Where is the 2.0 in online education?
Online education programs have been steadily gaining popularity, with an increasing number of traditional institutions offering online classes in addition to universities specializing in online education.
Much of the discussion surrounding online coursework has centered around new technologies and Web 2.0 tools that have (hypothetically) made online education more effective and profitable over the years.
But a new study released by Eduventures (not publicly available) shows that while the prevalence of online offerings has increased and every university surveyed stated that their programs are profitable, the "underlying delivery model or pedagogical model (of online instruction) hasn't really changed that much in the last five, ten years."
The study shows that some of the most widely used tools in online course delivery are email, textbooks, and Word and PDF documents.
In an article in the Chronicle this week, authors note that most industry conferences tout Web 2.0 technologies and other innovations as new ways to connect inside and outside the classroom. Yet for the core 96 institutions surveyed, online teaching has not come with a heightened regard for or use of these new tools.
While those in the higher ed have long been considered late adopters of new technology, it is surprising that even those using online tools to administer coursework have not experimented more with utilities that could enhance collaboration, bring real-time elements to the online classroom experience, or make the sharing of documents and the tracking of progress through the course more seamless. After all, Web 2.0 isn't really that new anymore. What will it take to see mass adoption of these tools? Is there a lag simply because there aren't any innovations that are worth using? Or are educators content to continue on with the status quo?
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Online Education wrote on 07/19/10 6:20 AM
I think that the transition is important. Ten years ago those of us pioneering the technology integration movement were trying to demonstrate to/ persuade educators that the power wasn't in the office/ productivity tools, rather in their support of instruction, learning, creativity and self-expression. Ten years later and I think we are beginning to see some progress in the way educators are integrating these kinds of applications. It just takes a while for a variety of reasons.Many seem to forget what we've learned about using technology to support learning among all the glitz, bells and whistles of these cutting edge applications. In my opinion it is going to be important that education maximizes what instructional designers and educational technologists can offer. Otherwise, will fall well short of maximizing the potential good that is ahead.