I recently re-read an article written by Phil Hill in the Educause Review titled “Online Educational Delivery Models: A Descriptive View“. For someone like me who needs a way to put structure to the chaos that is the education technology and services landscape in higher education (not to mention K-12), this article is one of the best. In particular, I found his visuals on the course design landscape (figure 1) and timeline (figure 2), to be well designed and easy to understand. I have added the two visuals to this post for your reference.
Education Delivery Models (2012) courtesy of Phll Hill and the Delta Initiative
Timeline of Delivery Models courtesy of Phil Hill and the Delta Initiative
Phil states in his article that “the coming five to ten years will be a bumpy ride for traditional institutions”. I agree completely. In my interactions with institutions, I am continuously interested in seeing how executives filter through these opportunities and take action that is appropriate for them to deliver results to students. What exactly are results? I believe that a result is a potential graduate being ready and able to compete in the workforce. If my definition is true, then I have three questions that I hope to have answers to by the end of this year.
- Is it productive for an institution to blend one or more of these models together? For example, a university partners with a “school-as-a-service” provider to enhance their online offerings, BUT the partnership also includes these online offerings to be competency based courses/credentials. Maybe this is already being done at places such as Southern New Hampshire (who does not need to hire a provider to design and market their courses). It is not just important to have online offerings, it is important that these offerings lead and prepare students for a specific outcome.
- In the next five to ten years, will we witness educational darwinism? WIth increased competitition, how many schools will fail to innovate quick enough? I wonder if we will see half the U.S. institutions we currently have today.
- What happens to the learning management system (LMS)? Blackboard is essentially one of the first successful education technology startups. Do they morph into something more like Instructure, a software that is cloud based and MOOC friendly?
Only time will tell. I hope to get feedback from industry experts like Phil as I continue to have these conversations. If you have anything to add, I welcome your responses!