Online Learning Update

by Steven Wheeler, University of Plymouth

Thought provoking slideshare about blending formal and informal learning, the sematic web, and the eXtended web. Sets a context for looking at the future of online learning.

http://www.slideshare.net/timbuckteeth/the-future-of-learning-6809148?from=ss_embed

by Aleks Krotoski, the Guardian

Dr Hamish Macleod, who lectures on e-learning at the University of Edinburgh, advises against using the technology solely for disseminating educational content. This model, he argues, leads to assumptions that online courses are less fulfilling than a campus course. “The online mode compels [teachers] to think more carefully about what one is doing and trying to achieve. I like the expression ‘the orchestration of experience’ as a description of what teachers do. I think this applies equally online and offline.” The web throws an interesting lens on approaches to education in general. “We are often implicitly being asked to compare [e-learning’s] effectiveness with the ‘gold standard’ of the didactic classroom approach. We really have limited evidence about just how effective these traditional approaches are,” Dr Macleod maintains.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/sep/04/internet-education-facebook-schools

by Ainslie MacGibbon, Sydney Morning Herald

The young people may not listen but every school and institution dealing with them advises careful consideration of what information they post online. Yet, log on and do even basic research seeking information about schools or education and you can be startled by the reams of collateral personal information readily available. A few quick searches and you can find endless details about students – which school they go to, what their parents do, their favourite food, what they liked best about camp, their favourite book, individual scores on general knowledge tests and when and where they play sport. Some even tell you what school bus they catch, where it stops and what time they get on.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/security/practise-the-web-safety-you-teach-20110904-1js8b.html

By Justin Marquis, Online Universities

Much of the information available online about “creating interactivity” focuses on specific software applications such as PowerPoint, Acrobat, or Flash. What the designer of an online course needs, however, is not specifics about interactivity in individual programs, but rather a big picture idea of what interactivity is in the classroom and how to embed that interactivity in online learning in order to provide the richest possible learning experience for students. In a F2F environment it is easier to adjust the level of interactivity on the fly, in contrast to an online environment, in which more careful planning is required in advance to ensure that the intended interactivity of the course is well-supported.

http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2011/09/designing-interaction-in-an-online-curriculum/

by Ellen Bremen (@chattyprof), Campus Overload, Washington Post

I teach an unlikely course online: public speaking. Because it’s a core class, tons of students flock to it, yet only the chatty survive (and I’m not just talking about students who give great speeches). If communication between students and professors is important in a face-to-face class, it’s downright critical in an online class. Without in-person, in-class nudges from profs, online students can quickly fall behind; some remain terminally behind. The key to making online classes work? Continued conversations with your prof!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/college101-communication-is-critical-in-online-classes-too/2011/08/30/gIQAidBzpJ_blog.html?wprss=campus-overload

By Jim Waters, Richmond Register

One of Kentucky’s best-kept secrets is the Barren Academy of Virtual and Expanded Learning. While the commonwealth loses 10,000 students from each graduating class, only 110 students currently are enrolled in the academy. Nevertheless, BAVEL offers the right kind of alternative to tip the scales in the other direction. Not only does it offer all Kentucky students – regardless of where they live – the opportunity to acquire a high school diploma while every single class online, but it’s getting top-quality results at very low costs. Although many academy students once were at-risk of dropping out, BAVEL’s 11th grade students scored a 19.0 composite score on the 2011 ACT tests – better than the 18.8 statewide score. Plus, BAVEL does its job for only 37 percent of what it normally costs to educate a Kentucky public-school student. With such a record, why are so few students enrolled in this program?

http://richmondregister.com/viewpoints/x1095934688/Secret-success-in-the-digital-age

by Keeli Cambourne, Sydney Morning Herald

”When I did my undergraduate degree, there were always silences in tutorials where people were not confident to speak but the online forums are very active and because we are all masters students, people are much more willing to give feedback. This time around people are more willing to put in an effort and comment. ”The feedback from lecturers is also very quick and the way my course works is that I have to hand in assignments or assessment tasks each week, so it ensures you keep on top of things. The online learning does require a certain amount of motivation and you have to be quite disciplined because there is no one to make you accountable for not going to class.”

http://www.smh.com.au/national/postgraduate-education/free-flow-and-feedback-make-for-a-perfect-fit-20110901-1jnmg.html

By MU News Bureau

This year marks the 100th anniversary of distance education at the University of Missouri. It also marks the strategic merger of the two offices that coordinate distance education — both fully online and hybrid programs — for MU’s schools and colleges. MU Direct: Continuing and Distance Education and the Center for Distance and Independent Study have combined to form Mizzou Online. The integration of operations and processes will continue throughout the upcoming academic year. The Mizzou Online main office will be in 136 Clark Hall.

http://www.columbiabusinesstimes.com/12693/2011/09/02/mu-distance-ed-forms-mizzou-online/

by Nicole Reitz, Valley News

Cayuga Community College started fall semester classes Wednesday. Enrollment numbers are close to those of last year, except for students taking online courses, whose participation is on the rise. “This summer our online numbers were through the roof,” said Margaret Spillett, director of public relations and institutional communications. Spillett explained the spike in students enrolling in online courses as a trend that’s being seen across the country. “There are more and more countries that are starting to see the value in online education,” she said. “Traditionally community colleges serve the community their in, but now we see people taking our online classes around the United States and around the globe.” Online classes are appealing to students because of their flexibility, allowing them to get an education while working a full-time job. Others prefer to take classes online than come to campus.

http://www.valleynewsonline.com/viewnews.php?newsid=87445&id=1

By Blake Snow, Fox News

Call it better learning through technology — and cheaper. As college and university classrooms around the country fill with students facing mind-numbing tuition, free online classes are filling up too — and their rising number threatens to destroy the current model that has student loans soaring and parents feeling the bite, experts told FoxNews.com. “The current system makes little sense,” argues Henry Eyring, author of The Innovative University. “A student pays one amount regardless of credit load or type of course being taken, and the university has no financial incentive to help the student get a good grade,” he told FoxNews.com.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/03/stanford-yale-and-oxford-educations-are-free-online/

by Keeli Cambourne, Western Australia Today

Better technology has seen online study grow in popularity during the past decade but it’s the concept of lifelong learning that has triggered a steady growth in the number of postgraduate students choosing to better their qualifications via cyberspace, according to the director of the Flexible Learning Institute at Charles Sturt University, (CSU) Professor Mike Keppell. At CSU, more than 6000 students from interstate are undertaking their degrees and postgraduate qualifications online, which generates about $50 million in income each year for the NSW economy. About 40 per cent of CSU’s online enrolments are students living in rural and remote parts of Australia and, for many, the university’s online programs are the only way they can access a quality higher education.

http://www.watoday.com.au/national/postgraduate-education/flexibility-key-for-techsavvy-students-20110901-1jnmh.html?from=watoday_sb

by Carol A. Wacker, Sign-on San Diego

There is a trend toward a “blended credit stream” at the high school level, meaning that credits can be accepted from other institutions, like transfer credits from other high schools, credits from college courses, online courses, credit by examination and from other sources. Our high school graduates need to learn and be able to demonstrate many things to be successful in securing a job or continuing in higher education. We need to broaden our thinking as to how students are educated. For more than three decades, American public education has been “dumbed down” by offering watered-down curriculums, passing students on to the next grade or even graduating those who have not mastered content and by surrendering to various social fads, such as “every child should go to college.”

Vast changes should be made.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/03/outsourcing-high-school/

By Karen Byrd, Red, White and Blue Press

Online universities have become a more convenient way for certain students to study for a specific degree or take online classes that may help them in their career, particularly for men and women who are currently employed but want to further their education so that they may be able to reap benefits in their professional life. While there are a variety of online universities that can offer Internet college degree programs and classes for not only students who may currently be employed but men and women who feel that an online university environment may be better for their situation at the present time, but there are some problems that students may face when they have never either attended a university, which means they do not understand the workload that may be involved, or there are some individuals who simply do not understand what an online degree program entails.

http://www.rwbpress.com/2011/08/31/online-college-degree-programs-and-classes-for-working-students-problems-that-new-students-face/

By Our Stance, Central Florida

Online classes are becoming more popular than ever, and many university presidents seem to agree. New survey data released by the Pew Research Center show that delivering courses online has gained acceptance among college leaders but that the general public still remains unconvinced. More than half of the 1,055 college presidents who were questioned believe that online education offers a value to students that equals that of traditional classrooms. In contrast, however, 29 percent of 2,142 adults who were surveyed believe that online education measures up to traditional teaching. College leaders are correct in embracing online education, as it is becoming a popular medium for education in the Internet age. This wasn’t always the case, as just 10 years ago, few colleges actually taught courses on the Internet, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/online-classes-more-popular-1.2617776

by Cackleberries

Cackleberries launches the safest online virtual world, introducing children to the future of education. Cackleberries are not just cute imaginative avatars playing in a safe virtual world, they deliver education too. This virtual world includes engaging animation, stories, music, interactive games, clickables and much more. This living community, full of fun learning and adventure, is the brainchild of Canadian entrepreneur and mother, Eronne Foster.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/09/01/prweb8761028.DTL

By Joe McKendrick, Smart Planet

There’s no question that online education — delivered by established universities, private companies, or nonprofit or free venues — looms large in the future of higher education. Some educators are embracing the paradigm with gusto, while others are expressing fear for the future of their professions. We are already seeing examples of courses going online and being offered to ever-wider audiences. At a time when students are being asked to enter the working world with $100,000 or more of debt, and there is intense global competition in innovation from rising nations such as China, India, and Brazil, the time may be right to open up the possibilities technology and the Web can deliver. Already, as we’ve explored here at this Website, institutions such as MIT and Carnegie-Mellon are offering limited online forms of their courses via online videos and presentations, free to anyone. There is a creative destruction disrupting the educational process in many ways, from online learning opportunities to new forms of education providers.

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/business-brains/online-learning-surges-providing-new-lessons-in-technology-disruption/18312

By JACQUES STEINBERG, the Choice

A Stanford University School of Education study released this past spring suggests that undergraduates who receive executive-style “coaching” — including guidance on setting goals and time management — are more likely to remain in college and graduate. A Stanford professor, Eric Bettinger, and a doctoral student, Rachel Baker, reviewed the academic records of more than 13,500 undergraduates at eight colleges and universities during the 2003-4 school year, and again in 2007-8. The researchers calculated a 10-percent to 15-percent increase in retention rates among those who had received coaching and mentoring — a finding of no small import at a moment when hundreds of thousands of students are dropping out before graduation, or taking upward of six years to complete their degrees.

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/coaching-2/

by Emily Hanford, American Public Radio

More people are going to college than ever before. But in the United States, about half the people who start don’t finish. There are 37 million Americans with some college credits but no degree – more than 20 percent of the working-age population. In an economy that increasingly demands workers with knowledge and skills, many college dropouts are being left behind.

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/tomorrows-college/dropouts/

by Bryan Klochack, Detroit News

Every principal looks forward to the first day of school when students return with fresh minds eager to learn and ready to work. But as students prepare to hit the books in the next couple weeks, some of them won’t have to take the bus to school, wander the halls looking for their classroom or search rows of desks to find their seat. Virtual schooling allows students to receive a top-notch public education online from the comfort of their homes. Virtual education is an increasingly popular alternative to the traditional brick and mortar classroom, but many parents still don’t fully understand online learning and how it works. Virtual public schooling is not homeschooling. In fact, the two are quite different. Virtual public schools deliver public education to a student’s home at no cost that combines state-certified teachers and a rigorous curriculum that correlates to state standards.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110830/OPINION01/108300329/1008/opinion01/Virtual-schooling–real-results

By Natasha Wanchek, THE Journal

The key decision when selecting a Learning Management System (LMS) for a K-12 school district is no longer whether to use a commercial option or the open source Moodle. Instead, costly commercial solutions are increasingly left out of the equation, and administrators are instead focusing their energies on which of several open source systems might be best for their district. When conducting needs assessments for LMSes, administrators are looking at a variety of options and coming to different conclusions. While Moodle and Sakai are the two open source LMSes with the biggest market share in the United States, there are more specialized and newer entrants to the field that are getting notice, including Instructure’s Canvas, OLAT, ATutor, and Google’s CloudCourse.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/07/27/a-guide-to-k-12-open-source-lms-options.aspx

by the Sydney Morning Herald

Students using blogs to express their creativity are coming out of their shells, writes Melissa Lahoud. Speaking out in class can be daunting for some but high among the benefits of blogging in schools is the platform it provides for shy students to come out of their shells and express their thoughts more freely. Birrong Girls High School in south-western Sydney is one school taking to blogging in a big way and Victor Davidson, a teacher and librarian, has developed hundreds of online learning spaces for his students. ”Some of our brightest and most articulate students, who often shy away from face-to-face conversations, have developed an active and dynamic presence online,” Davidson says.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/stories-from-a-digital-space-20110828-1jgk7.html