Dear Colleagues,
I have a few items to share with you, hence this unexpected summer newsletter.
Applying the Quality Matters Rubric Short Course
It's free! It's online! You learn a lot about good online course design – and the information can be applied to your traditional face-to-face course.
Details: online asynchronous course June 5 - June 19.
More info here (just click on the name "Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) Online Course 6/5-6/19")
Register here.
Really, we all have a professional responsibility for ongoing learning and this is a great opportunity.
Disrupting Higher Education
I found this article on Disrupting Higher Education from Campus Technology to be cautionary and interesting. Disruptive innovation, a concept developed by Clayton Christensen, describes how a new and different approach can radically alter an industry. Think the Internet and newspapers. Netflix and Blockbuster.
My current thinking is that competency-based education (CBE) is the biggest potential disruptor in higher education. Here are some resources on CBE:
· Educause article, "Competency-Based Education: Faculty Goals and Student Grades" by Gregory K. Arbuckle
· CBE in Higher Education website
I am reminded of the surgery I just had on my Achilles tendon. I went to a surgery center and was home by noon. We used to go to hospitals for all surgeries; now surgery centers – like the one I used – perform these lower risk day surgeries. Hospitals lose the (easier) income and are left with the more complex cases.
Hope your summer is starting well,
Lee
