A new study from the Alliance for Higher Education Competitiveness looks at what makes for successful internet-supported learning. That could be online classes, or just courses that use the internet in a significant way. Their difficult-to-read website offers the full report in PDF, chapter-by-chapter on the web, or a summary version. It’s a bit big to look at right now but…..
It’s a bit big to look at right now, but seeing the phrase “educational product” thrown around is a little disconcerting. The executive summary hits on the major findings:
? “Higher Education institutions that are succeeding in Internet-supported Learning have strong motivations to do so.”
? “Institutions successful with Internet-supported learning have a strong commitment to the initiative.”
? “Successful institutions measure themselves in a variety of ways depending on what is important to them; quality is at least or more important than growth.” (This is encouraging to see quality nudging past growth).
“Students and faculty are well-supported at successful institutions through a set of well established capabilities that are being constantly improved.”
? “The ?secret sauce? of achieving success in Internet-supported learning varies from institution to institution, however, a ?programmatic approach? with a commitment to fully online programs seems to be most critical.”
? “Institutions successful in Internet-supported learning have gone beyond the technical issues and are much more focused on achieving a better educational product.”
? “The major challenges experienced by successful institutions indicate why many institutions continue to struggle with Internet-supported learning.”
? “To successful institutions Internet-supported learning is an opportunity to reconsider the intersection of mission and student service and to create an improved educational product. It is not about technology adoption. The successful institutions are addressing strategic, cultural and process issues that will help them perform their mission more effectively in the future no matter what direction technology takes.”
Wow, I should read this. And I still have Educating the Net Generation to read!
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