by College Choice
This infographic highlights data related to the growth of online learning. Online learning has already disrupted higher education, as more and more colleges react to student demand by offering classes online. And as our technological capacity expands and classes get better and better, there’s no reason to see the online college revolution as a temporary one.
http://www.collegechoice.net/online-college-revolution/
Share on FacebookBy Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology
To help make alternative credentials a more viable option for adult learners, Eduventures recommends that institutions create a strategic framework by focusing on three areas: Define your alternative credentialing options, whether they are certificates, badges, formal statements of accomplishment, or endorsements of some kind. Determine the aim of these credentials. Are they to validate mastery of a particular skill? Do they really only serve as a more structured pathway to degree attainment? Or are they simply to demonstrate commitment to lifelong learning? Articulate ways which alternative credentials can augment traditional degrees or create a viable substitute to degree attainment.
Share on Facebookby Collin Binkley, The Associated Press
The newest classroom at Harvard’s business school has no desks or chairs. Instead, the professor teaches facing a towering digital screen that stretches from wall to wall, filled with the live video feeds of up to 60 students tuned in from their computers. In the futuristic classroom, housed in a television studio three kilometres from campus, class plays out like a giant video conference. Students can jump in to ask questions or respond to their classmates. The professor can stop a lecture to quiz individual students, or send the group a quick online poll.
Share on FacebookBy Joshua Bolkan, Campus Technology
McGill University is partnering with edX to launch what they institutions are calling a “GROOC,” or a massive open online course (MOOC) for groups. The new course, “Social Learning for Social Impact,” launches next month and “aims to inspire social change through global collaboration of like-minded people working to create positive, sustainable impact,” according to a news release. Features of the GROOC include:
A curriculum geared toward group, rather than individual, learning;
Ongoing feedback from trained facilitators;
Groups formed through a matchmaking process that will pair students according to interests in particular problems or themes; and
Social changes themes determined by the students.
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/08/31/mcgill-u-edx-partner-on-mooc-for-groups.aspx
Share on Facebookby Arizona State University
The Global Freshman Academy is unique in many ways — allowing students to take classes before deciding whether to pay for the credit, charging only $200 per class credit and accepting students without requiring SATs or a transcript. The new program has another innovation as well: It uses a technology that’s so personalized every student learns the class material a different way. The method comes through a partnership with a Silicon Valley company that provided software that “learns” each student’s knowledge level and presents new lessons and review material at the exact time that the brain is most receptive to them.
https://asunews.asu.edu/20150831-diverse-platforms-online-success
Share on FacebookBy CAROLINE SIMON, Daily Pennsylvanian
It can be difficult to reach people from all corners of the globe, but Penn professor Brian Bushee’s financial accounting course, offered through the massive online open course provider Coursera, has found its way to students in every single country, excluding the Vatican City, Cuba and North Korea. According to Coursera statistics, nearly 400,000 students have signed up for Bushee’s course since he began offering it in 2013, with nearly 25,000 earning certificates of completion. In some parts of the world, Bushee’s students lack formal education, traveling to internet cafes twice a week in search of financial knowledge that will help them break into the business world. Although accounting is a subject more objective than some, Bushee said he has had to adjust the curriculum so that it would mesh with the financial systems of countries outside the United States.
http://www.thedp.com/article/2015/09/online-learning-global-engagement
Share on Facebook3 tips for alternative credentialing3 tips for alternative credentialingBy Laura Devaney,To create a strategic framework to Eduventures is recommending that institutions focus on the following three priorities:
1. Define your alternative credentialing options, whether they are certificates, badges, formal statements of accomplishment, or endorsements of some kind.
2. Determine the aim of these credentials. Are they to validate mastery of a particular skill? Do they really only serve as a more structured pathway to degree attainment? Or are they simply to demonstrate commitment to lifelong learning?
3. Articulate ways which alternative credentials can augment traditional degrees or create a viable substitute to degree attainment.
When properly positioned to the market, this strategic framework can help define a value proposition that makes these programs a viable option for adult learners.
http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/alternative-credentialing-report-792/
3 tips for alternative credentialingBy Laura Devaney, eCampus News
Share on Facebookby Christopher Pappas, eLearning Industry
Exploring a learning topic from a whole new perspective is a rare opportunity. Fortunately, TED talks offer the chance to dive into the minds of other educators, subject matter experts, and eLearning professionals. TED talks are inspirational and innovative speeches that delve into the presenter’s topic of choice. Each video features stories, tips, and helpful insights that you won’t find elsewhere, all packed into an 18 minute time limit. Here are the top 10 TED talks that eLearning professionals won’t want to miss!
http://elearningindustry.com/top-10-ted-talks-for-elearning-professionals
Share on FacebookBy Amy Lane, Crain’s Detroit Business
“The challenge is keeping up with the pace of advances, and technology, and try not to follow the fads, and just stick to what is good for our students, and their success ultimately,” said Ahmad Ezzeddine, associate vice president for educational outreach and international programs at Wayne State University. One approach to improved online learning is to present course information in smaller segments, Ezzeddine said. “When someone is online, the attention span is a lot shorter. You need to maintain the interest of students, so having them watch a three-hour lecture is not going to be effective,” he said. Students want “more action-oriented learning, in smaller doses,” and clear relevance, said Ed Borbely, director of the University of Michigan’s Integrative Systems and Design graduate degree-granting division housed in the College of Engineering. “There’s less tolerance for ‘Just sit back, someday you might use this.’ ”
Share on FacebookBy KIRK PINHO, Crain’s Detroit
Christine Greenhow, assistant professor of counseling, educational psychology and special education at Michigan State University’s College of Education is bringing the concept of telecommuting to the academy using robotic technology. During a spring course in the Educational Psychology and Educational Technology Ph.D. program, 13 of 15 students participated using iPads affixed on top of either a stationary robot that swivels to interact with another student or a robot that moves around the classroom to do the same. Greenhow, who used the robot technology that was developed by the College of Educational Psychology and Special Education/College of Education Design Studio, said she saw the need for a virtual classroom after Ph.D. students taking most of their classes online “felt a sense of distance” between themselves and the teacher, as well as their fellow students. “Online and on-campus students recorded that when their colleagues were in robot form, each group felt more physically there.”
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20150830/NEWS/308309996/robots-tighten-gap-in-distance-learning
Share on Facebookby Kirk Pinho, Crain’s Detroit
Depending on whom you ask, universities benefit in a few different ways. For some, the upside is that the courses may sow seeds for the MOOC students to eventually enroll at the university, generating revenue. For others, there are educational benefits in that they give professors a sort of educational sandbox in which they can experiment with new and emerging methods of delivering content and course themes. And some argue that the benefit is largely social in nature by offering high-level educational opportunities to a group of students that may otherwise be unable to afford them. “They provide the general populace with an opportunity to have lifelong learning experiences and exposure to new content,” said Geralyn Stephens, associate professor, clinical, in teacher education in Wayne State University’s College of Education.
Share on Facebookby Anne Fisher, Fortune
Studying on the fly will present some challenges, but it can be done. Lara Martini, who is Microsoft’s director of commercial markets strategy for Latin America, finished her MBA last fall despite traveling more than half the time. (In fact, when I spoke to her, she was at the airport in Miami, headed for Bogota.) “Travel is really the main reason most of my fellow students and I were enrolled in online programs,” she says. “People have become accustomed to working remotely, so this is really an extension of that.”
http://fortune.com/2015/08/28/mba-business-school-online/
Share on FacebookBy Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive
A new qualitative study asks traditional college students what they think about massive open online courses, finding a number of concerns that mirror those of administrators. According to eCampus News, the students found reason for concern when it comes to the accuracy of course content and instructor quality, responding that it is nice that people with information can share it in a MOOC platform but also a drawback to the system because their teaching materials are not necessarily peer-reviewed. Almost a quarter of interviewees said outcomes were a major concern, pointing to course credit for MOOCs as a way to legitimize them for students.
http://www.educationdive.com/news/new-qualitative-research-explores-students-mooc-concerns/404459/
Share on Facebookby Roger Riddell, Education Dive
Share on Facebookby D. Frank Smith, EdTech
A new study on the mobile device habits of college students shows they’re leaving their desktops behind and venturing out into an increasingly mobile landscape — one in which higher ed infrastructure will have to evolve to accommodate. The survey from cloud provider Domo polled 2,228 higher ed students to see how they’re using their mobile devices on campuses. Although the survey found that millennials spend more time browsing the Internet on their mobile phone than on their desktop, cellphone web surfing won by only a 2 percent margin (45.7 percent versus 43.4 percent for laptops or desktops).
Share on Facebookby Associated Press
The University of Maryland University College plans to eliminate textbooks this fall to save students money by using resources online. Kara Van Dam, a vice provost, said Thursday students will be able use a variety of materials like readings and videos online at no cost. Van Dam says the change will save students thousands of dollars over their academic program. She says other universities are taking similar steps, but UMUC is a front runner in making a transition of this magnitude.
Share on Facebookby eCampus News
How can states and institutions redesign funding models to better support student outcomes and new innovations in practice and services? From an in-the-trenches perspective, Paige Francis of Fairfield University argues that nowhere is innovation most prevalent, or critical, than in IT, and that only when institutional budgeting transitions from capital expenditures to operational dollars will funding be “as nimble as the technology it supports,” and able to support innovation:
http://www.ecampusnews.com/funding/education-funding-innovation-572/
Share on FacebookBy Rand Spiwak, Campus Technology
The acceptance and adoption of digital content in the classroom has been a slow, but, progressing evolution. Until all of the components of a successful conversion were available to higher education, adoption had been limited and digital content experiences less than desirable. Now, these components (interactive digital content, fully functional learning-experience platform software, hardware, connectivity and affordability) are readily available and are being piloted and implemented at increasing rates of acceptance and success. Students are demanding lower-cost alternatives to the current printed textbook and are seeking those alternatives through various means. Out of a hundred students, 50 percent or more don’t acquire a textbook because of cost, rather than availability; another 30 to 35 percent seek less expensive used textbooks from college bookstores, online sources, other students or anywhere they find a source.
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/08/26/e-texts-and-the-future-of-the-college-bookstore.aspx
Share on Facebookby Jenny Matthew, Marine Technology News
Looking at the global application of Online Distance Learning (ODL), according to a 2014 report from the International Council for Open and Distance Education, in 2007 there were 150 million students worldwide engaged in distance learning, with a predicted 400 million students by 2030. Truly highlighting the worth and potential of online learning. These predictions are certainly supported by Jee Ltd, a leading engineering and training firm, which recognizes that traditional tutor-led classroom methods of training can be costly, often difficult to deliver consistently to large, global teams and not always suited to demanding engineering schedules. As a result Jee has invested in developing cost-effective, flexible and accessible technical subsea modules for online delivery.
http://www.marinetechnologynews.com/news/engineers-flexible-benefits-virtual-519929
Share on FacebookBy Jonathan Bloom, KGO
Pixar created films like “Toy Story” and “Monsters Inc.” but the latest production from the Emeryville-based animation studios stars a different cast of characters, ones like algebra and trigonometry. It’s the first chapter in a new effort to get kids, who are excited about Pixar’s movies, to be enthusiastic about learning. Working with the online educators at Khan Academy, they built a free online course that’s truly interactive. “They’re simplified versions of tools that artists use here at Pixar,” Derose said. The lectures are given by Pixar animators. They start with the basics and get into the nitty-gritty.
http://abc7news.com/education/pixar-teaches-kids-the-math-behind-the-movies-in-online-class/958656/
Share on FacebookBy Yoram Neumann, University Business
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have captured the headlines in higher education in the past year. These new platforms were developed to enable both open access and large scale participation in online courses. Many top tier universities are joining the MOOCs bandwagon, afraid of missing an important piece of the Web-based phenomenon. It is our goal as educators to assess whether or not they can become a best practice in online learning. There is still a long way to go for the current MOOCs to adopt the best practices and provide a quality of online learning experience resulting in maximized retention and lifelong sustainable learning in a coherent degree program. However, MOOCs can play an effective role of supplementary learning or continuing education without entering into degree granting arena. If this path is selected, MOOCs will have a valuable role to play but it will not become part of the core activities of institutions of higher learning.
http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/can-moocs-become-part-best-practices-online-learning
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