The University of Texas System is taking
competency-based education mobile. It is creating a new program to offer
adaptive degrees and certificates aligned with industry standards and available
through mobile technology developed by the UT System.
The educational pathway will be supported by a platform
of technologies and services known as Total Educational Experience (TEx). The
tools available in TEx can be adapted to a student’s preferences and adjusted
to meet the student’s level of mastery.
“We made the decision to initially deliver TEx on
mobile devices to ensure we meet students where they are, with the technology
that they are used to,” said Marni Baker Stein, chief innovation officer for
the Institute of Transformational Learning, which is developing the TEx program.
“The experience will still be available on the web, but the mobile delivery
will allow them to take their education with them wherever they go.”
The program will launch in fall 2015, offering science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and medical science courses. It
will be offered in online and hybrid formats available for students from high
school through postgraduate levels.
TEx tools will also provide students customized
advising and mentoring on career objectives. In addition, it will support
teaching methods in the classroom.
“We are developing a new model of education that
provides an alternative and potentially accelerated pathway to a UT-quality
degree,” Baker Stein said. “Our degree and certificate programs are designed to
build on critical skill sets so that students achieve enduring mastery that
better prepares them for the workplace of the future.”
