Day: November 9, 2006

Sloan Report on Online Learning – Current (?) Statistics

I keep track of sources that cover statistical trends in educational technology. Here is one resource I am adding to my list. The Sloan Foundation has been following trends in online higher education and has been offering an annual report for several years.

The 2006 report offers the following highlights:

  • 3.2 million college students took at least one online course (Fall semester 2005) – this was up from 2.3 million the previous year.
  • 96 percent of the very largest institutions (more than 15,000 total enrollments) have some online offerings. This type of institution is more likely involved than smaller, private institutions.
  • CAOs (Chief Academic Officers – must be admin-speak – VPAAs?) hold an increasingly positive opinion of the quality of online experiences.
  • Faculty members recognize that online teaching requires greater time and effort.

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Riverdeep and Houghton

I probably know more than I care to know about the publishing industry. Issues like book buy backs and company mergers fight their way into your attention even when the only thing you really want is to have your book continue as a product.

I guess my interest does have a positive and proactive component. I have become interested in the connection between the text book industry and technology. As an author of a book that attempts to prepare teachers to use technology, it seems critical that the preparatory experiences would include more than a book. At this point, it would seem possible to create a more participatory approach allowing learners, instructors, and authors to communicate more directly.

Our publisher, Houghton-Mifflin, was sold several years ago to Vivendi – a French multimedia corporation (I used to think of Vivendi as something like AOL-Time Warner). Vivendi fell on hard times and sold Houghton-Mifflin to a holding company. Now, the rumor is that Houghton-Mifflin is being sold to Riverdeep. Yep – the same Riverdeep that sells Reader Rabbit. No official comment at this point from either company.

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