Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/337193
18 July/August 2014 BizEd CARTH E R /TH I N KSTOCK "Most of the time, educators ask, 'What can we do to leverage what we do on campus for the online stu- dent?'" says Means. "Here, we ask, 'How can we leverage what we do online for our on-campus students?' The technology is now so amazing, it supports activities that aren't pos- sible in the classroom. Why don't we take what we do online and give that to everyone?" That kind of "reverse innova- tion" from online to brick-and- mortar classrooms is quickly moving online programs from the margins of higher education straight into the mainstream, says Kathleen Ives, CEO and executive director of the Sloan Consortium, based in Newburyport, Massachu- setts. The consortium is an alliance of institutions that want to pro- mote online learning. "When some colleges and uni- versities first get into online educa- tion, they try to patch an online component onto the legacy system that has served their traditional students in the past," says Ives. "They don't ask, 'How can we integrate the two?'" Successful online education pro- viders won't just train faculty in the latest platforms and pedagogies, says Ives. They'll also bring online and onsite education together into a single system. (See "Two Modes, One Experience," page 24.) More- over, emerging trends and best online practices promise to trans- form how business schools deliver higher education—both online and on campus—for good. Driving Forces Michelle Weise, senior research fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute in San Mateo, California, is part of a team exploring dis- ruptive innovators in the higher education market. She says that several forces have converged to raise online education's profile so significantly: Technological advancement. Increases in broadband speed and innovations in learning platforms have allowed schools to offer more nuanced, interactive, and satisfying online experiences to student populations at all levels. More "nonconsumers." In their turn away from career-oriented training, colleges and universities have unwittingly left unattended a niche of nonconsumers, says Weise. These are people who are underpre- pared for the workforce or who seek lifelong- learning pathways that are briefer, more afford- able, and more targeted. Disruptive innovation. Because disrup- tive providers aren't hamstrung by tradition, they're more will- ing to experiment and take risks. Demand among nonconsumers has made room for the earlier online providers such as the University of Phoenix and Kaplan University, as well as newer organizations such as Capella University, Western Gover- nors University, and Southern New Hampshire University's College for America. Emphasis on competency- based education. Over time, major employers will likely value compe- tency-based learning over degree completion, which could have the greatest disruptive potential for higher ed, says Weise. "More companies want identifiable out- comes—they want to know that their employees will come out of school with specific core competen- cies," she says. She points to Udacity, a for- profit MOOC provider that has partnered with companies like Google and Facebook to create custom programs in areas such as big data and data science. She also mentions the emergence of com- puter coding boot camps, where students pay up to US$20,000 to spend six to 12 weeks learn- 411,000 how many more students in the U.S. took at least one online course in 2013 than in 2012 7.1 million the number of college students taking at least one online course*