Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2014 | Page 30

Positioning for Success in the Higher Education Online Learning Environment
Along with various software providers,
colleges and universities are taking the
lead in the field. For instance, Carnegie
Mellon University has been working
on adaptive applications for several
years through its Open Learning
Initiative, and is currently developing
MOOC technology capable of identifying
student learning patterns and intervening
when necessary.
• Gaming – The New Media Consortium
in its 2014 Horizon Report for
Higher Education, identified games
and gamification as one of the six important
developments in educational
technology for higher education over
the next five years because the groupplay
interaction and problem-solving
components can enhance learning and
collaboration in an online environment
(Johnson, Adams Becker, Estrada,
& Freeman, 2014). According to
market research firm Ambient Insight,
higher education gaming only comprises
1% of the near $1.6 billion global
game-based learning market, but
revenues are expected to triple from
2012-2017 as more institutions build
gaming into their online curriculum
(Adkins, 2013). Purdue University, the
University of Oregon, the University
of Pennsylvania, and the University of
Central Florida are among the growing
number of institutions that have
both been on the development and application
side of game-based learning.
• Badging – Aligned with gamification
is badging. Carnegie Mellon researchers
are finding that integrating badges
into courses motivates students to keep
learning. Purdue University is one of a
growing number of institutions using
badging to promote completion and
provide learners with carefully defined
competencies that they can use to enhance
their transcript and create a profile
for current and future employers.
• Mobile – While the use of college mobile
apps continue to rise, and learning
management system (LMS) providers
are expanding their mobile capabilities,
a fully intuitive compatible mobile
online learning experience that mimics
the desktop experience would have
great value in providing dispersed
students a seamless learning environment.
This is true not only in the
United States, but particularly abroad,
where mobile usage is high and the
Content as a Service (CaaS) model delivered
through telecom providers is
widely used for education purposes.
• Deliver and Leverage the Value Proposition
– Increasingly, colleges and universities,
both in the U.S. and abroad are
relied upon as prominent contributors
to sustainable economic growth in part
because they serve as centers of innovation
and because they can produce a
knowledgeable and skilled workforce. A
consequence is that schools are under
growing pressure and scrutiny to cultivate
students, regardless of academic
major, who can readily transition into
the workforce.
This dialog has fed into a broader
debate around the value of higher education.
A quality education at an affordable
price is not a good value unless it
gets the student where he or she wants
to go personally and professionally. In
a time of increasing student debt and
what has been for the past several years,
a soft job market, this focus on value has
intensified.
The data show that a higher education
degree has economic value as
employment and salary levels rise with
greater amounts of education (Figure 2
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