1. CMNS 253 - July 24, 2006 Digital Technologies and the Transformation of Education “Thirty Years from now the big University campuses will be relics. Universities won’t survive. It’s as large a change as when we first got the printed book. It took more than 200 years for the printed book to create the modern school. It won’t take nearly that long for the big change” -Management Guru Peter Drucker

2. Today’s Lecture/Reminders Evaluation Forms Today Next Week - Film Festival! Final Exam: Tues. August 15, Noon, EDB 7618 This Week’s Lecture –Digital Technologies and Education at the University Level (David Noble Article) –Digital Technologies and Education at the K-12 Level (Jamie)

3. Experience with Online Education How many have taken an online course for University Credit? –What are the differences between online and lecture/tutorial formats? –Do you see online courses as replacements for conventional courses, or, are they better as a complement to these courses?

4. The Place of the University in the Digital Era Universities have been described as slow to respond to the social and economic changes that digital technologies can provide Extricating the University from its ‘traditional’ structures & practices is a high priority for Government, Industry & the University itself

5. Online Education: Inevitable & Beneficial? Digital Technologies & Online Courses are associated with: –The alignment of higher education with the demands of the information/knowledge society –Efficient & convenient delivery of education across time and space –New revenue sources for the University

6. Aligning Universities with the Demands of the Information Age Education will be offered via the latest technologies - This means that it embodies the skills and tools required for success in the information economy as well as State and Industry requirements. Higher education will become better aligned with the needs of the economy. –Government of Canada 2001 & 2002

7. Efficient & Convenient Delivery of Education Online courses can be delivered to anyone with an Internet connection and computer Anytime/Anywhere learning Interactivity vs. anonymity in the lecture hall - Active learning Greater access to materials

8. New Revenue Sources for the University Education as a commodity can reach new customers/students Pre-fabricated courses can be delivered by non-professional staff - even actors - saving money in the University’s largest budget item, faculty salaries. Reduced material/infrastructure costs. These are internalized by the student/customer in the cost of computer & network access

9. What’s the Issue? What technologies can potentially do is associated with what they will do. “Online education is a growth industry and you get rich not by being skeptical, but by being enthusiastic” (NY Times, 2006)

10. What about the Student? What about the Education? At worst, students in the online classroom are understood an no more than conduits through which education flows - part of the technological network, not truly active participants. The quality of Education appears to be secondary to the means & mode of delivery

11. Digital Diploma Mills What is a diploma mill? Degrees by mail, television or other media “no classrooms, faculty is often untrained or nonexistent, the officers are unethical self-seekers whose qualifications are no better than their offerings” –1959 study on Diploma Mills (from Noble)

12. Noble & Digital Diploma Mills Noble sees a struggle over education in the digital age between students/faculty & adminstration/commercial partners “the high tech transformation of higher education is being initiated and implemented from the top down, either without any student/faculty involvement or despite it”

13. Digital Diploma Mills The commodification of education Universities are both the chief producers and consumers of videos, courseware, CD-ROMS, and websites It’s not about education, that’s just the name of the market

14. Student Response to Digital Courses Students want the genuine face-to-face education they paid for, not a cyber- counterfeit Online courses are also field trials for products; “while they are studying their courses, their courses are studying them.” Is this labour compensated?