By Keith Hampson, PhD. Presented at an annual sales conference for a national education publisher, this presentation considers some of the most significant obstacles standing in the way of traditional colleges and universities taking fuller advantage of the possibilities of online instruction.

1. KEITH HAMPSON, PHD
ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION
OBSTACLES TO INNOVATION

2. BIG PICTURE
FORECASTING HIGHER
EDUCATION’S CAPACITY
TO LEVERAGE
INSTRUCTIONAL
TECHNOLOGY AND
MEDIA
2

3. AGENDA
1. SECTOR STATUS
2. IDENTIFY OBSTACLES
3. OBSTACLES: SYMPTOMS
4. SUCCESSFUL TACTICS
3

4. SECTOR SNAPSHOT
ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION
01SECTION

5. “REVOLUTION”
“GAME CHANGER”
“DISRUPTION”
“TRANSFORMATION”
ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION AS A SOLUTION

6. 400,000+ REGISTRATIONS
6,000+ ONLINE COURSES
600+ ONLINE PROGRAMS
ONLINE HIGHER
EDUCATION IN CANADA

7. ENROLMENT
GROWTH
One out of three students take at
least one online course each
year (US figures) 1/3

8. 0
75
150
225
300
1999 2004 2012 2015 (H1)
GLOBAL PRIVATE INVESTMENTS IN LEARNING TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES
$HUNDREDSOFTHOUSANDS
PRIVATE INVESTMENT $2.45 BILLION

9. 0
20
40
60
80
2002 2006 2010 2014
“ONLINE EDUCATION IS CRITICAL TO THE LONGTERM
STRATEGY OF MY INSTITUTION”
AGREE
NEUTRAL
DISAGREE
INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGY

10. NEEDS
PLANS
REALITY
IMPACT

11. PROGRESS
PROGRESS: LIMITED & UNEVEN
▸ Reductions in costs of higher education?
▸ Universal access to the very best instructional activities?
▸ Development of new, highly sophisticated instructional activities that
leverage the unique properties of networks and software?
▸ Personalization of learning through software?
▸ Simulations enabling students to “learn by doing” in risk-free
environments?
▸ Rich media, drawing on the best in creative arts, to engage and
illustrate?

12. VALUE(COSTANDQUALITY)
TIME
WE ARE HERE?
S-CURVE OF VALUE

13. IRON TRIANGLE
13
‣ COST
‣ QUALITY
‣ ACCESS

14. OBSTACLES
ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION
02SECTION

15. TECHNOLOGY
PEDAGOGY
ORGANIZATION

17. “LET’S NOT KID OURSELVES;
ADMINISTRATORS AT THE CSU ARE
BEGINNING A PROCESS OF REPLACING
FACULTY WITH CHEAP ONLINE
EDUCATION”
FACULTY AT SJSU
FOCUS ON ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

18. MOOCS
RETREATING FROM HIGHER EDUCATION PROPER

19. OBSTACLES
OBJECTIVES &

20. AMBITIOUS
INSTRUCTIONAL
SOFTWARE & MEDIA

21. AMBITIOUS
INSTRUCTIONAL
SOFTWARE & MEDIA

22. AMBITIOUS
INSTRUCTIONAL
SOFTWARE & MEDIA

23. CLASSROOM ORGANIZATIONAL
MODEL

24. CLASSROOM ORGANIZATIONAL
MODEL
‣ LONE INSTRUCTOR ASSUMES BULK OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
‣ BUDGET <20K
‣ PRODUCED IN 30 TO 120 HOURS

25. “NOW THIS MAY SEEM LIKE A SILLY (OR
EVEN STUPID) THING TO SAY SO
CAREFULLY. OF COURSE TWO VECTORS
ARE EQUAL IF THEY ARE EQUAL FOR EACH
CORRESPONDING ENTRY! WELL, THIS IS
NOT AS SILLY AS IT APPEARS. WE WILL
SEE A FEW OCCASIONS LATER WHERE
THE OBVIOUS DEFINITION IS NOT THE
RIGHT ONE. AND BESIDES, IN DOING
MATHEMATICS WE NEED TO BE VERY
CAREFUL ABOUT MAKING ALL THE
NECESSARY DEFINITIONS AND MAKING
THEM UNAMBIGUOUS. AND WE’VE DONE
THAT HERE.” TEXT/ONLINE MATH
HOME-MADE IMAGES/BIOLOGY
HOMEMADE VIDEO/ECONOMICS

26. MORE AMBITIOUS FORMS OF
INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE & MEDIA
‣ SOFTWARE INFORMS INSTRUCTION (E.G. ADAPTIVITY AND
PERSONALIZATION)
‣ BUILT BY TEAMS, OVER LONGER PERIODS OF TIME,
DRAWING ON A HIGHER LEVEL OF FUNDS
‣ FACULTY ROLE MODIFIED

27. ” . . . FACULTY HAVE MUCH MORE IN COMMON WITH THE HISTORIC
PLIGHT OF OTHER SKILLED WORKERS THAN THEY CARE TO
ACKNOWLEDGE. LIKE THESE OTHERS, THEIR ACTIVITY IS BEING
RESTRUCTURED, VIA THE TECHNOLOGY, IN ORDER TO REDUCE THEIR
AUTONOMY, INDEPENDENCE, AND CONTROL OVER THEIR WORK AND TO
PLACE WORKPLACE KNOWLEDGE AND CONTROL AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
INTO THE HANDS OF THE ADMINISTRATION. AS IN OTHER INDUSTRIES,
THE TECHNOLOGY IS BEING DEPLOYED BY MANAGEMENT PRIMARILY TO
DISCIPLINE, DESKILL, AND DISPLACE LABOR.”
Dr. David Noble, 1997
CONCERNS ABOUT LOSS OF CONTROL, STATUS, AND LABOUR SECURITY

28. DOMINANT TECHNOLOGY
(LMS) MAY REINFORCE
ONE-PERSON MODEL

29. COSTPERUNIT
TOTAL UNITS
ECONOMIES OF
SCALE
“A SINGLE TEACHER CAN
REACH HUNDREDS OF
THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS.
THAT COMPLETELY CHANGES
THE ECONOMICS OF
EVERYTHING. THE MARGINAL
COST OF AN EXTRA STUDENT
REACHES ZERO.”
DR. DAPHNE KOLLER
C0-FOUNDER, COURSERA

30. MOOC ECONOMICS
MANY INSTITUTIONS WANT TO OFFER MOOCS, BUT
FEW WANT TO ACCEPT THE CREDITS EARNED IN
MOOCS FROM OTHER INSTITUTIONS

31. eCampusOntario.ca
SEEKING BENEFITS
OF SCALE

32. MOOC ECONOMICS
CONFLICTING OBJECTIVES AND INTERESTS
▸ Fear of loss of revenue
▸ Institutional difference based on institution’s knowledge
(university origins: the production and dissemination of
knowledge)
▸ Faculty’s source of value: subject-matter expertise
(adopting content from other faculty and institutions
reduces faculty role to that of “mere teacher”)

33. APPLYING
SOCIAL MEDIA
TO
INSTRUCTION
IN ONLINE
LEARNING

34. CONFLICTING MODELS
USER-GENERATED V. TOP-DOWN
OPEN-ENDED V. PRESCRIBED
NETWORK EFFECT V. EXCLUSIVE

35. OBSTACLES: SYMPTOMS
ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION
03SECTION

36. SYMPTOMS
OESP GROWTH
▸ 40+ organizations help colleges and universities build and market online programs
▸ 1.1 billion industry as of Q1 2015
▸ Upfront capital in exchange for share of revenue
▸ Services
▸ Course development
▸ Faculty development
▸ Technology
▸ Marketing
▸ Student services

37. SYMPTOMS
RISE OF ALTERNATIVE PROVIDERS
▸ Non-credit education and training opportunities
outside of higher education that are “digital born”
and seek, to varying degrees, to challenge the natural
dominance of formal higher education
▸ PMBA; “Uncollege" Movement; Peter Thiel’s
“Scholarships”
▸ Marketing: Rebellious and belligerent

38. “YOU WASTED $150,000 ON AN
EDUCATION YOU COULDA GOT FOR
A BUCK FIFTY IN LATE CHARGES AT
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.”
Will Hunting, “Good Will Hunting”

39. SYMPTOMS
RISE OF ALTERNATIVE PROVIDERS: STAGE TWO
▸ Alternative Providers now forming partnerships with
colleges and universities
▸ e.g. Kadenze and SFU and Emily Carr
▸ e.g. General Assembly and American University
▸ Department of Education now facilitating pilot
partnerships to enable access to student loans

40. SUCCESSFUL TACTICS
ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION
04SECTION

41. FOCUS

42. LEAN ON COURSEWARE
(CAREFULLY)

43. ALIGN EXPERTISE AND
DECISION-MAKING
AUTHORITY

44. STUDY, TRACK AND REPORT
ON YOUR OWN SUCCESS

45. Q & C & A
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS AND ANSWERS
Keith.Hampson@AlstonRoadGroup.Com