Flashback to 2000: Remember When They Thought it Was a Fad?

It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since we breathed a sigh of relief when we escaped the would-be doom of Y2K. Around this same time, a significant number of technophobes also believed that online learning was just a passing fad. Not only has online learning flourished wildly in the last decade, but has grown up quite a bit as well. Here are some ways online learning has evolved in the last 10 years. Can you think of more?

1. It's no longer seen as a trend.
2. There are fewer small Course Management Systems, and a few very Big, Ginormous Ones.
3. Other tech-based services (registration, testing systems, tutoring, live meeting spaces, data analytic tools, etc.) must integrate seamlessly with the Big, Ginormous Ones in order to be successful.
4. Students don't have to be trained to use computers before they can take online courses.
5. Only some faculty have to be trained to use computers before they can teach online courses. :-)
6. It's not just for older, working folks and moms with little children anymore. Or for people living far, far away in the hills with only dirt roads and no traffic lights.
   
7. It's still about convenience. But it's a lot about the money, particularly in the last year or so.
   
8. It's fiercely competitive. It's no longer difficult to find affordability and quality and strong support services. However, the proprietary institutions still generally seem to have a big edge on marketing.
9. It's a lot more social, particularly with increasing integration of Web 2.0 tools.
   

Smile for the Camera if You're Teaching Online

Okay, so I keep reviewing all these online courses for quality awards, and one of the easiest way to get two (of eighty-something required) points is for instructors to simply put their picture in their course. Now I've looked at about five in a row with no picture - not even pictures of the cat or dog or fish or iguana. Folks, we don't take online courses because we don't want to see what teachers look like. If I didn't want to see what my instructor looked like, I'd just go back to Ohio State and take one of those 8 am physics classes with 800 people in them and sit way, way in the back where I couldn't see - nor even really hear as my final grade reflected. So what's up with the lack of pictures? Do you really want your icon to be a gray sillhouette or a red X? Or do you only have a Polaroid and can't find any film? I admit, I don't like (loathe) having my picture made. Especially flash pictures because one or more eyes always winds up shut plus I always feel like I look old and fat (until I get the picture out a few years later and wish I still looked that way). You wouldn't believe how many shots it took just to get the one little profile. But anyway, online teachers and administrators, get your pictures up - in your class, on your blog, etc. In a couple of days, I'll share a really neat way to introduce your picture in an online class that's already started. You will like this idea.