A Geographer Looks at EdTech in 2013 - Part 9 - Credit Where its Due

--- This post is the ninth in a ten part series examining top 2013 trends in education technology in the context of GIS and geography education. ---

Watters details the ups and downs of giving actual college credit in new ways such as via competency-based learning and MOOCs. If you are not aware, there are select universities offering credits and degrees via these paths. She also explores alternative credentials like certificates and badges. Where are geography and GIS among these trends?

Competency Based Learning

The two schools that I'm aware of that use a model that focuses on what skills students have or have gained, rather than seat time, are Western Governors University (WGU) and Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). I know about the former because I tried to apply for a job there, but alas course mentors (content experts) must have PhDs. I know of SNHU because it does a lot of advertising here in Massachusetts. Neither yet offer geography or GIS degrees.

Of note, perhaps, in the coming years is what's going on at Northern Arizona University. Its competency-based online degree program called “Personalized Learning,” was accredited this year. That school offers among other things, a GIS certificate. Could that morph into a competency-based degree or certificate here or elsewhere? Stay tuned.

Badges

The big news in badges is that Mozilla rolled out its 1.0 badge software program. The news within GIS of which I'm aware relates to just two institutions exploring badges: Skidmore and American Sentinel. It will be at least the end of 2014 before we see how these efforts play out in the geospatial education marketplace and, equally importantly, the geospatial workforce.

Credit via MOOC 

There have been ups and downs with giving college credit for MOOCs. So far the news on balance is not good. Two disappointing situations from 2013:

• The deal between San Jose State University and Udacity ran aground and now Udacity is pivoting toward corporate training. Here's the latest on the relationship via Inside Higher Ed.
• An offer from Colorado State University-Global Campus that offered credit for a MOOC via a proctored exam ($89) got no takers. The comparable three credit course was $1,050. 

What's happening in our world of geography and GIS? Credit for a MOOC could be coming soon at Elmhurst College:

Additionally, we will be offering a MOOC in Spring 2014 (probably March or April) that will allow prospective students to gain badges for skills and have a course in the [graduate] program  waived upon full completion of the MOOC. Stay tuned for further details!

Is credit for MOOCs doomed for core courses? For GIS? I don't think so, but clearly the model is still in development.

Credit via AP Exam

The news on AP exams in general is mixed per Watters:

Enrollment in AP classes has been skyrocketing in recent years, although as Politico’s Stephanie Simon reported, “the number of kids who bomb the AP exams is growing even more rapidly.”

And, to my surprise, venerable Dartmouth College, no longer accept AP exams for credit. That I suppose is an interesting statement from the school about competency-based learning or at least the College Board's version of it.

The news on the only AP exam related to geography, the AP Human Geography exam, is more positive. 

In recent years between 25% and 30% of test takers have achieved a 4 or 5, grades typically worthy of college credit (Wikipedia).

Per Rich Schultz at Elmurst College noted other positive signs in an interview on this blog:

Some of our Advisory Board and faculty members in the program are heavily involved with the College Board and noticed that the trend was very clear that APHG was increasing in demand and more and more schools nationally are offering it, at least over the last eleven years (2001-2012).

Elmhurst is launching an online certificate for educators who teach AP Human Geography.

Accreditation

Most colleges and universities have administrations that insure proper accreditation. That said, a few institutions lost accreditation or were threatened with it during the year.

In our world of geography and GIS it's the specialty schools that are having trouble with accreditation. Accreditation sometimes makes a difference to students, but can be key to a university making money: it can be a key stepping stone toward government loans and grants for students. The news from Unmanned Vehicle University (UVU) is still not good:

UVU is not currently accredited. We will start the process in March 2014. We have hired an expert that has experience with our accreditation agency.

Certificates

While I have yet to see a certificate in geography, the number of them offered, both pre and post baccalaureate, in GIS is growing. New ones are announced nearly every week. The latest data I can find, via the GeoTech Center is from May 2013; but alas I can't even count the number of results from my query.

That said, the range of certificates is quite large. A school or organization can provide a "certificate of completion" for a MOOC. That's quite different from a certificate offered by a reputable university after a four course post graduate course of study that includes a capstone project. So, let the buyer and the potential employer, beware!

Making Sense of Certificates, Certification and Badges: A Hiring Manager's Guide

You might have seen image posted on SlashGeo.

 It prompted the Twitter conversation below.

I don't  believe the writer who posted the certificate misrepresented how one can complete a (free) Esri course and receive such a certificate. And, I'm not sure if Mr. Fee was really confused about the difference between a certificate of completion and Esri's formal, test-based Associate and Professional Certifications. 

But the interchange does highlight how a potential employer, especially one not conversant in the GIS/Esri/Education lingo regarding GIS recognition, might be. Employers would need to know about certificates of completion (like the one above, saying a course was completed), industry certifications (GISP, ASPRS), educational institutions' certificate programs (Penn State Post Baccalaureate Certificate), and vendor certifications (Esri's Certification program).

Free Education, Badges and other Credentials

And, now of course, we have a whole new set of credentials that may make their way to GIS: badges (for example from Mozilla or Khan Academy) and letters from instructors for those who participate in massive online classes (for example, the Stanford AI class). All of these (mostly free) learning and credential collecting opportunities tend to have as part of their mission making "education available to all." Khan Academy basically adds the term "world class" to that to define its mission statement. I can find no fault with efforts to bring education to all.

There are many issues to be resolved with badges and other credentials; I want to set that aside for right now and focus on these free learning opportunities. Who are they for? Ideally, they are for anyone who wants to learn something "new." Audrey Watters (my favorite edtech writer/podcaster) is currently taking a massive online Python course. Among her fellow students? Those who program in Python for a living! Moreover, she reports that in the course forums there wasn't quite the respect for "newbie" questions as she might hope. Why are working professionals taking the course? I can only guess, but fear one reason might be to gain the credential at the end. It's a way, as the SlashGeo poster put it, to "help you pimp your resume." 

Advice for Hiring Managers

Pity the overworked hiring manager who gets a pile of resumes and has to navigate all these certificates, certifications and badges! What is he or she to do? Ask a lot of questions. 

If the applicant hasn't provided a reference to explain the nature of credential (say a link to the GISCI website), the employer should ask about it either in a phone or personal interview. Ask the applicant who granted the credential, what is means, what was required to attain it and why they pursued it. 

That last one is key and can reveal a lot about the applicant. I'd love to hear an applicant who took one of Esri's free three hour classes explain they did so because they were taking a university course that included the topic and didn't quite understand the key points. I'd love to hear that an applicant was working on a project (for work, school, or on their own) and needed to know how to do that specific thing to complete it. Other answers, such as "I don't know," "I don't remember," or "to pad my resume" would not be as promising.

As more and new types of credentials appear on resumes, hiring managers, the consumers of those documents, have to dig deeper to tease out their value. Alternatively, they could ignore the credentials and administer a test or assignment to see if the applicant has the skills.