Draper U. Accepting Bitcoin Payments

Draper University, San Mateo, CA, bills itself as an “unconventional world-class boarding school,” so it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that it would accept unconventional forms of payment.

The school, which already allows barter, equity, profit sharing, and advertising tradeout as forms of payment, is now accepting bitcoin for tuition fees. The school has already processed its first bitcoin payment for the summer session.

Bitcoin is cryptocurrency, peer-to-peer electronic cash created and transferred through a computer or smartphone without an intermediate financial institution. End users solve hash algorithms to generate the virtual coins, which in the case of bitcoins are valued at around $100 per coin, according to a report in Campus Technology.

“Some of the most forward-looking entrepreneurs are active bitcoin traders. At Draper University of Heroes, we accept bitcoin payment of tuition because it is a promising currency with appreciating value,” Tim Draper, founder of Draper University, said in a prepared statement. “For the time being, we still accept dollars, too.”

BYOD Spells SOS for Campus IT Issues

The combined student and employee population at Cedarville University, Cedarville, OH, is about 4,000. Yet, on any given day, more than 9,000 devices may be accessing the Internet through Cedarville’s system. That ratio illustrates why grappling with the rapid proliferation of web-enabled devices on campus is the new No. 1 concern on Educause’s recently released Top-Ten IT Issues report for2013.

“Now that faculty, staff, and students all have these portable devices, they expect to use them. Before, IT organizations had to address network coverage, but the pure density of devices on campus and their bandwidth requirements cause new challenges,” noted the report.

Issue No. 2 involves taking advantage of technology to help bolster students’ outcomes, an issue clearly influenced by recent pressure from legislators and others to focus on what students learn and ensure they’re getting value for their tuition dollars. A related issue calls for ascertaining a strategy to support online education.

Other issues new to Educause’s annual list include structuring IT staffing to meet new challenges and balancing the need to secure systems and information with the need for user access.

Five of the issues on the 2013 list are carryovers from 2012: creating strategies for institutional cloud computing, strategic funding for IT projects, supporting bring-your-own-device and other trends, using technology to take campus business initiatives to the next level, and tapping into data analytics to guide institutional outcomes.

Students Take MOOCs to 'Learn New Things'

Critics of massive open online courses (MOOCs) point to the number of individuals who fail to successfully complete the courses. Karen Symms Gallagher, dean of the University of the Southern California Rossier School of Education, took a MOOC presented by the University of Edinburgh, dropped out after losing interest, and wrote about her experience in an essay for Inside Higher Education.

On the heels of the essay, eCampus News ran a report on a new MOOC study from Edinburgh that showed the majority of students who take its six Coursera classes do so simply to learn, with little interest in earning the completion certificate at the end.

MOOCs@Edinburgh 2013 found that 95% of the responding students enrolled to “learn new things” and just 33% took the course for the certificate. The study also found that 83% said they completed the final assessment, while 77% said the course either met or exceeded their expectations. In addition, 70% of respondents said they had already completed a degree program, and 40% had earned a postgraduate degree.

“It is probably reasonable to view these MOOC learners as more akin to lifelong learning students in traditional universities than to students on degree programs, which is a common comparison being made,” the report said.

Soccer Moms Lead Tablet Buyers

As of May 2013, about 34% of all adults in the U.S. owned a tablet device, almost double the number from a year ago. The percentage comes from the spring phone survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which has been tracking tablet ownership since the release of the iPad.

It may be hard to believe that tablet ownership went from zero to more than a third of the total American adult population in just a few years. So who’s buying all those tablets? It turns out the typical purchaser is a female college graduate living in the surburbs, age 35-44, with a household income of at least $75,000.

But the telling characteristic of the average tablet owner is having a kid at home. In the last year, custodial parents of minor children became the fastest-growing tablet-owner demographic, jumping from 26% last spring to 50% in May.

The rise in tablet ownership is mirrored in the educational world as well. A Campus Technology article reported tablets represented 35% of all personal computing devices shipped to U.S. schools in 2012, almost twice as many as the preceding year. Obviously, both parents and school personnel see tablets as an important tool in youngsters’ learning.

However, the article noted, the boost in tablet purchases may be spurred mostly by manufacturers that have developed educational content for the devices and are willing to work directly with schools to fulfill their curriculum needs.

E-Text Revolution Is Coming, Slowly

The e-textbook revolution appears to be more of a skirmish, at least at the moment. A new study from Bowker Market Research found students and their professors are not adopting digital textbooks in great numbers and the percentage of students using them has remained flat for the last few semesters.

The study reported that just 3% of students used a digital textbook as their primary course material during the spring 2013 semester, down from 4% for the fall 2012 semester. In addition, about half of the 1,540 undergraduates participating in the Bowker survey said they “prefer the look and feel of print,” along with the ability to highlight and take notes, while a third said they choose print because they couldn’t resell a digital text.

“Students aren’t resisting digital. It’s extremely critical in their daily lives,” said Carl Kulo, U.S. market research director at Bowker, during a Digital Book World webcast. “But they are seeing more learning and monetary value in print textbooks.”

The research also found that just half of the professors surveyed make e-textbooks an option. When asked why they made the course material choices they did, faculty members cited experience with printed text, actual content inside the book, and cost to students as the top reasons.

It’s not all bad news for e-textbook adoption. The study noted that 31% of responding students said they had tried an e-textbooks and about a quarter of those students preferred the digital format.

“We believe that it’s the publishers and other educational technology companies that will drive the shift to digital,” Kulo said. “It will probably take about two to five years for the revolution to happen and it will probably happen when a critical mass of students have the device that makes the best use of the content.”

Higher Ed Is Not a Bubble Set to Burst

A recent MSN Money article lists the 10 colleges and universities with the highest out-of-pocket costs in the country. Pundits often point to this sort of list as proof that online education is the future of higher education.

College can certainly cost a fortune and tuition expenses continue to rise, but that doesn’t mean it’s creating an economic “bubble” that is ready to explode, according to a staff writer for Forbes magazine. In fact, John Tamny wrote that online education may be the entity that needs to be concerned.

After working through a list of high-profile individuals who succeeded without a college education, Tamny argued students don’t really attend college for the education. Students head to campus, and parents are willing to fork over small fortunes, because attending college opens doors in the real world.

That presents a problem for online learning. While it may be less expensive and even more efficient, Tamny said all employers really seem to care about is the imprimatur of a name school, rather than the actual knowledge a student gains.

“College tuition is the price paid by parents and ambitious teens to slot them for future employment,” he wrote. “Even without government subsidies, tuition for the name schools would still be high simply because parents and kids will pay enormous amounts for something scarce in the form of an elite degree that carries weight with employers. On the other hand, online education, precisely because it represents the opposite of scarce, means it brings with it very little job-attaining value.”

Follett Higher Ed Testing M-Commerce

By their very nature, campus stores attract a younger crowd that uses smartphones. That fact has Follett Higher Education Group actively testing its mobile marketing ability and plans.

Follett test have indicated more than 60% of recipients of special offers delivered by text message during a slow sales period viewed details of the offer, and 9% redeemed the coupon. In addition, fewer than 1% opted out of receiving the text, according to Leeann Fecho, manager of emerging media and loyalty marketing at Follett.

The company also developed a program that created a unique personal identification number that links a customer to a transaction when redeemed with a coupon and a program that allows shoppers to simply wave their mobile phones at an in-store kiosk to retrieve coupon offers.

“Mobile presents unique opportunities to connect and consolidate the customer experience,” Fecho told a session at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition 2013. “The value of mobile isn’t just about building offers or mobile commerce—it’s all of that, but while doing that and blending the in-store and online experience.”

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.”

EdX Opens Source Code to Entice Developers

EdX released the source code of its XBlock software in March. Now, the massive open online course (MOOC) consortium has made its full source code available to developers in an effort to quicken the pace of advances to the platform.

“We want contributors,” said Rob Rubin, vice president of engineering, in an Information Week article. “We’d welcome any company’s contributions and any people’s use of the edX platform. We’re in the very early days in the development of the technology to support learning and research about learning. Let’s all contribute to the open-source effort to be able to rapidly evolve that for the benefits of the student.”

EdX had planned to release the code later this year or early next year, but moved it up because some of its members wanted to contribute code. For instance, Stanford University had code for real-time chat and bulk e-mail ready to go, while the University of California contributed forum and automated grading system software.

The move could also lead to MOOCs being scaled down into SPOCs (small private online courses), according to an eCampus News report.

“We want to encourage that,” Rubin said. “We are committed to improving accessibility and we think that’s a great application.”

The early release also helps edX keep pace with competitors such as Coursera, which just announced a partnership with 10 university systems to offer free courses on its platform.

GAO Releases Its Report on HEOA

The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) has made it easier for students to find textbook pricing information, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). However, the report also found that costs continue to rise at an average of 6% per year.

The study was required by the HEOA to show what steps textbook publishers, campus bookstores, and faculty members were making to enhance students’ choice and knowledge about the books they were buying. It found that used, digital, and rental textbook provide lower-cost options, but also that the price of new printed textbooks often drives the cost of other items.

The GAO reported that all publishers in the study use their web sites to provide their pricing of textbooks for bookstores and direct to consumers, and faculty members are more conscious about pricing when assigning the material. The report also stated publishers are making their bundled materials available for individual sale, but components are not always the lowest-priced option and students may have limited choices when it comes to buying unbundled materials.

The agency found 81% of colleges and universities disclose lists of assigned textbooks for each course, including ISBNs and retail price, and nearly 93% of the schools made that information available in public areas that did not require a password.

“While we are pleased that publishers and schools are complying with federal transparency requirements, more needs to be done to provide more affordable textbook options,” wrote Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) in a joint statement. “As the GAO report suggests, transparency alone isn’t enough.”

Tablet Market Getting Crowded

The tablet market just got a bit more crowded with the introduction of a new series of tablets from Asus. The series should help the Taiwanese computer-manufacturer become a big-time player in the entry-level tablet space.

The MeMo Pad HD7 could make the biggest splash with its 7-in. LCD display with 1280 by 800 pixels, optional 5-megapixel main, and starting price of $129 for an 8GB version. The device comes in multiple colors and is available in a 16GB version for $20 more.

“The Nexus 7, sold by Google, was one of the best Android tablet deals for 2012,” wrote Eric Zeman in Information Week. “With such a low price point, the HD7 will surely be a hit with budget-minded shoppers.”

At the same time, rumors of a new iPad are beginning to ramp up. Reports suggest Apple will begin production of a larger iPad in July or August that will look like the less-expensive iPad mini. However, reports have the next generation of the mini coming out in November because its negative impact on the sales of larger iPads.

Hidden Cost of Online Education

Advocates believe online education opens the door for students who may not have the time or financial wherewithal needed to succeed in a traditional university or college classroom. While the potential remains, a small pilot offered by San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, showed there are also hidden costs.

The program, started last January, offered three remedial and entry-level math courses through online startup Udacity, available for $150 per student. The classes were open to anyone with a high-speed Internet connection, but each class was capped at 100 students.

The prep school Oakland Military Institute (OMI) had nearly 45 students participating in the program, but school officials had to devote computer lab space, time, and equipment to students who didn’t have the necessary Internet access at home. Laptops were provided, along with two staff members to answer questions and keep students on task.

“Without having a class period to do it, I wouldn’t have done as well,” said OMI student Ciara Lowry.

DOJ, Apple Begin Price-Fixing Showdown

The Department of Justice opened its e-book price-fixing case against Apple with a PowerPoint presentation tracking the e-mail messages between the computer giant and senior executives from Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, Random House, and Simon & Schuster.

The DOJ brought suit against Apple and five publishing firms in 2012 claiming that the companies agreed to set a higher price for e-books to stop Amazon from charging $9.99 for best-selling titles. The five publishing firms named in the original suit have all settled with the government.

The government accuses Apple of being the hub of a conspiracy. Part of the presentation tracks phone conversations in an attempt to prove publishers were deliberately acting in concert with Apple on the agency deal.

Apple countered by arguing there is no proof of a conspiracy and that Apple “simply was not willing to start a new business that would lose money” by matching the $9.99 price point. Apple also claims its negotiations with publishers were done independent of one another and often quite contentious, while its attorney alleged that it was Amazon that started the conversation on changing the pricing model before any Apple agreement had been reached.

Traffic Jams Ahead for Information Highway

Over the next few years, it’s going to get a lot more crowded out there on the Internet.

Cisco’s Visual Networking Index Forecast report, released May 29, anticipates that by the year 2017 worldwide Internet protocol (IP) traffic will be three times what it was in 2012. By then, almost half the earth’s population will be connected to the Internet.

While countries such as India, Indonesia, and South Africa will experience the highest growth rates, the United States will generate more Internet traffic than any other nation.

This rapid growth, which is expected to slow down after 2017, is being fueled by a proliferation in the number of Internet users and connected devices, faster fixed broadband network speed, and a spike in the use of Internet video. On average, around the globe, people will be watching three trillion Internet video minutes per month, or about two years’ worth per second. About 63% of that will be 3-D and high-definition video.

However, video won’t be the only application sucking down bandwidth, according to the forecast. By 2017, 49% of Internet traffic will come from non-PC devices, with the greatest growth derived from machine-to-machine modules (applications such as package tracking, ID chips in animals, digital health monitors, and video surveillance, for instance).

Overall, the rise in Internet traffic is tracking right alongside adoption of smartphones.

The Value of MOOCs, Minus Course Credit

With all of the back-and-forth debate over how massive open online courses (MOOCs) should be managed and monetized, one college president acknowledges there may be some benefits from MOOCs apart from educating students.

In a commentary for Inside Higher Education, Excelsior College President John F. Ebersole notes “it remains unclear as to how student learning by MOOC is to be measured” but that working professionals, especially in technical jobs, may simply want to take MOOCs without credit just to stay up-to-date in their fields.

Ebersole also sees MOOCs as useful tools for branding and marketing higher education institutions. Through free online courses, schools will be able to let prospective students sample their offerings, in hopes of later enrollment in for-fee courses, he says. Schools can also raise their national and international profile by hosting MOOCs, he adds.

Similarly, Ebersole thinks faculty members will be able to enhance their reputations—as instructors, as authors, and as researchers—by reaching thousands of people in open online courses.

Kiosk Enables In-Store E-Book Sales

Booksellers and librarians attending BookExpo America in New York City this week will no doubt be stopping by the OverDrive booth to take a peek at its new Media Station kiosk. The device is essentially a touchscreen, mounted on a wall or standalone base, on which consumers can preview e-books and MP3 audiobooks and then buy or borrow them on the spot.

As OverDrive’s press release describes it, the Media Station is intended to provide an in-store—or in-library—way for people to browse e-book titles in the same location where they browse print books. OverDrive has one million titles available, mostly trade, from hundreds of publishers. Consumers can view or hear the first chapter of any title.

For more than a decade, OverDrive has offered a solution for online direct sales of e-books and digital content, but about a year ago, shortly after buying the Booki.sh cloud e-book platform from Australia’s Inventive Labs, it announced plans to develop the Media Station kiosk.

At that time, the Media Station was touted as a device intended for libraries. It was piloted at a public library near OverDrive’s Cleveland, OH, headquarters. However, it may have more potential for bookstores that already have e-commerce in place, as the kiosk can be integrated with the store’s web solution.

Five Tech Factors Changing Education

“We have reached a ‘perfect storm’ with the alignment of five key factors that are driving new excitement and enthusiasm for leveraging technology to transform teaching and learning,” proclaims the latest Speak Up survey report, released in April by Project Tomorrow.

The annual survey, in its ninth year, measures usage and opinions of technology in the classroom and at home from thousands of K-12 teachers, students, and parents in the U.S. While the survey doesn’t address technology in higher education, Project Tomorrow sees signs that the growing use of tech tools at K-12 levels does influence higher ed, especially as more students arrive on campus with expectations about technology and coursework.

The five transformative factors cited in the report are:

• Greater understanding of the potential for technology to help schools meet curriculum standards.
• More parents, teachers, and administrators using mobile technologies for personal and professional purposes.
• Funding cutbacks forcing schools to seek technological solutions to save money or raise revenues.
• Technology creating a bridge between home and school, allowing parents to take a more active role in education.
• Employers pressing schools to turn out tech-capable graduates.

The report notes all five factors have existed for some time now, but only recently have they approached a tipping point. “Like puzzle pieces, these five factors support one another, but also display unique characteristics that affect the readiness of some schools and districts to move forward with their plans for digital conversions,” says the report, while asking whether schools are prepared for conversion.

Big Data's Power Lies in Profiling

“Big data” is one of the hot buzzwords circling the business, technology, and education sectors these days. It’s not really a new concept—the smart players have been collecting and crunching numbers and data points all along—but system enhancements are making it possible to gather more data than before and more people are becoming aware of the power of data analysis.

In his Thought Leader educational session at the Campus Market Expo (CAMEX) 2013 in Kansas City, MO, Michael Wesch offered an anecdote that illustrates that power. He is the associate professor of cultural anthropology, Coffman Chair for Distinguished Teaching Scholars, Kansas State University, Manhattan, and U.S. Professor of the Year.

Wesch told the audience that a colleague became incensed when Target sent his 15-year-old daughter a mailer touting pregnancy and baby products. The colleague complained at the local store. A few days later, he returned to apologize. “It turns out Target knew the daughter was pregnant before he did,” Wesch explained.

Target didn’t actually know that, but had surmised the situation when the daughter bought two particular products at the same time. Purchased separately, the products meant nothing. But purchased together, according to Target’s data profiling, indicated there was a high probability the consumer was expecting. The dual purchase automatically triggered Target’s targeted mailer.

The anecdote shows that big data involves more than simply counting up consumer actions. The real value is in correlating data to create a profile of future actions.

In the education world, Wesch noted, software developers are trying to build similar profiles of student learning behaviors. He cited a couple of examples: Learning management systems, such as Blackboard, are exploring the huge potential in the big data they collect on users. The Knewton adaptive learning platform employs data analysis to guide learners through progressive levels of questions.

Online or On-Campus, Quality is Key

With all of the recent hullabaloo over massive open online courses (MOOCs), digital textbooks, and online learning systems, some people might come to the conclusion that these developments are brand-new and that the traditional form of higher education—based on a physical campus—might evaporate any day now.

Professor Kel Fidler, with 50 years of experience in the academic world and currently a director at the online learning provider Resource Development International in the U.K., sees it differently. In a piece for The Telegraph, Fidler points out many universities have been successfully engaged in online courses and digital content for years.

Although Fidler’s piece discusses higher education in the U.K., his comments could also apply to North American higher ed.

He views online courses, whatever their size, as providing more options for educational institutions and for students, but he doesn’t think they will or should take the place of on-campus learning, in part because some courses need in-person interaction. But the real foundation for any type of instruction, Fidler says, is quality.

“My experience has shown me that, whatever the delivery model, success relies on the same fundamental principles of quality teaching, content, and experience—and this is where I believe the debate about MOOCs often misses the point,” he writes.

Money Makes the Apps Go 'Round

What’s the quickest way to get app developers interested in creating educational applications? Flash a wad of cash.

That’s essentially what Instructure is doing, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The company, creator of the Canvas learning management system, has partnered with a number of other LMS companies to offer a “bounty” for the development of the best new educational apps using the Learning Tools Interoperability standard (LTI).

LTI enables apps to run properly on different LMS platforms, eliminating the need to construct separate apps for every platform.

The “bounty” is being offered in the form of a competition that concludes June 10. Every submission that meets the eligibility criteria will receive $250 and the best ones will get $1,000.

The competition is intended to attract developers’ attention to opportunities and needs in educational technologies. “It’s become clear that ed tech does not have the type of ecosystem that other sectors have. It’s hampering innovation,” Instructure founder Brian Whitmer told The Chronicle.