Questions to Ponder for Online Courses

A recent article from the digital news outlet Quartz detailed efforts by a pair of Texas A&M economics professors to update their mandatory introductory microeconomics class. The class has been moved online, a first for the university.

Students taking the class no longer have to sit through lectures because the professors have already created prerecorded lessons, an interactive video platform, and prepared all the homework and reading material. The lecturer uses a transparent whiteboard to explain concepts and discussion boards to engage students.

“Do I think [this new course] is better than 30 students and the Socratic Method, Dead Poets Society-style? Probably not,” Jon Meers, one of the professors of the course, told Quartz. “It’s still vastly superior to delivering a lecture to 300 students at 8 a.m. on a Friday morning.”

The article claimed the course will increase the quality of learning by allowing professors to interact directly with students, while also saving money for the university. However, Joshua Kim, director of digital learning initiatives at the Dartmouth Center for Advancement of Learning and technology blogger for Inside Higher Education, questions that conclusion.

He pointed out that creating high-quality digital materials and video lectures is hard work, requiring time and plenty of collaboration between the professor and instructional designers and media educators. He added that while the Texas A&M approach may be more effective than traditional lectures, it’s also a lot more expensive.

“Everything that I know about flipped courses tells me that they are more expensive, not less, to develop and run than traditional lecture courses,” Kim wrote.

The Use of E-Learning Content is Growing

Flipped and virtual classrooms, along with blended learning, are the driving forces behind the growth of generic e-learning content and courses, which is expected to increase by 8% in each of the next four years.

Other factors in that expected growth are cost savings produced by generic online classes and the proliferation of mobile devices on campus, according to a report from the technology research firm Technavio. Generic e-learning courses are defined as classes prepared according to a standard curriculum and offered by service providers, educational institutions, and experts.

“Generic e-learning courses have been incorporated across all these methods as [they provide] learning opportunities in any kind of learning methods,” wrote the authors of the report. “This enables faculty and corporates to incorporate various hybrid and unique learning and training methods.”

The study found that the flipped classroom model has more than 50% penetration in the United States education market. In addition, the adaptive-content publishing market will produce $1.07 billion in revenue by 2020 and more than 70% of all corporate training is already done online.

Video Playing Bigger Role in Higher Ed

A new study found that the use of video may have reached a tipping point in higher education. The third annual State of Video in Education report noted that 75% of all students now use video in their assignments and the share of institutions using flipped classrooms has increased to 58%.

More than half of administrators, instructors, and students reported that their institution now uses a video solution integrated into its learning management system (LMS). In addition, video feedback on assignments has grown from 26% in the 2015 survey to 32% this year.

The survey also found that 93% of the respondents said they believe video has a positive impact on student satisfaction and 85% said having video as part of their resource toolkit increases teacher satisfaction. Nearly 90% agreed that it boosts student achievement levels, while 76% said they believe it increases student retention rates.

“For the first time, over 50% of higher-education respondents report that their institution has now integrated a video solution into the LMS,” said Ron Yekutiel, chairman and CEO of Kaltura, the video technology provider that conducted the survey. “If proof were needed that video is now mainstream in education, then this is it. Those institutions that do not yet have a comprehensive video strategy in place for the new academic year risk being left behind.”

CRAFT Experiment Shows Potential

Faculty members of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, are experimenting with a flipped-classroom model that is showing some promise. CRAFT—for Create and curate content, Replace lectures with Active, and Flipped, Team-based learning—targets classes with high rates of dropouts or students getting poor grades.

In the first two years of the program, students in most of CRAFT courses received higher grades than their peers taking the lecture version. In addition, the university has been able to enroll more students in the classes. Instructors also report that their workload remains about the same, according to a report for Inside Higher Education.

A philosophy course that went through the CRAFT redesign typically had 40 students who met three times a week for 50 minutes per class, with lectures making up two of the three sessions. As a flipped class, enrollment increased to 90 students divided into three groups that meet once a week for group quizzes and other forms of active learning. Students watch video and do homework exercises on their own to complete the weekly coursework.

“I’m effectively teaching more students than I was before, but it’s taking less of their time … and the workflow is neutral for me because I’m spending the same amount of time in the classroom,” said Wade Maki, who teaches the redesigned course. “You can move the needle on access and affordability with this. And we need to do that.”

The workload for instructors only becomes neutral after the redesign stage is completed and student savings come in the form of less money spent on course materials that are replaced with online lecture videos. However, student grades did go up, with the share of students earning an A or B increasing from 40% to 56% in one course alone.

“We have shown the model didn’t fail, which we expected it might,” Maki said. “Now, we have to get others on board.”

Tool Makes Flipped-Classroom Model Better

The flipped-classroom model, which has students do their classwork at home, works best when students come prepared. Eric Mazur, a Harvard university physics professor, has created a social tool to help that happen.

Perusall is a social learning platform that allows students to interact with others working on an assignment, pose questions, and receive email notifications when their question is answered so they can come to class ready to talk about the subject.

The platform also includes an assessment tool for instructors based on the quality of the responses posted, how often students comment, and whether those comments are posted before the next class. To keep extra work for teachers to a minimum, the app uses an automated assessment engine to analyze the postings.

In classroom tests of Perusall, Mazur found that 70% of his students read every assignment during the semester and 95% missed no more than a chapter or two. He is also working with publishers to make textbooks available through the platform, which can be integrated with most learning management systems.

“Education is not just about transferring information,” Mazur said in an article for eSchool News. “It’s not about getting students to learn what we know. I want my students to stand on my shoulders to solve the problems I cannot solve. To do that, active participation and social interaction are a must.”

Making Online Learning Better

Companies are working on ways to make online classes better than the traditional classroom setting, according to a report in eCampus News.

One issue with online learning is it requires a level of self-discipline that many students lack. Blended learning has been found to be an important part of the online experience because it combines online with face-to-face learning.

“We’re definitely seeing a trend over the last three to five years of people moving to these blended, online, hybrid, flipped-classroom models,” said Jennifer Ferralli, math product manager of the online instructional platform WebAssign. “We’re seeing this across the different disciplines, not just in math, but also in physics and chemistry. People are trying to find different ways to connect with students to make classroom time more effective and more efficient.”

Video helped support the flipped classroom concept, but it’s been found that video works best with an interactive element. That is being addressed through mobile apps that allow faculty to drag and drop material and learners to go on their personal devices to access the content.

Other online learning issues being address include identity verification and cheating, auto-grading, and open learning management systems.

“We’re starting to hear a real desire for online learning to turn the corner and be focused on a mode of instruction that is inherently better than what we have today in traditional education,” said Chris Walsh, CEO of the video-learning firm Zaption. “People are starting to look at new tools and new opportunities to create an instructional experience that is different, but hopefully better as well.”

Columbia Working on Flipped Lectures

The flipped-classroom model has become a popular trend in smaller higher education classes. It doesn’t work as well in a big lecture hall, but experiments at Columbia University may change that.

“Sitting in one of those 180-student classrooms is a very passive situation,” Maurice Matiz, executive director of the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, told Campus Technology. “We’ve found that students aren’t really learning very much.”

Matiz and his colleagues started with a biochemistry class of 180 students. Associate Professor Brent Stockwell created weekly slide presentations that included YouTube videos embedded into the online syllabus. On the syllabus page, a link was placed underneath the video player to a short quiz that counted toward the students’ final grade, forcing most to come better prepared for the class.

Stockwell added a polling service accessed from the students’ mobile devices, allowing them to respond to questions anonymously in real time. The class was also divided into groups to work on problems together.

The concept was then tried in a class of 250 taking a body, health, and disease course. Students viewed short lecture videos prior to class. The instructor used class time for discussions and polling students on their understanding of the concepts.

“On many levels, it was more satisfying than lecturing, where you don’t really know if the students are ‘getting it.’” said Rachel Gordon, who taught the course. “I hope that more teachers will take the plunge. It’s worth it.”

New Approach to Higher Education

There has been plenty of discussion about the future of higher education. Flipped classrooms, competency-based education, team-based learning, collaborative education, and problem-based learning all have proponents who see their format of choice as the best way to proceed.

However, campuses continue to use the same term-based and credit hour-based formats that have been in place for generations. Most institutions also continue to offer lecture-based courses where progress is determined by midterm and final exams.

The University of Texas System is ready to try something new. It is launching a format that include career-aligned and personalized courses to attract new students who are looking for a different way to study and earn a degree, according to Steven Mintz, professor of history at UT-Austin and executive director of the system’s Institute for Transformational Learning.

“Too often, a single model is deemed the solution to higher education’s challenges: high costs, deficient student engagement, or unsatisfactory graduation rates,” Mintz wrote in a blog post for Inside Higher Education. “Instead of embracing a single solution, instructors might consider implementing differentiated paths to a degree. Students, then, might choose the path that best reflects their needs and aspirations.”

The UT programs will not replace current curriculum, but will emphasize career skills. Students will receive a traditional transcript with grades as well as a competency-based transcript that highlights the skills and knowledge the student has mastered.

“Given the diversity in student circumstances, goals, and motivation, a differentiated approach makes sense,” Mintz wrote. “Personalization is the watchword of the contemporary consumer economy, and this principle might be applied to postsecondary education as well.”

Don't Count Out MOOCs Just Yet

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have gone through a period of being “The Next Big Thing” and weathered various degrees of criticism. Now, the concept may be ripe for a new era, according to Anant Agarwal, computer science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and CEO of the nonprofit MOOC platform edX.

The optimism is based, in part, on edX enrollment figures that have doubled over the past year, as well as studies that have shown students taking an MIT online physics class learned as effectively as students who took the traditional classroom course.

“We’ve been growing as others are throwing in the towel,” Agarwal told Wired.

As the model transforms, edX has found that traditional classroom work is beginning to take advantage of MOOCs. The content is now showing up in flipped-classroom settings to allow students to view it on their own while the teacher uses class time for hands-on work. EdX has even launched A/B testing so faculty can experiment with different teaching styles and compare student outcomes.

“It's how a professor can learn what’s working and what’s not working and have a process for improving the course,” Agarwal said.

Flipped Learning Making Inroads on Campus

The 2013 Speak Up National Research Project found that flipped learning has surpassed all other digital learning trends in K-12. According to the study, 25% of responding district administrators reported flipped learning is having a significant impact on teaching and learning and 40% said they are interested in their teachers using flipped learning methods this year.

Despite gaining popularity in K-12 circles, flipped learning still lags behind in higher ed. That could change as more colleges and universities discover how to effectively use the technique.

“One thing that’s been lacking has been a consensus on what the flipped classroom actually is,” Robert Talbert, a math instructor at Grand Valley State University, wrote for a Chronicle of Higher Education blog. “If a professor assigns readings to do before class and then holds discussions in class, is that ‘the flipped classroom’?”

The Flipped Learning Network (FLN) came up with a definition based on FLIP, which stands for flexible environment, learning culture, intentional content, and professional educator. The four components form a teaching method that allows students a variety of ways to learn, focuses on student-centered inquiry instead of lectures, offers accessible content available to all prior to class, and features instructors who are willing to collaborate with students.

“Just because you’ve been giving reading assignments outside of class and holding discussions in class, it doesn’t mean you’ve ‘always been flipping the classroom,’” Talbert wrote. “There’s more at work and at stake here. The focus in the above definition is on student learning and not on course design and I think that’s totally correct.”

FLN didn’t stop at a definition but collaborated on a series of university case studies and research with Pearson Education. The information gathered showed that flipped learning improves critical thinking and professional skills, increases student participation and motivation, and improves team-based skills and peer-to-peer interaction.

However, challenges remain regarding course redesign, faculty workload, student buy-in, and student evaluations.

Flipped Classrooms Help Raise Test Scores

Flipped classrooms, where students view video lectures online at home and use class time to discuss the content with the instructor, are growing in popularity on college campuses. New research indicates that the model is much more than a passing educational fad.

The study from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill reported that students performed 5% better on a final exam than their peers who didn’t learn in a flipped-classroom setting. The three-year study surveyed more than 300 students taking a pharmacy course taught by Russell Mumper, who helped write the report published in the journal Academic Medicine.

It took Mumper 60 hours to record 25 videos using lecture-capture technology from Echo360. The effort allowed him to spend the majority of classroom time discussing the material and dispensing career advice.

“When we asked students before the course, 75% said they preferred a traditional method,” Mumper eCampus News. “At the end of the course, 86% said they now preferred the flipped format. We flipped their preference.”

Nine out of 10 students in the survey said their learning was enhanced and 93% said their understanding of key concepts improved. In addition, nearly all respondents reported the model helped them develop skills that would be used in their careers.

“The main event in education is still, and will continue to be, in the classroom,” said Fred Singer, CEO of Echo360. “With the flipped model, we’re seeing excitement return to the classroom as students and their teachers are both engaging in more active learning that demands everyone’s full-time attention.”

Flipped Classrooms Gaining Momentum

A new report from the Center for Digital Education and Sonic Foundry found that half of the faculty members participating in an the online survey said they are using the flipped-classroom model or plan to in the next 12 months. Of the respondents already using the technique, 57% said the experience was successful.

A flipped classroom allows students to learn new content at home online, with what used to be homework assignments being done in class with the instructor offering more personalized guidance and interaction.

According to the study, 81% of respondents reported an “improved mastery of information” from students, while 80% said there was “improved retention of information.” Instructors also cited better learning experiences for students, greater availability of technology, and positive results from trials as the top reasons for using flipped classrooms.

“Based upon my experience, the benefits of the flipped-classroom model far outweigh the challenges, and I’ve seen the difficulties with implementing the model decrease over time as efficiencies are realized,” Clemson University lecturer Ralph Welsh wrote in the report. “It has also allowed me to tailor my classroom time more toward answering specific student questions and discussing the material at a more applied, higher level of thinking.”

Preparing for a flipped classroom takes more time, according to 75% of the responding faculty members, but 83% agreed or strongly agreed that the model had a positive impact on their classrooms. Another 86% said student attitudes improved as well.

A quarter of the respondents said they plan to use flipped classrooms across all disciplines and 51% record their own video content.  A webcast of the findings is available at sonicfoundry.com.

Software Helps Flipped Classrooms

In a flipped classroom, students are asked to study course materials on their own and class time is devoted to one-on-one or small-group interactions with the teacher. One problem with the approach is students who don’t have at-home Internet access aren’t able to watch the assigned videos.

Software from aTube Catcher provides a solution, according to Shannon Holden, an ed-tech enthusiast and veteran teacher who created newteacherhelp.com, a web site dedicated to helping teachers make it through their first year in the classroom.

“It all happens thanks to a USB drive,” Holden told eSchool News. “The excuse of ‘our kids don’t have the Internet so we can’t flip the classroom’ is gone. If we get inventive enough, 100% of kids will be able to participate in the process.”

The aTube software provides instruction on how to download all kinds of videos from any number of sources to a USB drive. The student can then take the drive home to view the material. The software even works on many Blu-ray and DVD players, as well as most newer television sets and Xbox 360 and PlayStation consoles.

Holden created a YouTube video on the download process with advice on implementing flipped learning in the classroom and a preview of other professional development videos he’s working on.

Western Nevada Focuses on Flex Classrooms

When it came time for Western Nevada College to update the technology on its three campuses, administrators decided on a system to provide students with a better way to attend class, even if it meant not in the physical classroom.

The college built classrooms with smart podiums, microphones, and high-definition cameras to record lectures. It plans to combine the video-lecture classes with existing online courses, allowing students to be in the classroom, on the road using a mobile device, or in front of their home computer.

Western Nevada will begin offering 15 courses that are both face-to-face and online in the fall. The school wants to expand the program, but will limit it to first-year courses in the first year, according to Clarence Maise, distance education coordinator.

“Sometimes those earliest classes are the toughest,” Maise told eCampus News. “Maybe they haven’t figured out college yet or that balance. This wiggle room allows them to not drop class and work through it. Having that flex allows them to go to their job, take care of their kids, whatever they need to do.”

SJSU Launches Blended Learning Training Center

Last fall, San Jose State University became the first institution to try incorporating edX’s massive open online course (MOOC) content with the teaching concepts of a flipped classroom. Now, the university is opening its Center for Excellence in Adaptive and Blended Learning, a program to train faculty members in the California State University (CSU) system to use flipped learning in their classrooms.

The university also announced it will expand its edX pilot program to as many as 11 of the 23 schools in the CSU system. The effort is being driven, in part, by the completion rates from the pilot program started last fall. Nine of 10 students completed the blended engineering course offered, while just six of 10 finished the traditional course.

The center will show CSU faculty members how to run a flipped course, which allows students to watch online lectures and take quizzes outside of class. Classroom time is used to provide students with assistance on the material covered in the videos and homework.

“We’re placing the instructor front and foremost, rather than facing the blackboard [with their back to students],” edX President Anant Agarwal told eCampus News. “The real value is in helping students learn and helping students process information.”

The program is also seen as a possible way for universities in the state to speed up degree completion while keeping costs under control.

“These digital natives cannot be educated like we were educated,” said Lt. Gov. Gavin Newson during the SJSU press conference. “The old system has run its course, like the industrial age has run its course.”

Technology and Education in 2013

The spectacular growth of massive open online courses (MOOCs) turned higher education on its head in 2012, according to Chris Proulx, president and CEO of eCornell. MOOCs allowed students to learn from top universities and at their own pace, and got discussions started about for-credit curriculum.

That was 2012, so Proulx looked ahead to 2013 in a predictive blog post for Forbes.

He projected the growth of MOOCs to continue in 2013, particularly at top-tier schools, while the availability of online courses at selective schools will increase. He also anticipated that universities will find even more ways to use the “flipped classroom” model, where students use class time to enhance prerecorded lectures.

While MOOCs are growing, there are still questions to be answered about the programs, such as the cost to sustain the courses and finding ways to make credit for the courses available to students. Proulx predicted a hybrid model that has both online and in-person components will be embraced this year, as will peer-to-peer and peer-to-faculty instruction. He even forecast that the cost of education will decrease—just not in 2013.

“As institutions experiment with the pedagogical formula of what content is delivered online, how peer-to-faculty interact in both the online and ‘flipped-classroom’ environments, and faculty explore new models of assessment, some institutions could potentially find educational models that begin to bend the cost curve,” Proulx wrote. “The first step is to continue to nurture faculty across the country to embrace online teaching, and from there we just may see a shift in the business of education.”

Flipped Classroom Passes First Test at San Jose State

Using a flipped classroom for one of the most hated classes at San Jose State University has produced some interesting results. Midterm exam results from the course, Engineering Electronics and Circuits, were higher for students in the class, according to a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The university decided to give the flipped format a try because the class, required for electrical engineering majors, has never had a very high passing rate. In fact, 40% of the students taking it received a C or lower last semester.

Instructors turned to the massive online open course produced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offered by edX, asking students in one of the three sections of the class to watch lecture videos on their own and then use classroom time for discussion, rather than spending most the the class time on live lectures. The median midterm exam scores for students in the flipped class were 10 to 11 points higher despite more difficult questions on the test, according to Khosrow Ghadiri, an adjunct professor teaching the flipped version of the course.

The final test for the flipped class will come during finals week when professors plan to give all three sections of the course the same exam. Along with final test results, the university will survey students for their views on the flipped format.

“I think, in a way, that’s more important,” said Ping Hsu, interim dean of engineering. “If students feel this is a better way to learn, then that says a lot, perhaps more than exam scores.”

While midterm test scores were higher, students have complained about the pace of the flipped course. They’ve also asked Ghadiri for more frequent quizzes.

“The flipped classroom receives a lot of resistance upfront,” said David W. Parent, undergraduate coordinator in the electrical-engineering department. “What the students didn’t say, but were effectively saying, was that they had to learn at the rate which the classroom was going rather than letting it slide and cramming at the last moment.”