A Disruptor's Handbook

Bundle unit	Question	The challenge
Screening	How do you get the name recognition to be "selective?	Can you coordinate with a "big name" (university, screener) in offering course?
	Can you replicate a university's quantitative screens?	Can you build a scoring system around quantitative screens (SATs, GPAs, AP scores) etc. to find the best students?
	How do you create qualitative screens online that work?	Can you have online interviews that allow you to add to the quantitative screens?
Structuring	How do you get enough online offerings to create a full product?	If you coordinated with a big name, can you use their classes/instructors to create online offerings? If no, how would you go about creating a complete course-offering list?
	How can you tailor an online degree to meet student needs and accommodate differences?	Can you create a mechanism where you can generate a course structure that reflects the online student (age, background, strengths, future plans)?
Classes- Content	How do you replicate the material that is offered in class and keep it updated?	Can you create delivery mechanisms that do not run afoul of legal ownership claims? (Publishers, universities, teachers etc)
Classes- Classroom	How do you create interaction in an online class?	Can you have a social media front that allows students in an online class to interact with each other & the teachers?
	How do you make an online class come alive to recreate classroom magic?	Can you use technology to make an online class come alive (and generate the magic of physically being in class)?
Classes- Group learning	How do you get group work going in an online setting?	Can you set up a simple online gathering place for groups to get together and work on a project?
	How do you get group members to learn from each other?	Can that online gathering place be set up in a way that group members can push each other to improve learning?
Classes- Monitoring	How do you monitor whether students are watching online classes?	Is there a way to keep track of whether a student is watching online classes?
	How do you check to see if they are getting the material?	Is there a way to follow up and make sure that the student is learning the material in the class?
Classes – Testing	How do you create online tests that test learning?	Can you go beyond multiple-choice questions online? If so, how will the answers be graded?
	In topics that have shades of grey, how do you score tests?	Can you ask open ended questions where there are different possible answers? How will they be graded?
Classes - Grading	How do you grade online students on multiple criteria?	Can you allow for a component of grading that depends on participation or learning?
	How do you generate grades that show online student performance?	Can you create a mechanism where the top students in an online class can be ‘found' through the grading system?
Classes – Mentoring	How do you get online students one-on-one with faculty?	Can you create faculty forums online where students can quiz faculty in real time? Will this scale up?
The Network	How do you create a bonding experience for online education?	Can you create a venue where online students come together and get to know one another?
	How do you create smaller, more cohesive networks within?	Can you create sub-networks of people with like interests, career goals or locational choices?
Career Advice	How do you provide career/placement advice for online students?	Can you have an online career/placement office?
	How do you provide career advice to online students, as they pick classes?	Can you provide career advice online? Will this be automated or will it require human intervention?
	How do you create a job network when you have an online university?	Can you get employers interested in hiring your students? What resources will you offer these employees.
Entertainment	Can you even compete on this front? (Should you try?)	Can you adopt a local sports team and offer tickets to online students?
	Can you create extracurricular fun activities online?	Can you have a virtual party?
	Is there an equivalent experience to semester abroad to be had for online classes?	Can you offer a travel component where online students travel abroad for a short, education-related experience?
Education	How do you work at "educating" online students?	Should you have a broad mission? If so, how will you hold yourself accountable?