Online Learning Update

By Jack Broom, Seattle Times

STEM, a privately funded nonprofit to boost the quality of education in science, technology, engineering and math, will announce 15 grants Monday totaling $2.4 million. Some will do it with underwater robots. Others will use computers that make 3D images. Still others will design brand-new products or experiment with creative teaching techniques. Innovation. Creativity. Effectiveness. Those are some hallmarks of K-12 programs receiving a total of $2.4 million in grants from the nonprofit, privately funded Washington STEM, created to boost the quality of education in “STEM” subjects — an acronym for science, technology, engineering and math.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014413268_stemgrants06m.html

by Tom Vander Ark – Huffington Post

We live in an idea economy, where a compelling premise can become an industry. Microsoft was the idea that computers could make us more productive. Google was the idea that search could be better. Walmart was the idea that retail could be more efficient. eBay was the idea that the web could be a marketplace. K¹² was the idea that schools could be online. Each of these ideas attracted investment, created jobs, and launched an industry segment. This idea economy runs on an engine of innovation and is particularly strong in America. As a result of several factors: a culture of independent thinking, financial markets and a venture capital sector adept at taking ideas to scale, and a strong, rich and diverse higher education sector, and a non-corrupt bureaucracy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-vander-ark/the-idea-economy-requires_b_829670.html

November 9-11, 2011 ~ Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, Lake Buena Vista, FL

The Sloan Consortium invites you to submit a proposal for presentation and/or workshops for the 17th Annual Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning to be held November 9-11, 2011 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL. The theme of this year’s conference is “Online Learning, Teaching, and Research in the New Media Ecology”. It’s clear we are witnessing rapid and ongoing changes in how we communicate and represent ideas and these changes have profound consequence for how we know, learn, think, and teach in higher education and beyond. The dizzying pace of change is evident as established conventions of online education are now challenged by emerging means of access, such as mobile and cloud computing, new forms of communication such as video streaming and real-time information networks, and innovative modes of participation represented in new social media. Millions of online students are at the forefront of this evolving landscape and it’s crucial we gain a clear understanding of pedagogies, policies, and practices that leverage the new media ecology to support our students learning.

http://sloanconsortium.org/conferences/2011/aln/call_for_presentations

by Education Today

DePaul University, which is located in Chicago, recently announced the launch of new online undergraduate degree programs at its School of New Learning, the Daily Rosetta reports.  Officials told the news source that the School for New Learning was established decades ago, but only recently began offering online degree programs. They added that the school was founded on the principles of individualized learning methods and learning from experience. Adults who are considering pursuing a college degree, but lack the time to devote to attending a brick-and-mortar college, may find that DePaul University online programs fit their busy schedules. Furthermore, the college’s connection to the Chicago area may make it particularly appealing to those who wish to remain in the region after they receive their degree.

http://www.classesandcareers.com/education/2011/02/28/depaul-university-adds-new-online-degree-programs/

by Phil Speroni, Radford University Tartan

Radford University is continuing the trend of other colleges across the country by taking steps to offer more online classes. There are 31 distance education courses being offered this spring and 43 that were offered this past fall. This is a dramatic increase when compared to the two offered in the fall of 1999. With revolutions in digital technology increasing at an exponential rate, many are not surprised by RU’s interest in looking into online alternatives. Charles Cosmato, Interim Director for RU’s Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, explained his intention to offer more online classes while at the same time maintaining their academic quality and integrity. CITL is a division of RU devoted to designing and incorporating new multimedia platforms for developing more effective educational environments.

https://php.radford.edu/~tartan/wp/?p=3008

by the Houston Business Journal

Sam Houston State University has entered into a collaborative program with 10 other universities to improve its online course offerings and give students more opportunities to enroll in their preferred classes. The New Century Learning Consortium led by the University of Illinois at Sprignfield allows its members to share research projects and technology expertise, and to participate in peer training for both administrators and faculty. The consortium’s 10 current members will expand to 14 in May.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2011/02/23/sam-houston-state-joins-online.html

By Daniel Reed, eLearn Magazine

The popularity of learning management systems (LMSs) is well documented with usage expected to continue to grow. According to the 2009 ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology LMS student use increased from 79.7 percent in 2006 to 91 percent in 2009. In 2008 the Campus Computing Project reported the percentage of college courses that use an LMS had risen from 14.7 percent in 2000 to more than 53.5 percent in 2008. In 2001 only 41.8 percent of colleges and universities reported a strategic plan for LMS deployment. In 2008 that number was 63.5 percent. These surveys demonstrate how important and critical an LMS strategic plan is for academic institutions.

http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=149-1

By Alireza Jalali, Daniel Trottier, Mariane Tremblay, and Maxwell Hincke, eLearn Magazine

Mobile technology has infiltrated medical school education. Students now bring tablet PCs, rather than notebooks, into the classroom. They can access Web-based curriculum during lectures and add notes directly to their files. At the Faculty of Medicine University of Ottawa the curriculum for the first two years is online, and PDAs have largely replaced reference books for students in clerkship programs. And more telling, employees at Ottawa Hospital Medical have been encouraged to replace pen and paper notes with iPads. Thus, transitioning from written to digital examinations seemed to be a reasonable next step. To assess the benefits and drawbacks of this approach, we developed a mock anatomy examination using the Questionmark software and compared its administration and evaluation on two electronic devices.

http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=152-1

by the BBC

A German minister has resigned after copying huge chunks of his doctoral thesis, while the London School of Economics is probing whether Colonel Gaddafi’s son lifted chunks and used a ghost writer for his own. So is plagiarism out of control? It’s been a bad week for honest educational endeavour. The German defence minister has stepped down after being stripped of his 2006 university doctorate thesis for copying large parts of it. The University of Bayreuth had decided Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg had lifted whole sections without attribution. And the LSE is looking into allegations that Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam plagiarised his PhD thesis. These are very high-profile cases, but in the worlds of academia and publishing, the issue of plagiarism has been a problem for many years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12613617

by David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed

Higher education officials urged lawmakers Friday to delay the planned July 1 implementation of Education Department regulations that would expand state authorization requirements and establish a federal definition of “credit hour.” Republican and Democratic members of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training seemed to share some of the educators’ concerns about what they characterized as federal overreach into academic affairs.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/03/14/members_of_congress_and_college_officials_debate_higher_education_regulations

by Kelly Thompson, Daily Rosetta

The members of the UNC-system Board of Governors encourage UNC-system schools to offer online educations so that they can cope with degree programs that are being cut. According to two national studies, the 2010 Sloan Consortium Report and the Managing Online Education Survey, due to the impact of the economy, a lot of students have been enrolling in online courses. The university system’s online demographics show that online education is already on the rise but could be affected by budget cuts. Research by Sloan Consortium Report has reported that the number of students taking online courses nationwide has increased from 1.6 million in 2002 to 5.58 million in 2009. It also says that due to the economic crisis, demand for online courses has increased.

http://www.dailyrosetta.com/online-bachelor%E2%80%99s-degrees-are-on-the-rise/7796.html

by Anne Ryman, Arizona Republic

The 15-week fall and spring semesters are a long-standing tradition on university campuses. But, beginning in January, Arizona State University plans to add more courses that can be completed in half of that time. The change is expected to afford students more scheduling flexibility and financial savings as well as add to the bottom line of the university. By squeezing just as many class hours into a 7 1/2-week course, students could finish a course faster, graduate faster and pay less in tuition. The university thinks the expanded offerings will draw more students.One program in which students attend class online only is the profitable and increasingly popular ASU Online. It already is using the 7 1/2-week sessions for many of its courses.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/02/22/20110222arizona-state-university-shorter-classes.html

by Carli Krueger, Her Campus

Online classes are a fast and generally easy way to get ahead. You can take all kinds of classes in a short amount of time, on your own time and without having to go somewhere. While I would recommend online classes to anyone who wanted to take a class over the winter break or in the summer, had trouble attending classes or wanted to get ahead, there are some things you should be wary of and keep in mind while taking courses.

http://www.hercampus.com/school/um/scoop-online-classes

by Wallowa.com

Skilled tutors stand ready at no cost to help students in Eastern Oregon with homework, writing, resume-building, G.E.D. assistance, citizenship tests and other studies. Students from kindergarten through 12th grade, homeschoolers, those in introductory-level college courses and adult learners can request a free pass code from local public libraries that will enable them to access the free tutoring service. Live, online tutoring services have been made available for this school year with funding from the Libraries of Eastern Oregon (LEO) and several area public libraries, the organization said in press release. The service is available in 15 rural counties, including Wallowa County, and with the free pass code or a library card it can be accessed by anyone seven days per week, from 2 to 10 p.m., via an Internet connection. “We’re seeing more and more people of all ages use the service,” said Lyn Craig, LEO executive director. “Last year we had just over 300 tutoring sessions. We’re already up to 249 user sessions since the start of this school year. That’s encouraging.”

http://wallowa.com/news/localnews/libraries-offer-online-tutoring-help/article_b2e65b9c-4056-11e0-86d0-001cc4c002e0.html

By Leah Villanueva, Daily Diamondback

As one of his final acts as university provost, Nariman Farvardin has called on professors to develop new hybrid courses that aim to spice up traditional lecture classes with a dash of creativity and technological innovation. Known as “blended learning courses,” these new classes seek to combine the face-to-face, in-classroom experience with online interactions between faculty and students. By utilizing information technology tools — such as simulations, visualizations and interactive media — officials said the concept will evolve and enhance large lecture-style classes with low success rates.

http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/provost-pushes-creation-of-new-blended-classes-1.2017957

by Career Advice

Many prominent schools are beginning to see how online learning is shaping the education front. As a result, they are starting to convert some of their course and program offerings to the web-based format. Some universities are only converting general education courses to the online medium, while others are taking whole programs and making them web-based. Furthermore, various states are pushing schools to include online courses, which could slash tuition prices and allow more people to attend. For instance, University of Georgia recently announced that it will be offering more online programs in the near future. First of which will be a masters degree in reading education, which will be offered next fall, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. Officials told the news provider that the program will mark the school’s third fully online program offering. They added that the web-based curricula are next step in the evolution of education. However, the school has been slow to adopt the Internet as an effective learning model.

http://www.classesandcareers.com/education/2011/02/25/online-options-becoming-more-prevalent-for-schools-across-the-country/

by Christina Martin, Statesman Journal

According to the College Board, 75% of Oregon schools do not offer Advanced Placement or IB classes in the four core courses: reading, math, science and social studies. Even worse, one in four U.S. high schools do not offer anything above geometry, biology or English. That means one in four high schools do not offer chemistry, physics, algebra II, calculus or even honors English.  Online education programs already make a wide array of courses available to students across the country while keeping costs low. Programs like Florida’s Virtual School allow thousands of kids attending regular public schools to access effective advanced courses, as well as rudimentary courses designed to help them catch up with their peers.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20110228/OPINION/102280306/1049/Oregon-s-K-12-future-must-include-online-education

by Charleston Daily Mail

It used to be that you had to wait for the library to open to get your book, couldn’t remove reference materials from the library and the information was often found only on paper. West Virginia University Libraries is making use of the increased access that technology provides by offering more information outside of its walls for use at any time. One way the WVU Libraries does this is by carrying online books called e-books which can be accessed through the Mountainlynx catalog on the library’s website. The university community also has online access to digitized copies of specialized books found only at WVU and more than 30,000 electronic journals. According to Bill Rafter, head of Library Systems and Technology, accessibility is key and the more documents that become available online, the easier using library services will become for patrons.

http://www.dailymail.com/News/201102191127

by Linda Davis, the Times Herald

Through online classes, each year, many students at St. Clair County Community College are able to fit a college degree into their busy schedules. SC4 began offering online classes in the fall semester 1999. Today, we have more than 60 online credit courses developed. For our winter semester, more than 900 students, or 19% of enrollment, are taking an online class. Online classes are attractive to many students because they offer flexibility, a quality learning environment and a chance to prepare for the future.

http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20110227/OPINION02/102270323/1014/OPINION/Online-classes-enhance-SC4

by Jordin Rocchi

As a part of NYU’s recent Open Education pilot program, four courses’ lectures have been placed online, available to both students of the university and the general public. Dean of Social Sciences Dalton Conley, who was a part of the decision to put the courses online, said that while “NYU students are welcome to use lectures for review or to sample courses,” the general purpose of the lectures being online is they can serve as a “public service to the wider community.” “There are benefits to NYU.” he said. “In terms of highlighting what’s going on here and the great professors we have, there is a sort of public relations aspect.

http://www.nyunews.com/news/2011/03/01/01courses/

By Shiwani Rajwar, North Lake College News Register

While online classes seem easier to access, some students seem to lag behind because there is no constant push to finish the assignments. Online classes can be unsuccessful for students who are procrastinators. “The issue with online learning is that procrastination has the potential to compound problems for the student at a much faster rate because the student is the one in charge of seeing that the assignments are addressed and submitted,” Forbess said. Getting a better education has always upgraded students’ chances to pursue a better career, and online classes seem to have soothed students with busy time schedule to get toward this dream. NLC has been trying its best to provide students with these opportunities. “As for our faculty, they are becoming more comfortable with technology, and as such, they are excited about building and offering online courses for our students.

http://www.newsregisteronline.com/is-home-environment-as-effective-as-a-classroom-1.2021677