eLearning Roadtrip

There's a New Sheriff in (US Higher Education and Labor) Town

Dr. Darcy Hardy has been appointed to the Office of Assistant Secretary Jane Oats, Employment and Training Administration (ETA), United States Department of Labor. She will be supporting the recently announced Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (CCCT) Grant Program http://www.grants.gov ) that plans to award approximately $2 billion over the next four years.

She has taken a leave from her current position as Assistant Vice Provost for Technology Education Initiatives, University of Texas at San Antonio, Office of Information Technology, and has moved to Washington DC for her one year appointment.

I am very pleased (and relieved) that she will be able to continue on my WCET Executive Council during her time with the US Labor Department.

You many remember that, a few months back, Darcy and I had a bet over the World Series baseball championship. The loser of the bet was to present a webcast on a topic of the winner's choice. (There were a few other details of the bet, but we'll come back to those in a future post). Lucky me, I won the bet. I have asked Darcy to please plan for a WCET webcast in late February to tell us about the new CCCT Grant program she is heading up. 

Her first day on the new job is Monday January 24th. Let's give her a few weeks to get settled, then we'll get something scheduled. We'll be sure to announce the dates on the WCET website. And I'll post something here. 

January 24th is also Darcy's birthday. Isn't it great how the stars aligned for that to happen. Happy Birthday my friend!

Your online learning minions are here to serve. Sign us up.

 

 

Why Electrowetting may be good for Flash

Electrowetting is a type of screen display technology. Engaget has called electrowetting the Holy Grail of display: flexible, foldable display surfaces offering full color, high refresh rates, visibility in all lighting conditions, and low power consumption. 

The reason I know this is because I just saw a press release announcing that Samsung bought Liquavista, a company that specializes in electrowetting technology.  Yes, that would be Samsung of the television display, computer display, mobile-telephone-with-display company.

It made me think about how cool it would be to be able to unfold a screen stashed in a purse and put it out on the table when you want to show your friends, say, a sports game in progress. NOT on an iPad. On a full-on, foldable screen.

Well here's how and where two unconnected puzzle pieces may connect. I often touch base with Diana Helander (@flashair) from Adobe's Flash Platform team to stay on top of all things Flash: Flash and iPhone and iPad,  Flash vs HTML5, Flash on mobile devices, AIR, standards such as H.264. Flash is very important in elearning. Diana shares my belief that developers need to know what's going on.

Diana recently reminded me that, as fellow members of the Open Screen Project, Adobe and Samsung and lots of others are looking at this notion of excellent screen experiences from an industry wide perspective. Flash continues to be an important part of that conversation. Not the only thing. But still very much a part of today's interactive Web.

The Liquivista acquisition underscore that Samsung is continuing to focus on display experiences. And  THAT world continues to accommodate the need for interoperating with Flash content. At least as we all figure out the migration path to HTML5.

I'm still not ready to give up my iPhone. But now I WILL actively consider Samsung tablet alternatives to iPads while anticipating big things in electrowetted screens.

Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

My World Series Bet with Darcy Hardy (Go Giants!)

The World Series gets started in San Francisco this evening. As a Bay area resident, I am showing my Giants pride by wearing my black and orange Buster Posey jersey today. 

Turns out that the Giants are playing against the Texas Rangers. I have many dear friends who live in Texas. Dear Friends. I am so sorry. For the next several days, we are on opposite sides of the river. 

Bring it. Giants.

My very dear friend, Dr. Darcy Harcy, University of Texas San Antonio (and about-to-be announced appointee to a very important position in an unnamed city on the East Coast) happens to be a Rangers fan. I suppose it would be unrealistic to expect otherwise. So you know there has to be a bet.

I expect that she and Dr. Rob Robinson, also of UTSA, and I will exchange a toast with an adult beverage when we see each other at the upcoming WCET Annual Meeting in LaJolla in a couple of weeks. And so it would be easy to make the bet that the loser needs to buy a round of adult beverages.

Call me a sap - I want to turn this into something a little more meaningful than a mojito or a Mexican martini. Not that there's anything wrong with either one of them, of course.

How a challenge for the benefit of the winner's favorite educational technology cooperative?

The winner gets to choose, either to star in OR have the loser star in, a webcast on a topic of the winner's choice that will help further the mission of said favorite higher educational technology cooperative. Loser must promote said webcast using the word "hieroglyphics", and must appear in said webcast (via photo, slide webcam or video) wearing hat / headgear of the winner's choice. 

Perhaps there should be a preview of said webcast while we are in LaJolla?

Go, Giants.

 

 

Just how open IS the Flash Platform??

Adobe Systems got some great news today when word hit the street that Apple had decided to modify its previously published App Store developer guidelines. According to an article published by the Silicon Valley Mercury News, Apple will now accept apps created with third-party software tools that are translated for the iPhone and iPad's iOS platform. The move reversed a stand Apple took in the spring that banned apps made with technology tools other than Apple's - a direct swipe at Adobe Flash. As noted in the Mercury New article, the earlier decision triggered anger among developers as well as reports that the Federal Trade Commission was considering an investigation into possible anti-competitive business practices. No point in making everyone cranky. Better to change the guidelines.

You may remember that when the Adobe-Apple debates were at their height of snarkiness that there were some who would have you believe that Flash is completely proprietary software. This evening, as I was reading reactions to the news that Flash would soon be making its way to iPads and iPhones, I was struck by a couple of tweets about how Adobe should now "do the right thing and use this as an opportunity to open up the Flash Platform". 

So I thought you might be interested in this particular diagram. (If you click on it you will make the diagram bigger, it will be easier to read.)  It is an illustration of the Flash Platform. You can clearly see the part of the platform that are open (noted in blue), You can also see the parts that are proprietary (noted in red), and (3) the parts that belong to 3rd parties (noted in maize), some of which are proprietary and some of which are open.

You will notice that there are far more parts of the Flash platform that are either blue or maize than there are parts that are red. Something to keep in mind the next time someone rails against proprietary software.

This diagram comes from the Flash platform team. I use it with their permission. Enjoy.

 

New from NCES: Postsecondary Institutions and Price of Attendance in US

The National Center for Education Statistics has just released a publication entitled ‘Postsecondary Institutions and Price of Attendance in the United States: Fall 2009 and Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2008-09, and 12-Month Enrollment 2008-09'. Great stuff if you are a statistics junkie. And even if you are not.

I learn about these reports from my clients and colleagues at WICHE, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. WICHE publishes alerts of interest to education policy and research communities. You can SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE to the WICHE Policy Alerts and/or Stat Alerts distribution lists. WICHE also maintains a Policy Publication Clearinghouse, which includes past Policy Alerts and Stat Alerts, as well as other studies, reports, surveys, and policy briefs.

But back to the new NCES Report -  in 2009-10, there were 6,896 Title IV institutions in the United States (this is a classification that relates to one eligibility for federal financial aid) and other jurisdictions:

• 2,853 were classified as 4-year institutions
• 2,259 were 2-year institutions
• the remaining 1,784 were less-than-2-year institutions.

During 2009-10, 4-year public institutions reported average tuition and required fees of $6,400 for in-state students and $15,100 for out-of-state students.

4-year private not-for-profit institutions are charging an average of $21,100, while Private for-profit institutions reported charging an average of about $15,700

Between 2000-01 and 2009-10, 4-year public institutions reported a 46% increase in average inflation-adjusted in-state tuition and required fees and a 34% increase in average inflation-adjusted out-of-state tuition and required fees.

Over the same 10-year period, 4-year private not-for-profit institutions reported a 31% increase and private for-profit institutions reported a 20% increase in average inflation-adjusted tuition and required fees.

For more information on this topic please refer to the NCES and WICHE site links, above.

Educators Beware - There's Hyperbole in the Air

For people who have to make decisions about implementing distributed programs and services, these times of impending changes and the market spin that accompanies that can be excruciating. SO much hand-wringing. Lots of sniping. It's hard to know who or what to believe.

For better or worse, there is a lot of fear, uncertainty and dread (FUD) dished in times of change...say, when a major acquisition is likely to have some impact on particular communities of practice.

So in the spirit of opening up some real dialogue on an important topic I would like to gently comment on some of the obviously heart-felt yet misinformed assertions from Valerie Schreiner, Senior Director of Product Management at Elluminate in a recent blogpost entitled Why is the true enemy getting the praise?

Huh?? True Enemy?? Seriously??

I'm assuming she is cranky that one of the very common responses from the announcement about Blackboard's intention to acquire Elluminate and Wimba is the expressed hope that WebEx and Adobe will step up their game in the education market. To which I also say "here, here".

May I offer a another perspective to inform the dialogue?

(Full disclaimers/disclosures - Blackboard is a client. So is Adobe Systems. Another client, the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET) is an Elluminate customer, and I will soon be negotiating our ongoing services contract.  My employer, Sage Road, uses Connect for our virtual offices. All companies mentioned so far are sponsors and partners of WCET. We like them all very much, and are glad to be working with each enterprise.)

Let's be very clear. Adobe is not an elearning company. It is a software company, the biggest design software company in the world. Adobe produces tools, applications and frameworks used to build rich, engaging and empowering digital experiences of ALL kinds, including elearning in all of its various flavors. It sells platforms and tools to vertical markets including education, government, financial services, publishing, manufacturing, pharma and health care.

Even so, anyone who suggests that Adobe is not education focused isn't paying very close attention to market data. Adobe's education business is bigger than all of Blackboard, Inc. and its various impending acquisitions, several times over. Adobe's Education Leaders represent a global community of practitioners, researchers and decision-makers working at all levels of education. The Adobe Education team's portals, programs, certifications, publications and services are extensively used by institutions, agencies and governments around the world. Lots of education licensing programs, from ministries of education to individual institutions and school districts.

Adobe ceded the education market for web conferencing to Elluminate several years ago, after repeated attempts to work with Blackboard on integration efforts with Connect were pretty much spurned. (True story. Personal experience. I have scar tissue to prove.) It also seemed that every time Adobe worked to create a set of integrated apps with companies including Web CT and Angel, that Adobe got spanked by those Blackboard acquisitions just like everyone else did. Even so, 40% of the colleges and universities in the US still feature Adobe Connect implementations.

Seriously?? True Enemy?

I personally DO hope that Adobe sees this as an opportunity to re-visit its focus on providing web conferencing solutions to the education community, because I would like to see more competition in the web conferencing space now that Elluminate and Wimba will be one and the same.

But more than anything I would really like to see Elluminate show a little more restraint in name calling and put a little more energy into informing customer about what you are going to do for them going forward. Because THAT is really what your education customers want to hear.

I expect I will have a few things to say on this topic when I see many of you at the upcoming Sloan C conference in San Jose this week. Stay tuned.

Elluminate, Wimba and Adobe Connect, Oh, My

I heard from a few of my education friends after posting yesterday's report from Blackboard World. To be honest, several asked point blank what  I was thinking to take a positive stand on this particular acquisition development in higher education learning tech. I know that some were surprised because I have been such an Adobe fangirl in recent years. (And yes, it's true. I am a great fan of Adobe Connect.) Some remembered my own challenges working  to get Adobe products better integrated within the various WebCT and Blackboard platforms, and frankly asked me if I have lost my mind. And perhaps I have. But I do have a reason for this particular stand.

Here is my position on the subject. In my mind, there is no question that Adobe Connect is a great conferencing  product. I think it's the best one out there.  The challenge though, is that a good education product that lives in a non-educationally focused company doesn't get the enterprise, sales or customer service support that are essential for successful and sustained adoption. 

I would LOVE to see the rock-star Adobe .edu team leverage this with the Adobe Connect product team (hint, hint, hint). But this is where my cynicism kicks in. I just have a few too many battle scars from fighting that good fight to have much hope for that.

And so I look for silver linings. With all respect to those who want to build open systems and find open resources, sometimes its just really important to have the option of a dependable integrated product that pulls all the pieces together for those us us that don't want to "roll our own" education technology. Does that mean that I think people should rush out and buy? Well, only after you've done your due diligence and if it makes sense. Mostly what I want is for people to take a deep breath and consider alternatives for getting their work done reliably and effectively. That demands choice. There ARE choices.

(Some positive news for those that are still freaking....I have heard here is that Elluminate and Wimba - the new Collaborate platform will continue to be available  independently from Blackboard Learn.)

Blackboard Takes eLearning to the Education Enterprise

This morning's blogpost is coming to you from the fountain-filled lobby of the Gaylord Palms Hotel, the site of this year's Blackboard World, Developers' Conference and Institute. Last week's news about Blackboard's intention to acquire web conferencing companies Elluminate and Wimba has guaranteed that this week's event will be even a little more exciting than usual..When the word of the acquisitions hit the street last week, the ripples through the ether were palpable enough to pull me away from vacation and back to internet-connected devices to see what the heck was going on in the tweetstream and blog-o-spherer. I wasn't disappointed. Poor Tony Bates remarked that he was "as depressed as a Netherlands soccer supporter" about this news, noting that this was likely the end of the LMS as we know it. 

But George Siemens wrote an insightful blogpost  in which he offered a more positive perspective. Even though George noted that the company is "... is unable to write a press release that includes clear statements like “we have purchased these companies” he goes on to say that he wants to "give the company credit for their acquisition of Elluminate and Wimba. He further notes that: "Blackboard’s purchase marks an important shift in trajectory – even maturation – for the LMS marketplace. Integration, not the platform itself, is now the critical focus. LMS companies have for years formed partnerships with content producers and with synchronous tools – I believe both BB and Desire2Learn had partnerships with Elluminate and Wimba. To be effective in the long term, large LMS companies will need to pull more and more of the education experience under their umbrella. Why? Well, technology is getting complex. Very complex. Which means that decisions makers are motivated (partly out of fear of appearing ill-informed, partly out of not wanting to take risks) to adopt approaches that integrate fairly seamlessly across the education spectrum. Why buy an LMS when you can buy the educational process?"

I'm not really concerned that Blackboard is circumventing educational processes, per se...remember, people, we're still talking about platforms and tools here. I do think it's notable that for the first time in elearning history there actually is a solution provider in the distributed learning technologies that will be offering an integrated, full -service platform alternative. Especially to education customers. This is a big deal. 

Several years ago the Chronicle of Higher Ed was contracted by Adobe Systems to do some market analysis on the elearning market in education. More than half of the people responding to the Chronicle survey indicated that when they thought of elearning in education, the company that they thought of was...drumroll please...none other than Blackboard. Even though Adobe has a strong education footprint, the fact is that when it comes to elearning in education the market turns toward Blackboard. In the past couple years Blackboard has made several smart strategic acquisitions, including what is now BB Connect, BB Mobile Ed and, of course Angel / Backboard Learn. Now we see the two educationally oriented web conferencing companies about to become part of the Blackboard brand. More than anything, this tells me that elearning has come back from the margins and is now a part of mainstream educational life.

Not suggesting that this is going to be right for everyone; like George and Tony, I would be happy to see open source alternatives have their day in the sun, as well. For me this is really about giving educators and trainers the right tools for the job, so I am all about choices. But I am also serious about having learning technology practitioners see they they are just as deserving of true enterprise solutions as a major corporation. For so many people, having to figure out how to make all the various piece parts of a platform work together can such the energy for elearning out of a room faster than just about anything I can think of.

I would hope that for those educators who are thinking that the world is over can remember that there are plenty of places where education needs revolutionary zeal and commitment. There are still battles to be fought and won. Maybe it's time for our elearning energies to move beyond the platform and to focus on the things we want to DO with the platform.

WCET Stands up for eQuality in Online Learning

You may remember that my June 28th post reported on some of the fire and brimstone being directed against the education industry sector in the business of running colleges and universities. Generally speaking, these institutions are aimed at adult students, generally offer their courses and programs where significant components can be completed online, and are typically aimed at providing students with flexible means of completing academic courses, certifications and degrees. They are often generally lumped into the category known as "for-profits".

In recent weeks there have been a lot of shots taken at the for-profit education industry: Frontline "exposed" College Inc. Investors have howled that for profit education is the next sub-prime crisis. Congress has held hearings. 

Frankly, I have been a little concerned about the vitriol being aimed at my for-profit institutional brethren in recent weeks. Lots of broad brush strokes being used to swipe. So I was particularly interested in these remarks from Russ Poulin, my WCET colleague,  that come from a posting he distributed to our members this afternoon.  (Note: yes, I have done some editing. For space, not for substance):

"We ALL need to be paying attention.

 

"If you have not heard about it, there are several links below to coverage of the U.S. Senate’s hearing last week regarding for-profit institutions. I could not make it to DC for the hearing, but I followed the tweets and watched most of the testimony online. Committee Chair Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa raised concerns about the growth in for-profit institutions and some of their practices. 

 

"My concern is that there are times when those testifying painted with a broad brush.  Some for-profits have engaged in questionable activity, but not all.  Worse yet, there are times where all online education is lumped in as having the same dubious practices.

 

"I agree that regulation to stop the ‘bad actors’ needs to be considered at this point.  All of us in the WCET family are for integrity and stopping fraud.  What we do not want are regulations that punish the innocent more than the guilty.

Thank you Russ. You're right. WCET will stay on top of this.

A Few More Links about Apple Adobe and Flash

Here are a few more of my favorite Apple links of the fast several weeks. Some are informative, several just plain funny. I challenge you to tell me which is which.

Ron Miller wonders is Steve Jobs may be right about Adobe.

Apple gives Adobe the finger with its new SDK agreement

Who is Grey Powell and why did he leave his iPhone 4.0 prototype in a bar?

Police seize computers at the home of Gizmodo editor over "lost iPhone 4.0" flap

Jon Stewart's rant about the lost 4G phone brouhaha, in which he called Apple "appholes"

Ellen DeGeneres apologizes for skit that makes fun at her iPhone texting abilities. Apple wasn't amused.

Data suggesting that Flash content reaches 99% of all Internet viewers. 3rd party results, reported by Adobe.

Apple WW Developer Conference 2010 sells out for first time.