Using Technology

Transforming Higher Education Through Networked Learning
James L. MorrisonProfessor of Educational LeadershipUNC-Chapel Hill
TODAY
The 21st Century
The 21st Century

Students can no longer prepare bark to calculate problems. They depend instead on expensive slates. What will they do when the slate is dropped and breaks?

Teachers Conference, 1703

Students depend on paper too much. They no longer know how to write on a slate without getting dust all over themselves. What will happen when they run out of paper?Principals Association Meeting, 1815

Students depend too much upon ink. They no longer know how to use a knife to sharpen a pencil.

National Association of Teachers, 1907

Students depend too much on store bought ink. They dont know how to make their own. What will happen when they run out?

Rural American Teacher, 1928

You dont turn it on. You open it and turn the pages.

I very much doubt that were the only family on the block without a Web page.

Households Using Internet to Bank (in millions)
Source: Investors Business Daily, Mar 18, 1998

Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century
The changing environmentTechnology and learningWhere are we?What are the issues?

The Changing Environment
GlobalizationEconomic restructuringNeed for up-to-date, college trained, workforce; for continuous retrainingExploding clienteleChanging clienteleOlder, working, raising childrenTakes longer to get degreeConcern for cost

Percent of Firms Downsizing by Business Category
Source: Chicago Tribune, August 21, 1995

From 1980 to 1994, the U.S. contingent workforcetemps, self-employed, consultantsincreased 57%

In 1996, 65% of all workers used some type of information technology in their jobs. By 2000, this will increase to 95%.

Constant training, retraining, job-hopping, and even career-hopping will become the norm.

The Enrollment Pipeline
source: WICHE
'79
'82
'85
'88
'91
'94
'97
'00
2.0
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3.0
We Are Here!
High School Graduates, 1979-2004

(millions of students)

2004

An Aging Clientele for Higher Education

Projections
Source: Michael Dolence AACRAO 1997
Today3,613 institutions16 million students$156b in operations
Workforce Statistics141 million workers1/7 require 7 credit equivalents/year
Tomorrow (2000)672 new campuses20 million new learners$235b to build$217b/year to operate

Supply and Demand
Resources Available
Demand for Education
Time
Learners

Trends
SCT Distance Education Survey

The Changing Higher Education Environment
Self Service and ConvenienceNo longer school - work - retire modelMassive Expansion of Potential StudentsImmigration continues to exceed birthsOlder CitizensGeneration Y - 75,000,000Continuing professional/occupational education

The Changing Higher Education Environment
New competition in higher educationOld-line institutions have discovered satellites and the InternetTraditional service areas fair game for allNew for-profit educational providersCertification monopoly at riskemployers concerned about competencyemployers relying less on diplomasOutcomes assessment coming on line--Western Governors UniversityCollege costs exceeding inflation--concern for ROI

The Changing Higher Education Environment
Cyber-Universities1993: 93 1997: 76260% of public institutions offer distance ed courses (1995)

Implications of a Network Learning Environment
Transition from learned infrastructure to learning infrastructure; from campus-centric to consumer-centricTransition from distance learning to distributed learning

How Will Higher Education Look Tomorrow?
Fewer residential collegesPartnerships with colleges and other educational service providers for continuing educationMultimedia courses developed by dispersed teamsGlobal campusFaculty roles: from sage on the stage to guide on the side

with good learning materials, effective networks, and proper support, students can learn better at home than in class.

Sir John Daniel, 1997

What are the issuesin distance learning?

Which Approach?
Individual learning primarily via asynchronous communication

Group teaching via synchronous communication

Issues
Role of professorTimeFrom course topicFrom studentsFrom teachersPlagiarismUnreliable sources

Issues
Intellectual propertyFair use

PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OPENS INTERNET-ONLY BANK Principal Financial Group, a financial and insurance firm, has opened an all-electronic Principal Bank. By July 1, customers will be able access and transfer funds between accounts, file loan applications, pay bills and view cleared checks, all on the Web. "The number of people who are using the Web is growing, and this is a way for them to micromanage their affairs," says the bank's CIO. Later on this year, a start-up group in Houston plans to open Compubank, an all-electronic bank. More than 200 electronic-banking Web sites have opened in the past two years, according to Seattle-based Online Banking Report, and the number of households handling at least some banking duties over the Internet rose to 4 million in 1997, up from 2.5 million in '96 and only 250,000 in '94. (Investor's Business Daily 18 Mar 98)

California expects 488,000 additional undergraduates within the next 10 years.Oregons legislature adopted a policy supporting access to higher education for every qualified Oregonian\Traditional student declining: at Cal State system, typical undergrad is 26, working 20 hours per week, perhaps while raising childrenProblem of access is particularly acute in developing world. 3/4 of population in South Africa and Palestine is under 20. They may not get the taining for employability and mass education to inspire them--they will grow up to be unemployed, unconnected, and unstable.In the US, the cost of sending a child to college is approaching 15% of median family income (9% 15 years ago) in public institutions. Private: 40% (up from 20% 15 years ago). Americans are questioning in this investment returns value for the money. Costs are increasing faster than inflation.
This was a report of a 1994 American Management Study of 713 major U.S. Companies.

Over the past five years, 2/3sof US companies haveundergone downsizing (16.7 milion jobs cut since 1991). American Management Association annual survey reports that nearly 30% of employers plan to eliminate jobs this year, the highest percentagein the surveys 8 year history. Typically, the number of firms that actually make cuts is double the number of those that say they will.Friedman, Jill. Four Questions to Ask Before Accepting a Buyout. Working Woman, October 1996, pp 25-26.
Box 1 (upper left) Today: we are supporting 16 m students, costing blah blah blah Box 2 (lower box) Workforce Analysts predict that there will be over 141 million workers in the workforce by the year 2000. In order for these workers to maintain their basic employment skills in the information age, they will require the equivalent of 30credit hours every 7 years. Thus, there will be approximately 20 million (141/7 years) new learners seeking learning opportunities every year.Box 3 (upper right) In order to support this many new learners in our current environment, it would require blah blah blah. In order to meet this demand one institution would need to open every eight days.
In the US, the cost of sending a child to college is approaching 15% of median family income (9% 15 years ago) in public institutions. Private: 40% (up from 20% 15 years ago). Americans are questioning in this investment returns value for the money. Costs are increasing faster than inflation.
Four years ago Peterson's "Distance Learning" guide counted 93"cyberschools" where students could earn degrees without setting footon campus. In 1997, the list had grown to 762. In "I Got My DegreeThrough E-Mail" [June 16, 1997 issue of FORBES], Lisa Gubernick andAshlea Ebeling chart the rise of virtual colleges and summarize thereasons why the number of students who choose non-traditional paths togetting an education is increasing dramatically. The authors presentviewpoints ranging from economists who hail cyberschools as the bestsolution for college education, to advocates for the superiority ofin-residence programs. A list of Forbes' top 20 cyber-universities,along with Web links, is included in the article.The article is available online athttp://www.forbes.com/forbes/97/0616/5912084a.htm
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