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Richer experience from learning: online or face-to-face?

Posted on by Posted in Education, Online Education, Simulations, Student Perspective Leave a comment
English: iPads can be a distraction to learning

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With the blazing fast speed of iPhone 5, a new record-breaking youth population is harnessing knowledge and learning on their fingertips. A $35.6 billion market until last year, Ambient Insight Research found the US Market for self-paced eLearning products and services: 2010-2015 forecast and analysis, is set to a five-year compound annual growth rate of 7.6% with a decline of over 22% per annum in students attending classrooms exclusively. Rather than wake up and trudge bleary-eyed to the classroom, students now have the option to watch the recorded or live stream on the iPad, join the discussion, ask questions, all while enjoying breakfast in their pajamas in the comfort of their home.

Traditional face-to-face learning still serves as a common ground for a cultural identity, but technology is erasing these cultural boundaries and forging new guideposts. My lessons for Bachelors Degree in Public Administration were completely delivered face to face When I did not understand certain concepts, I had to wait until the end of class or for the next class to seek clarification with the tutor. Stark contrast to that is my current Information Systems Management Master’s program where pedagogy is delivered both in class and online. Conducted in real time, we get feedback and assistance from the tutors and peers. The online learning helps me better understand the class lectures.

I studied Organizational Behavior during my graduation, which is also a requirement for my Master’s program. With the mixture of both online and in person learning I am  better able to understand the subject. With real-life experiences during discussion as well as the constant interface with both the lecturer and peers, there is a greater level of understanding. Both online and face-to-face learning are a richer and more fulfilling experience.

Unless I had an assignment or was going to class, there was no need to constantly studying. With online lessons, the lecturer posts questions on the discussion forum, and it is mandatory that each student answers two questions daily. The answers are worth two marks, impelling us to think and keep up-to-date with the lessons. Followed for all class under the Master’s program, this has resulted in my better understanding of the various concepts being taught.

Simulation offers the best of both worlds. Educators can use the simulation for a setting fit for their students’ individual learning needs. Whether it is in class, in group session or practical project work.  For example, if you are studying Operations in class, you can try out different scenarios using stimulation to mimic real-life problems encountered by a business. The students can utilize real-life stimuli so that when they come across a similar situation in the real world, they have the required skills and competences to deal with the problems that arise. Simulation is the right step in preparing for the journey ahead.

Higher education affects life expectancy

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edufaire_020

edufaire_020 (Photo credit: carolrb2001)

A new study published by Health Affairs found that the life expectancy high-school dropouts plunged has plunged by 5 years in the last two decades.

Huffington Post draws that the poor job prospects for Americans without a college education may be partially to blame. Workers without a bachelor’s degree earn $2.8 million less over their lifetimes than college graduates, according to a study by Georgetown University. Most recent high school graduates not in college are unemployed, and those with jobs are getting paid barely enough to stay out of poverty, according to a study by Rutgers University.

Disparities among racial groups and between the well-educated and those with less education postulates implementation of educational enhancements for young, middle, and older ages, to reduce the large gap in health and longevity that persists today. A personalized  and authentic learning experience which serves to gain employment is a need of the hour.

Engaging with simulations offers hands-on, interactive training. Simulations are a computer-based interface characterized by a high degree of immersion, plausibility and interaction, making the student believe they are actually inside the artificial environment. Visualizations may be especially useful for helping students see structure in phenomena and processes that are traditionally ‘invisible’ to students until they practice them in a real job. Simulations can be pedagogically more effective than apparently similar case study demonstrations. No money is being wasted either; the environment within the simulation gains the student unique insights. The learning can be applied to improve their career prospects or star their own business.

How can you teach someone without doing it yourself

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Last week, I was invited to run a session on business simulations at the Entrepreneurship Educators Conference in Fresno. It was a great event – the first – for the West Coast, and I met many friends and colleagues. Casey Lamonski, who is the program director at the Lyles Center, did a fantastic job organizing the conference.

My session was scheduled for Saturday Sep 15, just after Arel Moodie’s lunch talk. He made a point in his talk that raised a lot of hackles in the room. Arel asked the entrepreneurship educators, why a student would believe them? He asked, “If you know how to make a million, why aren’t you a millionaire yourself?” I bet a lot of students in entrepreneurship courses all across the country are thinking the same thing about their professors. However, Arel was really making a point about the entrepreneurial image of the educator. He gave examples where small things like framed photos with celebrities can make a difference and get students to trust the educator.

This set the scene perfectly for my talk “Simulations: Dark Side of the Moon.”

So, what is the dark side of the moon? This title is inspired by Pink Floyd and was originally delivered as a seminar by Peter Harrington at the NACCE 2011 conference. The dark side is the side of the moon that we cannot see. Despite that, we know it is there. Before the first astronauts landed on the moon, we were not sure what was on the side we could not see. We only made assumptions based on our knowledge of what we could see.

Similarly, in startup and entrepreneurship courses, we regularly teach about the things that we know or know about. However, what about the stuff that you don’t know? How do you teach that?

Enter simulations.

Teach your students what you know and then let them loose on a simulation. A simulation allows you to be the mentor or guide while letting the students experience aspects of a business that you may not have experienced.

You are a high school swimming coach who has an Olympian level student on their team. How do you teach this gifted athlete if you have never competed at the Olympian level yourself? A simulation let’s you be their coach and compensates for your lack of experience at the desired level. It is the really the best of both worlds.

I don’t think a simulation can ever replace a real, live educator. That human dynamic is impossible to duplicate, however, using a simulation makes your job as an educator easier and let’s you work with a wide variety of students.

Check out the original presentation below and you can get a copy from Slideshare.

My Life in New Delhi

Posted on by Posted in Featured, India, Inspiration, Student Perspective Leave a comment

Romain Bouaita

You can’t compare India with any another country because every country is unique. A fine balance of beauty and inconveniences; it is an unforgettable experience. When you leave this country, you change a little of what you are inside. I arrived one month ago in New Delhi after completing an International Business Management course in Paris, from INSEEC business school, very well-known in France. I was excited to discover a new country, a new culture and a new style of life.Having already spent a year in Tunisia, I was familiar with poverty in the under developed world; I was not shocked to see dilapidating, damaged houses and poor people in the streets. But Connaught Place, the location where I live, is a paradox. Old world charm juxtaposes brazenly with Eastern luxury; a Rolex store seems out of place when you see poor begging outside the store’s cool confines. We can imagine that there are two countries in Delhi when we see these differences.

The district where I work is not a touristy location as I haven’t seen any foreigners visiting this part of New Delhi. It is probably because of this that locals look at me like I am an extra-terrestrial being. Initially it was embarrassing – people gawking at me – now I shrug off their attentions.

Working at Yellow Sequoia has been really interesting for me. Contrary to France where interns are not considered as useful and assigned with boring repetitive tasks, I have been introduced to a promotive environment. The work is varied, I learn a lot of things, and I have the opportunity to weigh in my opinion.

In Delhi, I learn new things everyday, in relation with my studies, and with what I want to do later. I can use the skills that I learned at school, and the independence in my work helps me to be more creative and more engaged in my daily tasks. I feel cheerful going to the office every morning; unlike some previous internships, it is not an unpleasant test.

The work is very varied, and I have the opportunity to weigh in. As a business development assistant, I create seminars on simulations and invite teachers, students and companies to learn how this immersive learning environment can teach practical skills for decision making.

I have created some flourishing relationships with directors and teachers at business schools in India and proposed them to use our simulations as an effective means for teaching or demonstrating concepts. I am also using social media tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and blog posts to promote our brand and products in the Indian business education circles.

I have the motivation to be involved in the development of this company because I feel like right at home.

Business Simulations for healing B-Schools

Posted on by Posted in Education, Entrepreneurship Education, India, Simulations, Teaching

Boundary Functions by Scott Snibbe installed a...

Management institutions in India, chiefly the 2nd and 3rd tier business schools, are plagued with manifold problems – shortage of resources, poor infrastructure and lack of quality research – amalgamated, these threaten the existence of the institutions in the near future.

The National Knowledge Commission, India acknowledges, “Inadequate infrastructure and lack of strong incentives to practice quality research are major causes of decline in interest towards research work. Administrative hurdles add to the already unfavourable environment for research.”

Another concern is shortage of quality faculty. Starting salaries for IIM professors are less than US$14,000 – $17,000 per annum. Imparity of compensation between Indian and international faculty members leads many professors to look for greener pastures abroad.

Possible solutions to these problems

Use of technology: The tablet and mobile technology has swooped in with interactive education tools in the hands of the students. Simulations are a remedy for the lack of well-qualified instructors; they make learning interactive, fun and engaging. Professor Sugata Mitra’s Hole in the Wall experiment has demonstrated that even novices can learn on their own if they are equipped with an interactive ecosystem.

Enriching Content: Content designed to make learning holistic, individualistic, industry relevant and practical. Business simulations can be utilized for enriching content, like Simventure, focused on entrepreneurship and small business. The player impersonates an entrepreneur assembling and selling computers, making decisions about all aspects of the company in order to survive and hopefully succeed in business. Decisions are made on a monthly basis, and the objective is to strike the right balance between winning business, using the time effectively and ensuring enough money is flowing through the company. Each aspect of the simulation is interconnected and each decision will have multiple consequences.

SimVenture provides an elearning platform to educators. It encourages learning amongst educators, enhancing and sharing knowledge through a global forum.

There are different levels in the simulation from easy to difficult, suited to the needs participants with varying knowledge and expertise. It provides management support to educators and students, good visuals and an easy user interface.

Innovative Pedagogy: Information on every topic is abundantly available. This has elevated the faculty’s role from a disseminator of information to nurturing critical thinking. This involves use of a hybrid teaching model – engaging, multimedia-rich content.

For example, SIM-U, an online business simulation, provides a 3D immersive learning experience. iPad and mobile phone apps of the educational tool helps students to learn at their own convenience. Education organizations in India like PAF, EDI Ahemadabad, IIMs amongst others have taken the route of innovation and are using engaging tools like business simulations. The use of education technology tools like simulations in the classroom help these institutes to differentiate themselves and have received positive student feedback.

Business simulations can give a healing touch to B-schools by enhancing the course content, supporting skills of faculty, effective deployment of innovative technology and making learning more fun, engaging and exciting.

Hybrid pedagogy’s MOOC MOOC

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What is a MOOC? - YouTube http://t.co/8OyH68wP...

What is a MOOC? – (Photo credit: Trendmatcher)

MOOC MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course for MOOC. This one-week program, which started on August 12th is an experimental online course for educators. The objective is to investigate “what it means to participate in, create, and even envision a MOOC”. To learn more about MOOC, watch this video – What is a MOOC?

Assignments are due each day in this open forum of teaching technology enthusiasts. This collaborative journey aims to find out “how useful this educational format can be, and the new and innovative opportunities toward which it points”.

You can join in and explore the LMS interface and course pages at your own pace. Visit Hybrid Pedagogy to get dive in with some stimulating thoughts and questions.

Include the educator

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Online education and Financial Aid

Online education and Financial Aid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For hundreds of years universities have been considered the seat of knowledge. Their knowledge delivery model has survived intact, despite the onslaught of disruptive technologies like radio, telephone, television and now the Internet. The campus centric model of education however is undergoing increased pressure. Rising cost of tuition fees and the irrelevancy of some of the degrees in the job market means that students and their parents are increasingly picking online education channels.

A study by the Pew Research Center in March 2012 found that 60% of American adults viewed universities as having a positive effect on how things are going in the country and 84% of college graduates say that the expense of going to college was a good investment for them. Yet another Pew Research Center survey in 2011 found that 75% of adults say college is too expensive for most Americans to afford. Moreover, 57% said that the higher education system in the U.S. fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend.

E-learning short courses

E-learning short courses (Photo credit: London College of Fashion short courses)

This set of circumstances has catalyzed the marketplace. Universities are watching competitors encroach on their traditional operation. The challengers include for-profit universities, nonprofit learning organizations such as the Khan Academy, commercial providers of lecture series, online services such as iTunes U, and a host of specialized training centers that provide instruction and credentials for particular trades and professions. All these can easily scale online instruction delivery more quickly than brick-and-mortar institutions.Consequently, higher education administrators—sometimes constrained by budgetary shortfalls and change-resistant academic cultures—are trying to respond and retool. The Pew Research Center 2011 study found in a survey of college presidents that more than three-fourths (77%) of respondents said their institution offered online course offerings. Half said they believe that most students at their schools will be enrolled in at least some online classes within the next 10 years. (from Mashable)

Disrupting the education market using technology is all well and good, it makes sense, given the advantage consumers have experienced when technology disrupted other information- based sectors like television, newspapers, cinema etc. However there still remains a fundamental point that is being ignored in all this noise about changing the way education is delivered. New forms of delivering education must not make the educator obsolete.

We believe that the educator is not replaceable by technology as they are able to provide insight, motivation and discretion. These human qualities are not replaceable because they require the educator to apply judgement from their experience. This human quality is impossible to duplicate.

In addition, other emotional support and tutor counsel is not possible through an electronic-only delivery channel. That is why our simulations are designed to work within the education system, along side the educator. Enabling them to apply their expertise to guide while the simulation takes care of routine tasks like grading and addresses issues like the skills gap in the classroom. A business simulation is like a live case study where the participants can be included.

My first sim

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When I first found out about SimVenture, I was a little skeptical. How could a simulation teach entrepreneurship. I was equally intrigued because if this could really facilitate a student to learn and undergo what it’s like to start up your own business, then SimVenture could potentially be a game changer in the way entrepreneurship is taught in higher education.

As I set off on my first simulated venture, I found it intriguing. SimVenture almost wants you to fail so that one can learn from the mistakes in the simulation and not make the same mistakes when attempting to start up/manage a venture in real life. After I figured out how to use the simulation, I found myself messing up in different scenarios where I had no clue that I had gone wrong. SimVenture forced me to really think each decision through in order for me to get the best results once the month was run.

As a student, I think SimVenture would be worthwhile within the classroom to work in groups. It is fun and meaningful because it would encourage conversation and I’d be eager to compete with my fellow students. SimVenture has given me paradigm to be a leader and at the same time be a vital part of a collaborative group working together.

Another attribute that I found extremely beneficial is SimVenture’s engaging ability. This simulation engaged on me as an individual and focused on making my business successful rather than adhering to norms of standardized practises.

English: Students in a Harvard Business School...

English: Students in a Harvard Business School classroom (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By far the most influential selling point for me was SimVenture’s rich genuineness. It teaches entrepreneurship beautifully because it goes over, in detail, every specific area that needs to be covered when keeping a business afloat. A professor can speak and lecture about what a student should do if such and such happened or go over case studies alike.  But with SimVenture, it allowed me to actively learn, communicate, and make the own connections to what would happen to part B if part A is done in the correct way.

I have never used an educational simulation before using SimVenture. But now I became a believer in classroom taught simulations because I had always found myself becoming inattentive during a lesson that didn’t interest me. When simply testing out SimVenture for a couple of weeks, I caught myself becoming captivated in the simulation game and learning about Entrepreneurship. I am a big fan of the “learn by doing” attitude because I believe I am a visual and hands on learner.  So overall, I would rate highly of SimVenture and I believe that it has a future in helping out students with entrepreneurship and the accompanied necessary skill sets as well.

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SimVenture – what works for me

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Start-ups boosted by BC’s Venture Capital programs

(Photo credit: BC Gov Photos)

I am accustomed to an educational cirriculum which consisted of no practical application of my classroom learning. When I moved to the United States for my MBA degree, I was first introduced to learning through a simulation. In the first semester, I used the Business Strategy Game (BSG). It was an effective simulation, however, the time frame that was allotted (5 weeks), was not sufficient for me to take complete advantage of the simulation.

I started using SimVenture a month ago and found it to be a comprehensive business simulation. It is very different from the simulation that I had used in the past. SimVenture is easy to use and is very engaging. Unlike BSG, which started at year eleven, which meant the business was already functional for the past ten years, SimVenture guides you through building blocks of your business, right from the Business Plan phase. I think BSG didn’t work as much for me because I didn’t get to make decisions from the inception of the business. Besides, there were so many cheat sheets on the web that competing with people who used them diminished the engaging factor for me. This in addition to a limited time frame took away whatever enthusiasm I had, by the second week.

However, with SimVenture, I encountered various real world scenarios that were in-built and I was able to experiment with decisions without having to actually endure any real world repercussions. The simulation requires a great deal of analytical thinking, which becomes second nature once you have played about a year or so. Of course not a year in the real world! Every time you make decisions, you need to ‘run’ the month for the simulation to execute your decisions. I could see how my decisions impacted my business and that was the engaging factor for me. It enabled me not only to make decisions but also improvise on them after I had understood their implications. SimVenture also takes into consideration the amount of time and energy you put in. Therefore, just like real life, if you end up overworking, you will end up increasing your stress levels, which in turn will affect your business.

In a very short span of time, I learned so many new aspects of decision-making in SimVenture. The simulation accelerated the learning process to a great extent by engaging me. Learning out of interest and will allowed for faster and easier reception of knowledge. Where learning has never been way synonymous with fun, I found SimVenture to be a lot of fun despite the fact that I was actually learning from it.

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