Van Davis
A Road to Somewhere

Last month I asked our readers to contemplate whether or not we’re “on a road to nowhere” as we prepare for the fall and beyond. Today, I want to take a look at where we are on that road and consider what this journey may look like for the next several months.

A Road to Somewhere
Van Davis
Avoiding a “Road to Nowhere:” What We Must Do ...

In 1985 The Talking Heads released “Road to Nowhere.” That song, and that metaphor, have been on my mind a lot lately as I think about where higher education is going in the fall and beyond.

Avoiding a “Road to Nowhere:” What We Must Do This Fall
Van Davis
Update on Federal Regulations Impacting ...

I suspect many of us feel a bit like Phil Connors right now—every day seems like the last as we go through a seemingly endless series of Zoom meetings, emails, and revisiting many of the same issues over and over as circumstances require us to reevaluate and revise former decisions. High on that list of issues is likely questions about federal regulations and regulatory relief in this time or remote education.

Update on Federal Regulations Impacting Distance Education During the Pandemic
Van Davis
Fall and Beyond: Higher Education in the Age of ...

Even before the COVID-19 global pandemic, higher education was struggling to make sense of what David La Piana and Melissa Mendes call a VUCA world in The Nonprofit Strategy Revolution: Real-Time Strategic Planning in a Rapid-Response World. Originally coined by the US military to describe a post-Cold War world, VUCA stands for:

· Volatile– The world is rapidly changing and is no longer static.

· Uncertain– The world is unpredictable.

· Complex– The world is interwoven and interconnected.

· Ambiguous– We no longer understand what the change levers are or even the extent to which everything is interconnected.

Fall and Beyond: Higher Education in the Age of COVID-19 and Other Disasters
Van Davis
Regulations Review #1: Regular and Substantive ...

This post will examine the proposed changes to the distance education and credit hour definitions. We’ll have another post early next week that will dig deeper into the proposed changes related to direct assessment and competency-based education as well as a few other select issues such as proposed changes to the credit hour definition, calculating financial aid eligibility for correspondence education, and defining an instructional week for asynchronous delivery.

Regulations Review #1: Regular and Substantive Interaction

faculty

The Faculty Role in Competency-Based Education vs Traditional Education

The Faculty Role in Competency-Based Education vs Traditional Education

One of the prevailing and unfortunate myths surrounding competency-based education vs traditional education is that faculty are not as important in competency-based education and the role of the instructor is de-emphasized. Some faculty fear that CBE will be used as a way to minimize the role of full-time faculty and lead to a further adjunctification of higher education. Closely related is the fear that the quality of student learning in a CBE program is less than that found in more traditional programs because the role of the instructor has shifted from being the primary conveyer of knowledge to that of a guide helping students navigate mastery. These myths and fears are just that, though – myths and fears. The strongest CBE programs still rely on faculty to be at the heart of the program, responsible for the development of the competencies and curriculum, and providing students with critical input as they develop knowledge and mastery.