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Call for visionary papers on the future of open education

March 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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© Blink Tower, Cape Town, 2012

The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) –part of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission – in a study for Director General Education and Culture – is now calling upon experts and practitioners to come up with visionary papers and imaginative scenarios on how Open Education in 2030 in Europe might look with a major focus on Open Educational Resources and Practices, in each of the following education sectors:

(a) Lifelong Learning (Submission deadline: 31 March 2013)
(b) School Education (Submission deadline: 28 April 2013)
(c) Higher Education  (Submission deadline: 7 May 2013)

For more details, go to: http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/openeducation2030/

Filed Under: Europe, Events, national, regional and international strategies, open content, publications, Strategies, planning and management, Teaching and learning Tagged With: , , , ,

North Korea launches two MOOCs

February 15, 2013 By 6 Comments
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North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, went on national television on Thursday to announce that North Korea had successfully launched two MOOCs (massive open online courses). The first is called: ‘How to build a nuclear bomb’, and the second ‘How to build an intercontinental missile’.

President Obama issued a statement immediately denouncing North Korea’s action as ‘highly provocative,’ and it is expected that the U.N. Security Council will strongly condemn the launch, with even China supporting the motion.

Stephen Downes, a Canadian expert on MOOCs, noted that the North Koreans are using long-wave radio, a less advanced technology than North American Internet-based MOOCs, as their delivery technology. ‘Fortunately, outside the Korean peninsular, there aren’t too many who can speak Korean, and even fewer these days with long-wave radio. Nevertheless’, said Downes, ‘if these MOOCs get into the wrong hands, they could cause enormous damage.’

Anant Agrawal,an engineering professor at MIT and the the Director of edX, a MOOC program being developed jointly by MIT and Harvard, said they are watching the development closely. ‘The problem is,’ he said, ‘that we are having difficulty finding old long-wave radio receivers, and will probably have to build one ourselves. Then we can study the North Korean MOOCs in more detail.’

Tony Bates, the Canadian director of CMD (Campaign for MOOC Disarmament), said this is yet another reason for a global MOOC non-proliferation treaty. ‘It’s such a simple technology, anyone with a video camera and a radio or a computer and the Internet, can build one,’ he said. ‘North Korea’s action is insignificant compared to the enormous damage being done to North American universities by our own MOOCs.’

Meanwhile, Daphne Koller of Coursera, the largest MOOC organization in the USA, announced that Coursera will be taking legal action to sue the North Korean government for breach of copyright. ‘Goddammit’, she said’ MOOCs are as American as apple pie. Coursera invented them, and we will take the North Koreans for every won we can get.’ Downes though doubts whether they will be successful. ‘The claim is highly dubious,’ he said.’ ‘There is strong evidence that they were invented in Canada and even if Coursera wins in an American court – which is highly likely – they will have enormous trouble getting the money out of North Korea.’ Nevertheless, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation confirmed that is about to offer $10 million towards Coursera’s legal fund.

Watch this space for further news.

Filed Under: Blogs, Korea, MOOCs, Teaching and learning, Tony's Blog, Tweets Tagged With: , , , ,

Africa is the world’s fastest developing e-learning market

January 29, 2013 By 3 Comments
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Computers for student use at Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa

Adkins, S. (2013) The Africa Market for Self-paced eLearning Products and Services: 2011-2016 Forecast and Analysis Monroe WA: Ambient Insight

This is one of the most interesting reports I have come across in a long time. Even the abstract is packed with information and data. I have pulled out here just a small selection of particular interest to online learning in higher education.

According to this report, e-learning is forecast to grow in Africa as a whole at a rate of 15% per annum over the next four years, with growth rates in individual countries at the following:

  • Senegal: 30%
  • Zambia: 28%
  • Zimbabwe: 25%
  • Kenya: 25%

In terms of volume of revenues from e-learning, South Africa is the dominant country but will be overtaken by Nigeria by 2016.

There are several drivers of this development in Africa:

  • the recent arrival of fiber optic connectivity. Prior to this, satellite access was the primary connectivity medium, which is very expensive. This was inhibiting the uptake of Internet connectivity
  • a price war with telecoms and ISPs dropping prices to attract customers. This has also created a boom in the adoption of Internet and mobile technologies
  • Internet penetration in Kenya essentially doubled from 2010 to 2011, growing from 28% to 52% in just one year. Internet penetration more than tripled in Rwanda between 2011 and 2012, growing from 8% to 26% in one year.
  • The wide scale digitization of academic content in every country analyzed in this report
  • The explosion of online enrollments in higher education institutions
  • the sharp spike in the adoption of eLearning in the corporate segments in the booming economies.

According to the report:

The boom in online higher education enrollments in Africa is nothing short of astonishing. Many countries are adopting eLearning as a way to meet the strong demand for higher education – a demand they simply cannot meet with traditional campuses and programs:

  • The University of South Africa (UNISA) UNISA is a pan-regional virtual university with over 310,000 students (3,500 come from outside Africa.) Over half of all UNISA students take at least one online course a year. New virtual universities are springing up everywhere in Africa.
  • In May 2011, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) announced the launch of a pan-African virtual university branch of IGNOU with headquarters in Ethiopia. IGNOU has partnerships with institutions in 20 African countries.
  • Innorero University, a private institution in Kenya, launched their Virtual Campus in January 2012.
  • The Virtual University of Uganda (VUU) claims to be the first online university in East Africa and started taking students in January 2012.
  • In June 2012, the Kenyan government funded the development of a new online education institution called the Open University of Kenya in an effort to meet the strong demand for higher education in the country.
  • The African University College of Communications (AUCC) and the India-based AVAGMAH Online School of Bharathidasan University announced in October 2012 that they would launch a virtual university in Ghana in January 2013 
  • in January 2012, the African Development Bank approved a US$15.6 million grant to help strengthen the capacity of the African Virtual University (AVU). As of 2012, the AVU had 31 active higher education partners across Africa, which it helps in building e-learning centres and training content developers. The new funding will be used to build 12 new e-learning centres.

With very few exceptions, most of the countries in the region now have official government policies on the use of technology in education. There are now dozens of new national digitization projects funded directly by the central governments with and without the aid of external donors.


Filed Under: access, Africa, Bibliography, current state of the art, national, regional and international strategies, planning, policies and management - institutional, Strategies, planning and management, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

Most U.S. higher education students are also working

January 25, 2013 By 1 Comment
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© U.S. Census, American Community Survey, 2013

Davis, J. (2013) School Enrollment and Work Status: 2011 Washington DC: U.S. Census  Bureau

This is a most significant study for online learning:

  • More than half of all U.S. students in college or university are working more than 20 hours a week.
  • Almost 50% of graduate students are working full-time
  • 20% of undergraduate students are working full-time.

The U.S. is now in a position when less than half of students could be considered fullt-ime students. In other words, students who can attend campus five days a week nine-to-five, are now a minority.

For the majority of students in higher education, flexibility of access to learning is now critical for their success. For these students, one trip a week to campus is probably is as much as they can manage. Thus online learning is not now something that helps just a minority of students, but is essential for a majority of students.

Is your institution prepared for this?

Filed Under: current state of the art, futures, national, regional and international strategies, planning, policies and management - institutional, Strategies, planning and management, United States of America, USA Tagged With: , , ,

Online learning set to expand and become a core function in Ontario’s universities and colleges

January 14, 2013 By 1 Comment
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The flag of Ontario

Contact North (2013) An Overview of the Strategic Mandate Agreement Proposals Prepared by Ontario’s Public Colleges and Universities: Online Learning Set to Expand and Become a Core Function Sudbury ON: Contact North|Contact Nord

The context

Ontario is the largest province in Canada, geographically, demographically and economically. It has 24 universities and 24 colleges, and hence is a driving force in Canadian post-secondary education.

In response to the challenges of increased access, higher quality, and fiscal constraint, Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities requested in August 2012 that each post-secondary education institution in the province submit a strategic mandate agreement (SMA) proposal. Each institution was asked to provide a brief submission identifying three priority objectives, and a vision of how the institution plans to implement the objectives, using a template provided by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. (The documents submitted by each institution are available online.)

Contact North, Ontario’s publicly-funded Distance Education and Training Network, has published a ‘non-exhaustive’ analysis of the institutions’ proposed priority objectives to highlight the key patterns related to educational access, flexibility, student success, and university and college cooperation – and the central role to be played by technology in the future of postsecondary education in Ontario.

Key findings from the analysis

  • goals in the mandates reflect the needs of a very diverse population and a massive geographical territory
  • enhanced services and possibilities for specific populations, including Aboriginals and Francophones
  • a planned rapid expansion of online and hybrid learning, as well as an increased use of technology for classroom-based learning
  • a rapid deployment of emerging learning technologies, such as mobile learning, simulations and virtual worlds
  • an expansion of credit transfer between and among colleges and universities, and within consortia
  • pathways being opened to more rapid diploma and degree completion
  • an enhanced focus on experiential learning, applied research and entrepreneurialism
  • new programs and institutes to address regional and provincial needs
  • an expansion of institutional collaboration and cooperation

Among the 21 universities submitting agreement proposals, 18 specifically mentioned plans for an increase in online and/or blended learning activities.

Among the 23 colleges submitting agreement proposals, 21 specifically mentioned plans for an increase in online and/or blended learning.

The analysis identified five common elements emerging from the mandate statements:

  1. Specific educational goals related to the needs of local communities;
  2. More choice and flexibility for learners;
  3. Greater co-operation and collaboration between the provincial post-secondary institutions;
  4. Increased innovation in teaching and better learning outcomes as a result;
  5. An expectation of greater productivity: more and better learning for each dollar invested.

Online and hybrid learning seem set to expand rapidly on an already extensive base, and perhaps more significantly, online learning is becoming a core function and competency of nearly all public post-secondary institutions in the province.

The Contact North document covers a wider range of activities than just online learning, and also provides detailed examples to illustrate each finding.

Next steps

The strategic mandate statements are just one of a range of written submissions and discussions that will provide ‘direct input to the development of a post secondary productivity and transformation strategy‘ by the Ministry. However, this will not become clear until after the government has a new premier and cabinet following a leadership contest this coming weekend.

Declaration of interest

I am a Contact North research associate and contributed to the publication.

Filed Under: blended learning, mobile learning, national, regional and international strategies, Ontario, partnership and consortia, planning, policies and management - institutional, simulations, animations and games, Strategies, planning and management, Teaching and learning, Technology, virtual worlds/Second Life Tagged With: , , , ,
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