Is Emergency Management Online Education a Bubble? Dr. Tom Phelan 1

Stages in a Bubble Stages in a Bubblepeople.hofstra.edu 2

8 Questions 1.Is online education valid for emergency management? 2.Isn’t there a need for practical training in emergency response that must take place on campus or at a training center? 3.Is the startup cost of online degrees too great for financially strapped traditional universities? 4.Are online universities having their own financial woes? 5.Are online professors, adjuncts and fulltime, teaching too many students at a time to be effective? 6.Do online institution administrators understand the principles of adult learning and instructional design? 7.Is the number of non-traditional adult learners increasing or decreasing, especially with our military coming home? 8.Are online experiments that offer free courses simply gathering data to use in setting up fee-based options in the near future? 3

Is online education valid for emergency management? Emergency management research, publications, and the lessons attached to them are no different than in any other field of study. Lessons appropriately prepared for online learning are just as valid for emergency management as they would be for any other subject. 4

Isn’t there a need for practical training in emergency response that must take place on campus or at a training center? There is a need for practical training for emergency responders. It is best conducted live. Practical training for responders is NOT the same as education for emergency managers. 5

Interest in blended learning is outpacing interest in wholly online learning in most age groups. 6

Is the startup cost of online degrees too great for financially strapped traditional universities? Startup needs are complex and do have costs associated with them. Traditional universities make budgetary decisions about online degrees as they would for any program. Yes, the costs are great. Traditional university practices are NOT the same in online learning. 7

What More than Online Courses? Dr. Frank McCluskey, speaking at the FEMA Higher Ed conference in 2012, made the point that online courses are insufficient if not supported on line by other university services for students. – Admissions and Financial Aid – Library and access to required readings – Tutoring, advising and Help Desk – Credit by experience and evaluation of prior learning – Portability/accessibility using apps for mobile devices 8

Are online universities having their own financial woes? Yes rising costs are boosting tuition. Endowments have suffered the same financial woes that other investments have suffered. Sustainability is an issue for many institutions of higher learning, including online universities. Some are scaling back to reduce costs. 9

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Stages in a Bubble Stages in a Bubblepeople.hofstra.edu 13

Are online professors, adjuncts and fulltime, teaching too many students at a time to be effective? Student loads differ from college to college. How many is too many? Contracts may range for 400 – 600 students/year or 100 – 120 at a time. Recently spoke with an Assistant Professor at a state university who has a live class of 400 for lecture. It is difficult for a college to tell if an adjunct is teaching at one or more other colleges. 14

Do online institution administrators understand the principles of adult learning and instructional design? In my experience, most post-secondary educators have not studied principles of learning and instructional design. Instructional designers are hired to assist, but many also do not understand issues other than technology. 15

Is the number of non-traditional adult learners increasing or decreasing, especially with our military coming home? In recent years, the percentage increase in the number of students age 25 and over has been larger than the percentage increase in the number of younger students, and this pattern is expected to continue. Between 2000 and 2010, the enrollment of students under age 25 increased by 34 percent. Enrollment of students 25 and over rose 42 percent during the same period. From 2010 to 2020, NCES projects a rise of 11 percent in enrollments of students under 25, and a rise of 20 percent in enrollments of students 25 and over. National Center for Education Statistics, accessed June 13, Increases of 34% and 42% are much higher than 11% and 20%. 16

Higher education enrollment is declining. 17

Are online experiments that offer free courses simply gathering data to use in setting up fee-based options in the near future? Researchers from MIT and Harvard are now trying to make sense of this data, [from free MOOCs]which includes students’ clickstreams (recordings of where and when users click on a page) and their homework, lab and exam scores, as well as comments made on discussion forums and responses to an end-of-course survey. insights-into-online-learning html?goback=.gde_ _member_ accessed June 13, insights-into-online-learning html?goback=.gde_ _member_

Feeding the Goat “Higher education has the potential to be the most important contributor to learning; but only if educators are working in a system that puts learning above all else; and makes it secondary to politics, finance, culture, recognition, assessing students, auditing colleges, achieving qualifications etc.” John Mason | CEO, ACS Distance Education and Publishing 19

Questions? Dr. Tom Phelan In D.C. Home 20