Learning Summit: The Future of
Online Education Remains Bright
Learning Summit: The Future of Online
Education Remains Bright
Despite the challenges facing higher education in the United States, the mood was quite upbeat at the
inaugural Chicago Online Learning Summit.
That is because of what participants agreed is a bright future for online education.
Online education is a large and growing market, and the
opportunity for universities that use learning and technology
breakthroughs to capture a large market share is immense.
Revenues from e-learning were $35.6 billion in 2011. That
figure is expected to grow 44 percent, to $51.6 billion by
2016, according to research by Ambient Insight.
students in the U.S. About one-third of higher education
students are enrolled in at least one online course.
The 2014 summit attracted leaders from the University of
Chicago, Northwestern University, DePaul University, Illinois
Institute of Technology, and DeVry Education Group1. This
group discussed the possibilities and promise of online
education with fervor and optimism rarely seen at recent
discussions of higher education.
Online enrollment has been growing at a much faster rate
than enrollment in traditional brick-and-mortar college
classes. By 2016, there will be 4.7 million full-time online
Total Enrollment
DeVry Education Group
is the parent organization
of American University of
the Caribbean School
of Medicine, Becker
Professional Education,
Carrington College,
Carrington College
California, Chamberlain
College of Nursing, DeVry
Brasil, DeVry University,
Ross University School
of Medicine, and Ross
University School of
Veterinary Medicine.
Online Enrollment as % of Total Enrollment
Millions of students
1
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Source: Sloan Consortium, “Grade Change: Tracking Online Education in the United States”, 2013
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2
Learning Summit: The Future of Online Education Remains Bright
College online leaders are increasingly engaged in important
conversations such as: who owns content, who should be
involved in course design, how do we better support and
engage online students, and how can online education be
positioned to capture some of the growing international
student market?
Many universities, said Eisendrath, are investing in online
learning to achieve goals as diverse as improving access,
creating new revenue streams, driving efficiencies, generating
data on teaching and learning, and growing market share.
They have to do something because the traditional business
model of higher education is not working as it once did.
At many universities, the atmosphere of the online operations
is like that of a start-up: experimental, mixing new ideas with
old methods, and the willingness to fail if it results in better
outcomes down the road. It was appropriate, therefore, that
the inaugural Chicago Online Learning Summit was held at
1871, the innovative technology hub for startup businesses
located at the Chicago Merchandise Mart.
“A professor with 25 years of tenure earns on average
$96,000 for teaching six classes a year,” said Eisendrath,
citing data from the U.S. Department of Education. “A
contract lecturer earns $18,000 for teaching those same six
courses. This is not news, but for too long stakeholders have
avoided talking about the implications in ways that preserve
the quality we love without driving costs so high that higher
education becomes once again something only the elite few
can afford.”
The summit was sponsored by DeVry Education Group – its
institutions have some of the largest and most established
online curriculums – and Huron Education, which has one of
the largest higher education consulting practices in the U.S.
Universities that are expanding their online offerings
are working their way through numerous structural and
management issues. Some of the most-talked about topics
included:
“There is a profound shakeup underway in higher education,”
said Edwin Eisendrath, a managing director with Huron. “We
are working hard to help clients find and execute on their
competitive advantages.”
Course design — Joel Shapiro, Associate Dean of
Academics at the Northwestern University School of
Continuing Studies, said that when the university has a
course built by one faculty member but then taught by
someone else, it can lead to tension. Northwestern has
learned that it had historically overly defined the online
learning environment in an effort to create consistent student
experiences, and is now more forward-thinking, freeing up
faculty to teach their courses according to their strengths.
This diversifies the tools and production value of media in the
classroom, but is embraced by students and faculty, often
leading to better learning outcomes.
Building an online university for students who may never
meet one another has a set of challenges that is wholly
different from a traditional residential campus. For example,
DeVry has been experimenting with new approaches to
diverse issues such as:
□□
24/7 student academic support
□□
Virtual science and technology labs
□□
Taking virtual class attendance
□□
Assuring compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
DePaul University embeds course designers in academic
departments, where they work side-by-side with faculty
members to create online course materials. Many faculty
members take naturally to it but some others remain wary.
“How do you make online teaching something intrinsic to
what faculty normally do, rather than it being a separate,
special task for them,” asked GianMario Besana, an associate
professor in the College of Computing and Digital Media,
and the Associate Vice President for Online Learning and
Internationalization at DePaul University.
“We have expanded tutoring service offerings,” said Eric
Dirst, president of DeVry Online Services. “We are starting to
provide real-time live online support to students with actual
professors who teach our courses, instead of using teachers’
assistants. We started out with more generalized online
tutoring services, but realized a more experienced personal
instructor based service was what our students really wanted
and needed.”
3
Consistency of services and communications — DeVry
Group institutions are some of the largest providers of online
programs, managing about 1,400 online courses. It has
found that students value consistency. The loudest protests
come when institutions change the basics, like the online
format for courses.
Too often, said Eisendrath, universities change such things
as communications systems and interfaces because
it is best for administrators or faculty members. “The
conversation needs to start with what is best for the student,
and go from there,” he said.
Is online more difficult and time-consuming to teach?
— The proportion of academic leaders that believe it takes
more faculty time and effort to teach online has increased
from 41.4 percent in 2006 to 44.6 percent this year. Tina
Cooper of the Illinois Institute of Technology said faculty
members list several factors for online classes being more
time-consuming: they have to monitor discussion boards,
answer student e-mails, and communicate with students
across several social media platforms.
Shapiro, of Northwestern, said he has heard similar
arguments, but says, “I don’t agree at all.” With smart
course design, he said, “I would argue you can get the same
outcomes in less time, or better outcomes in the same
amount of time.”
How does an institution support its online students?
— Many feel disconnected from a campus and are easily
distracted. Many of those eventually drop out of courses.
Institutions have to purposefully over-communicate with
those students – reminding them of events, services, and
deadlines. Online teachers need to look for reasons to be
in touch, and make them feel welcome. Dirst, of DeVry
Group, said universities, instead of looking for one way to
communicate with students, should be communicating
constantly and consistently across media platforms in
multiple formats. “DeVry Group institutions are now
instituting more services such as online chat and even
video chat, while allowing students to choose how they
communicate, whether that be by phone, text, chat or even
via private social media channels.”
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Online education presents some unique challenges, said
Dirst. “It isn’t like you can take all the services you offer on
your physical campuses and give those to online students. In
many cases, they have to be completely rethought.”
A new division of DeVry, called Integrated Education
Solutions (IES), is leveraging DeVry’s online knowledge
and services to help colleges launch online programs.
An example is a Master’s degree in intellectual property
management and markets to be launched at the Illinois
Institute of Technology-Chicago Kent College of Law.
CONCLUSION
As online learning becomes mainstream, colleges and
universities can benefit from more deliberate efforts to
create strategies that further institutional missions. Whether
supporting existing students, or reaching new markets,
successful strategies benefit from a shared institutional
view on approaches to course design and development and
the full involvement of faculty at every step of the process.
Online learning has helped broaden access to higher
education which in turn requires schools to design systems
of communication, support, and outreach that will make
students feel more connected to the institution.