citizenship for the adult learner, especially those who are new to the online environment, consists of the following:

• Basic Digital Literacy – To participate effectively in the online classroom, students need to first understand the tools and social norms surrounding virtual interactions.
• Personal Responsibility – Being aware of the connected nature of the digital environment means being aware of all of the potential consequences of your online actions.
• Ethical Behavior – The online world is often seen as free of ethical considerations. However, every individual needs to have clearly articulated standards of personal guidance that apply to their virtual interactions, particularly in online classes or the work environment.
• Protecting Privacy – Those new to the virtual world need to understand that their privacy and the privacy of others is under constant assault online. They also need to know the steps that need to be taken to preserve their privacy and that of others.
• Ownership/Stewardship – Part of the online world is the sharing and stewardship of digital resources. Understanding that you are responsible for what you produce, as well as the role that you take in supporting and protecting your resources and the resources of others is critical.
• Trustworthiness – Digitally mediated interactions do not impede the need to be trustworthy. Students are responsible for being the type of person online that they expect to be in person, and should expect the same degree of trustworthiness in others, while still being aware that the Internet is a place where not everyone is trustworthy.
• Community Participation – Perhaps the most important part of being a good digital citizen is being aware of the fact that, when you are online, you are part of many interconnected communities – all with different rules of behavior and expectations. Be aware of these virtual communities and their standards of practice at all times.

Supporting Digital Citizenship in the Online Classroom
While these are great standards to have and may seem like common sense to anyone who has been working and playing online for years, these principles may not be so obvious to the first-time virtual student. An uninformed student may not realize that they are breaking protocol in the online classroom, disrupting the lessons, offending their peers, or failing to meet understood expectations. Luckily, this can largely be avoided by integrating digital citizenship instruction into your curriculum.

• Establish Clear Expectations – If your students know what is expected of them – what to do, how to do it, and when it’s due – This will empower them and make them more comfortable and more likely to contribute positively to the class. Here are ten suggestions for establishing a positive online classroom environment from Faculty Focus.
• Support Digital Literacy – New online students in particular will need guidance in developing both the technological and social literacy skills necessary to be effective participants in your class. Here are some suggestions how you, as the instructor, can facilitate that development.
• Make Roles Explicit – The boundaries in the virtual classroom can be a bit fuzzy. Make sure that everyone involved in the class has clearly defined roles and expectations. This research paper from Susan Easton at the University of West Virginia examines the ways in which the online faculty role differs from face-to-face teaching and what can be done to support unambiguous classroom roles.
• Model Ethical Behavior – As an online instructor of new learners your role in modeling ethical online behavior is very important. In addition, taking the opportunity to make teachable moments out of instances where members of the class exhibit questionable behavior is essential. Media Awareness Network has several exercises designed to promote ethical behavior online.
• Discuss Online Privacy – Think of this as an opportunity to delve deeper into the area of instruction by discussing the role of online privacy in the field. For example, this would be a perfect opportunity for nursing students to learn about HIPPA regulations.
• Instill Ownership – Include some project-based learning in your course and have students publish the results. This way, they learn about the subject matter, learn some new digital literacy skills, and learn about curating online artifacts.
• Inspire Trustworthiness – This ties in directly with establishing a digital community. Set up course expectations that make it clear that all members of the class are to be supportive of each other and that trust in classmates is an essential part of making the course work. This is also an opportunity to discuss plagiarism and citation standards, as well as how to evaluate online information.
• Cultivate a Sense of Community – Perhaps the most important thing to show new online learners is that real community is possible in the online classroom. Here are some tips for establishing an effective online community.

While it makes sense to front load this information in the class, it is valuable to reinforce it throughout the course. Some things, such as expectations, roles, and digital literacy need to happen up front, while other aspects such as community, trustworthiness, and ethical behavior are ongoing goals. Plan your courses to hit on all of these and you will be well on your way to helping your students become exemplary digital citizens.