Announcing the Report Reader Checklist: Your newest research resource

January 18, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

Marketing image showcasing the Report Reader Checklist from Oregon State University Ecampus. Includes hyperlink ecampus.oregonstate.edu/checklist.

Today we’re excited to welcome Mary Ellen Dello Stritto and Kathryn Linder from the Oregon State University Ecampus Research Unit to introduce an excellent new resource: the Report Reader Checklist. This checklist is a set of criteria that can help guide report readers and evaluate online education. Thank you to Mary Ellen and Katie for […]

Congratulations! You are a Best Ranked School! But…

January 16, 2019.Reading time 13 minutes.

Picture of red, white, and blue first place ribbon.

In the media and in communications to your PR staff, there will be lots of hype this week about ranking online programs. In the past, we have been critical of such rankings on the basis of the quality of their methodology and we let them respond to questions from WCET members. Subsequent discussions produced mixed […]

ED Negotiated Rulemaking: First Reactions and a Preview

January 14, 2019.Reading time 27 minutes.

Set of guiding princples in a list: Fairness to all students. Incentivize, don’t punish, institutions for being innovative. Transform quality assurance standards to rely on educational outcomes. Simplify regulations around financial aid program eligibility requirements. Protect student and federal financial aid investments.

A fond welcome and thank you to Van Davis, Foghlam Consulting, for his analysis of what will be discussed in the U.S. Department of Education’s rulemaking process, which begins this week. As you will see, there sure is a lot on their plate! With WCET’s Russ Poulin on one of the subcommittee’s, we will be […]

Happy New Year From WCET: A Member-Driven Agenda for 2019

January 9, 2019.Reading time 12 minutes.

Fireworks exploding in the sky to spell out "2019"

Hello and welcome to a whole new year of WCET Frontiers blog posts! Today we’re joined by the Chairs of the WCET Leadership groups as well as our Executive Director for a welcome to 2019 and a discussion of WCET’s agenda and initatives for the year. Specifically, we’d like to call attention to an important […]

ED Negotiated Rulemaking: Suggested Principles for Addressing Issues

January 7, 2019.Reading time 25 minutes.

The U.S. Department of Education begins meetings of its negotiated rulemaking main committee and subcommittees next week. There are several issues that will have an impact on the technology-enhanced higher education community. These decision will affect your students, faculty, and your operations.In this post we suggest some principles to use in developing regulatory language around a […]

The Year in Review – What WCET Frontiers Posts Did You Read in 2018?

December 20, 2018.Reading time 9 minutes.

The top 10 (10 is crossed out and replaced with 12) WCET Frontiers Posts of 2018: 1. Interpreting What is Required for “Regular and Substantive Interaction” – originally published in 2016 2. E.U. Regulations That Are Enforceable Against U.S. Higher Education Institutions 3. Professional Licensure Notifications & Disclosures for Out-of-State Courses/Programs 4. State Authorization for Distance Ed Federal Regulation to be Implemented 07/01/2018 5. Sweeping Changes Proposed by the Department of Education 6. My online course quality rubric has a first name. It’s O-S-C-Q-R! 7. Is Your Distance Education Course Actually a Correspondence Course? –originally published in 2014 8. The Department of Education’s Plans for Overhauling Accrediting and Innovation Regulations 9. House HEA Proposes Changes for Distance Ed, CBE, and State Authorization – originally published in 2017 10. UNLV Pays a Cost for Not Notifying Students About Charges for Proctoring Services 11. Distance Education Enrollment Growth – Major Differences Persist Among Sectors 12. Federal Regulations Groundhog Day

In 2018, the idea for a “Most Popular Movie” Oscar (thankfully) came and went, we debated whether we heard “laurel” or “yanni,” and J.R. Smith looks lonely on the Cavaliers’ bench after forgetting the clock in the NBA Finals. While we did not cover any of those events in WCET’s Frontiers blog, our stories about […]

The value of micro-credentials and badging needs continual clarification

December 14, 2018.Reading time 19 minutes.

An image showcasing open badge concepts. The explanation reads: Knowledge isn't concrete; it can be gained in a wide variety of ways. Each day, valuable skills and expereince are attained by learners who get involved with activities outside of their formal classroom education. Sports teams and other extracurriculars can positively benefit a student's psyche. Unfortunately, traditional resumes and portfolio programs aren't typically formatted to shed light on the soft skills that are gained through this kind of involvement..

Welcome today to David Porter, CEO of eCampusOntario, who joins us to discuss the value of micro-credentials and badging. After an intriguing keynote presentation at an educational event, David reached out to several education colleagues who work and research in the micro-credentials and badging arena. Today he shares his observations from these discussions, and provides […]

Regional Collaboration in Promoting OER Adoption

December 12, 2018.Reading time 15 minutes.

Today WCET Frontiers is excited to showcase the recent Open Educational Resources (OER) Implementation and Policy Summit for the MHEC States. This multi-state OER meeting brought together OER advocates from across campuses, legislatures, faculty, students, and more to collaboratively learn about OER and OER expansion for their states. To give us a review of this […]

Marketable Skills + Credentialing = the Value of Signals

December 6, 2018.Reading time 11 minutes.

Defintion of "signal" from oxford dictionaries: VERB Transmit information or instructions by means of a gesture, action, or sound. NOUN A gesture, action, or sound that is used to convey information or instructions, typically by prearrangement between the parties concerned.

What signals do you use to showcase your skills and expertise? Our students need a way to let future employers know about their collegiate experiences and accomplishments. Today we welcome Mike Simmons from University of North Texas to discuss their institutional solution to changing workforce and higher education needs when it comes to credentials. Thank […]

WCET18 – The Thematic Experience

November 29, 2018.Reading time 21 minutes.

Hello and welcome to my yearly WCET Annual Meeting summary and review! This year I’m changing things up a bit – instead of the usual day-by-day, play-by-play, I’d like to focus on some of the themes we noticed that filtered through many sessions and hallway conversations. If you would like to check out conference information […]