Expanding our educational boundaries
Over the past month, I’ve watched two television commercials for Kaplan University that have caused me to pause and reflect. These commercials have reminded me that the world of higher education is indeed changing: students learn and communicate regularly using new and developing technologies, and higher education options available to students are expanding.
Before I get too far into this brief commentary, let me go ahead and answer the question, “Do you want UT to become Kaplan University?” No, absolutely not. I want UT to be synonymous with academic quality and rigorous learning. The Kaplan commercials remind me, however, that traditional universities can use new and developing technologies to expand their educational boundaries both inside and outside the classroom. The definition of academic quality now includes these new and developing technologies, and traditional universities can use these technologies to deliver high quality education to historically underserved students—perhaps at a cost they can more readily afford.
UT is already a leader in the number of distance learning courses it offers. We are on the right path. We just need to make sure we keep pace with the speed of change that is occurring in higher education and the world at large.
Kaplan Commercial #1
Kaplan Commercial #2
March 9th, 2009at 4:09 pm
As an alum, an almost 24 year employee, and as a person who has dealt significantly on both ends of the spectrum (15 years handling UT graduation and now 9 years handling incoming students in the Office of Undergraduate Admission), I can say that Distance Learning is a wonderful thing.
Having said that, I believe the main thrust of your post regarding Kaplan and similar programs, was aimed at the recent, very public discussion about HEH and the JHCOE. I believe the faculty and administration of this college is open to exploring options and moving forward with technology. But note the word ‘exploring’.
I have researched countless diploma mills that prey on high school and college students. Unfortunately, I see too many times that a student can get their diploma in ‘Seven days’ and, for an additional cost, the company will even put a graduation date on the transcript. I’m sure you are aware of these companies and their reputations.
So, while UT made the news big time with this mess of HEH and the requested ‘fast track’ for a decision, I think we can make much BETTER news by exploring the options, getting input from everyone involved, and making SURE that UT has standards that keep our graduates marketable and proud to be Alumni of The University of Toledo. After all, team work usually has the best results for everyone involved, don’t you think?
C Hughes
Undergraduate Admissions
March 10th, 2009at 10:32 am
The March 4th, 2009 Toledo Blade article “UT Professors Halt Online Grad Program” and Scott Scarborough’s blog “Expanding Our Educational Boundaries” entirely miss the most critical concerns regarding graduate education raised by the now defunct Higher Ed Holdings proposal. We stand now at a crossroads in colleges and universities across the country, and the future of education is at stake. We share both an opportunity and a responsibility to remake ourselves, to create new paradigms of learning, and to assist in improving our society. The status quo is no longer a sufficient way to conduct the business of education.
Yet as we stand at this juncture, we must decide how we wish to advance into the new century. Will we do so by pairing generations of science and learning theory with new and innovative thinking, or will we instead discard what we know in favor of that which is cheap and easy? Will we advance our systems by engaging students within a rich, intellectual environment, or will we do so by reducing education to “talking-heads” on videotape? Will we spread the benefits of learning by providing students with resources within which they can grow and expand their abilities to interact with one another, or will we offer them Sunday newspaper coupons for the fastest, cheapest, and least meaningful degrees? It is easy to spin this debate by placing blame for the failure of this proposal on professors, as Blade Staff Writer Meghan Gilbert and some UT administrators have, but it is much harder to deal with the realities of this issue.
The University of Toledo has been and continues to be a leader in distance learning across the state. We have a rich field of offerings that span the length and breadth of our colleges, including the College of Education. This deserved reputation comes in part from an adherence to the principle that regardless of delivery (in-class or on-line) quality instruction and an engaging student experience are necessary pieces of a worthwhile education. New courses and expanded distance learning services are constantly being offered at UT and it is exciting to be part of this process. Unfortunately, our vision regarding the importance of substantive education was not shared, according to reported offerings, by the for-profit Higher Ed Holdings.
While there are many systemic differences between current distance learning offerings at UT and the philosophy apparently attributable to Higher Ed Holdings, I have selected two examples that well represent this disparity.
Small class sizes are considered beneficial to learning because they offer maximum direct contact between and amongst faculty and students. While graduate class sizes at UT typically range between 25-35 regardless of the delivery method, according to a suggested HEH model, students may expect enrollments of 200-300 per course. Contact with a professor in a class of 300 students is minimal at best, and may, in fact, be eliminated entirely.
Time and effort are required to pursue advanced education. The work is often difficult and time consuming. For maximum enrichment, students should be able to reasonably engage with expert faculty when enrolling in a UT course. Presently this takes place in many ways – through online chat, video streaming, and email, for example. Under a reported HEH model however, students would simply watch a videotape of a lecture and subsequently work with “academic coaches” to assist them with the remainder of the learning process. Unfortunately the limited information available from HEH suggests that these so-called coaches do not appear to be content experts in any way.
Private-public partnerships can be exceptionally worthwhile. However, the proposed offer was no deal for either the citizens of the State of Ohio or the students at The University of Toledo. It was flawed from the very beginning. No reasoning behind the no-bid nature of this proposed contract has ever been offered. No clear indication as to how sending 70% of program revenues to Texas would have assisted the people of this great state. No discussions regarding the impact of this decision on current partnerships with the private and public sector were reported. In an era of accountability, transparency is critical for decision-making.
Distance Learning and other modern approaches are critical to advancing education and educational opportunity. Whether we engage with them effectively and constructively, or haphazardly and ‘on the cheap’ is the real question to be debated. Under the stewardship of individuals including Former President Dan Johnson and current College of Education Dean Thomas Switzer, the University of Toledo has become energized and engaged with the business, technology, and education communities to form strong regional partnerships. We are focused on becoming a national hub for advancement and innovation. Given the outstanding opportunities and skills available in Northwest Ohio must we seek out what is arguably one of the least promising partners (HEH) for the promotion of distance learning at UT? Let us instead continue to build and develop the foundational network of excellence that a committed faculty and staff have worked so hard to construct, and build a vital, strong, and lasting program for Ohio.
Gregory E. Stone
Associate Professor, Research and Measurement
March 10th, 2009at 4:51 pm
As a society which is based primarily on an economic system of capitalism, the concept of for-profit enterprises is always attractive. From the very beginning we are conditioned to search for a profit scheme in virtually any enterprise we might undertake in our lives. Yet a close examination of our society reveals that clearly there are some segments of our system which do not function as well in the for-profit realm as they do as not-for-profits. I believe that education is one of these segments, and I believe that the evidence from both the present and from history supports this strongly.
If we look at the for-profit educational enterprises that currently exist or have even existed in our history, there is not one single example of an institution or company that by the greatest stretch of the imagination could be ragarded as being of high quality. They are mediocre at best and quite frankly most as only fair to poor. On the other hand, if we look at those “enterprises” which are universally regarded as being the best not only in the United States, but indeed in the world (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Cal Tech, MIT, Stanford, U of M, etc) not a single one of these even remotely entertains the concept of making ANY segment of their core mission for-profit.
By the same token, each and everyone of these institutions is also incredibly successful from a financial perspective. Indeed the list of the highest quality institutions coincides almost exactly with a list of the wealthiest. If we want to solve our “financial problems” at the University of Toledo, our model does not lie in the business world; rather it lies in the group of insitutions I have just listed.
Clearly these institutions are not only “cutting edge” today, but they have been so throughout their history. Otherwise they would not have been so consistently and universally regarded as the best. But if you look at what is “cutting edge” at these institutions, it is IDEAS, not pedagogical gimics which allow for the cheapest way to present course material. Cutting edge IDEAS come from the brightest and the best faculty and students. All of these institutions have consistently, throughout their history, put the quality of their faculty as their number one priority, always trying to hire the brightest and the best. It is no accident that the list of institutions laid out above also represents the highest numbers of Nobel Prizes as well. By attracting and nourishing the best faculty they have also attracted the best students, the students who have gone out in our capitalistic world and have been most successful. Not only have these students been the most successful, but they have also recognized that the education they received contributed mightily to that success, and they have returned large portions of their financial success to their alma maters. That is where the financial wealth of an educational institution comes from.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not rocket science. The road to success (financial and otherwise) lies in investing in the QUALITY of our educational offerings, not in offering the easy, cheap, discounted “product.” Instead of trying to “reinvent the wheel” to come up with a new educational paradigm, all we have to do is look to the most successful educational institutions in our nation for our paradigm. There and only there is where our future success and greatness will lie. Therefore, I would suggest that the leaders at this University put their focus and their energies on emulating our great educational institutions rather than on coming up with short-term gimics to save a few dollars.
Craig Black
Associate Professor, College of Health Science and Human Service
March 11th, 2009at 11:53 am
Dr. Scarborough is correct in asserting that we must continually be using expanding technologies to advance learning opportunities for students outside of our traditional boundaries. I, too, have viewed the Kaplan University commercials anda believe that their message is strong in regards to being responsive to the ways that today’s students learn. The College of Education has been a leader in high quality distance learning programs. In fact, we have two of the largest online graduate degree programs at the Univeristy: a Master’s or Educational Specialist degree in Early Childhood Education and a Master’s or Education Specialist degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Early Childhood. We have students from New York, California, Maryland, North Carolina and even Bermuda enrolled in our programs. We have a federally-funded online graduate degree program designed for up to 50 early childhood special education teachers across Ohio. In addition, we are part of a state-funded consortium of other Ohio institutions that uses high quality distance learning to prepare teachers to become literacy specialists in Ohio and soon, across the nation. We are continually engaged in dialogue about how to use technology to reach more students and are looking forward to adding additional programs to the complement of distance learning opportunities offered by the College of Education.
I look forward to examining new ways that we can use distance learning technology to support meaningful learning experiences for undergraduate and graduate students. However, I recognize the tremendous burden facing our Division of Distance and eLearning as they work to support faculty members’ work. High quality distance learning cannot be achieved without adequate resources. Faculty members need help developing courses and we all need help with effective marketing. I hope that within the current budget realities that we are facing that we can all benefit from increased resources provided to support high quality distance and e-learning.
March 14th, 2009at 9:36 am
Hello Scott.
I agree that change is inevitable and unavoidable in state public higher education and that canned online learning courses in this volatile global marketplace of goods and services are the most significant educational innovation to enrich the private pastures of for-profit educational institutions since cow pies. However, the marketplace of ideas within the marketplace of goods and services is sacred space, or at least should be treated as such by you and other public higher education administrators. In America, the public higher education campus is still First Amendment space and should by you and other UT administrators be carefully protected from exploitation by those private interests that covet its special status for pecuniary reasons. Already privatization of public spaces has wiped out many traditional public spaces once available for participation and training in the traditional American democratic process. UT should be proud and protective of its century-old tradition of training ethical and active citizens. Help save the Arts and Sciences College and liberal education at UT. Don’t help undermine it as you are doing. Please read Chapter Eight in Timothy Zick’s Speech out of Doors: Preserving First Amendment Liberties in Public Places (2008), which will clarify and add authority and validity to my argument. Also, I want to personally thank you for taking a sincere interest in academic issues here at UT. We are lucky that you care to engage us in a meaningful conversation on educational issues, and are interested in learning the perspective of the tenured professoriate. Please encourage your colleagues also to pay attention to the arguments of our loyal opposition (comprised of activist students, faculty, staff and students) here at UT.
March 16th, 2009at 11:25 am
At a university, the curriculum belongs to the faculty. I would prefer to see curricular issues discussed by faculty and academic deans who have expertise in their disciplines. The CFO should focus his time on answering the budget questions that many are demanding from him. Specifically, Scott Scarborough needs to provide the colleges with detailed, public information regarding his budgeting process that targets various colleges with hugh budget deficits. Since there seems to be disagreement about how the budget was calculated, discussions should also occur to determine the appropriate way to conduct these calculations. In conclusion, I see the CFO’s post on academic excellence and course delivery as a distraction from the real issue he should be attending to…the budget calculations.
August 5th, 2009at 9:04 am
[...] March, UT CFO Scott Scarborough wrote – and received much flak for – a journal entry discussing UT’s use of new distance learning technologies to reach new student audiences [...]