Posts Tagged ‘faculty and technology’

robocolleges

https://higheredinquirer.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-growth-of-robot-colleges.html

some frightening full-time faculty numbers at some large online universities.

Robot colleges have de-skilled instruction by paying teams of workers, some qualified and some not, to write content, while computer programs perform instructional and management tasks. Learning management systems with automated instruction programs

The assumption is that managing work this way significantly reduces costs, and it does, at least in the short and medium terms.  However, instructional costs are frequently replaced by marketing and advertising expenses to pitch the schools to prospective students and their families.
The business model in higher education for reducing labor power and faculty costs is not reserved to for-profit colleges.  Community colleges also rely on a small number of full-time faculty and armies of low-wage contingent labor.
In some cases, colleges and universities, including many brand name schools, utilize outside companies, online program managers (OPMs), to run their online programs, with OPMs like 2U taking up as much as 60 percent of the revenues.

digital learning faculty support

Report: Faculty Support Lacking for Wide Adoption of Digital Learning

By Dian Schaffhauser 06/19/17

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/06/19/faculty-support-lacking-for-wide-adoption-of-digital-learning.aspx

new report produced by Tyton Partners in collaboration with the Babson Survey Research Group. two fall 2016 surveys of a national sample of 3,500 postsecondary respondents.

extent of digital learning implementation in support of strategic priorities

These gaps and others “suggest a disconnect, the report stated, “between the impacts that many administrators perceive and the reality of how digital learning is changing the market.” Open-ended responses suggested that expectations for the impact of digital learning were “set too high” or weren’t being “measured or communicated well.” Another common refrain: There’s inadequate institutional support.

While most administrators told researchers that “faculty are crucial to the success of digital learning initiatives — serving as both a bolster and a barrier to implementation success,” the resources for supporting faculty to implement digital learning are insufficient. Just a quarter of respondents said faculty professional development was implemented “effectively and at scale.” Thirty-five percent said implementation was in progress. And a third (33 percent) reported that faculty professional development was “incomplete, inconsistent, informal and/or optional.”

The report offered recommendations for improving and expanding digital learning adoption. Among the guidance:

  • Get realistic. While the data suggested that digital learning could improve scheduling flexibility and access, among other benefits, schools need to identify which goals are most important and “clearly articulate how and to what extent its digital learning programs are expected to help.”
  • Measure impact and broadcast it. Forget about small pilots; go for a scale that will demonstrate impact and then share the findings internally and with other institutions.
  • Use buying power to influence the market. Connect faculty with vendors for “education, product discovery and feedback.” Insist on accessibility within products, strong integration features and user friendliness.
  • Prepare faculty for success. Make sure there are sufficient resources and incentives to help faculty “buy into the strategy” and follow through on implementation.

++++++++++++++++++
more on digital learning in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=digital+learning