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Reading Inside Higher Ed’s 2021 Survey of Presidents With Online Learning Eyes

Reading Inside Higher Ed’s 2021 Survey of Presidents With Online Learning Eyes

Digital learning on the brain. By  Joshua Kim

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/reading-inside-higher-ed%E2%80%99s-2021-survey-presidents-online-learning-eyes

“Have you downloaded and read through Inside Higher Ed‘s 2021 Survey of College and University Presidents yet?

Totally worth your time.

In reading the survey with online learning eyes, the following results caught my attention:

  • 79 percent of presidents said that their institutions are either very or somewhat likely to reassess the long-term mix of in-person versus virtual education offered. That percentage was below “cultivate new donor bases” (91 percent), “request/lobby for additional federal and/or state support” (87 percent), and “increase grant procurement” (81 percent). Still, the fact that eight in 10 presidents said they think that their schools will be reassessing the residential/online mix seems like a big deal.
  • On the cost-cutting side, the second most popular response (23 percent) was “reduce the institution’s physical footprint.” In my experience, the more experienced a school is with online education, the more comfortable it will be with remote work. Online learning and remote working use many of the same platforms (Zoom, Slack, etc.). Both involve a mind shift towards greater independence, autonomy and trust. Reclassifying instructional design jobs as remote-first gigs might be the only way colleges and universities will recruit these brilliant educators.
  • The headline-grabbing finding from the survey is that 44 percent of presidents see the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to transform their institution. The wording of the question is important here. The item reads, “My institution should use this period to make difficult but transformative changes to its core structure and operations to better position itself for long-term sustainability.” There is a lot behind that statement. My hypothesis is that placing online learning at the center of a strategic transformation plan is most likely what these presidents are thinking about.
  • On the question directly addressing online learning, the presidents’ answers are worrying. The overall numbers indicate that the majority of presidents are either somewhat concerned (42 percent) or very concerned (13 percent) about faculty ability to conduct online or hybrid learning. I’m not sure if the presidents are saying that their institutions are not providing enough resources, support and assistance to their faculty around online learning, or if the presidents think it is the faculty who are not coming to the table with the readiness they’d want for developing and teaching online courses. Either way, these presidential responses are at least an opportunity to devote significant institutional resources and focus to faculty development for online and hybrid teaching.
  • There also seems to be a significant concern among presidents about the technological ability of their institution to support online learning. Thirty-five percent of presidents are somewhat concerned about this, and 12 percent are very concerned. Here, I’m wondering what presidents are worried about. It can’t be the technology. Everyone has an LMS and Zoom. I think the concern is more about the design, delivery and support of online programs. Or maybe the concern is around the marketing/admission dependencies that come with online learning. Technology is the easiest part of online education. Every school was able to go remote during the pandemic. The hard part is creating high-quality online programs that align with the brand and succeed in a highly competitive online education marketplace.
  • On the question of the willingness to pay for virtual education, the presidents’ answers are fascinating. Eight in 10 presidents somewhat or strongly agree that prospective students and parents are interested in paying less for a virtual education than one delivered in person. These results read more like an artifact of remote education and less a statement about high-quality online and low-residency programs. Still, it seems as if college presidents are sensitive to the need to bend the higher education cost curve through innovation in online learning.
  • The final surprise for me in the survey is that less than half (47 percent) of presidents think that COVID-19 will cause a long-term shift away from residential education and toward virtual learning. Perhaps this question is primarily about undergraduates — or at least traditional-age 18- to 22-year-old full-time residential undergraduates. It is hard to believe that college presidents would argue against the shift to online learning in all but the most high-status and experiential master’s programs.

My analysis only scratches the surface of this timely (and free!) report. As I said, spending time with the full report is worth it.

What is clear from the survey is that college presidents are thinking about transformation and that even presidents from predominantly residential institutions have online learning on their minds.

What do you make of Inside Higher Ed‘s 2021 Survey of College and University Presidents?”

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Posted on: April 14, 2021, 6:59 am Category: Uncategorized

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