Taking an online proctored exam: What not to do

Taking any exam, let alone an online exam could be quite challenging for most students. Having a dress rehearsal of sorts in the form of a practice exam may help defuse some of the issues and obstacles that may arise.

Once all the technical and setup issues are resolved comes the online exam taking environment, behaviors and rules specifications. Avoiding the following common habits or mistakes while taking an online exam could be the difference between a smooth experience and a flag laden exam record.

• Avoid wandering eyes. Nothing screams exam cheating than constantly staring off screen.
• Avoid using reference material (books, notes, browsing your computer, calculator) unless allowed
• Avoid talking out loud. This includes reading the question out loud.
• Avoid using headphones
• Mute and avoid background noise (TV or radio)
• Dress appropriately
• Stay at your seat during the exam
• Stay off the phone

November 26, 2014

What Professors Are Thinking

Faculty members may not be flocking to all-online class formats, but they’re using technology and other pedagogies to make their classrooms more student-centered. Faculty members are divided, however, along racial, ethnic and gender lines about the state of diversity and climate at their institutions. And while non-tenure-track professors seem to be getting some advance notice for courses, they’re still denied basic resources with which to do their jobs.

By Colleen Flaherty

Read more.

https://www.insidehighered.com

Online Ed Skepticism and Self-Sufficiency: Survey of Faculty Views on Technology

The massive open online course craze may have subsided, but the debate about the role of online courses in higher education persists. Even as more faculty members experiment with online education, they continue to fear that the record-high number of students taking those classes are receiving an inferior experience to what can be delivered in the classroom, Inside Higher Ed’s new Survey of Faculty Attitudes on Technology suggests. 

By Carl Straumsheim

Read more.

https://www.insidehighered.com

From MOOCs to Learning Analytics: Scratching the surface of the 'visual'

The two most prominent trends in education technology, for the moment, appear to be MOOCs and data analytics. While MOOCs are frequently accompanied by references to "disruptive innovation" [1], so-called "big data" in education, or "learning analytics" as it is often termed [2], is also cited in lists of imminent educational trends [3]. Elsewhere, and rather optimistically, the two developments in tandem are claimed to be able to "reverse engineer the human brain" [4]. MOOCs and data analytics seem well suited to one another; more data about student behaviors and activities would appear to suggest greater accuracy in prediction and personalization, and the huge enrollment numbers in MOOCs (see [5]) might then hold such a promise [6].

By Jeremy Knox

Read more.

http://elearnmag.acm.org

Assessing Assessment

In higher education circles, there is something of a feeding frenzy surrounding the issue of assessment. The federal government, due to release a proposed rating system later this fall, wants assessments to create ways to allow one to compare colleges and universities that provide “value”; accrediting organizations want assessments of student learning outcomes; state agencies want assessments to prove that tax dollars are being spent efficiently; institutions want internal assessments that they can use to demonstrate success to their own constituencies.

By Christopher B. Nelson

Read more.

The Rise of the Online MBA Education Infographic

Online MBA Education Infographic

Ohio University’s MBA program offers this Online MBA Education Infographic about the rise of the online MBA degree. With over 6.7 million students enrolled in online education, a Master of Business Administration is the #1 most popular online graduate degree offered by 355 accredited programs.

Via: onlinemba.ohio.edu

A New Culture of Learning, Douglas Thomas at TEDxUFM

A New Culture of Learning by Doug Thomas & John Seely Brown

A New Culture of Learning by Doug Thomas & John Seely Brown

A New Culture of Learning: 

Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change

by DOUGLAS THOMAS and JOHN SEELY BROWN

This is a great read.

Case for online education DIY (do-it-yourself) vs Outsourcing

With the emergence of online education, most institutions are grappling with the idea of DIY (do-it-yourself) vs Outsourcing in regards to course development. I’m interested in learning more about this topic. 

Please share your ideas, thoughts, and comments.

Prepping for online teaching

More often than not, instructors jump into online teaching without the tools and support necessary for success. This may have a negative effect on course development, quality of instruction, and student outcomes. In addition, this neglect on faculty development will adversely impact instructor attitudes towards online teaching and learning.

Success can be achieved through strategic planning. Learning by doing is always a great method of generating and maintaining interest. Instructors should be encouraged to become students in an online environment. They are plenty of free MOOCs that instructors and administrations could explore. Having a strong support network of online learning veterans and mentors to coach new online instructors has proven to benefit both the instructors and institution. Like everything else in life, setting clear expectations could make the difference.

By Charles Wachira
November 20, 2014

Online Exam Proctoring

An institution may have various reasons for proctoring online exams. Proctoring exams in the traditional classroom has been around for ages, so why not extend it to online learning. However, maintaining the exam and program integrity is one of the main and most cited reasons. In addition, online exam proctoring helps identify and prevent academic fraud.

In the past months I have researched different options that include on-site proctoring locations, online live proctoring, and online recorded proctoring. These different models have a range of outcomes depending on the institution’s needs. Out of this research, my greatest takeaway is the need to have an online exam policy. This online exam policy should be specific to online learning and outline all the expectations and requirements needed for successfully completing an online exam.

By Charles Wachira
November 18, 2014

Maryland’s Distance-Education Giant Will Stay Public and Part of University System

The president of the University of Maryland University College, rejecting a recommendation from an outside committee, has decided he won’t ask the state to let the university convert to a private nonprofit institution or break away from the University System of Maryland.

UMUC’s president, Javier Miyares, had been considering such changes as part of a broader effort to shift course on what some had characterized as the university’s flagging profile as a national player in distance education. Several faculty members and others at the institution had questioned whether such radical steps were necessary or even wise.

By Goldie Blumenstyk 
November 18, 2014

Read more.

The Changing Role of Faculty: From Traditional Ed to Competency-Based

Over the last century, the role of the instructor has become ever more complex as technology, pedagogy, and student expectations have advanced with the times. Today’s teacher is expected to not only be a Subject Matter Expert, but to serve as their own Instructional Designer, provide high-touch student Mentoring, and analyze learning data like a Psychometrician as well. These competing responsibilities have been heaped upon the modern teacher while the traditional model of “one teacher: 30 students” has held constant. Unsurprisingly, instructors meet some of these expectations more successfully than others, and many of these important aspects of instruction routinely fall through the cracks.

By Caroline Miller

Read more.
http://www.pearsonlearningsolutions.com/blog/

At Liberal-Arts Colleges, Debate About Online Courses Is Really About Outsourcing

Lifetime residents of Maine tend to look askance at people who are “from away,” an epithet reserved for transplants, summer vacationers, and college students. Such people might mean well, the thinking goes, but ultimately they do not belong.

Bowdoin College, a 220-year-old institution in Brunswick, Me., takes a similarly protective view of its curriculum. At a time when online education has blurred campus borders—and institutions face growing pressure to train students for specific jobs—Bowdoin and many other liberal-arts colleges have held the line. When I matriculated there, a decade ago, Bowdoin didn’t even have online course registration. (The college finally added it last year.)

By Steve Kolowich

Read more
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/

Beyond the MOOC Model: Changing Educational Paradigms (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE.edu

If  2013 was the Year of the MOOC Backlash, is 2014 the Year of Capitulation? Those cheering for MOOCs to disappear from the higher education landscape certainly hope so. Emboldened by Sebastian Thrun's comment that "MOOCs are a lousy product,"¹ anti-MOOChypesters and the blogosphere's "I-told-you-sos" are reveling in a schadenfreude moment as they anticipate the blowback escalating into full-scale retreat followed by a raised white flag.


By James G. Mazoue


Read more

Researchers Go Global: Preparing the Next Generation of Innovators (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE.edu

Researchers Go Global: Preparing the Next Generation of Innovators (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE.edu

U. of Texas System Spearheads ‘Mobile-First’ Competency-Based Courses

The University of Texas system announced on Monday it was creating a competency-based education program that will offer courses students can take on mobile devices, for fields that most need graduates statewide, such as medical sciences. The program, which will start in 2015, is the first of its kind in the nation, the system said in a news release.

By Andy Thomason

Read more.
http://chronicle.com/blogs/