Enhancing Online Executive Education Using Storytelling: An Approach to Strengthening Online Social Presence

One distinctive requirement of Executive Education is the need to integrate the corporate experiences of participants and frame them within a common body of knowledge wherein experiences can be shared, analyzed, and absorbed by all participants. What might customarily arise out of classroom camaraderie must now be technologically designed and supported from the outset in online executive education. Our research question is: What can be done to develop online executive programs that utilize the richness of executive experiences as the foundation for analyzing, comprehending, and retaining key concepts learned throughout the course? Storytelling is proposed as a method to capture and use corporate experiences of participating executives in meaningful ways while developing a strong social presence among participants online. This study explores organizational stories, identifying unique story elements and their purposes, and discussing how they can be introduced into online executive courses through modeled behavior, a part of social cognitive theory. Storytelling is compared to traditional case studies and chat rooms. While storytelling may be more difficult to implement, there are significant advantages to storytelling, including making the experience more real, increasing comprehension of concepts, and improving the retention of knowledge.     

A Technical/Strategic Paradigm for Online Executive Education

This article discusses the development and delivery of online courses for the executive education audience. The goal is to introduce a new framework, the technical/strategic paradigm, that will help educators to identify the pedagogical needs of disparate executive groups and adjust their online course development plans accordingly. We describe how four key elements of online courses (course structure, content‐based learning materials, assignments, and learning assessment) should be fashioned in a way that honors the technical or strategic focus of the learning environment. How the technical/strategic paradigm molds well with many different types of executive educational audiences and settings is illustrated. Course developers seeking advice on how to put these ideas into practice will find lists of resources and implementable recommendations. Ultimately, we argue that some of the pitfalls that faculty experience when transitioning from a traditional business school environment to an online executive education environment can be attributed to a misunderstanding of the degree to which students expect technical versus strategic content.     

Media Naturalness and Online Learning: Findings Supporting Both the Significant- and No-Significant-Difference Perspectives

Is the use of an online course delivery format, when compared with the more traditional face‐to‐face format, good or bad in the context of university education? Those who subscribe to the no‐significant‐difference perspective argue that online delivery is good, because it allows students with time and geographic distance constraints to obtain the education that they need, with no significant negative impact on the quality of the learning experience. Others argue that online delivery is bad, advocating a version of the competing significant‐difference perspective, because the electronic communication media used for online delivery are not rich or natural enough to enable effective learning. This study contrasted students perceptions and grades in two different sections of the same course: one delivered entirely online and the other delivered face to face. Data were collected and analyzed at two points in time, namely, at the middle and end of a long semester. The study found support for both the no‐significant‐ and significant‐difference perspectives. At the middle of the semester, students in the online condition perceived communication ambiguity as significantly higher, and also obtained significantly lower grades, than students in the face‐to‐face condition. At the end of the semester, no significant differences were found.     

A Project‐Based Approach to Executive Education

Executive education (EE) has been an important part of business school offerings for nearly as long as there have been business schools. Similarly, business schools were among the first in higher education to adopt online approaches as a means for course delivery. Despite this experience, few business schools have been able to successfully integrate EE with online delivery approaches. This study suggests that a project‐based approach can achieve EE/online delivery integration. The case is first made for a project‐based approach by telling the story of our institution's journey toward a project‐based EE model. Challenges, successes, and plans for the future are then discussed.     

Raising the bar: Encouraging high level thinking in online discussion forums

More universities are offering online instruction for students though we know little about effective online learning. Some have found online instruction increases student participation while others have reported that students prefer the traditional face‐to‐face format This study of gifted education graduate students follows the expectation that online students ought to have time to be more thoughtful with online course interactions as compared to the time‐constrained interactions in a face‐to‐face course. Researchers evaluated students’ thinking levels (as per Bloom's Taxonomy) in the online discussion forums required by a graduate course in gifted education. Results indicate there was no relationship between the level of the prompt and the level of the responses. Higher level prompts did not necessarily generate higher level responses. The research‐developed Rubric for Evaluation of Online Discussions can be used both as an instructional guide and as an evaluation rubric to assess the level of online discussions.     

Teacher as Client Therapy (TACT): A Model for Simulated Learning for Traditional and Online Delivery Models

ABSTRACT

The movement towards competency-based education in social work has required a shift in delivery to more experiential learning opportunities for students. Looking forward, the Council on Social Work Education [CSWE] has instituted a Futures Task Force, exploring roles social workers may play in the future, with particular attention to the evolution and revolution in technology. It is clear that social work programs will need to consider opportunities for ensuring the development of competency in an ever changing digital landscape. This article presents the evolution of a simulation model for use in various delivery models, including traditional face-to-face campus-based offerings, off-campus satellite classes, and hybrid or fully online courses. It documents the origin of the model in an off-campus format, highlighting the attributes afforded with its application on a traditional campus, and proposes an online solution to the resource dilemma endemic to many off-campus satellite models.     

Toward a Typology of Business Education in the Internet Age*

Many diverse forces are motivating institutions of higher education, particularly business schools, to develop and deliver education via the Internet. As higher education institutions explore this opportunity, the question of how courses and degree programs should be designed for effective online delivery via the Internet is a nontrivial concern and challenge. To address this concern and challenge, this paper articulates, defines, and justifies a typology consisting of four types of online distance education that can be pursued by institutions of higher education. The four online distance education types—Overview Model, Overview Model with Feedback, Technical‐Skills Model, and Managerial Learning Model—can be differentiated along a number of content‐related, delivery‐related, and learning‐related issues and have applicability at various educational levels. In addition, the paper highlights and discusses five key lessons for institutions to consider in their desire to launch online distance education initiatives. These lessons provide insights not only for launch success but also for the ongoing sustainability of online distance education.     

STEM education: A tale of two paradigms

Higher education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines has been in a turbulent period for several decades. Pressures for reform include declining STEM student enrollments, high attrition rates from STEM curricula, and the rise of powerful alternative teaching strategies shown by cognitive science and educational research to promote learning and curricular retention better than traditional teaching methods do. In addition, research has shown that online and face‐to‐face courses on average produce comparable learning outcomes, and hybrid courses that combine the best features of both are more effective than either face‐to‐face or online courses by themselves. Motivated by these and other pressures, many faculty members have adopted the new teaching methods, and distance education had become widespread well before the 2020 coronavirus pandemic forced most educators at all levels to teach online. As might be expected, however, many faculty members and administrators have resisted change, arguing that the traditional approach has always worked well and needs no major revision. Before the pandemic, most STEM courses were still being taught using the traditional methods, and many course instructors are eager to return to them. These different responses to calls for education reform have led to heated debates among university instructors and administrators regarding how STEM curricula and courses should be designed, delivered, and assessed, and the role technology should play in all three functions. This essay outlines two competing paradigms on each of these issues—the traditional paradigm, which has long dominated STEM education, and the emerging paradigm, which has become increasingly common in the last 30 years but is still not predominant at most universities and colleges. The essay concludes with speculation about the eventual outcome of the competition.     

The Introduction of Online Learning: A case study of YCMOU

There are many reasons why Indian open universities are adding online learning opportunities to their course offerings. Two universities, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), have been developing online aspects of their programs for some years. This article documents the experiences at IGNOU and then examines the situation for online development at YCMOU. Lessons can be learned from both experiences. These include being strategic in choosing which courses to offer, and in deciding which services to develop for which clientele. Choosing those that will bring the greatest enhancement in flexibility and efficiency for the least amount of new skill requirement from learners is likely to be of biggest benefit. Keeping cognizant of the computing context of learner sub‐groups and enhancing learning through additional optional online services is most likely to result in effective courses and quality student services while maintaining efficiencies in financial logistics.     

Considerations for Faculty Preparing to Develop and Teach Online Criminal Justice Courses at Traditional Institutions of Higher Learning

Criminal justice programs at traditional institutions of higher learning have been moving toward offering courses online and, in some cases, placing entire programs online for the better part of the past decade. In competition with for‐profit institutions, many traditional colleges and universities have expanded their distance education programming to include online courses and programs to attract students. As a result, the number of criminal justice students has increased, as have the profits for home institutions. With this growth in the online education market, the criminal justice faculty member has been thrust, willingly or unwillingly, into the world of online teaching—a method of instruction foreign to many instructors. From the authors’ experience at their current (and in the case of the lead author a second) institution, this paper addresses many issues that must be considered by faculty members before embarking on this type of time‐intensive initiative.     

cMOOC与xMOOC的辨证分析及高等教育生态链整合

知识经济社会是一种全新的社会形态,社会的发展以知识的生产和创新为基础,知识呈现出数字化、网络化的形态。当前基于课程的大学教育对知识传授的速度越来越滞后于知识增长的速度,也无法适应网络化知识产生、传播和应用的方式。高等教育从单纯面授模式转向在线模式或混合模式已成为不可逆转的趋势。MOOCs作为在线教育发展大潮中的一种探索形式,主要发展出基于联通主义学习理论的cMOOC和基于行为主义学习理论的xMOOC。从MOOCs的理念及其对高等教育变革的视角来看,cMOOC提出了适合数字时代基于网络的分布式认知过程的学习理论和教学模式;xMOOC借助于互联网,引入商业模式,突破了百年来高等教育坚固的“知识产业链”,吸引品牌大学的介入,为在线教育的发展提供了可操作的运行模式。但是无论哪种MOOCs均是课程层面的尝试,是局部的探索,因此需要站在数字化知识经济时代人才培养转型的高度,从整体上认识和把握在线教育的发展规律,积极推进尚处起步阶段的MOOC研究与实践。     

5G时代直播教育:创新在线教育形态

疫情防控期间在线教育蓬勃发展,直播教育作为在线教育发展的新形态,受到师生的广泛关注。直播教育兴起于20世纪20年代,其发展可以划分为广播直播教育、电视直播教育、互联网直播教育、高速全媒体直播教育四个阶段。相较于传统在线教育,直播教育在情感交流、临场感、交互性、教学资源时效性、个性化学习体验等方面具有显著优势。5G时代教育信息的高效传播,将激发直播教育活力,重构直播教育体验,创造直播教育产业价值,从而使直播教育成为变革传统在线教育、创新教育教学形态的重要力量。5G时代直播教育系统是一个由教师、学生、直播教育媒体、超高清直播教育资源、超高速信息传播通道等要素构成的直播教育传播系统,可以应用于大规模教育、慢教育、课堂教育、AI合成教师教育、全景教育、全息教育等教育模式。尽管5G时代直播教育蓄势待发,潜能巨大,但是目前尚不成熟,尚未形成直播教育产业链和生态链。未来可以在政策支持、标准研制、产业助推、资源建设、质量监管以及隐私保护等方面进一步引导和规范。     

Increasing Student Accounting Self‐Efficacy,Interest, and Knowledge Using the DuPont Model

This research describes a DuPont Model activity used in an introduction to business course. An in‐class activity stimulated students’ confidence in their ability to apply the fundamental accounting principles building upon students’ knowledge of a lemonade stand. Accounting is often viewed by students in introductory courses as “a foreign language,” with common reactions by students of fear and anxiety about financial statements and financial ratios (Borja; Brazelton; Deer, Gohn, and Kanaya; Eber and Parker; and Goh and Scerri). The DuPont Model was developed to visually connect an income statement and the balance sheet to five common financial ratios. Using a preactivity and a postactivity questionnaire and 76 matched pairs of student responses, changes or differences in two student self‐efficacy measures were found. Over one‐half of these student pairs showed increases or improvements in these two self‐efficacy measures from preactivity to postactivity, implying that the DuPont Model positively influenced these self‐efficacy measures. Correlation analysis also showed meaningful, positive correlations among students’ self‐efficacy differences and their attitudes toward accounting. Furthermore, students’ perceived characteristics of the DuPont activity are significantly and positively correlated with students’ attitudes toward accounting. Finally, the results of the study are encouraging to the authors to continue using the DuPont Model activity.     

Implementing Comprehensive Teacher Training in Business Doctoral Programs

The advent of digital course offerings, the use of social media, the integration of the Khan Academy into curricula, the use of smart phones and tablets, and massive online courses place greater emphasis than ever on effective teaching. While business schools fund faculty development in teaching, too few doctoral programs offer systematic teacher training. We discuss the lack of, and the need for, comprehensive teacher‐training programs. We present the Robinson College of Business model and offer recommendations on how to get started. It is time for PhD programs to certify that their students are capable of teaching upon graduation.     

Technology‐enhanced learning in higher education: How to enhance student engagement through blended learning

Blended learning has risen in popularity in the last two decades as it has been shown to be an effective approach for accommodating an increasingly diverse student population in higher education and enriching the learning environment by incorporating online teaching resources. Blending significant elements of the learning environment such as face‐to‐face, online and self‐paced learning leads to better student experiences and outcomes and more efficient teaching and course management practices if combined appropriately. Hence, an appropriate systematic and dynamic approach of blended learning design is crucial for a positive outcome, starting with planning for integrating blended elements into a course and creating blended activities and implementing them. Evaluating their effectiveness and knowing in which environments they work better and improving the blended activities designed from both the student’s and instructor’s perspective are critical for the next delivery of the course. This article aims to increase awareness of higher education educators about how traditional face‐to‐face learning can be transformed into blended courses so as to develop student engagement with both in‐class and online approaches, whilst being time effective for the instructor.     

Exploring the Roles of Social Presence and Gender Difference in Online Learning

Online learning has become more popular in higher education with its advantages of flexibility and accessibility. However, there have been challenges to students’ learning experience in online learning. One critical challenge would be providing interactions between students and instructors as good or effective as in the face‐to‐face environment. However, providing face‐to‐face interactions in online learning is not feasible because students and instructors are not physically present together. In this study, we introduce and empirically investigate social presence as student learning experience in online learning in which physical presence does not exist. Drawing upon the social presence and online learning literature, we propose a research model to explore how the interactivity of communication tools can drive social presence and student satisfaction in online learning. Furthermore, this study examines gender difference as a moderator in the model. Data were collected from undergraduate students who were taking online business statistics courses where an interactive communication tool was required to use for class communication and collaboration. The results showed that social presence driven by tool interactivity had a significant impact on student satisfaction in online learning. We also found that gender difference moderated the relationship between tool interactivity and social presence in online learning.     

Industry into teaching: an alternative model

Teacher shortages have encouraged initiatives to tailor training programs to meet the demand in both past, current and future contexts. Such programs have been streamlined to ensure a rapid response to shortages, in addition to also drawing participants from non‐traditional groups as a source of potential educators. More broadly in teacher education, recent developments have explored online and other forms of distance education, problem‐solving methodologies and increased site‐based workplace learning opportunities. The Accelerated Teacher Training Program (ATTP) currently offered at Charles Sturt University is based on an innovative model which combines together aspects of best practices to deliver an effective and quality course. This program was developed in response to the NSW Department of Education and Training’s (DET) need to meet the demand for more Technology and Applied Studies (TAS) teachers. This paper will look at the issue of teacher supply and demand and discuss the design, context and implementation of the ATTP, with a special focus on the professional practice and problem‐solving elements of the course.     

德国的博洛尼亚改革与高等教育学制与学位结构变迁

经过十年来的博洛尼亚改革,德国在2009/2010冬季学期已有79.2%的专业采用了颁发学士/硕士学位的新学制。也就是说,颁发新型学位的专业已经在很大程度上取代了颁发传统学位的专业。不过,在新型学士/硕士专业注册的学生人数目前仅占全部学生人数的42.9%。这表明,博洛尼亚进程虽然改变了德国传统的学制与学位结构,但在德国尚未实现其预定的目标。传统与新型学制和学位的并存是当前德国高等教育体制的一个突出特点。此外,当前改革中出现的一些问题也令德国对博洛尼亚改革的改革变得必要。     

Border crossings: Research training, knowledge dissemination and the transformation of academic work

At the crossroads of current innovation policies towards a European Research Area (ERA) and a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) lies an important province of higher learning and research: doctoral training and the further careers of PhD graduates. A considerable number of higher education systems across Europe shift their paradigms for doctoral training away from the traditional so-called Humboldtian model towards the so-called professional model. On this background, the paper discusses (1) the German pattern of a strong link of the PhD to the labor market outside academe that is based on a traditional academic-disciplinary mode of apprenticeship training, and (2) approaches that argue for a new mode of knowledge production replacing an academic-disciplinary model of research training by a hybrid model that crosses disciplinary and organizational borders. The paper argues that a diversity of organisational and structural forms as well as different validation criteria and procedures will probably determine the future face of research training.