• Through a unique combination of student services, professional development and academic support, the California Community Colleges’ Online Education Initiative (OEI) is collaborating with California Community Colleges in the development of fully-resourced online courses. The OEI is a collaborative effort to ensure student completion by increasing access and success in online courses.
  
• The Pennsylvania State University is leveraging course and content sharing across the 24 statewide campuses to launch new degree programs and to provide courses that are essential for students to advance in their residential degree programs. Students have increased access to the breadth of the curriculum, increased access to entrance to major courses, and faculty have greater access to the online materials for use in residential instruction.
  
• Confronted with declining enrollment and diminished resources, the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities System tasked the CTDLC with providing One-Stop Call Center services to all 12 community colleges to proactively retain current students and re-enroll students who had taken a semester or more off.
  

In this session, Intentional Futures will share the high-tech, high-touch examples highlighted throughout our research on scaling digital learning at higher education institutions. Participants will then be equipped with the tools needed to take the next step in their own digital learning implementation.

#HighTech&Touch

“We’re being replaced by robots!” This is usually the sentiment expressed by seasoned faculty when it is first suggested that they might want to try Adaptive Learning (AL) technology in their classrooms. AL technology can be a powerful tool for student learning, but in order for the full potential of this technology to be realized, faculty must be in engaged. In some ways, they must be even more engaged with individual students than they otherwise would be in a more traditional, face to face classroom setting. One major hurdle in getting faculty buy-in for AL technology is fear – fear that they will no longer be needed, fear that the students won’t learn, and fear that they may have to learn a new way of teaching. This facilitated group discussion will explore ways in which institutions can ease faculty fears surrounding Adaptive Learning and help them move from skeptics to champions of AL technology.

#ReplacedByRobots

In response to a settlement with the National Federation of the Blind, Wichita State adopted new accessibility policies in spring, 2017. This presentation will detail the institutional responses that are now unfolding. Nearly everything the university does is having to be re-envisioned using a new lens. From educating the entire university community on accessibility, to the class-level responses necessary to conform to the university's accessibility policies, Wichita State has chosen to meet these challenges head-on. We are shifting to a culture of accessibility as a commitment to access for all students regardless of disability or other challenges. These changes have the potential to impact teaching and learning at a more fundamental level than any change in higher education since the first GI Bill.

#AfterLawyers

According to the Council of Higher Education Accreditation: “Accreditation in higher education is a collegial process of self-review and peer review for improvement of academic quality and public accountability of institutions and programs.” Recent years have seen these agencies pushed toward a more active oversight role. How are the agencies responding? What changes are in the wind? What elearning trends are accreditors watching?  Hear updates on where the agencies stand and come prepared with your questions.

How can leaders anticipate and plan for the “unintended consequences” that are inevitable in any substantial project? Our conferences and publications do excellent work in providing models and best practices for getting new projects implemented. Yet, that’s only the first step in long-term success. We know much less about how to sustain effectiveness in the face of second-level effects (Sproull & Kiesler, 1991) that reverberate after implementation. We can feel at a loss when faced with deeper consequences such as changes to faculty expectations, altered campus culture, new relationships between units, and new patterns of communication. We invite you to attend this facilitated discussion to surface “post-implementation” challenges in projects at your own campus and to share strategies for effectively planning for and responding to them. We bring our own experiences of revising courses and programs to a fully online format and the unintended consequences for both academic and administrative actors across the institution.

#2ndLevelEffects

The week of the WCET Annual Meeting marks the 40^th week, 280^th day, and 400,000^th minute of President Trump’s tenure. But, who’s counting? Some of the promised deregulation has happened, but more is likely. Higher education priorities have changed from previous administrations, but exactly in which direction? The reauthorization of the Higher Education Act is also promised for the near future. Hear updates on where we stand and come prepared with your questions.

#FedRegs&eLearning

Implementation and scalability in competency-based programs are key challenges for early entrants and long-standing CBE programs, alike. Every institution, whether large, small, for-profit, or non-profit, private, or public, wrestles with challenges and opportunities as they evolve their respective CBE programs. In this panel presentation, Lauren Mason Carris (Western Governor’s University), Lisa McIntyre-Hite (Walden University), and Pratima Duta (California State University, Northridge) will discuss challenges, opportunities, and strategies for scaling competency-based programs.  The panel will share similarities and differences within their CBE models and institutional structures and discuss strategies for evolving their respective CBE programs. Specifically, the panel will discuss:

• Defining roles and responsibilities in CBE
• Building relationships with other institutions and professionals
• Cultivating a culture of innovation

 The panel will include interactive participation and Q&A, allowing attendees to share their unique place in the CBE landscape, discuss challenges, ask questions, and share emerging effective practices.

#CBEatScale

At Bryan University, we believe in challenging the boundaries of traditional education to liberate the innate greatness in people. Faculty and staff at Bryan University challenge these boundaries through a unique online student community, an evidence-based learning model, and a focus on non-cognitive factors that must be addressed in order to foster student success. This unique learning approach has been accomplished through a partnership with Dynamic Experiential Learning (DeXL), a provider specializing in online student experiences, research-based approaches, and innovative learning models. The DeXL approach encompasses the entire student experience- student readiness, experience engineering, connection, and community; producing empowered graduates who are better prepared for today’s workforce. Session participants will have the opportunity to explore this student experience focusing on non-cognitive factors such as mindset, academic perseverance, learning strategies, and social skills- and will learn how implementation of this experience has inspired a culture of excellence with Bryan University faculty, administrators, and staff.

#DeXLearning

Slides

As individuals secure their learning from multiple sources across their lifetimes, communication and certification systems are evolving to enable the efficient and reliable communication of skills. Credly is the leading digital credential service provider, helping education institutions, employers, governments, associations, and learning societies recognize lifelong achievement through portable, verified, and digital credentials. Wiley Education Services collaborates with institutions to continually help meet the evolving needs of learners, employers, and markets, regardless of modality. Wiley has partnered with Credly to connect talent to opportunity at scale, using digital evidence of achievement to build an education-to-workforce pipeline among participating schools. A participating partner school of Wiley is Benedictine University. In this session, Wiley Education Services, Credly, and Benedictine University will discuss the value of digital credentialing, as well as best practices and case studies for how schools, like Benedictine, are empowering students through recognition of achievements demonstrated both inside and outside of the classroom.

#LearnItEarnIt

Slides

Recent surveys such as NACE (2016) and PayScale (2016) show that employers’ demand for skills is not being met by graduate competency. Improving learning and learning capacity has the potential with technology, analytics, and process discipline to decrease costs and elevate learning and work performance. This presentation proposes using the theories of Jobs to be Done and Value Networks to meet the needs of the academic stakeholders: students, faculty, employers, universities, accreditors, government and society. The term Academic Value Network is proposed and illustrated. A ten-step high-level plan is given. Recommendations based on the value network analysis and backed up by case experience are made to improve value for all stakeholders: Lowering cost of learning using technology and prioritizing learning capacity lead to lower operating costs and tuition, greater investments in quality leading to more graduates who are better prepared with lower debt, who perform more effectively for employers and can earn higher wages; these changes improve a family’s economic and social standing and prepares quality citizens for democracy and when one at national scale, builds society and the economy.

#AcademicValueNetwork

To ensure academic integrity in our courses, we must be aware of the tools that are available for students to engage in dishonest conduct. In addition, we should use course design and teaching strategies that have been shown to discourage cheating and increase student learning. In this two-part series on academic integrity, we’ll take a deep dive into online “study sites,” test banks, academic writers, and course takers, and consider how these online tools legitimize the notion of cheating as a service industry. We’ll also share examples from our UW MBA Consortium online courses to explore strategies for designing assessments that discourage cheating. If you have any of the following questions, this series is for you. Are honor codes effective? Should I have an academic integrity policy in my syllabus? In what situation should I use or recommend an originality checker? Could proctoring be the solution to academic integrity issues in my course? Are there certain types of assessments that make cheating more difficult? What are some strategies I could use to detect cheating behaviors?

#AcademicIntegrity

To ensure academic integrity in our courses, we must be aware of the tools that are available for students to engage in dishonest conduct. In addition, we should use course design and teaching strategies that have been shown to discourage cheating and increase student learning. In this two-part series on academic integrity, we’ll take a deep dive into online “study sites,” test banks, academic writers, and course takers, and consider how these online tools legitimize the notion of cheating as a service industry. We’ll also share examples from our UW MBA Consortium online courses to explore strategies for designing assessments that discourage cheating. If you have any of the following questions, this series is for you. Are honor codes effective? Should I have an academic integrity policy in my syllabus? In what situation should I use or recommend an originality checker? Could proctoring be the solution to academic integrity issues in my course? Are there certain types of assessments that make cheating more difficult? What are some strategies I could use to detect cheating behaviors?

#AcademicIntegrity

Offering a variety of approaches to personalized and adaptive learning, digital courseware has the potential to help or harm the learning experience, depending on how well it supports both instructors and students. Using a show-and-tell approach from a multi-year implementation of digital courseware designed using open educational resources (OER), this session explores how courseware can impact student success by strengthening integration, communication, learner feedback, and curricular flexibility. Informed by learning data analysis, it also offers cautionary guidance about what happens when real-world students and teachers use - or fail to use - courseware as designed, and the net impact on student outcomes.

#DoublingDown

Many online learners struggle to integrate academically and socially to the online learning environment, resulting in student attrition. The panelists will explore the relationship between developing and nurturing an intentional online learner community with a focus on improved student satisfaction and persistence. Through a series of questions, panelists will reflect on a connected set of strategies aimed at unearthing the right mix for the hybrid and online student population across the stages of the student lifecycle from inquiry to initial enrollment through graduation and beyond.

#EmbeddingOnline

Slides

States are entering an unprecedented era of digital connectivity, bringing high speed Internet access to classrooms to support innovative learning methods through effective use of technology, meeting students where they are and providing them the greatest opportunity for success in the 21^st century workforce. This session will cover findings from the SREB/DigiLEARN regional meeting on personalized learning. We will review policies, practices, and infrastructure requirements to create and maintain a personalized learning initiative at the local, region, or state level.

#PLA

Personalized Learning in a Digital World Slides

This session will provide a forum for all conference participants to engage in a meaningful conversation about ways women are leading in ed-tech and higher ed; why it is important for their authentic voice to be a part of the conversation, and ways women’s ideas can be heard no matter where in the organization they are. A focus of this roundtable session will be to create a space where women can talk in their authentic voice and share their stories. This will enable us to better understand a range of women’s needs, what women are striving towards, and how this connects to their personal experience and values. We will gain insights by learning about how women in higher ed, specifically their perspective and worldview, can be leveraged in the design of programs, organizational structures, and systems.

#3WeduWCET

Three years ago, faced with a shortage of 15,000 workers in advanced manufacturing, Colorado employers and higher education leaders were at an all-too-common crossroads: how to ensure that today’s students graduated with the skills they need to meet the rapidly changing demand of tomorrow’s workforce. With the average shelf life of skills shortening, employers are increasingly looking beyond a transcript for a more granular, relevant and agile way to identify industry-specific skills and competencies to meet their needs. As a result, the Colorado Community College System and local employers teamed up to design and implement digital credentials that provide students and professionals with portable, verified evidence of their skills that can be shared with employers and showcased on professional and social networks. Learn how higher education leaders and employers worked together to develop a way to bridge the skills gap, link the college-to-career pipeline and create value for today’s digitally savvy job seekers and employers.

#DigitalCred

Using Digital Credentials Slides

In this session we propose to lead a discussion among edtech representatives, faculty, and administrators around frequently omitted pieces of research evidence required to make an informed decision about the likely effectiveness of a learning product-- evidence in addition to studies demonstrating that a product 'works'. Only by moving beyond the narrow question of efficacy can we begin to identify the premises needed to craft a more informative effectiveness argument to guide decisions about the value and relevance of an edtech product. To make this conversation more engaging, we will explore this topic through the lens of a brewery investor, evaluating whether or not to support a new microbrew venture.

#BrewingBetterLearning

The role of the faculty member in competency-based, direct assessment programs is arguably both the most important and the least defined. Capella University’s FlexPath programs place in-depth, high quality feedback from faculty at the center of the learning experience. As Capella’s FlexPath programs have continued to scale, new methods are needed to support faculty in providing high quality feedback.  This presentation will share results of research conducted at Capella to better understand the impact of feedback on the learning process and learner satisfaction. Subsequent change management efforts to further define and support the delivery of quality feedback, including a community of practice and sophisticated reporting tools, will also be discussed.

#FacultyFeedback 

At Wichita State University's Media Resources Center (MRC) we have had to face some hard truths, and chief among those has been the tough realization that products, services, or solutions we thought would be silver bullets have turned out to not meet our needs. Wichita State University faces serious and ever-changing technological challenges. Recently, most of those are centered around our commitment to make all content accessible to all users in the next four years. That has pushed departments like the MRC to experiment with new ideas, and experimentation leads to unintended consequences and failure in many cases. This presentation will talk through several solutions and challenges we have faced relating to technology, instruction, and accessibility -- each a misstep in one or more important ways. We will discuss our disappointments, our workarounds, and where possible, our solutions.

#SilverBullets

Despite not being able to offer financial aid, students are enrolling in courses and programs from unaccredited providers – like MOOCs, boot camps and providers of alternative academic credit – at substantially higher rates than in accredited colleges. Recognizing this, the Department of Education started the experimental EQUIP program in 2016 to enable new providers to partner with accredited colleges to create new financial aid pathways to the providers’ students. One such program is a partnership between StraighterLine, Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) where StraighterLine will deliver a portion of two associates’ degrees for DCCCD starting in the 2017-2018 academic year. This session will:

• Describe the motivation and elements of the EQUIP program
• Discuss the motivation to participate for DCCCD, StraighterLine and CHEA
• Describe the implementation process and challenges
• Describe options for similar programs that don’t require a DoE experiment
• Provide an update of progress to date.

CCCOnline is the consortium of the thirteen colleges in the Colorado Community College System. This session will offer a case study in how CCCOnline streamlined its online course development process, enabling it to eliminate or reduce errors and conflicts caused by poorly understood roles and responsibilities, miscommunications, and inadequate project management tools.  The session will describe the problems and issues facing the staff responsible for redesigning the business processes surrounding for course design, and how the application of new approaches and tools (business process modeling (BPM) and (Jira workflow management software ) enabled CCCOnline to streamline course development.

#ManagingCourseDevelopment