Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2014 | Page 34
Positioning for Success in the Higher Education Online Learning Environment
articulate for students the path from
degree selection to desired outcome.
For-profit institutions, given their
primarily adult and national student
populations are particularly adept
at both building those networks and
helping students identify their pathways
via competency dashboards and
career guidance systems.
• Support Your Future Students – Colleges
and universities are developing
bridge programs and online high
schools to generate a pipeline for new
quality students (for example, the University
of Texas at Austin). Additionally,
some institutions with a significant
amount of online content may find it
appropriate to provide it as OERs or to
lease it to community colleges or K-12
schools. Among the angles and considerations
to providing content include:
• Providing content to smaller colleges
or community colleges that do not
have many online courses may prove
cost beneficial to those schools. Community
colleges in particular may be
a willing partner. The latest survey
from the Instructional Technology
Council of the American Association
of Community Colleges revealed that
48% of the respondents reported that
student demand for distance education
courses exceeded the distance
education offerings at their college
in 2013 (Lokken & Mullins, 2014).
In addition to supplementing the
course catalog, community colleges
could also be specifically interested
in online content that they may
not be equipped to provide, such as
in STEM. Moreover, in a state system
where transfer of credits among
community colleges and four years
schools is mandatory, providing online
courses to in-state community
colleges would ensure that the courses
align with the four-year school
degree enabling a seamless transfer
for students and a potentially greater
likelihood of success in completing
their bachelor programs.
• There might also be opportunities
in the K-12 space for online content;
however, there can be issues regarding
connectivity. The February 2014
announcement by President Obama
that seven private companies will give
donations totaling $750 million to
improve technology in schools, with
the goal of connecting 99% of students
to high speed internet is a positive
development. However, according
to the EducationSuperHighway
Initiative, more than 70% of current
schools are not hitting the minimum
goal for Internet connectivity
(Severns, 2014). Despite this, a report
from Project Tomorrow noted that
83% of high schools offer online programs
(Project Tomorrow, 2014). As
high schools are the likely preferred
market for college-generated content,
there is the possibility for collaboration
and content distribution.
• Leasing content does come with its
issues as there is meaningful competition
from the publishers, although
university content could carry credit.
Some potential partners may also
find that other MOOC and OER content
sufficient for their needs, at least
for the purposes of blended learning.
There may be resistance among faculty
about teaching outside content.
Also, institutions and possibly accreditors
may have concerns awarding
credit for content that was not
produced in-house.
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