October 22, 2007
Learning 2007 #3: A packed day
Today was a very busy day at the Learning 2007 conference (Warning wall of text ahead).
I facilitated three sessions. the first was an Industry Session on higher education with Ken Sadowski from the University of Chicago and Keith Koch from Capella University. The discussion covered a number of areas but the one that drew quite a bit of back and forth was over assessment, data, and (gasp) standards for higher education. How far do we push higher education towards accountability? The technology is certainly in place in many institutions to begin tracking both student and instructor online behavior. Is there a need for this accountability?
We also covered The LMS question: Commercial system or open source? One audience member noted that some faculty members at her university were concerned about using Blackboard due to the patent lawsuits and potential for a course system monopoly. A Blackboard representative quickly jumped in the conversation and aggressively defended their right to sue...
The second session I helped to facilitate was a discussion on the emerging K-12 virtual school systems and how they were reaching a tipping point. Julie Young, the CEO of the Florida Virtual School was my co-presenter. I was more of a "guide on the side" in this discussion because most people wanted to ask Julie about FLVS, how they had managed to reach more than 100,000 students with a high degree of quality, and a number of other specific questions. We had planned to discuss some of the joint technology R&D projects between FLVS and the Academic ADL Co-Lab but the hour went by very quickly.
I cannot say this enough: I believe that the momentum that is gathering behind the K-12 online schools in the U.S. is going to be one of biggest stories in the learning/e-learning/education field over the next 5 years. The growth trajectory is simply phenomenal and the fireworks are just beginning as more of the old guard wakes up to what is happening. I predict many upcoming news stories on how states, boards of education, and schools deal with the issue of virtual schools (and the underlying issue of school choice).
The third session I was fortunate to help facilitate was a discussion on how universities and businesses can build better bridges toward collaboration. My co-facilitators were Doug Lynch from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and Pete Goldberg from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. This turned into a rather lively debate about how far should universities go in their partnerships with business and other outside interests. Doug made an excellent point that many of the constructs that separate us are artificial and that more than 50% of faculty already have outside consulting or paid arrangements. Why not make these arrangements a part of how universities operate?
At least one audience member was quite adamant that universities should maintain a separate mission and keep a strong sense of independence from other entities. Is a more collaborative relationship between universities and business (and government) a positive development, a natural evolution, or should silos be maintained?
Tomorrow I get to enjoy the role of active spectator and hope to have time to reconnect with some colleagues.
Be sure to check out some of the pictures in the Flickr stream too (if you are new to my blog, scroll down a bit and look for the pictures on the right side of my blog). More of those to be uploaded tomorrow.
Posted by Rovy at October 22, 2007 9:49 PM
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