Abstract:
Closed campuses, working remotely, and physical distancing have changed the way we work, teach, learn, shop, attend conferences, and interact with family and friends. But the Covid-19 pandemic has not changed what we know about creating high-end online education. Two decades of research has shown that online education often fails to fulfill its promise, and the emergency shift to remote instruction has, for many, justified their distrust and dislike of online learning. Low interactivity remains a widely recognized short-coming of current online offerings. Low interactivity results, in part, from many faculty not feeling comfortable being themselves online. The long-advocated for era of authentic assessments is needed now more than ever. Finally, greater support is needed for both underrepresented students and for faculty to move beyond basic online instruction to create a strong continuum of care between the teaching and learning environment and the student support infrastructure. For those who have been long-term champions of online education, it has never been more important to confront the three biggest challenges that continue to haunt online education – interactivity, authenticity, and support. Only by confronting these challenges squarely can instructors, educational developers, and their institutions take huge steps towards better online instruction in the midst of a pandemic and make widespread, high-quality online education permanently part of the “new normal.”
"The report provides the reader a comprehensive overview of the changes in the learning-to-employment landscape, why it has happened, highlighting the dramatic increase in working learners and learning workers. These two populations – one pursuing traditional degrees while holding down jobs, and the other pursuing small increments of education to advance within their jobs – are responsible for the tremendous gains seen in online learning (520% in 10 years), MOOCs (910% in 5 years), micro-credentials, and more. The ecosystem changes drill all the way down to assessment within courses, which is starting to focus much less on “how much of the material do you remember?” and much more on demonstrations of skill mastery –i.e., “prove to us how well you know this, by what you can do with it.” The report then calls out the need for improvements in assessment to that will enable automated systems to consistently recognize and calibrate the “know” and “do” skills across the future worlds of learning and work. In response to the report Dr Edan Jorgensen, Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, reflected, ”The world is not stagnant. Hiring practices have been. Its time to shift from traditional methods that do not predict success, and look towards the future. The future is an emerging workforce that is more dynamic than degree and [job] references. They are about change and making a difference through their employment.”