1. Kirschner states that it “is easier to wash your hands than it is to design a first-rate online course.” One of the criticisms of online courses is that students fail to complete them, or wind up learning little to nothing from them. Can this criticism be attributed not only to the students, but to the fact that many professors teaching online courses do not know how to adequately design, structure, or teach them?

2. Could contemporary institutions of higher education benefit from MOOAs? Is this one of the ways that public HE can combat the problem of budget cuts, little to no funding, etc?

3. Polley Ann McClure (Cornell CIO) states that “students need to feel that they can plot their own academic path. If a student wants to come, they should be allowed to take the final exam on the first day of school, and get credit for the portion of the course they’ve passed. If they answer 80% of the test correctly, for example, testing software would identify the issues behind the 20% of wrong answers and focus student attention on those areas instead.” Does this make sense in HE today? Why should a student have to take 12 weeks of a class that she knows perfectly, when she needs only to take the last 3 weeks of the same class? Will this become a trend in online education in the years to come, and will it be commonplace in most technologically advanced universities?

4. Stokes describes the different classifications of online learning: traditional, web-enhanced, hybrid, and fully online. (All of these variations are offered here at BC.) Which do you feel is the best way to take a class? Should traditional classes be the only classes offered? Do the hybrid classes offer “the best of both worlds?” Does the fully online class lose some of the “university appeal” that traditional classes have?

5. One of the times articles blames online learning for the students’ failures stating that students who took online courses were more likely to fail or withdraw and that these students failed to master basics of math and English. Should these students’ failures be blamed on the online courses? Could it just be that the students who failed the online course most likely would have failed the traditional counterpart? Why do certain people feel as if traditional “brick-and-mortar” courses offer a superior learning environment?

6. In regards to the Times article on cheating: Is it probably true that those students who wish to cheat on online courses would probably be cheating anyway in her traditional courses, as well? Would cheating students go out of their way to take an online course only to cheat if they could still manage to cheat in traditional courses? Isn’t it also true that most likely, if a student makes it all the way to the end of a rigorous online course, she is probably a student who wouldn’t cheat anyway?

7. This is just a general question about BC: In one of the first readings for the class, we were told that there are three main types of institutions of HE today, in regards to technological advancement: brick, click, or brick-and-click. Here at BC, there are some online classes (even though they’re the same 10 classes every semester). Should we classify ourselves as a brick-and-click university? Do you think that the professors here are adequate enough to handle online classes? Should we really classify ourselves with the word ‘click’ at all? (If you can’t see this last question because you’re on campus and BC-WiFi isn’t working, as usual, I’ll take that as a NO!)

College Losing Pricing Power

“Everyone today knows someone who went to college and ended up with a career that didn’t justify the cost. They see college as a more risky investment.”

After reading this statement and participating in all of our in-depth conversations in class elaborating on the cost of an education and its worth in the long run, how do you perceive this statement? Most students do pick academic paths that lead to great paychecks in order to justify the cost of college presently. Being a Macaulay student, have you taken the same precautions as regular, paying students. Meaning, have you hypothetically picked a career that will “justify the cost” of college even though we don’t pay for our tuition.

Who Can Still Afford State U?

More and more American colleges are looking for students out of the country to reach their admission quota for the year. Do you think that this could be a problematic problem in the future in terms of allocating funds towards American students or foreign students?

Public School, Big Tab

“The cost of attending public colleges is rising faster than the cost of private colleges, as states reduce funding.” In the past two years, our campus has been the source of a lot of controversy in terms of protests and rallies because of the increasing CUNY tuition. Many public colleges around the country have already increased their tuition by above 100%. If such an occurrence happened to CUNY within the next five years, what do you believe would be the student implications and reactions? Would enrollment decline despite the fact that CUNY would still be more affordable than state-run universities?

A Shift From Need to Merit

With the ever-increasing shift of scholarships being awarded from need to merit, inevitable changes will occur in the country. Perhaps, most noticeably, competition between students in the top 10% of their class will increase, and the need for better education will be more pertinent than ever. Do you perceive this to be a step back or a step forward for our country considering that we are not one of the powerhouses in any academic field around the world?

How Administrative Spending Boosts College Costs

“Nonclassroom costs at U.S. colleges are growing faster than instructional costs, contributing to rising tuition.” In noticing some of the numbers, colleges with a lower tuition rate would have higher administrative spending per student than colleges with a tuition above $40,000. For example, the University of Central Florida with a tuition rate of $14,519 per student has a $1,775 administrative spending per student. The University of Illinois at Chicago with a tuition rate of $48,289 per student has a $1,438 administrative spending per student. Why do you perceive this to be the case?

Moody’s Report Calls into Question all Traditional University Revenue Sources By Kevin Kiley  

“What’s new is that in a collective way, the model that we in higher education have been employing since the 1960s is really being called into question by external factors. And it’s that collectiveness that created a new sense of urgency.” “The report notes that a stable outlook would require improved pricing power, a decrease in the unemployment rate, improvements in the housing market and several tears of strong stock market returns, none of which seem likely in the near term.”

With these two quite precarious statements of the fiscal statement of our economy and its ties to our country’s education, do you believe that the quality higher education is doomed to decrease? Or do you believe that the implementation of online courses and “outcome based funding” to be its saving graces?

Bowen Sent From Professor Hainline

“The ‘cost disease’ refers to a university’s inability to implement efficiency measures to maintain productivity…” This deadly disease, whether one believes it or not, has spread all over the country. Do you believe that cutting funding to research institutions is the best cure to this problem? If not, provide an alternative method, whether it be one we discussed in class already or one you believe could work immensely.

The Economic Impact of Higher Education in New York State By Thomas P. DiNapoli

New York is one of the leading, if not the leading, states in this country in terms of Higher Education. Funds have been allocated to the state for education and employment has hardly decreased despite the recession. Do you believe the state will always receive such largess from the federal government? If yes, state your reasons, whether you believe its because the state provides a great amount of employment or other reasons. If no, elaborate why, and what do you think the implications of a decrease in federal funds for New York State could do to the country?

 

Study Casts Doubt on Idea that Spending More Per Student Leads to Better Educational Outcomes By Scott Jashcik

“Research… finds that there may be a minimal relationship between what colleges spend on education and the quality of the education students receive.” If you knew this while you were applying to college, would you have changed your college choices? Also, how does this knowledge affect how you perceive the chart shown in the “How Administrative Spending Boosts College Costs” article?

Is it really the next bubble? By Lexington

Higher education is a worse bubble than the housing bubble because “people make a mistake in taking on an education loan, they’re legally much more difficult to get out of than housing loans… If you borrowed money and went to a college where the education didn’t create any value, that is potentially a really bad mistake.”

There was an argument made in class a few weeks ago that you cannot succeed in life without accumulating some debt. Being in Macaulay, we do not need to take out education loans, or loans of any sort really, so our perception of the current fiscal situation can be a bit askew. But knowing that to further succeed in higher education can lead to being stuck in a bubble, has your career path changed? Have you decided to solely have a BA or to proceed further to attain a doctorate due to your perception of your odds in this “fiscal crisis?”

Dealing with the Future Now By Alan E. Guskin and Mary B. Marcy

Do you believe that these transformative actions, which ultimately were made to accommodate “the services and functions that are essential and thus redesigning them around new technologies to both reduce costs and improve services” are feasible? Significantly restructuring America’s colleges and universities can seem a bit adventurous. If you believe that it is feasible, give an approximate timeline for when you think all of this can be achieved. If no, what do you believe should colleges do to accommodate these rough times?

Declining By Degrees: Higher Education at Risk By: David L. Kirp

This whole document focused on higher education acting as the perfect marketing ground. One of the arguments that we had during our last class was on the role of the President of a University. With this article in mind, do you now believe that a university president should come from the advertising/marketing field or should the education field be completely separate from the world of business?

Financing Higher Education by D. Bruce Johnstone

“High Tuition does not guarantee high aid.” This has been the running fact in all of the articles assigned to us. Do you believe, because of the possibility of federal funds being slashed down exponentially in the coming years, that higher education will become an elitist institution as opposed to its original purpose of supplying knowledge to the masses? All of these articles, especially Johnstone’s, have been foreshadowing a possible redemption or a fatal decline pending on what the university invests in. What do you believe to be the ultimate fate of higher education?

The Times Bundle

The Professors’ Big Stage By: Thomas L. Friedman

“There is no requirement that college professors know how to teach. The world of MOOCs is creating a competition that will force every professor to improve his or her pedagogy or face an online competitor.” Are MOOCs really debilitating the power of professors? Do you believe this to be a productive or weakening competition for the world of academia?

The Trouble with Online College and Secrets to Success in Online College Learning

“Courses delivered solely online may be fine for highly skilled, highly motivated people, but they are inappropriate for struggling students who make up a significant portion of college enrollment…” Do you believe this statement to be true? Argue your case. How would you have written a letter to the editor of that article?

Keeping an Eye on Online Test-Takers By: Anne Eisenberg

What do you think of these measures to prevent online cheating (ie use of cameras, implementation of fees)? Are they ingenious or an invasion of privacy?

California Bill Seeks Campus Credit for Online Study

“It would be the first time that state legislators have instructed public universities to grant credit for courses that were not their own…” How could this potentially change education forever? Is it just a problem for universities seeking money for courses or a problem also for the student seeking the best education for a low price?

 The Chronicle Bundle

It’s MOOAs, Not MOOCs, That Will Transform Higher Education By Laurie Essig

“Administrators of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your salaries.” If MOOAs are the ones that will transform higher education, do you think administrators would agree to this for the benefit of higher education despite the fact that their salaries will dwindle?

Student Aid Can Be Awarded for ‘Competencies,’ Not Just Credit Hours, U.S. Says By: Kelly Field

Student Aid being awarded for ‘competencies’ apparently can “accelerate the pace of collapse for poor quality private and public colleges and universities.” Will this change in policy cause this? Or will it cause the exact opposite causing higher education to reform poor quality private and public colleges and universities?

A Massively Bad Idea By: Rob Jenkins

MOOCs are being considered “a massively bad idea.” Considering the fact that those who enroll in online courses ten to complete at an even lower rate than do students who enroll in face-to-face courses and other facts mentioned in this article, comment on the original statement.

 The Article By: Ann Kirshner

“It is those leading private institutions (ivy leagues) that should be using their endowment’s and moral authority to invest in new solutions and to proselytize for experimentation and change, motivated not by survival but by the privilege of securing the future of American higher education.” Is this statement true? Do these private institutions have a moral duty to the future of higher education?

SUNY Signals Major Push Toward MOOCs and Other New Educational Models By: Steve Kolowich

This article was all about designing MOOCs to be able to give credit to students of different universities than the university offering the MOOC. This is extremely controversial. Do you believe that such a design will pass through the numerous Boards of Ed and Congress despite it meaning a huge amount of money and possible influx of severe paperwork and confusion?

A Pioneer in Online Education Tries a MOOC By: Ann Kirshner

MOOCs seem to be the new growing fad in higher education, especially since most of them are free. Also, if a well-known educator claims that she is learning something from a MOOC, one then knows that MOOCs are trustworthy. Would you try a MOOC? If no, please elaborate.

The Professors Behind the MOOC Hype By: Steve Kolowich and What You Need to Know About MOOCs

Are MOOCs worth it? Do you believe that they deliver the needed results? All of the money that all of these institutions have spent, like Harvard, MIT and Stanford, do you think that it is all going towards a good/useful cause?

Miscellaneous File

Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning

Why would community colleges have a higher increase in MOOCs than any other type of institution?

“Irrational Exuberance”: The Case of the MOOCs

The “exuberance” refers to the hype surrounding MOOCs. The “irrational” refers to the fact that these courses are free and are available to anyone in the world. How would you define MOOCs? Are they truly an “irrational exuberance,” or something else entirely?

The Ethics of MOOCs

Credentialing MOOCs is a huge ethical issue. It has been mentioned and elaborated on in a majority of these issues. Do you believe that they should be credentialed?

 Much Ado About MOOCs 

Despite all of the changes/dilemmas that they could cause for faculty and the structure of higher education, should MOOCs be incorporated in current curricula?

The History of the Student Credit Hour By: Jessica M. Shield

The credit-hour measure has many “inadequacies” such as its “inattention to student learning and its time and location based method for recording learning.” Since this system was originally created more than a century ago, do you think that it should undergo more changes to accommodate this growing era of technology and its implications? How would you go about accomplishing this?

What Online Learning Can Teach Us about Higher Education By: Peter Stokes

Between “traditional,” “web facilitated,” “blended/hybrid” and “online,” which one do you think colleges should invest more in, based on all of our readings? Why?

Do you really think an actor can replace a professor when it comes to “online” classes?

The Future of Higher Education: How technology will shape learning

This article basically states that students want technology to become integral to their education and that online classes should become a part of a student’s curriculum. Is that what you would want? Explain using evidence from this article or any previously read.

1. Why was the credit hour created as the new standard leading up to Higher Education (K-12) as well as throughout Higher Education?

2. Where did the credit hour originate? What was it originally called and why?

3. What reasons does Amy Lynch give for American students and universities lagging in graduating high quality professional students?

4. What challenges does increased technologies in the classroom present to academic integrity?

5. What are some challenges that Stokes presents for online learning? What did he suggest the best results might come from?

6. What does Freidman’s article about MOOCs indicate about the possible future of higher education?