The common fear – and stereotype – about online learning is that it is impersonal. A solitary set-up with nothing but videos to watch and machines to talk to. But Calbright’s online Competency-Based Education model works because it is both high-tech and high-touch: It utilizes technology to connect people to people, build communities, and make higher education more personal in every way. Calbright uses technology to take “student centered” to a whole new level.
Calbright’s unique approach to online, competency-based learning shows in how students set their own pace and schedule for learning; it shows in how each student’s classes are individually tailored to the skills they already have and assessed based on the skills they still need to master. This year, the College’s development of its model continues with a new, “dynamic journey map” that gives students an even higher degree of transparency and control over their education.
“The idea is to provide a personalized journey for our students. One where they will always have clarity about where they are, what comes next, and how far they have to go,” said Shelly Gupta, Calbright’s Director of Product Management.
With Calbright’s dynamic journey map, students are in control: able to move quickly and make simple changes to their course of study without asking permission, and directly connected to staff members who can guide them through more complex decisions, when expert support is needed.
Your Time, Your Choice
At its core, the dynamic journey map is about “structured flexibility” – giving students the freedom they want and the structure they need to succeed.
At the beginning of their Calbright education, each student develops a personal timeline for their education that fits with their life. Setting their own goals, at a pace that works for them.
Some students want to move quickly and finish their program in just a few months, while others might want to move slowly, taking a year or more. It’s up to them.
As they continue their studies, the dynamic journey map ensures they have all the information they need, and puts them in control of their education.
“Let’s say a student, Mariah, is having a rough time completing an assignment because life happens,” Gupta said. “So she’s off track, and not meeting the goals she set for herself. Her dynamic journey map will tell her that – it shows at a glance where she is on her timeline. If she wants a grace period because she needs more time, she doesn’t have to wait. She doesn’t need to have a meeting or ask permission. She just clicks on an option for an extension, selects the time she needs, let’s say two weeks, and then clicks next. Her timeline automatically changes. It’s that easy.”
But if Mariah wants more than control over the plan of study she’s already worked out, such as a significant change like moving her timeline from six months to a year, or changing her program entirely, or needs new kinds of support, those are decisions that can’t be automated.
“Those kinds of decisions need discussion, need human scaffolding to hold on to and connect with,” Gupta said. “So students can use their dynamic journey map to tell us what they want, and then the message will automatically go where it needs to – the student doesn’t have to figure out who to talk to, we connect them to the Calbright staff or faculty who can help. They’ll see Mariah’s record, what she wants changed, and where she is in her program. They’ll find a time that they can talk, find out the reasons for her change and help and talk her through her options. Maybe there are ways to help that she doesn’t know about! Maybe there’s more we can do. Those are discussions she should have with a person. So she’ll have our Student Services and Learning and Instruction teams working to find the outcome that works best for her, and then can make the change she needs, just like that.”
At The Leading Edge
“The dynamic journey map allows our teams to serve as accountability partners to our students, in a way that gives them the freedom for flexibility,” said Ava Burns, Calbright’s Dean of Student Journey. “The map provides the journey, with room for individual needs.”
This new flexibility is part of Calbright’s ongoing model to make college academically rigorous but logistically simple. Time and attention is precious, and students should spend theirs learning the skills that will improve their careers, not managing red tape or arguing with systems. Every minute spent figuring out how to make a change or get help is time that they could be using to learn, parent, or relax and recover at the end of a hard day.
“At Calbright, we think about technology as a way to remove friction so students can focus on learning,” said Vivek Vyas, Calbright’s Chief Product Officer. “The dynamic journey map reflects a collaborative, cross-functional approach to understanding student needs, where data and student signals inform how we deliver tailored, human-centered support, giving students both autonomy and guidance at the right moments.”
Students should also never feel like they’re lost or on their own – studies clearly show that students who feel like they’re part of a community are more likely to finish, and finish quickly. Support and connection should be easy to find. Tutors should be accessible, counseling and coaching within reach at any time.
And students should get the support they need inside the classroom and out of it. Significant research, including Calbright’s own, shows that students who have their basic needs met in their lives do significantly better in their studies.
Calbright’s model is the leading edge of holistic, student-centered, approaches that use technology to streamline processes that technology is good for, and better apply human connection to the moments where there is no substitute. It’s what people say they want from higher education and Artificial Intelligence alike, and Calbright is proving it can work.
