The Seattle Times has a story posted today about faculty in Washington’s public colleges and universities using technology to enhance the learning environment and gain a measure of efficiency. You can find it here.
While there’s a temptation to think universities are resistant to change, the reality is they’ve had little choice but to become as innovative as ever before. In an era of major budget reductions, WSU is deliberately increasing its enrollment. Getting more students through the pipeline to graduation in such a constrained environment is a considerable challenge.
The use of technology, such as the three-week-long Winter Session and Intersession during which students can take a high demand class online during a break in the academic calendar, has helped maintain the flow of students through the pipeline, removing blockages to graduation.