Dr Keith Hampson of DigitalEduStrategy.Com for Cengage Learning, 2016. Nashville, Tennessee.

1. SEVEN (NOT-SO-OBVIOUS) DEVELOPMENTS
SHAPING DIGITAL HIGHER EDUCATION
KEITH HAMPSON PHD
Five, maybe six
1

2. CULTURE
HIRING/INCENTIVES
PROCESSES
STRUCTURE
DEFINITIONS OF
SUCCESS
FUNDING SOURCES
2
TECHNOLOGY
INSTRUCTION
ORGANIZATION

3. OPEN-ENDEDPRESCRIBED
EXCLUSIVE
TOP-DOWN USER-GENERATED
NETWORK-EFFECT
SOCIAL MEDIA 3

4. ‣ Why it Works
‣ Use what you like,
ignore the rest
‣ Based on classroom
organizational
structure
4
LMS: ALIGNED WITH THE
EXISTING ORGANIZATIONAL
MODEL

5. 5
DEVELOPMENTS
SHAPING DIGITAL
HIGHER ED

6. 6
DESIGN MATTERS

7. 7“The M.F.A. is the new M.B.A”
Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind

8. SOURCE: KPCB
8

9. “ . . . design has spread like gas to all facets of human
activity, from science and education to politics and
policymaking. For a simple reason: one of design’s
most fundamental tasks is to help people deal with
change.”
THE ECONOMIST
9

10. ADOPTION RATES: MASS USE OF INVENTIONS
0
10
20
30
40
1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
electricity
telephone
radio
television
PC
mobile phone
internet
RAY KURZWEIL,
THE AGE OF SPIRITUAL MACHINES
10

11. DESIGN IN DIGITAL TEACHING AND LEARNING
STENALT & GODSK
“ . . . the focus on the sensory dimension of e-learning
platforms is in most cases non-existent on account of
the ideals of hyper-functionalism.”
11

12. MIGRATING TO A DESIGN-DEPENDENT ENVIRONMENT
But the migration from the classroom to a screen-based environment is a change like no other. It’s a migration to a design-dependent
environment. The digital learner's experience is highly-dependent on the quality of design. The particular mix of colors, layout, audio,
animation, words per page and other design elements can make the difference between a good and bad experience for learners on laptops,
smartphones and tablets.
Image: a screen with content
“WHEN YOU PICK UP ONE END OF THE
STICK, YOU PICK UP THE OTHER.“
THE “SCREEN” ENVIRONMENT IS
HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON THE QUALITY
OF DESIGN
12

13. DESIGN MATTERS
GREAT DESIGN / GREAT EDUCATION
‣ Makes the complex simple
‣ Leverages the users/student’s
existing knowledge (scaffolding)
‣ Seeks to stimulate a response
‣ Evokes an emotional response
(which can improve cognition)
‣ Directs the users/students attention
to the most important information
‣ Is memorable (i.e. “sticky”)
13

14. 14
DANGER:
CHASM AHEAD

15. DANGER: CHASM AHEAD
ENROLMENT AND PARTICIPATION GROWTH: EVERYBODY PLAYS!!
▸ A year-to-year 3.9% increase in the number of distance
education students, up from the 3.7% rate recorded last year.
▸ More than one in four students (28%) now take at least one
distance education course (a total of 5,828,826 students, a
year-to-year increase of 217,275.
▸ The total of 5.8 million fall 2014 distance education students
is composed of 2.85 million taking all of their courses at a
distance and 2.97 million taking some, but not all, distance
courses.
BABSON SURVEY RESEARCH GROUP,
REPORT ON 2015
15

16. DANGER: CHASM AHEAD
TOP-DOWN, STRATEGIC APPROACH TO DIGITAL LEARNING . . .
▸ Arizona State University
▸ Western Governors
University
▸ Rio Salada College
▸ Southern New Hampshire
University
▸ Broward College
▸ Northeastern University
▸ And others . . .
enrolment
time
Top-Down
Traditional
16

17. 17
TRADITIONAL
‣ 6 weeks
‣ Limited assistance
‣ Limited / no budget
‣ Little program coordination

18. 18
STRATEGIC
‣ Program-defined
outcomes
‣ 4-6 months
‣ 75k budget
‣ Programmers, graphic
artists, instructional
designers, copyright
‣ Analytics: measurement
of success
‣ Institution-wide
communication/sharing

19. 19
WILL OTHER INSTITUTIONS FOLLOW SUIT?
A NEW BASIS FOR INSTITUTIONAL PRESTIGE?

20. 20
ANALYTICS:
MEASURING
WHAT
MATTERS

21. ANALYTICS: MEASURING WHAT MATTERS
DATA-A-PLENTY
▸ From the world of
business intelligence
▸ Making meaning out
of data
▸ Predicting behaviour
Exabytes
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
2012 2020
SOURCE: IDC/EMC2
21

22. “BASING DECISIONS ON DATA SEEMS AN
OBVIOUS WAY FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO
IMPROVE OUTPUT AND PRODUCTIVITY,
BUT FOR HIGHER EDUCATION,
EXPERIENCE AND GUT INSTINCT
CONTINUE TO DOMINATE POLICY AND
DECISION MAKING, OFTEN CAUSING
BARRIERS TO EDUCATIONAL REFORM.”
MARY ROSE GRANT PHD
22

23. ANALYTICS: MEASURING WHAT MATTERS
WHAT’S DRIVING THE INTEREST IN ANALYTICS IN HIGHER ED?
▸ Rising costs and the need for better decision-making
▸ Addressing retention concerns (completion goals)
▸ Greater regulatory reporting/linking performance metrics
to funding
▸ “Because we can”: the rise of digital learning (i.e. more
data available)
23

24. ANALYTICS: MEASURING WHAT MATTERS
THREE CATEGORIES OF ANALYTICS
▸ Enterprise Analytics
▸ University/college reporting and internal management
▸ Student lifecycle (e.g. . . .)
▸ Course choices
▸ Graduation rates
▸ Socio-economic profiles
▸ Speed of completion
▸ Student loans
24

25. ANALYTICS: MEASURING WHAT MATTERS
THREE CATEGORIES OF ANALYTICS
▸ Course Management Analytics
▸ Student activity within specific courses
▸ Primarily used by faculty
▸ Number of logins
▸ Assignment submissions
▸ Discussion participation
25

26. ANALYTICS: MEASURING WHAT MATTERS
THREE CATEGORIES OF ANALYTICS
▸ Learner/Learning Analytics
▸ Tracks and measures student grasp of curriculum
▸ For use by faculty and student
▸ Estimates of student knowledge in real-time
▸ Can be used to report and / or modify curriculum
26

27. ‣ DON’T AVOID DATA; MORE COMING.
‣ GET INVOLVED: ENSURE THE INFORMATION YOUR INSTITUTION
COLLECTS MEETS EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
‣ DATA SHOULD DRIVE INNOVATION, NOT POLICE EDUCATORS
27
FACULTY & DATA

28. 28
KEITH’S NAIVE DATA FANTASY:
RECONFIGURING HOW QUALITY
IS DEFINED IN HIGHER ED

29. TRYING TO ASCEND HIGHER EDUCATION’S WALLS
29
ALTERNATIVE
PROVIDERS

30. ONLY 12.2% OF THE FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES IN 1955
WERE STILL ON THE LIST 59 YEARS LATER IN 2014, AND
ALMOST 88% OF THE COMPANIES FROM 1955 HAVE
EITHER GONE BANKRUPT, MERGED, OR STILL EXIST BUT
HAVE FALLEN FROM THE TOP FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES
(RANKED BY TOTAL REVENUES).
Mark Perry, AEI
THE PACE OF CHANGE IN BUSINESS 30

31. 31
IS HIGHER EDUCATION
VULNERABLE TO NEW
TYPES OF COMPETITORS?

32. "LOOK AT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. IT'S BEEN COMPLETELY
OVERTURNED BY THE INTERNET. MY VISION OF THE WORLD IS
THAT EVERYWHERE WILL BE LIKE THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, BUT
WE'VE ONLY SEEN IT IN A FEW PLACES SO FAR. JOURNALISM IS
IN THE MIDST OF THE BATTLE. AND HIGHER EDUCATION IS
PROBABLY NEXT."
Tyler Cowen
IS EDUCATION NEXT? 32

33. APPARENTLY,
NOT . . .
33
IS HIGHER EDUCATION
VULNERABLE TO OUTSIDE
THREATS?

34. UPSTARTS
PHASE 1: (BELLIGERENT) ALTERNATIVES TO HIGHER EDUCATION
▸ UnCollege
▸ Thiel (PayPal) Scholarship
▸ PMBA (Personal MBA)
34
“YOU COULD’VE GOT THE EDUCATION YOU PAID
150,000 . . . WITH A BUCK-FIFTY IN LATE FEES AT
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.” Good Will Hunting

35. UPSTARTS
PHASE 2: “GOING LEGIT”
▸ Lynda.com
▸ Nomadic Learning
▸ Koru
▸ General Assembly
▸ Codecademy
lynda.com
INVESTMENT / QUALITY / CREDIBILITY - INCREASING
35

36. UPSTARTS
PHASE 2: “GOING LEGIT”
▸ EQUIP initiative from
Department of
Education
▸ Partnership between
colleges and
“alternative providers”
▸ Ambivalent about
“going legit”
36

37. 37
HARNESSING
FACULTY CREATIVITY

38. “EVERY MEMORABLE CLASS IS A BIT LIKE A JAZZ
COMPOSITION. THERE IS THE BASIC MELODY THAT YOU
WORK WITH. IT IS DEFINED BY THE SYLLABUS. BUT THERE
IS ALSO A CONSIDERABLE MEASURE OF IMPROVISATION
AGAINST THAT DISCIPLINING BACKGROUND.”
Mark Edmundson
THE LECTURE AND CREATIVITY
38

39. A. NOT AS MUCH AS IT SHOULD.
AND NOT AS MUCH AS IT WILL.
39
Q. DOES DIGITAL TEACHING
FULLY HARNESS FACULTY
CREATIVITY?

40. ‣ DON’T INCREASE WORKLOAD
‣ IMPROVE LEARNING OUTCOMES
‣ HARNESS FACULTY CREATIVITY
40
THE CHALLENGE FOR
EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE

41. HOW NOT TO DO IT.
41CREATING A CREATIVE “SPACE” FOR EDUCATORS

42. 42
GREAT EDUCATION SOFTWARE WILL
COME FROM DESIGNERS AND
ETHNOGRAPHERS (I.E. WATCH AND
LISTEN)

43. SEVEN (NOT-SO-OBVIOUS) DEVELOPMENTS
SHAPING DIGITAL HIGHER EDUCATION
KEITH HAMPSON PHD
Five, maybe six
43