WORKSHOP: Envisioning the Future of Online Graduate Education in the 21st Century Research University

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

This workshop is bringing together academic, industry, and government leaders with researchers to chart possible future courses for research universities in an environment of rapidly growing Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Participants will examine the relative advantages of outreach through traditional avenues and MOOC platforms while continuing to support traditional university commitments to research, discovery, and knowledge development. They will also consider how the new opportunities will serve or hinder the nation's goals of reaching a broader and more diverse audience, and how lifelong learning needs can be met through new partnerships with academia, industry and government. A broad diversity of participants is included in this important dialogue. The results of the workshop will enlighten policy discussions at the state and national levels. The results of the workshop will be captured in a report and widely disseminated to a diversity of stakeholders in higher education: universities, federal agencies, state governments, and professional and academic associations. The workshop will also serve to inform the NSF WIDER program (Widening Implementation and Demonstration of Evidence-Based Reforms), which seeks to significantly scale up the use of evidence-based instruction at the undergraduate and graduate levels. WIDER's focus on evidence-based approaches includes online as well as traditional pedagogical approaches.