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.”
Contents
Executive summary 3
Introduction 6
MOOCs
Massive open online courses 9
Badges to accredit learning
Open framework for gaining recognition of skills and achievements 12
Learning analytics
Data-driven analysis of learning activities and environments 14
Seamless learning
Connecting learning across settings, technologies and activities 17
Crowd learning
Harnessing the local knowledge of many people 20
Digital scholarship
Scholarly practice through networked technologies 23
Geo-learning
Learning in and about locations 26
Learning from gaming
Exploiting the power of digital games for learning 29
Maker culture
Learning by making 33
Citizen inquiry
Fusing inquiry-based learning and citizen activism 36