Monthly Archives: September 2012

PART III: BY THE NUMBERS

PSU, University Park

With 38,594 undergraduates, U.S. News ranks Penn State’s University Park as the fifth largest campus. For 2012, over 28,000 students applied for 7,200 University Park seats. Each year over half of the University Park graduates first began at one of the other nineteen campus locations.

Figure <!–[if supportFields]> SEQ Figure * ARABIC <![endif]–>1<!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–> Image Source: http://bit.ly/NJpkGF

Penn State Live reported a modest undergraduate enrollment growth in 2011. In Figure 1, after Pennsylvania (4,260), the 2010 biggest state contributors were New Jersey (792), New York (453), and Maryland (318).

Figure 2 Image Source: http://bit.ly/TjsjsK

Figure 2 shows the current decline for in-state high school graduates. Out-of-state students are an opportunity to overcome increasing competition for Pennsylvania students amid stagnant demographics.

Another recruiting opportunity comes from “non-traditional” students, such as adult learners, veterans, and transfer students (i.e., students with eighteen or more credits); currently more than thirty percent of all students transfer. To take advantage of this, policy changes may be needed to improve transfer receptiveness as well as providing success programs normally reserved for first year students. For reference, Penn State’s admissions office has created a transfer fact brochure.

IST, University Park

In addition to undergraduate minors and certificates, Penn State’s College of IST offers a B.S Degree in Information Sciences and Technology (ISTBS), a B.S. Degree in Security and Risk Analysis (SRABS), and a B.A. Degree in Information Sciences and Technology (ISTBA).

The University Budget Office’ Fall 2011 Penn State Fact Book reports 823 total IST undergraduates: 83 (first year), 158 (second year), 260 (third year), 275 (fourth year), and 47 (fifth year plus). Note that here Penn State counts “unique” residential students, rather than degrees; students pursuing more than one degree or minor are only counted once, and credited to his or her primary degree college.

Figure <!–[if supportFields]> SEQ Figure * ARABIC <![endif]–>3<!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–> Image Source: http://bit.ly/Q6KLBK

Figure 3 reveals that IST’s Fall 2011 University Park undergraduates came mostly from Pennsylvania followed by New Jersey, Maryland and New York.

Current College of IST (University Park campus) entrance policies include the following:

IST undergraduate math course requirements are more similar to students in the Smeal College of Business, rather than the College of Engineering. However, high school applicants must meet the more rigorous College of Engineering SAT math standard, instead of the lower minimum used by the Smeal College of Business.
Students already enrolled at another Penn State college or campus must successfully complete three-course SRABS or ISTBS entrance-to-major requirements before the start of the junior year.
Students considering the ISTBA degree must apply before the end of the third semester and meet a two-course entrance-to-major requirement.
The College of IST does not accept transfer students (i.e., students with eighteen or more credits from a non-Penn State institution).

Readings

Penn State Fact Book: http://www.budget.psu.edu/FactBook/
Penn State Transfer Student Brochure: http://admissions.psu.edu/pdf/publications/PennState_Transfer_Facts.pdf

PART II: WHY A MOOC?

1 Reply

[Image: What is a MOOC?, video by David Cormier]

Note: This article is from a series on change with strategic implications for higher education.

My first exposure to online education was the summer between my junior and senior year in high school. I wanted to take calculus as a senior, but first needed to complete a course in trigonometry. The solution was an online trigonometry course offered by Penn State. It took a great deal of self-discipline and time management, but I enjoyed a deep sense of satisfaction putting my final assessment in the mail.

Jumping ahead a few decades the impact of a connected world on distance education becomes visible. First, simply replacing the postal service of my trig experience has enabled more interaction opportunities, such as more assignments and instruction. Next, opportunities have expanded to include more offerings to a larger audience. It is not unusual for search results to also return paid placements for online degrees by traditional higher education institutions. These are, in essence, an opportunity pay a college or university to complete degree requirements remotely.

In the past few years, however, there has been growth in opportunities for anyone to participate in online courses without payment. Enter the wild frontier era in open teaching and learning involving the “Massive Open Online Course” (MOOC).

WHY FOLLOW MOOCS?

I suggest two reasons for higher education to follow, or even participate in, the MOOC, despite MOOC’s low completion rates and lack of accreditation, credit, or degree potential. The first reason is to learn from the successes and failures of this fascinating experiment in teaching with technology. The second is to reflect on possible higher education paradigms stemming from historical constraints on course offering, size, length, or assessment, for example.

In particular, I discourage dismissing or ignoring MOOCs. David Cormier believes some academic negativity may stem from incorrect suggestions the MOOC will replace traditional classrooms, or is superior to resident instruction.

MOOC HISTORY

Wikipedia traces thinking behind the MOOC to a presentation by Buckminster Fuller in 1961. The term MOOC, however, was coined by Dave Cormier to describe a 2008 course taught by Siemens and Downes. The “Connectivism and Connective Knowledge” course was offered for credit to twenty-five registered participants, but opened to 2,300 non-credit participants.

MOOC EXPLOSION

New MOOC offerings are announced regularly, often with significant funding, and occasionally with industry partners.

Players include:

Udacity (Sebastian Thrun) and Coursera (Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller), both with roots to Stanford faculty
edX, offered by MIT, Harvard, and Berkeley
TEDEd, from the TED Talks Conferences
University of REDDIT, from Cond� Nast Publications
Khan Academy, started in 2008 by Salman Khan
Programming Paradigms, from Stanford (Youtube)

POSTSCRIPT

Penn State’s College of Agriculture “invented” correspondence courses in 1892 (i.e., way before the Internet). Penn State’s most celebrated correspondence students are two guys named Ben and Jerry. By the way, the tradition continues as my current home in the College of IST was recently ranked #1 by the Best Colleges for online IST degree programs.

READINGS

Cormier, Dave and Siemens, George (2010), Through the Open Door: Open Courses as Research, Learning, and Engagement, EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 45, no. 4 (July/August 2010): 30-39. http://bit.ly/OWzqRy
What You Need to Know About MOOC’s, The Chronicle of Higher Education, http://bit.ly/S5CJcH

PART I: HIGHER EDUCATION’S “CROSSROAD”

Shifting Focus of the World Wide Web

Like aggressive digital ivy, the World Wide Web has flourished and expanded steadily since gaining prominence in 1995. Initially empowered with nothing more than a magical hyperlink, the web has greatly surpassed its glorified glossy brochure beginning.

In an early demonstration of strength, the web possibly invoked Metcalfe’s Law to inflict great damage on sophisticated private information networks, such as Prodigy and AOL. The sheer number of web devices connecting through the Internet was proving a formidable information adversary.

Around 1999, the web turned attention to traditional “brick and mortar” business, and began using its transformative “e” mark, as in “eCommerce” and “eBusiness.” Online companies such as Amazon jumped at the web opportunity, while more established companies such as Barnes and Noble, proceeded more cautiously. This was a fascinating time to serve as a MBA faculty member. It was also fretful attempting to anticipate changes and impact, such as disintermediation (i.e., claims that the middleman would be eliminated). Although details were foggy, it was clear to business educators that the web would be impactful and should not be ignored.

Disruption in Higher Education

These experiences are why I carefully follow discussion of disruption in higher education, and related technology changes such as free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). Major MOOC players include faculty from credible institutions such as Stanford, Harvard and MIT.

I also find fascinating Anya Kamenetz’s “DIY U” (do it yourself university) initiative. Ms. Kamenetz reached TED status, where one commenter posted:

In the classic case of an “industry” that isï»¿ prime for disruption, our existing 1,000 year-old model of education will probably be radically different as a result of lower-cost, more efficient competitors that are able to deliver learning to a new generation. Maybe the traditional institution’s role is in coordinating the open resources available for free rather than being simply a rigid house that is resistant to change.

What to Do?

All conjecture is currently valid, so I listen without opposition to faculty arguments that higher education is exempt from disruption. At the minimum, I believe disruption in higher education should be monitored. Better to anticipate and prepare for change, including MOOC experimentation (either as instructor or student), than be caught off guard. This includes the online research center initiative by PSU’s College of Information Sciences and Technology.

Wicked IS

CHALLENGES IN BUSINESS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS