Online Learning Update

By Steve Kolowich, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Yale announced on Wednesday that it would soon offer MOOCs through Coursera, the Silicon Valley-based company. Yale plans to offer four courses beginning in January, focusing on constitutional law, financial markets, morality, and Roman architecture. The move was a long time coming. Yale, which in 2007 became among the first institutions to make its course content available free on the Web with its Open Yale Courses lecture series, has taken a distinctly deliberate approach to MOOCs. Last fall it convened a faculty committee to recommend a broad online agenda that would encompass MOOCs as well as other forms of online teaching.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/yale-joins-the-mooc-club-coursera-looks-to-translate-existing-courses/43849

by Coursera

Want to learn a few tips on how to learn the material in your classes more effectively? Read below to learn about the principles behind Mastery Learning, written by our Course Operations MOOC Pedagogy Specialist, Relly Brandman.

What is Mastery Learning?

“The instruction is the same as in the conventional class (usually with the same teacher)…The average student under mastery learning was about one standard deviation above the average of the control class (the average mastery learning student was above 84% of the students in the control class).1”

http://blog.coursera.org/post/50352075945/5-tips-learn-more-effectively-in-class-with-mastery

John Hechinger and Michael McDonald, Bloomberg News

Professors across the U.S. are criticizing a rush to offer free online college courses, challenging a movement designed to spread knowledge and reduce higher-education costs. Amherst College faculty voted last month against joining an initiative led by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The provost at American University issued a moratorium this month on such massive open online courses, or MOOCs. At San Jose State University, the philosophy department refused to use a free Web course from a Harvard professor. As college costs soar, professors are concerned that MOOCs may primarily become a way for universities to reduce expenses. Even at Harvard, some faculty members said at a meeting last week that the movement could damage higher education by leading institutions to cut face-to-face instruction.

http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Harvard-for-Free-Meets-Resistance-as-U-S-4517796.php

by Edsurge

Udacity’s Sebastian Thrun wrote on his blog that this kind of program is just why he started Udacity: “I grew up in Germany, a country that offers excellent education. Yet when I started my Master’s degree in computer science, I found myself among 1,200 other Master’s students with just five professors. Needless to say, I ended up mostly educating myself through books that were available at a nearby research institute. Today is my opportunity to give back.” Anyone will be able to take the Udacity courses for free but only those enrolled through Georgia Tech will earn credits toward its Masters’ degree. A pilot program will begin “in the next academic year” with a few hundred students recruited from AT&T and Georgia Tech corporate affiliates.

https://www.edsurge.com/n/2013-05-14-georgia-tech-udacity-to-offer-master-s-degree

By Margaret Andrews, Inside Higher Ed

In this corner: MOOC enthusiasts, envisioning how these large, online courses will increase access to higher education, reduce costs, and reinvigorate teaching and learning. In the other corner: MOOC critics, anticipating how MOOCs will eliminate meaningful interaction between faculty and students, reduce the quality of learning, and decimate the professorship. You’ve probably heard by now that Amherst declined to participate in edX and that San Jose State faculty pushed back on plans for another MOOC in their midst. Recently, there is (seemingly) more press about the potential future impact of these large online courses.

http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/stratedgy/both-sides

by Andrew McGettigan, the Guardian

The British Museum, British Council, British Library and 21 UK universities have now joined what they hope is a higher education revolution – giving the public access to the world’s top institutions and their best academics. They have entered into partnership with FutureLearn, a company owned by Open University that will be launched in September as the UK’s “first free, open, online platform” for higher-level short courses. It aims to be the home-grown rival to similar platforms emanating from the US such as Coursera, Udacity and the not-for-profit edX. Such platforms offer “Moocs” – massive, open, online courses: a free or low-cost alternative to traditional higher education that, say the evangelists, will roll out elite education across the world.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/12/moocs-scourge-saviour-higher-education

By DEVON HAYNIE, US News

It’s been less than three years since MOOCs entered the public discourse, but the online classes are already causing quite a stir in the higher education universe as elite universities such as Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor embrace the courses. “This movement has raised more awareness and enthusiasm for higher learning than I recall in recent history in this country,” says Ray Schroeder, director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois—Springfield. “It has allowed people to quickly and easily access learning in fields that otherwise they would have never pursued.”

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2013/05/14/explore-the-mooc-controversy

by Troy Onink, Forbes

Georgia Institute of Technology has announced a partnership with Udacity to offer an online Masters Degree in Computer Science for $7,000, down 80% from the existing cost of $40,000 for the on-campus, instructor led program. Suddenly, masters programs around the country will have to compete with Georgia Tech‘s $7,000 program, and that won’t be easy or fast in coming. The traditionally taught graduate degree in computer science at Georgia Tech is a very well regarded program that is in high demand and has very positive outcomes in terms of jobs and earnings. Georgia Tech graduates tend to do very well in earnings upon graduation, especially in computer science. Now students from around the world will be able to obtain the same degree online at an 80% discount – which is, no doubt, a sonic boom rattling the windows in the offices of college administrators across the country.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2013/05/15/georgia-tech-udacity-shock-higher-ed-with-7000-degree/

By J. Noah Brown, Inside Higher Ed

At this point, we have more questions than answers, including those related to the very nature of MOOCs. What exactly are they? It is difficult to quantify the seemingly eclectic collection of courses into a program of study, assess their relationship to quality, and most important, their impact on student learning. More vexing perhaps, what is the relationship between MOOCs and student success and completion? Already, significant numbers of students who sign up for MOOCs fail to complete them. The latter question is of particular concern to community colleges, but also to higher education in general because of the new imperative to increase educational attainment rates in America. While MOOCs have garnered considerable attention in the media and within higher education, it is premature to draw any conclusions about their eventual landing place in the community college ecosystem. But thanks to the extraordinary work of the Liberal Learning & America’s Promise initiative by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, we would do well to refresh our memory banks about the hallmark practices that result in student success and achievement.

http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/05/13/essay-community-colleges-and-moocs

By Bridget McCrea, Campus Technology

Creating videos, presentations, and lessons that college students access and interact with on their own time and terms is one thing, but developing learning content that requires both students and instructor to be online at the same time presents a whole different set of challenges for college professors and instructional technologists. Formally referred to as synchronous online learning (versus asynchronous learning, which is accessed and utilized at any time), the “live” learning environment happens in real-time on the Web and encourages interaction, commenting, Q&As, and other types of instant feedback.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2013/05/08/the-dos-and-donts-of-synchronous-online-learning.aspx

By KEVIN ABOUREZK, Lincoln Journal Star

As educators across the country work to reduce class sizes, some at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have been thinking about creating courses that could draw thousands. The trend toward massive open online courses — known as MOOCs — is a quandary for universities nationwide. On the one hand, it makes education freely accessible to everyone. On the other, it’s a threat to anyone who makes a living from education. At UNL, the issue is far from decided. In September, Chancellor Harvey Perlman charged a nine-member faculty committee with considering the question. “The responses range across the spectrum, as is often the case when technology has the potential to change the way we do things,” said Steve Goddard, task force chairman and head of the UNL Department of Computer Science and Engineering. “There’s excitement. There’s fear. It’s the unknown.”

http://journalstar.com/news/local/education/universities-debate-credit-for-free-online-courses/article_cc7035e4-eb08-54fd-96ec-c8d3096e3145.html

By Julie McWilliams, Penn News

Penn recently surpassed one million enrollments in Coursera, less than a year after the University first offered classes with the online learning platform. One million and counting. That’s the number of open online learning course enrollments Penn reached this month, less than a year after the University offered the first classes with the online learning platform Coursera. Penn is one of the founding partners and board members of Coursera, which offers free, open-access, non-credit classes to anyone with a computer. To date, 15 Penn professors from the schools of Medicine, Arts & Sciences, Engineering and Applied Science, and Wharton have shared their knowledge with students from 162 countries around the world. Additional courses will open this summer and fall, including classes from the schools of Design, Law, and Nursing, with 23 faculty members participating.

http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/2013-05-09/latest-news/coursera-penn-surpasses-one-million-enrollees

By GILLIAN RICH, Investor’s Business Daily

A high school student in Nebraska can take a game theory course at Stanford University. A college student in China can take a Introduction to Psychology class from MIT. Both can do so without setting foot in a classroom in Palo Alto, Calif., or Cambridge, Mass. The two colleges are among those that offer massive open online courses, or MOOCs. Anyone, anywhere can enroll in such courses. In almost all cases they will not, for now, get college credit without a fee, but anyone can take the courses (sans college credit) for free. Observers see MOOCs as a solution as the cost of college education soars beyond the reach of many, but as access to computers and the Internet rises.

http://news.investors.com/technology/051013-655667-moocs-on-rise-but-few-grant-college-credits.htm

by Steve Young, Argus Leader

The 10,000 to 100,000 worldwide participants who are signing up for each course are putting the “massive” into MOOCs, and driving South Dakota officials to brainstorm about their own possibilities. But the other significant discussion resulting from all this, both at the state level and across the country, is whether MOOCs should lead to college credit, and under what circumstances universities in South Dakota will grant credit for free courses taken elsewhere. “I don’t think we have given credit for any MOOCs yet,” said Sam Gingerich, chief academic officer for the state Board of Regents. “But I think it’s just a matter of time.”

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20130510/UPDATES/130510024/Massive-open-online-courses-creating-true-democratization-education-?nclick_check=1

By Chip Rogers, Georgia Works

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are changing college education forever. The world’s most prestigious colleges and universities are now offering free online courses. Coursera.org and EdX.org feature more than 70 participating schools between them including Harvard, University of Michigan, MIT, and Georgia Tech. While most do not offer credits, students may take exams associated with the course subject matter to earn credit. Education-portal.com provides a comprehensive list of schools offering free online courses and offers links to the College Board’s College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) which allows students to test out of general education requirements at 2/3 of colleges and universities in the U.S.

http://www.gpb.org/blogs/georgia-works/2013/05/10/college-education-is-becoming-free-online

By Karen Kucher, UT San Diego

UC campuses are being encouraged to develop digital versions of high-demand courses for undergraduates. University of California President Mark Yudof asked professors to submit proposals by the end of March, and 120 submitted ideas. With Gov. Jerry Brown allocating millions of dollars in his proposed budget for the state’s public colleges and universities to offer more courses online, every sector is looking to boost their inventory. State officials have noted that UC is lagging when it comes to online education. At an event touting the expansion of a partnership between online-provider edX and San Jose State University, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said that the UC system “frankly is a little behind the CSU system and we’ve got to fix that.” “I serve on both boards and we are trying to make a case,” Newsom added.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/may/07/uc-classes-easing-into-online-world/

by PYMNTS

TechCrunch, the leading media property devoted to startups and tech, today expands into the online education space with the debut of CrunchU, developed in partnership with online learning marketplace Udemy. Inspired by the rise of self-directed, lifelong learning, CrunchU aims to help TechCrunch readers power up their skill-sets via renowned instructors through 30 TechCrunch-curated courses, including offerings from Eric Ries, Dave McClure, Jack Welch, and others. Course topics range from “Creating Responsive Web Design” and “Sales and Persuasion Skills for Startups” to “Android Apps in 1 Hour: No Coding Required” and “Raising Money for Startups.”

http://www.pymnts.com/news/businesswire-feed/2013/may/08/techcrunch-unveils-online-learning-destination-crunchu-in-partnership-with-udemy-20130508006271

by Harini Jaganathan, Chicago Maroon

The University of Chicago plans to begin experimenting with online learning materials and massive open online courses (MOOCs) in the near future, according to a faculty committee report presented before the Council of the University Senate on Wednesday. Last September, Provost Thomas Rosenbaum appointed two committees to look into online education, both for-credit and not-for-credit. In addition to looking into how online technologies can supplement existing classes on campus, the committees also examined MOOCs in light of the growing popularity of online platforms like edX and Coursera, which currently host over 370 free courses. Deputy Provost for Research Roy Weiss, who served on both committees and chaired the committee looking into not-for-credit offerings, said that many faculty are currently interested in making MOOCs and that the University is in discussion with edX and Coursera, two existing free online course sites.

http://chicagomaroon.com/2013/05/07/uchicago-to-experiment-with-online-courses/

By Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed

This month’s edition of the Pulse podcast features an interview with Jim Brown of Ocean County College, discussing tools that can help faculty members teach lab courses in online settings. Brown, associate professor of science at Ocean County, in New Jersey, and Rodney B. Murray, the host of the Pulse podcast, examine services such as Labpaq by Hands-On Labs and SoftChalk. Brown also shares some of his favorite resources for teaching the sciences in digital settings. The Pulse is Inside Higher Ed’s monthly technology podcast, produced and hosted by Murray, executive director of the office of academic technology at University of the Sciences.

http://www.insidehighered.com/audio/2013/05/07/teaching-lab-courses-online

By Nick Reynolds, the Stylus

A new online cross-registration system will allow students to have transferable credits between participating SUNY schools. Credits would be taken at any school, but would ultimately count toward your degree at your home school. The SUNY Board of Trustees approved a new online cross-registration system that will allow a seamless exchange of online classes across all 64 of SUNY’s campuses. “It’s about seamless transferability for students, it’s for a student in a community college or four-year [institution] moving from one SUNY to another,” said Peter Dowe, registrar for the College at Brockport. “The [SUNY] chancellor would like to see seamless transferability between all SUNY units. In the case for Brockport, a student would be able to take a class at [SUNY] Albany or Stony Brook [University] and have it apply to a Brockport degree.” The new system, while not yet in effect, is expected to be implemented in time for the fall 2013 semester

http://www.thestylus.net/suny-developing-universal-online-class-system-1.3041721#.UYlix7WG32s

by Ben Wolfgang, Washington Times

Massive open online courses are sweeping the globe, but some higher education leaders argue that the classes, better known as MOOCs, need to be embraced cautiously.“I don’t hate them at all, but I do see the limitations of them,” said John Ebersole, president of Excelsior College, a nonprofit, 37,000-student institution headquartered in an Albany, N.Y., business park. Mr. Ebersole talked about the need for less federal regulation over his sector and about the changing face of the American college student. Excelsior’s average student, for example, is 39 years old. As higher education continues to evolve and online studies become more popular, MOOCs increasingly are held up as a revolutionary step forward. The concept is simple: a highly qualified professor offers an online “class,” for free, to anyone willing to listen. The system allows students from around the globe to learn from renowned academics, who in turn are able to reach many more people than could fit inside a traditional classroom.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/6/embrace-of-massive-online-courses-rising/