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The New Normal: How education can thrive in a digital world - Sponsored by Chegg

Session Overview

This video was part of the July 2021 REMOTE: The Connected Faculty Summit

Post pandemic, what will be the evolution of higher education? Today’s students are more digitally connected than ever with most information accessible in different formats online. With knowledge more accessible than ever, what is the value of the traditional university and its academy? How can faculty thrive in such an interconnected world, and how can they ensure the value of a degree in the job market, as many employers are looking beyond the traditional degree as a marker of acquired skills. This panel will examine these questions, how traditional higher education can utilize the opportunities provided by technology and manage the transition.

Speakers

Paul Kim

Associate Dean and CTO| Stanford University

Dr. Paul Kim is the Chief Technology Officer and Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University.

An education technology entrepreneur, Dr. Kim leads initiatives involving the design of learning technologies, educational research, and community development. In a trans-disciplinary project aiming to promote innovation and competition by constructing a Programmable and Open Mobile Internet (POMI 2020), Dr. Kim designs and implements mobile technologies and social learning environments.

In 2009, Dr. Kim founded Seeds of Empowerment, a 501(C3) non-profit global education incubator for social innovations leveraging mobile technologies. Under his direction and leadership, Stanford undergraduate and graduate students carry out mobile-social educational research and development in real-world classrooms and virtual learning environments. Some of the student-initiated projects he has helped develop and sponsor include the multiple award-winning TeachAids, a global HIV/AIDS education NGO, Adina’s Deck, an award-winning internet safety education program, SMILE (Stanford Mobile Inquiry-based Learning Environment), a mobile platform that has been implemented in over 20 countries, ROSE (Remotely Operated Science Experiment), and 1,001 Stories, a global micro creative economy project. These and other Seeds of Empowerment initiatives have been recognized in global competitions sponsored by organizations including the Sesame Workshop, WISE by the Qatar Foundation, the Marvell 100K Challenge, Vodafone, etc.

Dr. Kim has dedicated himself to international development through education and information technology strategies and has advised Saudi Arabia’s national online education initiative, the national evaluation of Uruguay’s One Laptop Per Child project, Rwanda’s national ICT planning, and institutional advancement efforts for numerous universities.

Dr. Kim serves on the Board of Directors of WestEd, the Committee on Grand Challenges in International Development for the National Academies of Science, and the advisory committee for the National Science Foundation’s Education and Human Resources Directorate.

Dr. Kim was born in South Korea and received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Technology from the University of Southern California in 1999.

Ray Schroeder

Associate Vice Chancellor / Senior Fellow | University of Illinois Springfield / UPCEA

Nationally respected leader in higher education online learning, Ray Schroeder is Senior Fellow of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) and Professor Emeritus / Associate Vice Chancellor at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS).  He came to the university in Springfield in 1977, beginning as assistant professor, then associate, then full professor, prior to becoming an emeritus professor in 2001.  He launched the online learning program at UIS in 1997. Ray founded the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service and became Associate Vice Chancellor for Online Learning in 2013.  The recipient of many awards and citations for individual excellence and leadership from associations and entities including the Sloan Consortium (OLC), US Distance Learning Association, American Journal of Distance Education, Illinois Council for Continuing Higher Education, University of Wisconsin and University of Illinois, Ray authors book chapters, articles, widely read curated reading lists, blogs and social media feeds on news and research in online learning / educational technology.  He writes the “Online: Trending Now” bi-weekly column in Inside Higher Education.  Ray is a noted speaker, consultant, researcher, and author on topics related to online learning, emerging educational technologies, and technology-enhanced learning.

Alexandra (Sasha) Thackaberry

Vice President | Online & Continuing Education

Dr. Sasha Thackaberry serves as the Vice President for Online and Continuing Education at Louisiana State University.  She leads fully online programs, support for online and blended courses, and continuing education that encompasses professional development, K-12 and lifelong learning.  Previous to her current post, she was the Assistant Vice President for Academic Technology, Course Production and New Learning Models at Southern New Hampshire University.  She is the Chair of the Executive Committee for WCET, is the Co-Chair for the Council Chief Online Learning Officers through UPCEA, on the advisory committee for the national CHLOE survey, and is on the 7 Things Advisory Committee for EDUCAUSE.  She has served as a consultant for K-12, community college, non-profit and corporations in instructional design, professional development and elearning ecosystems.  She has also held a variety of roles spanning the field of elearning and innovation, including as the Director of eLearning Technologies, Manager of Next Generation Learning and Senior Instructional Designer at Cuyahoga Community College, and as the Online Learning Coordinator at WVIZ/PBS ideastream, a designated edtech agency for the state of Ohio where she ran online programs for professional development of in-service K-12 faculty statewide.  

Dr. Thackaberry has published articles in Inside Higher Ed, EDUCAUSE Review, eLearn Magazine, Distance Learning, e-Literate, WCET, evoLLLution, and the League for Innovation’s Learning Abstracts. She is the co-recipient of the 2013 MOOC Award for Excellence through the Open Education Consortium, and a 2010 Innovation of the Year award through the League for Innovation. Sasha holds a PhD in higher education administration with a research focus in Competency-Based Education as well as an MAT from Kent State University. Her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance is from the University of Akron.