FIRST DRAFT (still fleshing out these ideas)
This page is dedicated to efforts beginning in November 2012 and tentatively concluding in June 2013 to draft a short analysis that briefly summarizes the state of online education at UC and to make recommendations that fall within our purview as Directors in ETLG (based on a specific charge from ITLC).
Sites of Interest / Parking Lot (add items here that you think have value to our discussion)
YouTube of Fred Wison - venture capital pro with Union Square Ventures. This video describes how exclusivity is not optimal for learning tools / systems. To align with the multifarious ways in which content is created (users are generating content extra muros and then repurposing it within the instructional context, it is - doesn't have to be supported by IT staff. The trend for vendors is to resist standardization as an enterprise tool for educational - things get adopted virally as we know often beyond the control of IT departments. It may be better to go freely available tools that operate on bottom-up selling approach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV3SKcJD9rw&feature=plcp
This is reminiscent of Professor Sally Jackson's comments that the campus is not the sweet spot - it is the sour spot for deploying large scale tech solution, including collaboration technologies. See Educasue ELI discussion (uses Adobe Connect) with Jim Davis and Sally Jackson dated February 2012: https://educause.adobeconnect.com/_a729300474/p6nb2e2f7x9/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal Cue the start to 4:59 to catch the question put to Professor Jackson and her answer. Specifically, she resists the pressure put on the campus to contain students in standardized environments.
Also, the following link was shared with me at a Systemwide Library and Scholarly Information Advisory Committee meeting on October 23, 2012. It is a UC Berkeley whitepaper entitled "Can Online Education Technology Improve Excellence and Access at Berkeley" written back in March 2012 by AnnaLee Saxenian: http://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/planning/slasiac/102312/Online_Education_at_Berkeley.pdf