SYRACUSE — The Syracuse University (SU) School of Information Studies (iSchool) says it is working with 2U, an education-technology company, in offering three online graduate programs. The degree programs include Master of Science degrees in information management; library and information science; and library and information science: school media. Students can start taking the online course in […]
SYRACUSE — The Syracuse University (SU) School of Information Studies (iSchool) says it is working with 2U, an education-technology company, in offering three online graduate programs.
The degree programs include Master of Science degrees in information management; library and information science; and library and information science: school media.
Students can start taking the online course in October, says Jeffrey Stanton, interim dean of the iSchool.
The iSchool joins the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management as the third school at Syracuse University offering online programs in partnership with Landover, Maryland–based 2U, SU said in a Jan. 28 news release.
The courses will include live face-to-face online classes taught by iSchool faculty members.
Online students will be required to meet the same academic criteria as students in the iSchool’s on-campus programs, the school said.
The company is naming the online programs “iSchool@Syracuse.” 2U also offers Communications@Syracuse, MBA@Syracuse, and Accounting@Syracuse.
2U says it partners with colleges and universities to offer online degree programs Its platform, a fusion of cloud-based software-as-a-service technology and technology-enabled services, provides schools with the operating infrastructure they need to “attract, enroll, educate, support and graduate students globally.”
2U calls it the “No Back Row” approach.
Rationale
The iSchool is working with 2U for two “big reasons,” says Jeffrey Stanton, interim dean of the iSchool.
“One is related to the nature of marketing online-education programs in 2016,” says Stanton.
The other is related to the “rapid advancement of instructional technology” that’s happening all over education, he added.
He spoke with CNYBJ on Jan. 29.
When the iSchool started offering online education in the mid-1990s, it was “basically the only [school]” offering courses in information management and library science, according to Stanton.
Since that time, online education has had “immense growth,” with both nonprofit and for-profit schools offering courses.
Stanton calls it a “very crowded field now.”
“It’s extremely difficult to make your voice heard these days,” he adds, noting that 2U is a firm that “specializes” in the promotion and marketing of online programs.
The company has about 100 people who work to understand the current trends and to market an online program to prospective students.
“Their dedicated staff is much more than what any single university can do in terms of making a program known,” says Stanton.
The company also helps SU in what Stanton calls the “rapidly changing nature of instructional technology.”
Until now, the iSchool’s online instruction has been “asynchronous,” meaning it doesn’t involve “anything in real time with a student,” says Stanton.
Asynchronous instruction could involve a discussion board or an instructor posting a video of a lecture, and the student might respond with texts or messages.
Nowadays, with web conferencing available, students are expecting a “much more intimate synchronous experience,” says Stanton.
“Even though they’re far apart geographically, instructors and students are face to face and they’re able to talk to each other,” he adds.
2U’s platform integration allows the
iSchool’s instructors to get access to that synchronous technology “very easily,” Stanton adds.