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This document is a memo from the president of Georgia Highlands College to employees announcing new initiatives around competency-based and online education. It discusses improving assessment of student readiness and expanding online course offerings. Two new initiatives are increasing participation in the eCore online course system and diversifying online courses, such as incorporating concepts from MOOCs. The president expresses that these initiatives require concerted effort but will better serve their diverse student population.
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critical issues - competency based and online education
This document is a memo from the president of Georgia Highlands College to employees announcing new initiatives around competency-based and online education. It discusses improving assessment of student readiness and expanding online course offerings. Two new initiatives are increasing participation in the eCore online course system and diversifying online courses, such as incorporating concepts from MOOCs. The president expresses that these initiatives require concerted effort but will better serve their diverse student population.
This document is a memo from the president of Georgia Highlands College to employees announcing new initiatives around competency-based and online education. It discusses improving assessment of student readiness and expanding online course offerings. Two new initiatives are increasing participation in the eCore online course system and diversifying online courses, such as incorporating concepts from MOOCs. The president expresses that these initiatives require concerted effort but will better serve their diverse student population.
Running head: CRITICAL ISSUES: COMPETENCY-BASED AND ONLINE EDUCATION
Critical Issues: Competency-Based and Online Education
Jeff Patty Higher Education Administration (EDLD 7431) Dr. Don S. Stumpf Georgia Southern University
CRITICAL ISSUES: COMPETENCY-BASED AND ONLINE EDUCATION
2 TO: Employees of Georgia Highlands College FROM: Jeff Patty, President of Georgia Highlands College DATE: June 5, 2014 SUBJECT: Competency-Based and Online Education Initiatives As most of you already know, we have been working over the last couple of years on improving our online delivery systems and assessing students prior learning. Both of these issues are closely tied together and reflected heavily, not only in the students we represent on our campuses today, but also as important system-wide goals of the University System of Georgia. Students are coming to our campuses less prepared each year in alarming numbers. It is essential that we properly assess these students readiness prior to coursework, so that we place them into the correct courses or assist them prior through our learning support system. Likewise, many of these students come to us from an electronic and online environment. Not only must we meet them in the middle by providing state of the art technology and instructional resources that engage their learning styles, but we must also find creative ways to integrate the concepts being popularized in these new delivery systems, such as in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS). The following information summarizes some new initiatives we will be undertaking as an institution to meet these demands. These initiatives will require all of our careful attention and concerted efforts in order to successfully achieve the optimal results. Results So Far As you will recall, we are working collectively towards achieving continued progress towards the goals of the Complete College Georgia initiative, outlined in 2011 by Governor Nathan Deal to address the critical needs in Georgias Higher Education Completion Plan.
CRITICAL ISSUES: COMPETENCY-BASED AND ONLINE EDUCATION
3 Remember, it is projected by 2020 that over 60 percent of jobs in Georgia will require a certificate, associates degree, or bachelors degree (Complete College Georgia, 2011). We continue to strive to improve our retention and graduation rates across the state. We have made some good initial strides towards improving our rates and implementing new completion strategies. Georgia Highlands College has increased retention in 2013 by 4%, increased graduation rates by 7%, and seen a 20% increase in degree production. We have accomplished the goals by reaching out to students who have acquired the appropriate credits for a degree, by dropping the graduation fee, and by working with students personally to have their degrees conferred. There have also been some exciting changes within remediation. GHC has piloted a new model by flipping the classroom in areas of reading, English, and mathematics. Likewise, the classroom models for several Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors have experienced increases by applying new methods around statistics and a practical application of mathematics, as opposed to the traditional methods utilized with an algebra base. The eLearning (distance education) program at GHC has also seen some growth in the last year. With the addition of the Blackboard Collaborate software and accompanying hardware, instructors can now teach class on one campus, with the broadcast available at satellite campuses for those students. This is very valuable from a human resources perspective, as well as being able to offer classes that might not otherwise make due to lower enrollment numbers on separate campuses (University System of Georgia Updates on Campus Completion Plans, 2013). New Initiatives and Continued Measures I would like work to begin immediately on several new fronts. Much of the work will need to be properly vetted through various committees, such as the curriculum committee, and Distance Learning Advisory Group (DLAG). I realize any major changes will also need to be
CRITICAL ISSUES: COMPETENCY-BASED AND ONLINE EDUCATION
4 properly discussed and ratified through our Faculty Senate as well. These groups are central to the institutions curricular offering, oversight of current offerings, and course recommendations (Schoss & Cragg, 2013). It is important to get started on this work and keep our momentum moving forward. In addition to continuing the current measures already in progress, I think we need to put in motion a couple other new initiatives, the first of which centers on our online education program. We have made progress with our online offerings over the last couple of years as we continue to expand this program and with the addition of the Collaborate software we can now reach more students. We must continue to diversify our coursework in this area through a variety of measures. We will begin transitioning the focus of our program back to the USGs eCore system. eCore allows students to complete their first two years of required core classes to complete their coursework completely online, except for the occasional proctored test (eCore: This is where your future begins, 2014). This system has been greatly improved since the early years of inception when GHC first participated. This has been discussed in recent months, but I believe it is time for us to fully implement this initiative. Access to these additional online courses, in addition to the online courses we already offer, will best serve our students moving forward. The second initiative relating to our online program is the diversification of our coursework in these online courses. We must continue to explore opportunities and new ways to reach our diverse student population. With the growth of MOOCs, students are able to access a vast array of academic material completely online. Students benefit from these courses by gaining access to all online material, available in their preferred language, access to learn along side other professional educators and share knowledge, and the ability to do all of this with little to no money (MOOCs: Massive Open Online Courses, 2014). It remains to be seen exactly how
CRITICAL ISSUES: COMPETENCY-BASED AND ONLINE EDUCATION
5 this concept will play out in institutions across the globe, but I believe we cannot sit back and wait for an answer. We must creatively find strategies and methods for incorporating some of these concepts into our own courses and programs. We must reach many of our adult learners by providing different types of access to hybrid courses in ways that allows them to juggle the many aspects of their complicated lives. We must do this, however, with adequate support and necessary resources in order for students to be successful in these endeavors. Conclusion We have made so much improvement in recent years as we continue to strengthen our retention and graduation efforts. With your hard work our students have begun to reap the rewards from the new programs and methods implemented. As we continue to work on these important measures and work towards similar improvements in our online programs, I know you will give these new initiatives the same energy and vigor you always demonstrate. I thank each of you for all of your contributions and continued dedication in providing the best education we possibly can for the students of Georgia Highlands College.
CRITICAL ISSUES: COMPETENCY-BASED AND ONLINE EDUCATION
6 References Complete College Georgia. (2013, December 9). College Completion. Retrieved June 7, 2014, from http://www.usg.edu/educational_access/complete_college_georgia eCore: This is where your future begins.... (2014, February 24). Retrieved June 9, 2014, from https://ecore.usg.edu/ MOOCs: Massive Open Online Courses. (2014). Retrieved June 9, 2014, from http://massiveopenonlinecourses.com/moocs-explained-in-more-detail/ Schoss, P. J., & Cragg, K. M. (2013). Organization and administration in higher education. New York, NY: Routledge. University System of Georgia Updates on Campus Completion Plans. (2013, October). Retrieved June 9, 2014, from http://www.usg.edu/educational_access/documents/University-System-of-GeorgiaCampus-Completion-Plan-Updates-October-2013.pdf