This document discusses emerging technologies in higher education and whether they are simply entertaining students or can be used innovatively. It notes the large increase in online and on-ground enrollment at one college. It then discusses perspectives on whether entertaining or engaging students is the job of faculty through clicker polls. It also discusses definitions of educational technology terms and levels of technology adoption among different demographic groups through additional clicker polls. It raises questions about whether online learning dumb downs education or if technologies are just attempts to be cool. It also discusses challenges like distraction and lack of discipline online as well as the ability to multitask. It concludes that most agree higher education needs significant change to remain relevant in the future.

1. Emerging Technologies
in Higher Ed
Or, are we simply amusing
ourselves to death?

2. Barry Dahl

3. Beautiful Duluth, Minnesota

6. -
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10
LSC - Full Year Equivalent Enrollment
Online On-ground Total
2,699 2,700
224
975

7. Barry Dahl dot com

8. ITC eLearning Conference

9. Clicker Time
• Grab your clicker
• First, some
demographics.

10. Gender
Fem
ale
M
ale
16%
84%
1. Female
2. Male

11. Age
29
&
under
30-44
45-56
57
&
older
1%
38%39%
22%
1. 29 & under
2. 30-44
3. 45-56
4. 57 & older

12. Teaching Experience
15
yrsorm
or...
Under15
year...
Nevertaught
59%
6%
34%
1. 15 yrs or more
2. Under 15 years
3. Never taught

13. Faculty Perspective
• For the next two clicker statements –
• Put on your faculty hat, regardless of
whether you actually have one

14. Entertaining Students is
NOT my Job
Fact
W
hack
65%
35%
A. Fact
B. Whack

15. Engaging Students is
NOT my Job
Fact
W
hack
95%
5%
A. Fact
B. Whack

16. Not this kind of entertainment

17. More like a Bridge Party

18. Who said this?
“Anyone who tries to make a
distinction between
education & entertainment
doesn't know the first thing
about either.”

19. and now this …….

20. 29%
8%
66%
14%
14%
11%
Which of these terms can you define?
1.PLN
2.MUVE
3.MMORPG
4.LMS
5.FOSS
6.None of the above

21. Team Scores
29.09 Male
26.43 57 & older
26.22 15 yrs or more
22.35 30-44
22.3 Female
20.65 45-56
18.52 Under 15 years
12 Never taught
The winners are

22. 0%
6%
25%
81%
81%
67%
Which of the following do you do?
1. File income taxes online (e-file)
2. Use online banking services
3. Check email on 3 or more diff. accts
4. Have an avatar in Second Life
5. Engage in an MMORPG (NOT SL)
6. None of the above

23. 1%
68%
38%
73%
45%
48%
Choose each true statement
1. You own an iPhone, Droid, Blackberry
2. Prefer online news over newspapers
3. You consider yourself to be creative
4. You have more than 5 cloud documents
5. You can define the term “Web 2.0”
6. None of the above are true

24. What is Web 2.0?

25. Select each site where you
have an account.
9%
52%
22%
49%
46%
80% 1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. LinkedIn
4. MySpace
5. YouTube
6. None of the above

26. Team Scores
212.94 30-44
203.82 Male
187.41 Under 15 years
185.94 15 yrs or more
178.65 45-56
177.53 Female
175.86 57 & older
124 Never taught
100 29 & under
The most wired are

27. There has been a large increase in the
use of Web 2.0 tools in higher ed.
Reality
M
yth
40%
60%
1.Reality
2.Myth

28. Web 2.0 Users
Frankly my dear, most people just don’t give a damn

29. 1 million on Facebook

30. 1 million Haters on Facebook

31. < 1 million on Facebook

32. Select each item that is true.
33%
18%
45%
11%
49% 1. You have created one or more blogs
2. You write one or more active blogs
3. You regularly read 1+ education blogs
4. You read 10+ blogs via RSS feeds
5. None of the above

34. Who said this?
“I don't necessarily
agree with
everything I say.”

35. and now this …….

36. Neil Postman
• Public Discourse
in the Age of
Show Business
• Published 1985

37. Amusing Ourselves to Death
• Many of the
remarks he made
about television
can be made
today about
computers and
social networking

38. My Take on Postman
• Web 1.0 was just another one-way
distraction device, very TV-like.
• However, Web 2.0 goes beyond
amusement by bringing people
together and encouraging creativity.

39. Legit Questions
• Is online learning a serious
endeavor, or just a dumbing down of
education?
• Is the use of emerging technologies
just an attempt to be more cool?
• Where’s the beef?

40. Hard Questions
• Shortly after Postman’s
death, Web 2.0 started
to develop and began
feeding what Huxley
called “man’s almost
infinite appetite for
distractions.”

41. Hard Questions
• What is happening to
deep reading?
• Do hypertext sidetracks
add or subtract from our
learning?
• How do we develop the
proper discipline on the
net to not be so easily
distracted?

42. and now this …….

43. Is this Innovation or Insanity?
Culture, Gender, and Identity – taught with World of Warcraft
CC Flickr photo by
glenn.batuyong

44. Take your pick
Innovation
Insanity
31%
69%
1. Innovation
2. Insanity

45. Team Scores
32.14 45-56
31.25 30-44
30.95 15 yrs or more
30 Male
29.09 Female
28 57 & older
25 Under 15 years
25 Never taught
Who said insanity?

46. Is this Innovation or Insanity?
History of Rock-n-Roll Music course – taught with Guitar Hero
CC Flickr photo
By 5th Ape

47. and now this …….

48. Who said this?
“All media exist to invest
our lives with artificial
perceptions and
arbitrary values.”

49. and now this …….

50. Some people are great multi-taskers

51. The human brain
can multi-task.
Reality
M
yth
47%
53%
1. Reality
2. Myth

52. Team Scores
100 29 & under
59.26 Under 15 years
58.82 30-44
54.55 Male
48.33 Female
46.67 45-56
40.91 15 yrs or more
40 Never taught
39.29 57 & older
Most correct answers

53. Multi-tasking is a Myth
• Great Book
• Brain Rules,
by Dr. John
Medina

54. The Power of Networks
• How many contacts do you have in
your phone?
• How many Twitter followers or
Facebook friends do you have?
• How many people can you reach
without leaving this room?

55. Way More than 33 Million
• Don’t Buy the Book!
• Just absorb the
concept.
• Behold the power
of the network

56. Who said this?
“We shape our tools
and afterwards our
tools shape us.”

57. Speaking of
Twitter …….

58. Twitter is stupid!!
Tw
ue
False
45%
55%
1. Twue
2. False

59. Team Scores
75 Never taught
64.29 30-44
63.64 Male
61.29 45-56
60.87 Under 15 years
53.57 Female
50 15 yrs or more
46.15 57 & older
Twue Enough

60. Twitter makes me like people I’ve never met and Facebook
makes me hate people I know in real life. @shaylamaddox

61. and now this …….

62. DIY U
• Anya Kamenetz
• Edupunks,
Edupreneurs, and
the Coming
Transformation of
Higher Education

63. DIY U – Ch. 1 - History
• Single biggest recipient benefactor
of federal financial aid is
______________
• University of Phoenix
• Does it seem odd that a “private”
university gets the most public
funds?

64. • Suggestion: “Allocate Funds for
Access”
• “Colleges that serve rich students
get more federal and state money
than colleges that serve poor
students.”
• This needs to be reversed.
DIY U – Ch. 2 - Sociology

65. • Idea: Restore the concept of “free.”
• Have you heard of Hard Work U?
• Part of the “Work College
Consortium.”
• Min. 15 hours per week per student.
DIY U – Ch. 3 - Economics

66. • “If universities can’t find the will to
innovate and adapt to changes in
the world around them, universities
will be irrelevant by the year 2020.”
• David Wiley (as quoted in DIYU)
DIY U – Ch. 4 – Computer
Science

67. • “Edupunk is about the utter
irresponsibility and lethargy of
educational institutions, and the
means by which they are
cannibalizing their own mission.
• Jim Groom (as quoted in DIYU)
DIY U – Ch. 5 – Independent
Study

68. • 20 years from now … “won’t be the
brick and mortar and a course in
this & that. It’s going to be more
outcomes based and skill based,
project based.
• Judy Baker (Foothill-DeAnza
College)
DIY U – Ch. 6 - Commencement

69. Do you agree that higher ed
needs to change significantly to
remain relevant?
Yes
No
12%
88%
1.Yes
2.No

70. and now this …….

71. Who said this?
“We look at the present
through a rear-view
mirror. We march
backwards into the
future.”

72. Who said this?
“The medium is
the message”

73. Marshall McLuhan

74. and now this …….

75. Higher Ed Moves Slowly