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Colliding Forces

 Jeffery F. Billings

Technology Director

Paradise Valley Unified School District

March, 2008

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Chasm

Evolution from the industrial era to the “Knowledge Economy” is yield-

ing colliding forces between educational institutions, worldwide. This

evolution has been brought on largely through Internet convergence by

utilizing resources such as: online courses, electronic textbooks, adaptive

assessment, and multimedia communication tools; all of which contribute

to fundamental changes in the way curriculum, assessment and instruc-

tion can now be delivered. Those educational institutions that recognize and adapt to these changes will survive and

help mold the future. Institutions that don’t embrace the change will likely become marginalized, supporting but a

select subset of their former client base.

Public secondary education, in particular, can no longer rely solely on captured enrollment funding from “neighbor-

hood schools”. The first wake up call in Arizona was the “charter” movement. The second, and the bigger, is going

to be online education. Secondary education and learning is morphing into an anytime, anywhere choice , with

trends in choice suggesting an increasing role of technology and online services1. Local online charters, out of state

online high schools, online community colleges in various enrollment models, and national and international univer-

sities are all now successfully competing and colliding for the secondary-education dollar.

Changing Conditions

Post-Secondary

In a recent visit to the Microcomputers in Education ’08 conference, a presentation titled, “From OpenUniversitites

into MegaLearning Ecosystems”2

 , yielded some of the motivation for this paper. An eye-opening glimpse of what istranspiring in Europe is provided by Dr. Ali Ozkul from Anadolu Uni-

versity in Turkey. The European Union is collaborating on delivery of 

post-secondary education, increasing their online and virtual models

to be more global in perspective and reach. A worthy and intelligent

goal given the Information Age and The Knowledge Economy.

In 1969, the first “Open University” launched in the United Kingdom3.

Tied to the technology of the time, mail, and throughout the 20th cen-

tury, television, the university grew at a rate restricted by the technol-

ogy. With increasing Internet usage, current growth is rapidly ex-

panding, and it is now the largest university in the UK4 , servicing

learners from around the world. The enrollment success of this

movement is so strong that other international universities are re-

sponding in kind, coining the term “Mega University”. Anadolu University is one such university, with over 40% of 

the college-going, national population enrolled in the university, most of that, online.

There are currently over fifty “Mega Universities” throughout the world2 , and the transformational impact from

technology, coupled with the business model of “Open Universities”, is largely responsible. What makes “Open

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Universities” unique is the attempt to accredit each other, course for course, and the policy that regardless of age or

previous educational experience, if one can pass the entrance exam, one can enroll. No high school diploma, no

passing of AIMS test, etc., is necessary.

A PVUSD 10th grader could, if passing the entrance exam, enroll at an international, open university. Currently,

some U.S. post-secondary institutions, like San Jose State University (SJSU), are exploring the open movement, as one

can now enroll and receive credit for any college course, without being formerly “admitted” to SJSU5. Countless

other universities are exploring differing models, such as the rapid increase of online courses at Arizona State Uni-

versity1 , the all online potential of Indiana University’s 90/30 program6 , Maricopa County Community College’s

“Early College” program7 , etc.. All yield a blurring of formerly discrete market layers, brought on by the need/desire

to compete in the flattening Knowledge Economy, resulting in large part from increased Internet usage.

Spin-offs of the Open University movement include the Open Courseware initiative at Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology8. Entire coursework by some of the best minds in the world are provided for free, along with digitized

lectures, class notes, lesson plans, references, and the like. The Open Courseware initiative is being enriched through

the addition of many more universities, companies, and individuals.

Rich content using the iTunes U portal9 is being delivered for free,

to any individual, any institution. Universities like Duke, Ber-

keley, University of Michigan, and ASU contribute. PVUSD itself 

is leading this charge by being the first K12 in the world to actively

publish and deliver their curricular content and instructional practices using this venue.

This freely available content is generally provided through Creative Commons10 licensing. The “open” nature of 

Creative Commons is transformational, as under the licensing, others are free to remix, reuse, or redistribute the con-

tent. Having free, rich content in turn causes pro- found impacts to the education and publishing

industries. What does the professor of the post- secondary market look like in the future, with

the course content already made and available? What will the secondary teacher of today need

to do less of, do more of, in the future? How will institutions respond with curricular con-

tent so readily available to them and their clients?

Secondary

Influence from the successes at post-secondary level are starting to emerge in secondary education as well. Institu-

tions such as Anadolu University, Stanford, and MIT are but a few examples of successful entrance into the secondary

market. The early-entry models vary from a large MegaUniversity (e.g., Anadolu) with an “Open High School”2 , to

targeting “gifted” high school students11 (e.g., Stanford), to online offerings of specific high school subjects such as

science and math12 (e.g., MIT). These institutions will no doubt fully exploit technology to transform the K12 market

space, similar to what’s transpiring in post-secondary. PVUSD should therefore continue to aggressively compete for

value added in this new delivery of education, or face market restrictions.

Not just the curriculum, it is now possible for the secondary student toreceive one on one instructional support from a qualified expert from in-

ternational companies, like Tutor Vista. Heralded13 by the likes of “The

Today Show” and “The New York Times”, Tutor Vista represents a significant commercial and international entry to

capitalize on the Internet for anytime, anywhere, student instruction. For approximately $100 per month (note -

quantity procurement reduces rates further), any student can receive unlimited “one on one” tutoring, using audio/

video conferencing, digital white boards, etc., on any subject, anywhere, anytime. Using free curricular content from

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the likes of MIT or Stanford, and the instructional support model of an

entity like Tutor Vista, how does a $33 per hour PVUSD tutor or teacher

compete? Is the quality of our current teaching so strong that the market

will continue to enroll secondary students at our neighborhood schools -

3 years, 7 years, or 15 years from now? Will our current model of secon-

dary school start times of 7:30 am, and 50 minute bell schedules, be ableto withstand the flexibility of anytime, anywhere access? How can

PVUSD compete with a high school student getting national or interna-

tional college credit for the same time commitment?

Suggested PVUSD Action

Recommendations to position PVUSD for future market space, include:

1) Continue lobbying efforts to the Arizona Legislature and the Governor’s Office for expansion of TAPBI (Technol-

ogy Assisted Project Based Instruction) to include PVUSD. Articulation might include expansion for more partici-

pants, or allowing all Local Education Agencies to openly compete in the market. While trying to edge the lobby-

ing process on is important, PVUSD should not wait on legislative action/inaction before positioning its future.

2) Begin to transform our secondary instruction to provide digital curricula from venues like iTunes U, yielding rich,

college-going content in all secondary classes (not just “alternative” courses);

• Physics lectures on Newton’s Laws from Stanford University15.

• Stoichiometric Chemistry from the University of Houston16.

• Molecular Biology from MIT17.

• Introduction to Communication from Arizona State University18.

3) Evolve Distancia to use the already available content targeted specifically for the secondary

space, rather than relying so heavily on self-created content. Said content might include theexamples below;

• K12 Educational Commons19 for some elective courses, using Open Source software - INGOTS using

OpenOffice for international certification (Business), Inkscape for Vector Graphics and Publishing, GIMP

and Flickr (Digital Photography).

• HippoCampus20 - funded by the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education - housing dozens of 

secondary courses like Physics, Algebra, Calculus, American Government, Psychology,

Religion, Environmental Sciences, where all courses are relationally linked to the

content of major secondary textbooks.

• ChemCollective.org21

- funded by the National Science Foundation - free and avail-able - dozens of online simulations, virtual labs, scenarios, concepts and assessments.

4) Raise content rigor in core subjects within Distancia, by using entry-level collegiate courses,

freely available through the Open Educational Resources22 concept, with some examples pro-

vided below;

• Evolution 10123 - Berkeley University.

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• Courses through the Carnegie Mellon’s Open Learning Initiative (OLI24) offering; Physics, Statistics,

French, Logic, Biology, Economics, Engineering Statics, etc..

• Fully embrace the hundreds of online units and courses through the U.K’s Open University2 initiative,

with core curricular and elective topics, substantially covered, and free.

5) Consideration should be given towards how best to ingrain online learning, using systems/tools like Distancia,into the core culture and services of secondary learning throughout all PVUSD learning environments. Specifically,

PVUSD should consider positioning online learning beyond the alternative, supplementary, or community educa-

tion models, evolving it quickly to be part of all instructional delivery.

6) PVUSD should develop a course of action to acquire funding sources; including resources from, federal and phil-

anthropic grants, business consortiums and leading institutions. Professional networking, forward thinking and

robust partnerships will be critical to advancing in the 21st-century, secondary education market.

Statement

Current public education practices of being a facility-based and tenured posi-

tion enterprise, doesn’t make sense in the Global Economy. The pricing model

can not compete with free content from renown sources, and instant access to

globally-priced content experts from China, India, Europe. The challenge be-

comes not just increasing the educational value within our walls and bricks, but

extending value beyond the physical constraints of space and time. In essence,

how do we become the best at online teaching and learning, be it completely

online, and/or a hybrid model of face to face with online.

Moving from an analog culture to a digital enterprise may require eliminating decades of institutionalized practices,

like master scheduling, textbook adoptions, whole-group instruction, calendaring and start times based on transpor-

tation fleets, and relying on funding based solely on captured (for now) attendance. Embracing online models of 

instructional delivery and competing in new arenas using technology tools and methods must become culturally

ingrained. We must transform rules, policies, associations, and long held beliefs that because we are “public educa-

tors” we are somehow entitled to an exclusive right to provide secondary learning in the 21st century. The competi-

tion gauntlet for the Knowledge Economy in this Information Age has been thrown before K-12, and certainly the

public secondary profession.

Curricular content, the “what”, is becoming readily available through diverse channels and free, using practices such

as Creative Commons. Further, the digital nature of the content is such that multiple representations and numerous

media types can in fact accelerate, enhance and differentiate the learning process. PVUSD is beginning to use free,

digital content, but it should be our practice norm, not an exception. Pressure to terminate or significantly alter the

practice of “textbook adoptions”, should be immediately applied throughout the enterprise and planning processes.

PVUSD should also immediately develop and refine best practices of online instructional frameworks and scaffold-

ing, the “how”, of our product. This includes development on how best to use resources like Distancia, and consen-

sus of pedagogy using online systems in general. A credible example of the instructional phase of the open and on-

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line movement is examplified by Carnegie Mellon, through their Open Learning Initia-

tive24 below:

http://www.cmu.edu/oli/tour/index.html

There, Carnegie Mellon depicts how post-secondary is systemically re-

sponding to changing “instructional” times through the use of online prac-tices. Their continual refinement is guided by the principle stated by Her-

 bert Simon, Carnegie Mellon, “Improvement in post-secondary education will

require converting teaching from a ‘solo sport’ to a community-based research activ-

ity”.

The use of technology to service the markets of post-secondary and secondary education is blurring on a local

through international scale, as the thirst to provide information, knowledge, and learning become economic drivers

of the 21st Century. What better institution than PVUSD to help lead the way?

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References1 Billings, Jeffery F. & Baumgartner, Timothy, January 2007 - Call to Legislatively Enact eLearning for All of Arizona’sSecondary Level (9-12) Students and Schools: Findings of Student Achievement Research in Comparing eLearning toTraditional, Face to Face Learning Environments, Paradise Valley Unified School District - Internal Report -http://www.pvschools.net

2 Microcomputers in Education 2008, Arizona State University - From Open Universities into MegaLearning Ecosys-tems, Ali Ozkul, Anadolu Univerity - http://mec.asu.edu

3 United Kingdom - Open University - http://www.open.ac.uk/

4 Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_University

5 SanJose State University - http://ou.sjsu.edu/frequently-asked-questions/what-is-open-university

6 Indiana University - 90/30 program - http://scs.indiana.edu/undergraddegrees/undergraddegrees.html

7 Maricopa Community College - Paradise Valley Community College - personal dialog

8 Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Open Courseware -

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm9 Apple Computers - iTunes U - http://www.apple.com/education/itunesu_mobilelearning/itunesu.html

10 Creative Commons - http://creativecommons.org/

11 Stanford University - EPGY Open High School - http://epgy.stanford.edu/ohs/

12 Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Open Courseware for High School -http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/hs/home/home/index.htm

13 Tutor Vista - http://www.tutorvista.com/

14 Distancia - PVUSD’s Online Portal - http://distancia.pvschools.net

15

 Stanford University - Introduction to Physics -http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/itunes.stanford.edu.1406189894.01406189896.1404868852?i=1232809756

16 University of Houston - Stoichiometric Chemistry -http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/uh.edu.1304432563.01477979116.1344100084?i=1423056193

17 Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Molecular Biology -http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/mit.edu.1329584553.01329584560.1329303271?i=1209609123

18 Arizona State University - Introduction to Communication -http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/asu.edu.1144586976.01144586979.1476070310?i=1088424980

19 K12 Educational Commons - http://k12edcom.org/

20 HippoCampus - http://www.hippocampus.org

21 ChemCollective.org - http://chemcollective.org/

22 OER - Open Educational Resources Commons - clearinghouse promoting open resources for education -http://www.oercommons.org/

23 Berkeley University - Evolution 101 - http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_01

24 Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative - http://www.cmu.edu/oli/

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