Thought Leaders in Online Education: Ron Olsen, CEO of Remote Learner (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Can you give us an example of some of these additional technologies beyond Learning Management Systems that are coming into play in that context?

Ron Olsen: Some of it is technology-based and some of it is services-based. From a technology standpoint, it’s not just enough to have a Learning Management System, but the reporting and analytics are one of the big buzzwords over the last couple of years with respect to really getting a deeper understanding of what’s going on with your learners. In the corporate space for example, being able to report compliance and demonstrate success of delivering the learning has been critical. There’s a big push right now on the analytics side.

How can you take the data that’s being gathered within a learning management system about specific user activities? How often are they on the system? How much do they participate in discussion forums? What level of understanding do they have about what they’re talking about in those forums, and how to translate that and help educators really understand that true learning is happening, and not necessarily just simply check-a-box assignment? >>>

Thought Leaders in Online Education: Ron Olsen, CEO of Remote Learner (Part 1)

What kinds of technologies are missing from the portfolios of learning management systems that customers looking to launch online learning programs need? This is the subject of my conversation with Ron Olsen.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with some background about yourself as well as Remote Learner.

Ron Olsen: I’m the CEO of Remote Learner. Over the last 20 years or so, I’ve worked in a wide variety of industries and businesses. I’ve actually worked in the venture capital industry directly with a couple of VCs back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In general, I find myself having a deep appreciation for anybody who has actually started their own business regardless of how it got funded. I’ve actually started a few service-based companies myself.

In terms of my background, I’ve always had a passion for education and I taught entrepreneurship. I’m on the Board of an education-focused non-profit here in Colorado. When an opportunity to get involved with Remote Learner came up, it seemed to be a good blend of taking a company that has been around for a little while and growing it in new directions in an area which I’m passionate about.

>>>

Scaling to $10 Million from Kentucky: Steve Huey, CEO of Capture Higher Ed (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: The primary business is, essentially, lead generation for colleges? Is that what you’re saying?

Steve Huey: Yes, our primary business is lead generation but for not-for-profit schools. It’s a very important distinction. There are around 3,300 not-for-profit colleges in the United States.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start there. What is the difference between leads for not-for-profit schools versus for-profit schools since it’s such a big distinction?

Steve Huey: For-profit schools started out as trade schools. A lot of the for-profit schools you see are for truck driving, typing, etc. There are a number of for-profit schools where you can learn nursing or earn business degrees. They’re in the minority. The schools that are for-profit typically target more mature, non-traditional college students. >>>

Technology Tools for a Flipped Classroom

By 1M/1M Premium Member and Co-Founder of Omninox Jake Yap

The idea behind a flipped classroom has become more popular amongst teachers as of late, which can most likely be attributed to the rise of technology in and out of the classroom. Tools such as computers, smartphones, and tablets are typical items in a student and teacher’s arsenal in more recent times. These technological tools allow for the necessary instructional strategy required for a flipped classroom, which include teaching content at home and activities and discussions (often regarded as homework) being conducted in the class. Learning at home can include reading the required textbook lesson or watching online lectures, which would not have been possible if it was not for the advancement in technology. >>>

Future of Education: Three Conversations

There is a lot going on in the educational technology market. In our effort to bring you continued insights in that market, we would like to bring to your attention three recent roundtable discussions:

>>>

Thought Leaders in Online Education: Warren Barkley, CTO of SMART Technologies (Part 5)

Warren Barkley: There is a district in Washington State who have way less money than most districts. They’ve a lot of kids who are in and out of school, but every kid has a laptop in its population of 20,000. The curriculum is online for pretty much everything that they want to learn in the K-8. So if the kids miss a class because something happened with their parents, they can catch up. The way the superintendent did it there is through community. He has kids who do PR almost. They’ve parents who are massively involved. This is a district where you would not expect this type of thing to happen if you look at the demographics, yet they’re wildly successful with their technology and with their ability to affect the learning outcomes with kids.

When you talk to the superintendent, he will say that it’s all about the community. How is the community involved? I’ve seen this in other places as well and the recipe of success is community involvement. You can get to an effective use of these >>>

Thought Leaders in Online Education: Warren Barkley, CTO of SMART Technologies (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: That sounds terrible. The example you gave is shocking.

Warren Barkley: That was probably one of the worst examples. I’ve seen scenarios where kids aren’t allowed on the network, so they have apps downloaded for them. They can work on some applications, but then there’s no learning artifact out of it. The devices can’t just be fancy game-playing machines. You’ve to have output in the form of a digital artifact that kids can carry along and see the learning. In a lot of places, the best thing I’ve heard around this is that our classrooms are authentically reflecting the reality of the society that our kids live in >>>

Thought Leaders in Online Education: Warren Barkley, CTO of SMART Technologies (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: You are bringing in students from different countries together, and you have some sort of a social media element to your platform. You have teachers and experts from different domains on that platform who can operate across the school boundaries.

Warren Barkley: It’s not quite like that. Basically, as a teacher, I have a class. I have this big virtual space. I can split it up in a lot of different ways. I can posit questions into it. It does have a social media piece to it. I wouldn’t say it’s a rendezvous to Discovery Point. It would be two teachers who knew each other on Twitter saying, “Let’s get our classes to work together on this stuff.” >>>