| In a decade where business and the media have been transformed by digital technologies, higher education can feel stuck in the lecture hall.
The opportunity for universities to create a new kind of experience for students that exploits digital, is vast. It's not a case of dropping any of the essential features and qualities of the traditional university experience or turning to digital for its own sake, or indeed as a cost saving measure, but extending what universities do and making study work better as part of everyday life.
In particular that means digital HE for people already in work or who have family responsibilities and want to up-skill or change careers, for learners intent on study for the pure joy of discovering something new, or for students who like the institution and the course but not the need to relocate.
A major problem with online courses has been dropouts, rooted in a sense among students that an online course is less of, or requires less of, a serious commitment and somehow leads to a lesser qualification.
Unsurprisingly, non-completion rates from Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are around 90 per cent; but even in the US, where online degrees are more common, dropout rates are traditionally around 20-30 per cent.
That's why student experience is so important. We need HE that's fit for digital natives (which is now pretty much all students), comprising of a rich variety of learning experiences that can match the quality of what is happening on campus.
We can learn from the US institutions about how they've managed to change the culture of attitudes to online study.
Figures from a Babson College research study suggest that 6.1 million US students are taking at least one online course, with a forecast that more than half all US students will be taking an online course by 2018.
One such approach used in the US to change attitudes has been via the 'Student Success Adviser'. Each online student has their own personal mentor, someone who gets to know them, their background and their situation when it comes to fitting study into work or family life.
The adviser then stays with the student throughout the length of the programme, staying in touch both by phone and online to build up a relationship and give support and advice to keep them motivated.
In fact, this is something we're going to be introducing on two Coventry University courses running from next year.
We have to make sure we get the online delivery mix right, and that means more pilots and experiments: personal coaching, greater use of social media networks for collaboration with fellow students, and more online access to tutors (which, in principle, could provide students with more quality contact time than through classroom-based courses).
'Gamification' – the use of approaches from computer gaming, such as levels and rewards, to incentivise participation – may seem trite in the context of degree study, but there is potential for elements of gamification to be used to encourage the basics, like regular access of resources, completion of tasks, participation in online events and sharing ideas.
In his last speech as vice chancellor at the Open University, Martin Bean made a critical point about the danger of HE in the UK becoming 'irrelevant' unless it learns to do more with digital.
Yes we need to innovate, but more than that we need to make smart and thoughtful use of all the existing technologies and blend them together with academic quality and personal support to create an appealing and credible experience.
Students want HE that's shaped to fit their lives; the UK system needs to be able to offer more access – digital is the obvious missing link. |