Author Archives: Melissa A. Venable

About Melissa A. Venable

Working at the intersection of instructional design and technology, social media, and career development.

Marketability of Graduates

I attended the Sloan-C Conference on Online Learning last week and three themes surfaced as I attended sessions and talked with other participants:

Unapologetic Openness and Transparency
Speed
Marketability of Graduates

Part 3: Marketability of Graduates

Maybe it’s the career counselor in me that tuned in to this theme. In a session on Corporate Partnerships, Phil Ice of APUS posed the question: What is the college experience today? He pointed out that his experience and expectations were different than what you would find today enrolling as a Freshman/First-Year student. I instantly remembered the groan I heard over the phone as I told my parents I had finally declared a major (on the last possible day in my sophomore year at a private liberal arts college). It was Psychology. I think one of them actually said “oh no”. What was I going to do with that? I wasn’t at all sure.

Conversations and presentations addressed the preparation of graduates for the eventual job search.

Program and degree advisory panels that include local employers. Why shouldn’t they weigh in on coursework and internship requirements? They are the ones that will eventually receive the resumes from these students and apparently they aren’t as willing to train new employees as they used to be. University as vocational-technical? No, there’s more to it than that, but there is also a practical application side to what students need from the college experience of the early 21^st century.
Online identities created using web 2.0 and social networking tools. And then marketing oneself professionally by documenting education, experience, and providing examples of work.
Vendor/Exhibitor products addressed “helping students reach their career goals”, e-portfolio systems to enhance “career advancement”, and skills and cultural training options offering “virtual business trip” scenarios.

How does online education play into all of this? Are online students different than on-campus students? The market for online students seems to be the working adult who needs to continue education in order to prepare for a career change or advancement while still on-the-job. At least, this is what you see in the commercials. Could the market be changing to include new high school graduates as well? Employability and job stability may be concerns, and motives for enrolling in online education, across the board.

photo credit: greenforall.org, Flickr

Speed and Agility in Higher Education

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I attended the Sloan-C Conference on Online Learning last week and three themes surfaced as I attended sessions and talked with other participants:

Part 2: Speed

The opening session with Frank Mayadas started this theme in motion. He stated that those of us involved in the development and delivery of online learning are moving at a frenetic pace and achieving success. That is in spite of the fact that words like “speed and agility are rarely used to describe higher education.”

How fast can we go? How fast should we go?

The concurrent sessions covered issues related to technology and how it allows us to manipulate data at a faster pace that we would ever be able to do on our own. These technologies have the potential to impact how learning takes place and how networked learning changes the way we design and deliver formal courses. It occurred to me that while technology can make our work easier, it also adds to our to-do lists.

The closing session with Stephen Laster included this statement: “What I did yesterday isn’t good enough for tomorrow.” The speed at which we must move to keep up with the need seems a little daunting. Keeping up with not only what is new, but what is also useful will be a constant challenge as we move forward in the fields of instructional design and instructional technology.

How do we balance careful decision-making and development of effective online courses as our budgets, bottom lines, and student demands push us forward?

photo credit: Amnemona, Flickr

Unapologetic Openness and Transparency

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I attended the Sloan-C Conference on Online Learning last week and three themes surfaced as I attended sessions and talked with other participants: Unapologetic Openness and Transparency, Speed, and Marketability of Graduates.

Bubbles-by_Jeff-Kubina

Part 1: Unapologetic openness and transparency

There is a tendency, maybe even a tradition, in higher education to keep things to yourself. It’s a highly competitive atmosphere both among and within institutions. While many of my posts address “openness” in terms of software and content, in this post I am referring to something a little different.

Online education and entrepreneurship

Institutions should not feel that there is a conflict in offering online programs. It was pointed out several times that these programs are a business in and of themselves and a potential source of income, especially in the current economy. However you want to define your market, look at the research, and craft your programs and courses carefully to deliver the learning opportunities and outcomes potential students are looking for. If you are going to do it, do it well and you’ll be that much more competitive and thus sought out by students.

Working with corporate partners

Few schools have the in-house infrastructure and human resources to fully back a cutting edge online offering. Past conferences I have attended, even some of my own presentations, have downplayed the use of a specific product (such as an LMS or virtual classroom). But wouldn’t this be helpful information for others? A corporate partner may have the ability to take your program to the next level, resulting in student retention and recruiting success.

Faculty use of the Internet

There is an opportunity to say what you want to say and disseminate your work in addition to academic journals. I’ve written before about the need, particularly in the field of instructional technology, to get the word out about successes and failures in less time than it takes to go to print in a journal or book. Self-publishing is an opportunity to do this (and blogging is an example). This is not yet an accepted, scholarly practice, doesn’t count toward tenure, etc., but could provide an outlet for faculty and a source for learners.

For Profit/Not For Profit/Public/Private

At the level of the instructor, instructional designer, etc. aren’t we all doing something similar? That is, preparing online programs and courses that are high quality, focused on learning objectives and student needs. There is something to be learned from the ways in which different types of institutions approach the common problems. From a business standpoint, there are areas that are certainly proprietary, but a sharing of experiences has the potential to make us all better at what we do.

All of these approaches to sharing have academic integrity at their core. That’s what has to drive the initiative and what in the end will likely contribute most to a program’s success and longevity. What is your experience with openness and transparency in higher education?

photo credit: Jeff Kubina, Flickr