The Open Learning ecOsysTem: TransfOrming educaTiOn ThrOugh The VirTuaL sTem uniVersiTy

California State University, East Bay Office of the President White Paper

execuTiVe summary
Innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment and a skilled, educated workforce drove and sustained the American Century. Today in the face of a new, knowledge-based economy, the United States faces threats to its historical positions in global leadership, economic dominance, and standard of living. At the root of this challenge is an educational system that has failed to keep pace with changing needs of 21st-century learners and employers, particularly in education for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and increasingly STEM-centered careers. Although advancements in technology have presented new opportunities for learning and engagement, the education system has not invested in long-term pedagogical solutions or in comprehensive improvements that can effect change throughout the P-20 (preschool through post-graduate) continuum. California State University, East Bay (CSUEB) presents a bold new paradigm for transforming education a Virtual STEM University employing an open learning ecosystem that offers partners in business and education a pivotal opportunity and means to collaborate in rethinking, reimagining, and reengineering teaching, learning, and educational delivery systems to address the needs of the regions employers, students, and communities.

At the dawn of the 21st century,

Californias position as a national and global economic engine and center of innovation indeed, the states economy standing alone ranks as the eighth largest in the world is eroding. The state as well as the Bay Area region, Californias innovation and entrepreneurship heartland, have long enjoyed unprecedented levels of education, prosperity, and academic prominence, the return on 50 years of investments in public education. And the well-educated and highly skilled workforce that this investment yielded not only ensured the competitiveness of its business and industry, but also created an environment for innovation that fed back into the educationworkforce pipeline, completing the circuit of productivity and progress. This symbiotic and synergistic combination has produced the opportunity, economic inclusion, and societal cohesion that characterized the state and region for the past half century. But the skills required for success in the 21st century are not 20th-century skills. Now into the second decade of this century, its clear that California, and the nation as a whole, is falling behind. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that 60% of the new jobs created this century will require skills possessed by only 20% of the current workforce. And there is a mounting shortage of college graduates, both regionally and nationally, with competence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics the critical STEM disciplines. In a knowledge-based economy, the nation, the state, and particularly the Bay Area region, are threatened by global competition not only in business, but also in national educational achievement. Without a robust pipeline of college-bound students prepared to study STEM and graduates ready to fill vital technical positions, the U.S. will continue to lose ground in competitiveness and employment as employers are forced to outsource, hire from outside the area, or move away altogether.

At risk are the prosperity, advancement, and global position that California enjoyed in the late 20th century. With its commitment to regional economic vibrancy, workforce development, and healthy communities, California State University, East Bay proposes to take on the mission of restoring the regions competitive advantage and the states economic vitality with a vision and plans for a highly collaborative, community- and technology-based ecosystem framework for a new educational delivery paradigm.

Education and its relationship to sustainable economic development and global security
The economic and social health of the region and the country depends heavily on a robust and expanding pipeline of well-educated, technologically proficient employees. Education spurs innovation, leading to the breakthroughs and new technologies that power the economy of today as well as tomorrow. The U.S. economy experienced this growth after the passage of the Morrill Act of 1862 and G.I. Bill after WWII, which produced a wave of highly skilled and motivated human capital, powering innovation, expanding the GNP, generating new markets, and creating virtually unlimited opportunities for American citizens. Today, the U.S. continues to attract high achievers from other countries to study at our universities, but our education system has not kept pace in preparing our own students and workforce. For too long, we have considered learning in isolation. In most countries, education is a separate branch of government policy and a separate activity from our daily lives. It has traditionally been a series of separate, closed systems, remote and isolated, that does not adapt or evolve easily. Addressing the ever more urgent needs of the American education system will require opening that system to new resources and innovation.

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In recent years, technology has presented extraordinary new opportunities to do just that. But we have not yet taken advantage of its real power, instead using it to mimic what we have done before rather than transforming what and how we teach, learn, and work to meet the changing needs of our economy and society. Previous assessments of the countrys educational systems have functioned more as critiques, falling short of actionable real-world solutions. They fail to address the full P-20 spectrum of education, often addressing shortcomings in high schools without looking at contributing factors in elementary education. They do not scale for wider application of even limited reforms indeed, the scale and complexity of American education defies reform. Most responses to the challenges at hand are neither systemic nor systematic. Instead, we must build, independently, a support structure for the education continuum that will lead to appropriate learning outcomes for the 21st century. Sustainability will be critical for any long term strategy, both economically and socially. In considering the impact of proposed solutions on existing systems, we must also determine if the solutions themselves are supportable at a level necessary to solve the problems. To attain that will require considering and maintaining balance between the physical and biological environment, economy, and social health. STEM disciplines play a key role in sustainability, fueling economic development and breakthroughs. The National Academies report that public investments in science and technology have produced annualized societal returns that range from 20% to 67%. Some economists estimate that about half the nations growth in gross domestic product per capita during the last half-century can be attributed to scientific and engineering achievements.

Increasing the four-year college attainment rate in each of the nations 51 largest metropolitan areas by one percentage point would equal a $124 billion increase in aggregate annual personal income.
City Dividends, CEOs for Cities

Californias Master Plan for higher education in the 1960s provided access for an entire generation of students in the middle of the 20th century, laying the foundation for unprecedented sustainable development and providing the educated workforce necessary to build the areas STEM-related industries. Now, however, the state invests fewer dollars every year in higher education, and academic achievement is slipping at all levels. Even with a restoration of funding, the model of state support is outdated. Challenges must be addressed with longterm strategies to change both the business of education and the education of the workforce. We now recognize that, historically, business and education have had limited interaction to the detriment of both systems. But both employers and students have been failed by an education system that is not able to meet the rapidly evolving needs of the American economy. Today, the relationship between our economy and our education system is at a tipping point. It is time for the closed systems to open. To sustain the economy, we must work together to align goals for the regions workforce and citizens. We have before us an unprecedented opportunity to address the shortcomings and challenges we face and do nothing short of reinventing education for the 21st century.

Challenges the status and future projection of educational achievement in the U.S. and California
National commissions have provided numerous reports on the lagging educational performance of U.S. students compared to their international peers, both overall and in the study of mathematics and science. When comparing student educational achievement in these subjects across the U.S., California ranks in the lowest quartile, and the performance of students from its underserved communities and ethnic minorities is particularly alarming. Industry surveys indicate that 90% of the nations fastest growing jobs will require at least some post-secondary education. In fact, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) has now projected a shortage of one million college graduates by 2025 to fill jobs requiring at least a bachelors degree in this state alone. The PPIC pointed to the states inability to move through college enough of its fastest-growing minorities as a key cause. As seen in the study of Californias public school system (see graph, next page), fewer than 40% of ninth graders enroll in a four-year institution or community college in this state after high school, and only 4% earn a degree in science or engineering. While this does not take into account those who leave the state for college, it is clear that California schools are not producing enough STEM graduates to meet the growing needs of industry. To do so, they would need to generate 70 percent more graduates at bachelors degree level. In the meantime, to meet STEM workforce needs, employers across the region and the nation cannot rely primarily on foreign workers, global development centers, or increased use of H1B visas strategies that are neither viable nor sustainable for the long term. Without a strategic integrated plan for educational

reform, the declining performance of Californias students will continue. Concomitantly, as our students educational performance declines, our states economic competitiveness will also be expected to decline as these students enter the workforce.

The impact of raising low-income student performance to the level of median income students would have resulted in a 2008 gdP increase for California of $79 to 133 billion.
PPIC

Search for a transformative paradigm parameters and critical concepts for transformation
We must reconsider learning, understanding it as a process, not as a place. And we must re-engineer and recast our learning delivery model as an open learning system. Innovation depends on acquiring new knowledge and insights, as well as letting go of the past. Unshackling ourselves from outdated ideas and perceived limitations are prerequisites for the emergence of new paradigms and new solutions to an increasingly complex and intractable problem. Andre Gide stated: One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. Therefore, strategic forgetfulness may serve as a first step in observing new patterns, phenomena, and innovative breakthroughs. The world needs new learning systems, characterized by new ways of engaging students, new techniques for organizing knowledge, new forms of assessment and credentialing, different models of investment and funding, and infrastructure fit to these purposes.

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STUDENTS IN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM, 9TH GRADE THROUGH SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING BACCALAUREATE, 1999 2007
SOURCE: CALIFORNIA COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CCST DATA: CALIFORNIA POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION COMMISSION CPEC , CALIFORNIA BASIC EDUCATIONAL DATA SYSTEM CBEDS

1999 9TH GRADE 482,300

9TH GRADE

2003 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES TOTAL 341,300

DID NOT MEET UC/CSU REQUIREMENTS 226,800 MET UC/CSU REQUIREMENTS 114,500

2003 CCC FRESHMEN UNDER 19 110,400

2003 FRESHMEN TOTAL 66,900

CSU 38,200 UC 28,700

CSU 35,600 UC 12,000

2005 FALL TRANSFERS TOTAL 47,600

2003 S&E FRESHMEN ENROLLED TOTAL 23,600 2007 S&E BACCALAUREATE GRADUATES TOTAL 19,500

CSU 12,100 UC 11,500

CSU 4,300 UC 2,500

2005 S&E FALL TRANSFERS TOTAL 6,800

CSU 8,000 UC 11,500

CSU S&E GRADUATE RATE: 49% UC S&E GRADUATE RATE: 82%

ALL TOTALS ARE ROUNDED TO THE NEAREST 100

SOURCES: CCST, CDE & CPEC

First, we must recognize new relationships between space, time, and work described by Frances Cairncross of The Economist as the death of distance, where parties to transactions no longer need to be physically close to one another. What began with trains in the 19th century and air travel in the 20th has been expanded with the networking power of the Internet. It is now feasible to move information in a similar fashion literally at the speed of change, and almost without cost. In the absence of these barriers, networked intelligence and mass collaboration are the new culture. Learning environments now extend far beyond the physical boundaries of classrooms and labs, and education must adapt to these new expectations of crowd sourcing and social networking. Next, we consider engagement and attention in a world of multi-tasking. Maintaining engagement is critical for any learning context, creating enthusiastic and interested, selfdirected participants. Attention is the key to engagement, as the fundamental measure of how individuals think and act; leveraging attention into proper learning contexts informs the process with the joy of discovery an infectious spirit sustaining all participants. Any solution for transforming educational paradigms must also address inclusion, making available not only the opportunities for learning but also the future economic mobility that it represents. Many schools strive for excellence by becoming more exclusive, assuming selectivity will provide equivalent quality in outcomes. True open learning systems are more attuned to the delta the change in student learning over time and therefore more amenable to inclusion. Further, this integrated new learning system cannot be limited by courses, colleges, or texts. It must align with creativity, collaboration, and customization. These environments promote more dialogue and interaction between active communities of learners in real and virtual collaboratoria open markets for the exchange of ideas where new knowledge is produced in a collaborative, distributed, and open fashion.

Learning is much more than accessing content. In the 21st century, learning is a complex blend of skills, competencies, and the will to continue learning throughout life. These skills and competencies include the ability to think critically and solve complex problems, work collaboratively, communicate effectively, and pursue self-directed learning or metacognition.
Diana Oblinger, Educause

Learning for 21st century needs is not driven by content, but by process. It is not enough to know what students today must know how to access relevant information. Then they will make connections to other information to know why, developing the critical passion and conviction to care why.

The open learning ecosystem approach to innovation in education

The ecosystem metaphor for the current and future state of education is compelling. The term ecosystem was coined in 1936 by Arthur Tansley to define a system of interacting biological components and the environment in which they live. Unfortunately, for most of the 20th century, humans did not consider themselves as part of this system, but recent decades saw broader environmental awareness not only of living ecosystems but also of the integral role of humanity. As science helps us understand the relationships among forces within and between ecosystems and how they work, we recognize that changing the balance is more about possibilities than probabilities. And one of those forces that can affect these possibilities is education.

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Today, education in the United States is largely a series of closed systems (one for each level, such as pre-school, K-12, community college, and four-year institutions). Each relies on the finite supply of resources already in its system, with only limited exchange of other resources with its surroundings or other levels of education. Closed ecosystems are stable, but resistant to change (we see this, for example, in island populations susceptible to biological and cultural stagnation, lacking the genetic and social resources to evolve). Business, by contrast, thrives as an open system with frequent, rich exchanges with surrounding systems, allowing greater interaction and flow of information, which leads to adaptation and eventually evolution. Another aspect of ecosystems to consider is the concept of a keystone species, which zoologist Robert Paine defined as a species that, by its abundance and activity, determined the integrity of the community and its unaltered persistence through time, that is, stability. The learning ecosystem is a keystone component of the larger societal ecosystem, and as such, society will not flourish if the quality of education is not stable, abundant, and active in maintaining its currency and relevancy to society. Whats required is a breakthrough a paradigm shift as defined by physicist and science historian Thomas Kuhn. Science, Kuhn described, does not always progress in a linear and continuous manner, but rather undergoes periodic paradigm shifts, which incorporate new approaches that would not have been considered valid before the shift. When an existing theory cannot resolve an accumulation of anomalies, it faces a crisis. Then, revolutionary science calls for examining the underlying assumptions of the theory, exposing its weaknesses and establishing a new paradigm. We are at such a crisis a tipping point today in education, in need of a dramatically different paradigm.

The time has long passed for education to evolve from a series of closed systems into an open learning ecosystem. The diagram on page 7 illustrates how this ecosystem approach overlays the existing series of closed systems, defined by the school day and punctuated by summer vacations. It notes the present discontinuities at transition points, where students move to the next level based on age, regardless of achievement or capabilities. The open learning ecosystem offers a different approach represented by an advancing spiral a lifelong process based on social and cognitive development rather than chronological age. Students advance to the next stage when they have met learning objectives adjusted to fit the needs and capabilities of the student at prior stages. Mobile computing technology connects students, teachers, and other support networks to decentralized computing and digital storage the cloud. This provides constant, anytime access not only to computing and data storage, but also to a variety of interactive learning resources; applications for personal productivity, collaboration and social networking, and simulation and visualization; discipline-specific tools, real-time data sets, and instrumentation; asynchronous access to subject matter experts, advisers, and tutors; and learning analytics. Accomplishments accumulate as stackable credentials, documented in a digital backpack, an individuals secure digital record, stored in the cloud and accessible to all education systems.

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF OPEN LEARNING SYSTEM SUPERIMPOSED OVER STATIC EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

DECENTRALIZED COMPUTING AND DIGITAL STORAGE

OPEN LEARNING OVERLAY A lifelong process based on cognitive and social development

INFANT

CHILD

EARLY ADOLESCENT

ADOLESCENT

YOUNG ADULT

ADULT

ADULT

P
PRESCHOOL

10

11

12

FR SO JR SR
COLLEGE OR COMMUNITY COLLEGE & TRANSFER TO 4 YEAR COLLEGE

MASTERS & Ph.D.

GRADUATE/ PROFESSIONAL CAREER

KINDERGARTEN THROUGH 12TH GRADE

PARENTS

COMMUNITY

TEACHERS

PEERS

PERSONAL LEARNING COACH

FAMILY

SUPPORT FROM FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND MENTORS; ENABLED BY TECHNOLOGY

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Building this type of learning ecosystem requires mobilizing a societys energy and resources to create new structures, new approaches, and new technology to deliver a new balance of skills to a lifelong learning population. An effective open learning ecosystem would have the following characteristics: Requires innovative methods of teaching and learning Learning will be (re)defined as a lifelong process, focused on creativity, flexible skills, and reasoning power, not just content knowledge. Teaching and other forms of support for learning will be (re)structured around a students developmental stage, rather than chronological age. Accommodates a very broad mixture of learning providers A mixture of learning providers public, private, and third-sector organizations and individuals will provide content, learning opportunities, and instruction to learners of all ages. The system will support a diversity of innovators from spreading known models to experimental work on high-risk/high-reward projects. Removes the old divides between formal education and informal learning Common assessment protocols will reward outcomes (achievement of lifelong learning objectives) rather than rote learning or seat time. Learning will involve the entire community that is relevant at each life stage, especially involving family (especially for younger children), community institutions (appropriate to different cultures), peers, and potential employers, in addition to more traditional teachers and professors. Learners will have access to a trusted mentor or personal learning coach to whom they can turn for advice, support, encouragement, and information. This mentor or coach uses learning analytics to help guide the students progress.

Uses transparent and strategic technologies where appropriate Learners will take advantage of state-of-the-art mobile technologies to extend learning beyond the traditional school day and school year. The traditional closed-system textbook (or course reader) will be replaced by interactive, open-system digital resources that allow students to personalize and align content delivery with their learning styles, follow links to real-time data or to the expertise of an online tutor, explore concepts through games or simulations, watch video about topics they are studying, or share new insights with others. Learners will have a private, permanent, secure, and independent storage space for recording achievement much like a health record. Offers and delivers learning that is social, contextual, and continuous Learning will go beyond the classroom walls, will be collaborative and experiential, recognizing the value of engagement with peers and social learning, and will provide unique opportunities for students to be content developers; at the same time students will remain accountable for their individual development. Learners will be able to refer back to sources they found helpful at different developmental stages as well as have access to new discoveries and emerging interpretations. A particular responsibility of the learning system will be to provide students with the tools they need to absorb, sort, vet, select, and interpret increasingly vast amounts of information, translating them into true meaning, and applying them to life and work. In order for the open learning ecosystem to take root, universities are positioned best to provide leadership that can span the continuum from cradle to career to community. Strong stewardship from a new coalition of governments, businesses, NGOs, and social investors will bring the legitimacy, innovation, and resources needed to make the new open learning system a reality.

All groups including elected officials, employers, unions, communities, and individuals will be prepared to invest more time and money in learning, including the development of new funding models to support investment in lifelong learning.

allocate or reallocate existing resources to cover the gaps in the continuum. A successful learning ecosystem will require a coordinated effort from the various corners of the private and public arena. Across the continuum, this needs structure and defined functions, development of common goals, and shared indicators of success. The diagram below shows how Cal State East Bay, through its Virtual STEM University and Center for STEM Education, is implementing the open system approach to learning in the context of a larger innovation ecosystem. This ecosystem encompasses the East Bay region, supporting an educated citizenry, which in turn contributes to thriving communities and a prosperous region.

Addressing the continuum through the Virtual STEM University and Center for STEM Education
Universities need to abandon the classic closed ecosystem stable, but resistant to change that is inwardly focused, and become more outwardly focused, with a commitment of resources to the entire continuum. They must focus on establishing centers of innovation also known as innovation ecosystems where creativity, imagination, and engagement are encouraged and modeled. Cal State East Bays plans for a Virtual STEM University calls for three such centers that will span the cradle to career to community continuum (see sidebar): 1. Virtual STEM Academy for K-12 Education (VSA K-12) 2. Virtual STEM College for Undergraduate Learning (VSC-UL) 3. Regional Institute for Scientific, Social, and Economic Research and Development (RISSE R&D) While these components represent three distinct areas of focus, in reality and in function, they will operate in concert, where successes and failure, opportunities and innovations are shared. In the initial stages of developing the Virtual STEM University, CSUEB is cataloging existing programs that fit into the open learning ecosystem, determining holes in needed services, and planning with partners to

TION ECOSYS TEM OVA INN

EARNING SYST EM EN L OP
(STEM-centered University)

CAL STATE EAST BAY

VIRTUAL STEM UNIVERSITY CENTER for STEM EDUCATION

PARTNERSHIPS
(e.g., Gateways as model)

EAST BAY: THRIVING COMMUNITIES in a PROSPEROUS REGION

EDUCATED CITIZENRY & WORKFORCE

(Liberal & Technical) (e.g., Math Academies, Promise Neighborhoods)

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

Cal State East Bays Virtual STEM University Center for STEM Education applies the principles of an open learning system, operating within an innovation ecosystem. Its purpose is to provide content knowledge and pedagogical expertise to promote technology-supported learning throughout the East Bay region.

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VIRTuAL STEM unIVERSITy AnD CEnTER fOR STEM EDuCATIOn Basic components of the Virtual STEM Academy for K-12 Education (VSA K-12)
MISSIOn Provide an innovative environment for developing and implementing pedagogic best practices in K-12 STEM education and informal STEM education OuTCOMES Expanded STEM skills of college graduates that will allow them to compete successfully in the job market, and as a result, our country being more competitive in the global arena A more scientifically and technologically literal citizenry InITIATIVES Develop K-12 partnerships, such as CSUEBs Gateways education and workforce development initiative Improved in-service resources, learning, and activities for K-12 teachers Improved pre-service resources, learning, and activities for K-12 teachers Summer STEM academies for K-12 students Develop centers for exploratory learning in STEM Provide STEM education experts for the K-12 STEM education community InITIATIVES Establish a Student Research Academy (SRA), which will increase students research activities, increase the communications between student researchers, mentors, and external constituents Improve real-time dissemination of results through cloud computing and online journals Provide STEM experts for external constituents OuTCOMES Increase in the numbers of STEM majors to meet societal demands Expanded research skills of college STEM graduates that will allow them to compete successfully in the job market, and as a result, our country being more competitive in the global arena Increase in the scientific and technological capacity of the university, and as such, increase our research service to the region InITIATIVES Develop and maintain problembased applied research centers to address economic, scientific, technical, and social health issues in the region Develop partnerships with government agencies, to reduce costs of delivering services Increase connectivity between researchers and stakeholders through telepresence OuTCOMES Address and help solve entrepreneurial and innovation challenges facing small and mid-size companies and government agencies Model practices in sustainable development Providing access to high tech scientific equipment and scientists MISSIOn Provide an innovative environment for developing and implementing pedagogic best practices in undergraduate and graduate STEM research MISSIOn Provide an innovative environment for serving regional research needs, and as a result, increase the economic, environmental, and social health of the region

Basic components of the Virtual STEM Institute for undergraduate Learning (VSC-uL)

Basic components of Regional Institute for Scientific, Social, and Economic Research and Development (RISSE R&D)

Gateways P-20 Cradle to Career Education and Workforce Partnership

Building on an open system paradigm, Cal State East Bay, through the Virtual STEM University, is also implementing its open learning ecosystem via its innovative Gateways P-20 Cradle to Career Education and Workforce Partnership. Community-based partnership networks provide the most promising opportunity for the open learning ecosystem to flourish and respond to the myriad needs of the region, while at the same time increasing our countrys competitiveness in the global arena. Gateways, supported by Living Cities in collaboration with the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities, is a STEM-education focused cradle-to-career partnership that builds on existing networks and programs among various regional, national, and international stakeholder groups including K-12 school districts, county offices of education and higher education, corporations, foundations, and community and public sector agencies. Although programs such as this typically refer to the cradle to career continuum, in todays increasingly competitive and demanding workforce environment where workers have an average of 10 jobs in the 20 years

after college graduation it is more accurate to speak of the need for a cradle through careers continuum. The Gateways Roadmap (see below) is an early implementation of an ecosystem model for STEM education. It illustrates STEM-centric milestones within the education system as well as extracurricular support that can help students successfully navigate education through a bachelors degree and into a productive career, with the basic STEM competencies to succeed in the knowledge-based economy. Partnership networks contribute to the roadmap by creating points of integration where the open systems can influence the closed education system in a controlled fashion, introducing new resources, energies, and perspectives to carefully bring about the needed changes. Because the resources most needed in the closed system imagination and innovation are functionally unlimited, the open system can share these resources in any quantity. Stakeholder groups within these networks convene to improve the success of students and their families. And they work together not to just achieve proficiency as defined by the No Child Left Behind legislation, but rather to push for levels above proficiency to prepare a larger segment of our population to be competitive in a knowledge-based, highly scientific, and technological society of the 21st century.

Gateways Roadmap to success: cRitical tRansitions and BenchmaRks

Receives early exposure to STEM Academic Achievement Acquires English language and building vocabulary (oral) Develops motor and perceptual skills Stimulates brain and behavior Math at grade level English at grade level Improves reading skills Passes Algebra 1 Takes SAT and ACT Graduates from high school Passes high school exit program Completes college preparatory coursework (A G requirements)

Graduates from college

Birth

1 yo

2 yo

3 yo

4 yo

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

10th

11th

12th

13th

14th

15th

16th

Career

Student, Family, and School Support

Has strong parent-child communication Builds self-awareness and self-regulation

Practices healthy behavior Develops empathy and cooperation

Attains social and emotional competence Has a qualied math and science teacher

Adopts a career plan Receives guidance from a non-parent mentor Participates in community and social organizations

Has su cient nancial aid Develops time and stress management skills Engages in community and campus organizations

Parental knowledge of early development increases

Key transition years Support received by students from families and schools translates into increased likelihood of academic success, as depicted on the Gateways Roadmap. Key transition points are shown in yellow.

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Invitation to a strategic partnership

In an open learning ecosystem, universities will be a collection of independent institutions, but part of an interconnected and interdependent web of learning systems deeply embedded in the communities and regions they serve. Cal State East Bay and the transformative educational paradigm it proposes offers regional business and industry leaders a unique opportunity to partner in the creation and expansion of problem-solving networks to create and sustain an innovative open learning ecosystem for the regions students and workforce. This partnership also represents a critical opportunity for business to influence an outcome of education the workforce for which they are the primary consumers. But this collaboration goes beyond traditional models in another important way, allowing corporate involvement and engagement beyond the financial. The aim and the opportunity are to diversify the learning ecosystem, improving the flow of ideas and resources and benefits in all directions.

This partnership- and community-based Virtual STEM University paradigm represents the most promising opportunity to promote systemic change across all levels of education. While the overarching goals to improve schools, education, the workforce, and therefore regional social and economic health and vibrancy require long-term investments, the potential for both near-term gains as well as long lasting return on investment is high. Responsive partners, such as Cal State East Bay, are prepared to put new ideas into practice quickly and creatively. And alignment of partners investments across all these sectors has the potential to strengthen more than just education and the workforce; it has the potential to permanently impact the business environment and the innovation ecosystem that are so critical to our regions future, competitiveness, and cohesion.

caLL TO acTiOn
To support development of this vision of an open learning ecosystem, partners are invited to contribute to these initiatives: 1. Join, participate in, and support the Universitys Gateways initiative www.csueastbay.edu/gateways 3. Help us to establish the Virtual STEM University to increase the college educated and technically literate workforce in Bay Area region without building another university initially by at least 5,000 students each year

These three initiatives offer opportunities for new partners to join us in creating an open learning ecosystem to benefit new students as well as those we already serve, improving their chances for academic achievement and creating a pathway to success across the educational continuum. Comments, ideas, or feedback on this white paper may be directed to theopenlearningecosystem@csueastbay.edu.

2. Share ideas, insights, endorsements, resources, and technology to establish and house the Universitys Center for STEM Education www.csueastbay.edu/STEMcampaign

auThOrs

Mohammad H. Qayoumi is an engineer, professor, author, and president of California State University, East Bay. Under his leadership, the University adopted long-range academic and strategic plans that have significantly strengthened the institutions regional position and profile. The University has garnered top ratings from the Princeton Review (Best Western College and Best Business School) and U.S. News & World Report (toptier masters-granting university) during his tenure. With more than 30 years experience in higher education and industry, Qayoumi holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from American University of Beirut and four degrees from the University of Cincinnati: an M.S. in nuclear engineering; M.S., electrical and computer engineering; MBA, finance; and Ph.d., electrical engineering. he served as professor and administrator at the University of Cincinnati, San Jose State University, the University of Missouri-rolla, and California State University, northridge before assuming the presidency of California State University, East Bay in 2006. A sought-after presenter, nationally and internationally, Qayoumi has published eight books, more than 85 articles, and chapters in several books. he is a member of the Silicon Valley Leadership group and serves on boards including the Bay Area Council, the East Bay Economic development Alliance, the Commonwealth Club, and KQEd.

Kim Polese is a leading Silicon Valley entrepreneur and innovator. She currently serves as chairman of Internet consumer finance startup ClearStreet Inc. Prior to ClearStreet, she served as CEO of SpikeSource Inc., which pioneered the automation of open source software management, leading to acquisition by open source software leader Black duck in november 2010. In 1996, Polese co-founded Marimba Inc., which introduced the first generation of systems management software for the Internet age. She served as president, CEO, and chairman of Marimba, leading the company to profitability and a successful public offering and acquisition by BMC Corporation in 2004. Polese also worked at Sun Microsystems, where she was the founding product manager for Java and led its launch in 1995. Prior to joining Sun, Polese worked on expert systems at IntelliCorp, helping fortune 500 companies apply artificial intelligence to solving complex business challenges. Polese earned a bachelors degree in biophysics from the University of California, Berkeley and studied computer science at the University of Washington, Seattle. She is an Aspen Institute Crown fellow and serves on several boards, including Technet, the Silicon Valley Leadership group, the University of California Presidents Board on Science and Innovation, UC Berkeleys College of Engineering, the Long now foundation, and the global Security Institute.

T h E O P E n L E A r n I n g E C O S y S T E M : T r A n S f O r M I n g E d U C AT I O n T h r O U g h T h E V I r T U A L S T E M U n I V E r S I T y

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