Competency-Based Learning Articles

Competency-based learning was a popular topic at the WCET conference this year; below for your reading pleasure are a few recent articles explaining and discussing this approach.

“Disrupting the Space-Time Continuum: Competency-based Learning Explained” by Gillian Seely (11/6/13)
From Pearson’s Teaching & Learning Blog:
http://www.pearsonlearningsolutions.com/blog/channels/online-blended-learning/disrupting-the-space-time-continuum-competency-based-learning-explained/

“Profiles of Students in Competency-Based Programs” (11/8/13)
From Inside Higher Ed:
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/11/08/profiles-students-competency-based-programs

“New courses stress competency to meet workforce needs” by Ellie Ashford (11/18/13)
From Community College Daily:
http://www.ccdaily.com/Pages/Workforce-Development/New-courses-stress-competency-to-meet-workforce-needs.aspx

“Adding Competency to Community” by Paul Fain (11/19/13)
From Inside Higher Ed:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/19/group-two-year-colleges-work-western-governors-university-try-competency-based

Enjoy the holidays and see you back here next year!

WCET Annual Meeting: What We Learned

Recently, the annual WCET (WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies) Annual Meeting was held in Denver, and some of the CCCOnline staff attended. Below are a few thoughts about what we learned. 

At the conference, it was emphasized in more than one presentation that national surveys of online students strongly indicate that students desire extensive engagement with their online instructors (good feedback in grading comments, active discussion participation, etc). This supports the emphasis of CCCOnline administrators on instructional quality.

-John Ragan

The stand out topics for me were moving whole programs to competency-based learning format and accreditation standards for working with vendors.  

-Monica Falk

I was struck by the idea that many hiring managers consider recent college graduates unprepared for the workforce, as was explained by Vernon Smith (Portmont College at Mount St. Mary’s). It was particularly interesting to me that the graduates themselves perceive they have a better mastery over certain soft skills than their managers think they do; this survey from Chegg shows the skills with the greatest gaps between the graduates’ and the managers’ perceptions. In a similar vein (i.e. thinking about lifelong learning and preparing students for what comes next), I enjoyed the closing keynote, “Social Learning Revolution,” by Jane Hart; her website, the Top 100 Tools for Learning, is worth exploring.

-Liz Dzabic

Also . . . this holiday week, we all would like to thank you for your ongoing commitment to our students, and we wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving!

Articles: Developmental Ed Debates and Solutions

For those of you with an interest in developmental education: below are a few pieces representing current solutions and lively debates. (Note the CCCOnline Math MOOC is featured in a governor’s newsletter; we ran a short piece on our Math MOOC here.)

“Wrong Answer on Remediation” by William G. Tierney and Julia C. Duncheon (11/8/13)
From Inside Higher Ed:
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/11/08/ending-remediation-wrong-answer-essay

“Faster Math Path” by Paul Fain (10/21/13):
From Inside Higher Ed, regarding California:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/21/california-community-colleges-cautious-experiment-accelerated-remediation

“Less Choice, More Mainstreaming” by Megan Rogers (10/2/13)
From Inside Higher Ed, regarding Colorado:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/02/remedial-reform-and-completion-key-latino-students-success-politician-argues

“Going to the Root of the Problem” by Paul Fain (9/13/13)
From Inside Higher Ed, regarding Tennessee:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/09/13/promising-remedial-math-reform-tennessee-expands

“Community College System Pilots Pre-Algebra MOOC”
From the Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology (8/13).

 

“Free Courses for a Big Problem” by Paul Fain (7/19/13)
From Inside Higher Ed, regarding MOOCs:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/19/two-year-colleges-go-open-source-seek-fix-remediation

“Remediation If You Want It” by Paul Fain (6/5/13)
From Inside Higher Ed, regarding Florida:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/05/florida-law-gives-students-and-colleges-flexibility-remediation