A new and very interesting online education solution emerged on the market recently, quickly earning the Software and Information Industry’s coveted “Best Instructional Solution for Students at Home” award at the 23rd Annual CODIE Awards - Straighterline.

According to a Press Release dated October 14, 2008 “StraighterLine provides students with a new online option for obtaining required college credits from accredited colleges and universities. StraighterLine’s affordable courses are the first to include up to 24/7 live, on-demand instruction. StraighterLine offers six entry-level college courses, including College Algebra, English Composition I, Accounting I, Accounting II, Economics I: Macroeconomics and Economics II: Microeconomics, and two developmental courses, with many more planned. StraighterLine students may choose to receive credit from StraighterLine’s regionally accredited partner colleges. Student-earned credits may also be transferable to non-partner colleges that recognize StraighterLine’s partner’s courses as equivalent programs.”

So why is this an idea whose time has come?  Backed by both the well-known SmartThinking online tutoring service as well as the McGraw-Hill publishing company, Straighterline offers what is essentially “turn-key” cources of instruction that leverage the online academic support system of the former, with the content and experience of the later.  While McGraw-Hill provides the course material, SmartThinking provides the experienced online educators and tutors.

Lead by Ryan Busch, an online education veteran, and an impressive lineup of well-recognized online educators such as Dr. Christa Ehmann-Powers, Dr. Kirk Benningfield, Julie Radachy, M.Ed., Brenda Christian, M.B.A., and Dr. Randy Russell, Straighterline currently offers postsecondary-level courses on:

• Introductory Algebra
• College Algebra
• Developmental Writing
• English Composition
• Economics I
• Economics II
• Accounting I
• Accounting II

Courses coming soon include:

• Pre-Calculus
• Calculus
• Chemistry I
• Physics
• Biology
• Organic Chemistry
• Anatomy and Physiology
• Statistics I
• Financial Accounting
• English Composition II

In a recent phone conversation and email exchange with Ryan Busch, it was readily apparent that Straighterline had done its homework, not only in the area of sound online instructional design, but also in their plan for “marketing” their product to an industry, academia, where change comes at near-glacial speeds.  Mr. Busch and his team recognize that they are charting new ground in going up against not only a paradigm that has existed since the Industrial Revolution but also the “ego” sensitivities of post-secondary institutions and instructors.  While Straighterline offers individuals the opportunity to participate in their courses, they also offer their help and assistance in putting together a plan that will accomodate a school’s accreditation body and its business model.  Flexibility most certainly appears to be their mantra.

For the individual student, Straighterline offers access to a single course for a flat $399.00.  However, for a monthly subscription fee of $99.00 per month, that very same student can participate in as many courses as they wish.  They have, essentially, completely rethought the process of completing basic coursework necessary for an individual to begin work on their major or degree.  Straighterline’s web site clearly outlines what they have to offer:

• High Quality Courses: Required college courses are our only focus. StraighterLine’s Course Design Team produces top-notch curriculum that gives you the foundation you need to succeed in future courses.
• Real College Credit: It’s your choice–if you choose to, our regionally accredited Partner Colleges award college credit upon successful completion of StraighterLine courses - credits that may be able to be transferred to the college where you will complete your degree. Or select a no-credit option and use StraighterLine as a highly supported preparation course for the CLEP test.
• Total Flexibility: Our fully online courses have no fixed start or due dates, no required meeting times, no on-campus requirements or team projects. You work when you want to and at your own pace.
• Individualized Support: You won’t get lost in a giant lecture hall here. Whether you need personal, on-demand instruction from one of our Online Educators or guidance on the credit transfer process from one of our Course Advisors, we’re always right there with help when you need it.
• Affordability: With no unnecessary or hidden fees, our courses cost less than a comparable course at a traditional college or university.
• Challenging Curricula: Make no mistake; the course(s) you take through StraighterLine represent a rigorous, but exciting, learning experience. You will be challenged to perform to the best of your ability, but you will move on to your degree program with the skills and abilities needed to perform at advanced levels.

All one need do is take a quick look at what a typical school adds on to a semester’s tuition, Parking Fee, Technology Fee, Library Fee, etc., etc., and one immediate sees the value of Straighterlines offering.

But wait…there’s more…

Straighterline has joined in partnership with several regionally and nationally accredited colleges; colleges known for their rigorous and high quality degree programs as well as their committment to individual learners and their needs.  Partner Colleges include:

• Charter Oak State College
• Ellis University
• Fort Hayes State University
• Grand Canyon University
• Jones International University
• Potomac College

When an individual completes a course from Straighterline, they have the opportunity to select one of the partner colleges who will award credit.  The student can either continue their studies and pursue their degree at a partner college, or transfer their credits to the college of their choice.  This in itself is smart, very smart!  I’ll explain.

Imagine if you will, you are considering pursuing your education at a local college that does not recognize Straighterline’s programs as worthy of transfer credit.  All one need do is select one of their Partner Colleges as the credit-issuing institution, then later have the granscripts from the Partner College forwarded to the college of your choice.  The accediting bodies of the Partner College include, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the Distance Education and Training Council, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Middle States Commission on Higher education (recognized by the the U. S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation).

So, if the college you wish to attend will not accept credit for Straighterline’s offerings itself, they will accept them from the accredited Partner Colleges.

Having been an evangelist of distance and online learning for over 19 years, to see a company such as Straighterline finally emerge gives me the satisfaction that those who felt my pontifications that “online learning is coming and you better be prepared” might at last realize that I wasn’t as delusional as they suspected.  I will never forget in 1998, as the Director of Product Development for an Educational Software company, I made a proposal to the President and Vice President’s that we start looking at redesigning our courses for delivery via the internet.  Their response? “The Internet will never have the speed or capability to deliver courses of instruction.”

That company is long gone…but I’m still pontificating!

Since July 2008, when the Chronicle of Higher Education published an article entitled “New Systems Keep a Close Eye on Online Students at Home,” the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) appears to grow each passing day relative to the interpretations/misinterpretations of identification requirements for students participating in online courses of instruction.  Participants in innumerable LISTSERVs, eLearning Discussion Boards, and Online Professional Communities, all seem to be struggling with the opening paragraphs of the Chronicle’s article:

“Tucked away in a 1,200-page bill now in Congress is a small paragraph that could lead distance-education institutions to require spy cameras in their students’ homes.

It sounds Orwellian, but the paragraph — part of legislation renewing the Higher Education Act — is all but assured of becoming law by the fall. No one in Congress objects to it.

The paragraph is actually about clamping down on cheating. It says that an institution that offers an online program must prove that an enrolled student is the same person who does the work.”

To compound the issue, those in the media reporting on the re-authorization of the Higher Education Opportunity Act have wasted no time rolling out the opinions of “experts.”  Opinions such as:

“This is taking a step into a student’s private life,” - Colorado-based Distance Education Executive

“It’s going to reduce access,”  “It’s going to increase costs.” - Albany, NY-based College President

“We’re feeling a little picked on,” - Texas-based College Executive

What has happened is that many of those at all levels of the Distance Education profession are under the impression that any student taking a test or quiz online must now do so either in a human-, or technology-proctored environment.  Users of nearly every Learning Management System now appear to be struggling with how exactly they will go about providing such proctoring or if it is even possible and 100% reliable.

And you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free (John 8:32)

The Higher Education Opportunity Act does not require an institution to verify the identity of a student taking a quiz or test online.  It requires that agencies that provide accreditation ensure the institutions they accredit have methods in place to verify the identity of students who enroll or participate in an online course of instruction.  Further, the Act requires that those accrediting agencies establish such procedures on 14 August, 2008, and that institutions have until their next accreditation to provide proof they are verifying the identity of its online students (Wrona, 2008).  The Higher Education Opportunity Act specifically reads:

“The agency or association [i.e., the accreditor] requires an institution [i.e., a college] that offers distance education or correspondence education to have processes through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the program and receives the academic credit” (H.R. 4137: Higher Education Opportunity Act).

Further, the Higher Education Opportunity Act Conference Report states:

“The Conferees adopt the provision as proposed by both the Senate and the House. The Conferees expect institutions that offer distance education to have security mechanisms in place, such as identification numbers or other pass code information required to be used each time the student participates in class time or coursework on-line.”

“The Conferees do not intend that institutions use or rely on any technology that interferes with the privacy of the student and expect that students’ privacy will be protected with whichever method the institutions choose to utilize” (Levine, 2008).

So the truth of the matter is that all that is required is that an online student have a Student ID and Password to be used each time they access and participate in an online course!  Is there even a Learning Management System that doesn’t consider this a fundamental requirement?  Further, the provisions of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) already require such security measures in the protection of a student’s privacy.

While some institutions have gone to great and extraordinary lengths in the implementation of biometric or visual monitoring devices for its online students, and recieved plenty of media visibility as a result, suffice it to say that it is only a matter of time before the “tech-savvy” student community finds ways around the system.  Perhaps all one need to do is watch a couple episodes of “NCIS” or “CSI: Las Vegas” and the solutions will be handed to them.

Those most concerned with the misinformation that abounds regarding the authentication of online students, seem to also address their concerns in context with their online quizzes and tests despite the fact that such assessment methods evaluate nothing more than a student’s ability to memorize.  Such assessments do nothing to promote or evaluate conceptual or deep understanding of the topic.

Perhaps those pontifications should wait for another posting…

References
Levine, A. (2008, October 27). Authenticating Students in Online Programs. Retrieved November 23, 2008, from New media Consortium Web site: http://www.nmc.org/nmctab/authenticating-students

Wrona, S. L. (2008, October 15). Identity Verification for Distance-Ed Students: FUD Lingers. Retrieved November 23, 2008, from EDUCAUSE Web site: http://connect.educause.edu/blog/sworona/identityverificationfordi/47462

H.R. 4137: Higher Education Opportunity Act (2008, August 14). Retrieved November 23, 2008, from GovTrack.com web site: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-4137