Correlation is not Causation

It is not; we know that - but correlation is a powerful tool for exploring and understanding situational effects. Let's do a for-instance: UW Tacoma and UW Bothell. They were started at the same time (1990), to offer regional options for a UW education...albeit in different parts of the PNW region. UW Bothell is 50 miles to the north of us, set in lovely woods, with new and shiny glass buildings. They are in tech country and are open to many innovative practices that make visiting their Learning Technologies group an adventure.  The group consists of 5 professionals, supporting ZERO online courses. They also have a bevy of students helping them create documentation and videos. Their site is a broad and deep exploration of pedagogy, help aids and ideas.

Contrast this with the UW Tacoma: embedded in history, community, and the story of access for our "new traditional" students. Due to resources always allocated first to "engagement of diverse students" our commitment to Academic Technologies differs from UW Bothell: 1.5 professionals, supporting more than 500 students and 15-20 instructors in fully online courses each quarter. Two students doing tutoring, one (1!) that will begin this quarter to do the kind of work that UWB's eight (8!) current Learning Technologies' student workers are doing.

What happens when culture creates a strong variance in commitment? Well, the only way to measure is with data. Correlation: despite our joined histories, UWB has a much higher 6-year retention rate (73 vs 65%) but that's just loose correlation. How do we know supporting students with technologies that are now used for learning would make a difference? Can we get closer to the source?

How about faculty adoption of the Canvas LMS, which gives students 24/7 access to online syllabi, tools, assignments and readings? Here's what we know since its adoption: UWT started with a higher initial adoption, but UWB's focus on support, training, and innovation quickly moved them forward until the latest numbers show a 16% difference in instructors using Canvas - at all. Not well, not deeply, not to reduce time constraints...just creating online access to course materials.

Correlation is not causation, but it tells a compelling story.

Colleen