November 17th, 2011 by Robin Green

Before I sit down to write my weekly blog post, I read countless articles about online learning and training, learning management systems, and why online learning is the key to our future educational success. And you know what? It can get confusing and more than a little overwhelming. If I’m just putting the information out there, imagine how all the prospective students feel!

The article that got me thinking was this one, published in the November 4 online edition of The New York Times. For those of you who have yet to click on the link, the title of the article is, “The Online College Crapshoot.” I’m sure I’ve got your attention now, because that title certainly got mine in a hurry.

Having received my degrees the “old fashioned” way, I have to admit that I had a healthy amount of skepticism about online learning until I learned more about it. Now, I feel confident enough to not only write about it, I would not hesitate to take an online course or two myself. But, I am in a position to experiment; what if I was counting on an education to help me find a better job in order to support my family? Then, I wouldn’t have quite as much time to research my decisions. The thing is, you have to; if you don’t you might as well be playing craps with your future, because many of these educational entities are counting on their students not being particularly diligent in their research.

Read the Fine Print and Think It Over

I suggest to everyone reading my words to go back and click on the link I provided. In the first section of the article, author Laura Pappano talks about How US News & World Report attempted to compile a list of quality online schools, similar to their trusted version of bricks-and-mortar institutions. They ran into some significant roadblocks, and to date, the list remains unpublished. Many of the online institutions refused to cooperate and provide the data US News required. Things like SAT scores, number of students, graduation statistics - you know, important stuff that is vital to figuring out if a particular school is suitable for your needs. But, the average online student may not care so much about the same information a tradition student does. Still, as your parents always told you, it pays to do your homework.

Having a clear-cut goal is crucial for getting the most from online courses. Make sure you have a specific plan of action before choosing a school. Pay attention to the reception you receive when you contact your institution of choice. Many of the for-profit online universities tend to engage in the “hard sell” because they have quotas to meet. If you choose one of them, you’d better be 100 percent certain the institution has the exact courses you need. If you’re going for a degree, make sure it is exactly the degree you want to receive. Remember, you’re embarking on enrollment with little to no guidance, so it’s up to you to make sure you kick the tires and look under the hood before you agree to anything and enter those credit card digits.

More and more traditional colleges are starting up online programs, so if there’s a school in your area you’ve always wanted to attend, investigate that one first. In other words, go with the devil you know, rather than the one you don’t. It’s a good place to start.

Always keep in mind that education is a lifelong process. As a lot of questions and think about the answers you receive. It’s only a matter of time before you find the right path.

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Coggno.com is a premier LMS software platform for both publishers of educational content and learners

November 10th, 2011 by Robin Green

Many small businesses still view employee training as the dreaded “optional expense”, only to be relied upon when absolutely necessary. In today’s roller coaster economy, that could be viewed as sound judgement, but in reality, it is counterproductive. There are so many qualified individuals looking for work that proper training is all they need to embark on a new career path. A diamond in the rough could very well be your next star employee with the right form of guidance.

Training Should Be a Priority

According to statistics from the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), companies with fewer than 500 employees devote less time to training their employees than larger companies. Ironically, that decision ends up costing more money. Historically, smaller companies shy away from large-scale training sessions due to the expenses and time involved. But, the lack of training proves costly because employees that don’t have the knowledge to perform efficiently will cost more in the long run for things like seasonal labor and additional bodies to do jobs one person can handle. All that’s needed is proper, cost-effective guidance to ensure employees are making the contributions they are capable of.

Ability and Innovation are Key

An employee who feels valued by his or her employer is one who will do a great job. In today’s workforce it is crucial to make employees feel they are making a significant contribution, and there is no better way to ensure that than by offering quality training.

Online training gives employees the opportunity to increase their skill levels and expand their knowledge bases. When you offer an employee the opportunity to conveniently sharpen their skills either at their desks or at home, you are empowering them to travel outside their comfort zones. Effective online training will boost morale, increase profits and allow employees to reap the benefits of working for a more efficient operation. Learning allows everyone to enrich their lives, be it at work or on their own time. Regardless of where or when, it is always a good thing.

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Coggno.com is a premier LMS software platform for both publishers of educational content and learners

November 3rd, 2011 by Robin Green

It’s no secret that the state of California is in a state of serious financial crisis. Everything from jobs, funding of social programs and services have been cut in an effort to close the budget gap.

Last month, one of our favorite online resources for e-learning news, InsideHigherEd.com, reported that one of the ways California is looking to save money is to increase the number of online courses the state’s public universities offer.

Teachers Feeling Threatened by Specter of Online Courses

UC teachers and administrative staff are said to be working in fear of a “bloodletting” as the state evaluates innovative ways to raise itself out of the budgetary mire it is stuck in. According to a declaration posted on its Web site, the UC chapter of the American Federation of Teachers said, “We believe that if courses are moved online, they will most likely be the classes currently taught by lecturers, and so we will use our collective bargaining power to make sure that this move to distance education is done in a fair and just way for our members.” Lecturers make up nearly half of the active teachers of undergraduate courses in the state’s system, and they seem to have gotten their way with a compromise from UC: a new provision to the collective bargaining agreement was added to protect members, barring the system from creating online courses or programs that would result in “a change to a term or condition of employment” of any lecturer without first consulting the union.This gives the teachers the power to veto the creation of online coursework without the union’s approval.

Does the UC-AFT Understand the Future of Learning?

While across-the-board budget cuts have been affecting learning in the U.S. for time immemorial, are the UC teachers really afraid of losing their jobs to budget cuts, or are they afraid of technology invading the hallowed halls of academia? And, are they preventing the access to education that many Californians need in order to make necessary career changes that they need to undertake due to their own employment issues? Many unemployed Americans have endeavored to facilitate career changes through first time forays into higher education, or returning to it in order to strengthen their skills in order to recapture gainful employment. Many job-seekers need the flexibility of online learning so they can accomplish these goals; so do traditional college-age students who may not be able to afford full or part-time course loads because of the same budget cuts affecting state employees.

Online Push Still in its Infancy

It remains to be seen how the teachers and the state will fare in this battle to balance the budget while keeping education standards in place. Other states have been working on plans to make their university systems more cost-effective, and the most sensible way is by offering more online learning courses. Stay tuned…

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Coggno.com is a premier LMS software platform for both publishers of educational content and learners

October 27th, 2011 by Robin Green

At Coggno, we’re always looking for exciting ways to spread the word about new concepts in education and training. After all, learning is a lifelong process and it should be fun, right?

One of the most tedious things we have to endure in the workplace is training. Think about it - how many times have you been stuck in meetings and seminars that are about as exciting as watching paint dry? Not only is the content boring, the planning is no picnic, either. On the whole, that equals a pretty unpleasant experience for all involved.

Old vs. New: It’s Time for a Change

Putting together a training seminar means hours of work; if you do it the old-fashioned way. You have to ascertain the compliance level of each employee, figure out who needs what to maintain regulatory standards, divide them up into groups and then hunt down the trainer or trainers you need to get everyone up to speed. There isn’t enough caffeine in the world to keep you awake through all that. Plus, we’re forgetting the laundry list of other tasks you have to accomplish in addition to finding those elusive trainers to get the job done. There has to be a better way.

The Better Way Has Arrived

We all know people who refuse to embrace technology. They’ve been dragged kicking and screaming into the information age, and are still not comfortable with the Internet and all the associated gadgetry assaulting their senses. Well, the time to stop kicking and screaming has arrived; all this technology can actually make your life easier.

Take a look at our snappy Information Graphic, or “infographic” for short. We have given you a way to obtain training for your employees in 4 simple steps - as opposed to 11. You really can eliminate 7 time consuming steps by creating a learning management system with help from the pros at Coggno. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s a lot more fun than the old way. And let’s not forget the best part: it’s not only efficient, it’s cost effective. You’re saving time and money. What could be better than that?

Take a few moments to look over our infographic. Go ahead, stare at it for a while. We think the longer you look at it, the more you’ll see that our way - the new way - is the best way. And your employees will thank you for not making them sit through boring seminars with monotone speakers droning on until everyone’s heads hit the tables. They can accomplish their training anywhere, on almost any device they choose.

Technology is a good thing. If you don’t believe us, feel free to ask us why.

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Coggno.com is a premier Learning Management System platform

October 20th, 2011 by Robin Green

Facebook and the U.S. Department of Labor have announced a collaboration, the Social Jobs Partnership, geared towards helping America’s job-seekers via social networking. Also included in the mix is the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), DirectEmployers Association (DE), and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA). By joining forces with these agencies, Facebook hopes to make job searches more productive by providing resources via a social media platform.

Partnership Provides Access to Employment Programs as Well as Education and Training

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said in a statement, “By leveraging the power of the social Web, this initiative will provide immediate, meaningful and ready-to-use information for job seekers and employers, and a modern platform to better connect them.”

Also in the press briefing held earlier today, Facebook’s Vice President of Global Policy, Marne Levine, commented that 92 percent of employment recruiters have either already used social networks or are planning to use social networks to engage individuals who are attempting to find work.

Although jobless claims declined slightly in September, the total unemployment rate in the U.S. is holding steady at 9.1 percent.

One Partner Provides Access to Online Learning

One of Facebook’s Social Jobs partners is the Web site Careeronestop.org, which provides users access to information about education and training options. There are many useful links in the “Career Training and Education” section that will lead users to information about e-learning courses, financial aid, skills training and even scholarships.

The information on Facebook’s Social Jobs Partnership page will provide a helping hand to anyone looking for work, plus the networking capabilities of social media at their fingertips. Users can take advantage of all types of resources located in one convenient place, plus the added benefit of sharing information and experiences with other users.

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Coggno.com is a premier LMS software platform for both publishers of educational content and learners

October 13th, 2011 by Robin Green

According to the Web site, GetEducated.com, two American schools have recently launched online doctoral programs in education.

If you want to obtain a Doctor of Education (Ed.D) in Instructional Systems Technology (IST) entirely online, Indiana University is the place to go. If you love Idaho, Boise State University is also offering an online doctoral program in Educational Technology. Since we all know technology is becoming an educational staple, I say, hurrah! I would have loved to have attended grad school online.

Indiana U. Sets the Tone for Its First Online Doctorate

Gerardo Gonzales, the Dean of the School of Education, said in a press release, “The IST program has an outstanding international reputation for quality and innovation. Our graduates are employed in leadership positions in a variety of settings throughout the world. The new online degree will make available a program with a proven track record to people we could not have reached otherwise. It is in itself an application of the innovative teaching for which our faculty is known.”

While all coursework will take place online, students in this program will be required to visit the school’s Bloomington, IN campus three times over the course of their studies. The qualifying exam and the oral dissertation defense will occur in person, on campus.

The traditional campus-based IST doctorate Indiana University offers is a Ph.D. The online version is an Ed.D, which focuses on applying theory to practice.

According to university officials, the online doctoral program was launched due to student demand; many students who participated in the school’s online masters programs who wanted to conduct further research and obtain doctorates at the same institution.

Boise State Also Expanding from Online Masters Programs

Boise State University’s online masters program for Educational Technology has been in existence for about a decade. The online masters program has been so successful that the school decided to seek accreditation for the online doctoral program. The first students will be accepted into the program beginning in 2012.

Students taking part in the online doctoral program will explore emerging technologies for effective and efficient teaching. Their areas of focus will include online teaching, technology integration, educational software development and more. The Educational Technology Department at Boise State is responsible for some of the most groundbreaking research in K-12 classroom technology systems, and the new doctoral program will give students the opportunity to research new technologies as part of their coursework.

Boise State has a long history of embracing distance learning to deliver higher education to remote areas of its own state as well as neighboring communities. The new doctoral program is expected to draw educators from all across the U.S. who are interested in combining research with practical experience they’ve already acquired in their own local school systems.

These advancements may have many traditional educators quaking in their boots, but isn’t technology what it’s all about now?

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Coggno.com is an LMS that allows the online publisher of educational content connect with learners worldwide.

October 6th, 2011 by Robin Green

An opinion piece appearing today on the Web site, Inside Higher Ed has two former U.S. governors, Jeb Bush (R-FL) and Jim Hunt (D-NC) agreeing that public universities need to embrace technology. Both are concerned about the fact that the struggling economy may prevent millions of students from obtaining the post-secondary education they need in order to keep the U.S. in place as the world’s global economic leader. Both agree that funding is not likely to return to pre-recession levels, and students are going to have to look for alternatives to the traditional university education experience.

Addressing the Issues Will Take Time

Both Bush and Hunt feel it is imperative for schools to give their students what they want; they must make peace with the fact that today’s tech-savvy student body wants more from its educational experience than professors droning on in cavernous lecture halls. Degree-seeking students are no longer willing to conform to a set academic schedule; they want a flexible schedule that allows them to accomplish other tasks besides taking classes.

Both men admit it will take time to convince long-serving traditional institutions to adopt a more modern approach to education. A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education in 2010 showed that students who took all or part of a course online perform better, on average, than those taking the same course at a traditional academic institution. Another study conducted in the same year by two internationally respected scholars, which analyzed 20 years of research, showed that students who participated in distance-learning courses outperformed students who took part in courses in a traditional learning environment. These are statistics that cannot be ignored; they must be addressed sooner rather than later in order to avoid the fate of diminishing student bodies due to lack of educational choices.

Most Students Considered “Non-traditional”

In another study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education in 2008, statistics showed that up to 70 percent of the undergraduate student population was comprised of so-called “non-traditional” students - those who were earning degrees on their own timetable as opposed to during a full-time academic calendar. Online degree programs would offer even more convenience, while allowing these students to accrue the same credentials as those who are able to commit to an on-campus curriculum.

The Technology is Available Now

Both Bush and Hunt agree that in order to ensure the survival of public universities and colleges, they need to adopt the necessary technology sooner rather than later. It is in their best interest in the short-term to increase access to education in order to give students the tools they need to thrive in the workforce.

Governor Bush and Governor Hunt are hosting a conference,”The Future of State Universities”, in Dallas.

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Coggno.com is a LMS that provides the online educator with a world class set of features and benefits.

September 30th, 2011 by Robin Green

Although college enrollment rates have been steadily rising for decades, a new study shows that even though students get into college, graduating has proved somewhat challenging.

According to an article that appeared in Tuesday’s New York Times, the number of students who complete degrees has neither increased nor decreased.

Report Breaks Down Statistics

In a study conducted by Complete College America, a non-profit group funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other groups, numbers were broken down by part time and full time enrollment, and the pursuit of two or four year degrees. Groups of students were observed on a state-by-state basis.

In Texas, 79 of every 100 students started out at community colleges. Only two managed to earn a degree on time, and after four years, only seven students actually graduated.

In Utah, 71 out of 100 students chose a community college with 45 enrolling full time and 26 part time. After four years, only 14 full time students and one part time student graduated. Of 29 students who started out at a four year college, only 13 received degrees within eight years.

Stan Jones, the president of Complete College America, commented, “We know they enroll but we don’t know what happens to them. We shouldn’t make policy based on the image of students going straight from high school to college, living on campus and graduating four years later, when the majority of college students don’t do that.”

Time is the Enemy

The study goes on to say that “Time is the enemy of college completion. The longer it takes, the more life gets in the way of success.”

There is evidence to suggest that many students get bogged down with non-credit remedial classes that can interfere with completing the necessary coursework vital to obtaining a chosen degree. Students with grade point averages higher than 3.0 become mired in academic bureaucracy, taking too many required remedial courses and not enough courses pertaining to their chosen field of study. The study recommends “embedding remedial instruction in the curriculum, rather than requiring separate courses, and offering programs that students attend in a block, with a predictable schedule and a cohort of other students seeking the same credential.”

Could Online Learning Increase Graduation Rates?

Last week, I wrote about Digital Promise, a new federal program that promises to research how digital technologies to see how they can compliment our educational system. Although many vocational and academic coursework can now be completed online, timing and financial concerns still hinder many students’ ability to get the education they need in order to compete in a global economy. If the phony diploma mills can be stopped and e-learning legitimized by the U.S. government, perhaps we will see an increase in graduation rates sooner rather than later?

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