Online Learning Update

by Smarter Services

More than 4 million K-12 students participated in formal virtual learning programs in 2010. The continued growth in K12 online learning is not just a trend. As enrollments in non traditional learning environments grow, states are working on proposing mandates that students take at least one online course prior to graduating from high school. One challenge states are faced with when proposing required online education is defining what that is and what it looks like. Most states recognize that a fully online course is not the only way for a student to experience an alternative learning environment. Like any organization, the end goal must be examined in order to determine the path to reach it. Guidelines allowed include technology rich courses, a hybrid model of using a laptop onsite to take an online class, using live webinar teachings, participating in web chats about course content, and using learning management systems to access content and assignments among others.

http://smarterservices.com/blog/post.cfm/growth-in-k12-online-learning-not-just-a-trend

By Shayndi Raice, Wall Street Journal

Edmodo, a social network for teachers and students, is getting a boost from some social media royalty: LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and former Facebook vice president Matt Cohler. Their venture-capital firms are leading a $15 million round of funding for the startup, and the two men are joining Edmodo’s board of directors. Edmodo has a basic resemblance to Facebook, with a profile picture in the left hand corner and a running stream of centralized posts. But it functions more like a virtual classroom, letting teachers set up groups to communicate with students, post homework assignments and even grades. Students can comment on assignments and turn in their homework through the network. Teachers can also connect with other teachers and discuss classroom techniques.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/12/08/facebook-style-learning-site-gets-15-million/

by the H

Moodle founder, Martin Dougiamas, has announced the release of version 2.2 of his open source online learning platform. Short for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, Moodle is a cross-platform course management system (CMS) – also known as a virtual learning environment (VLE) or learning management system (LMS) – whose goal is to provide educators with tools for managing and promoting learning for their students.  Moodle 2.2 is a major update that includes a new advanced grading methods subsystem. The first advanced grading plug-in is, the developers say, a “long-requested feature”: support for Rubrics. These are used for criteria-based assessment, but only currently work for assignments; they will be extended across all modules in a later release.

http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Version-2-2-of-the-Moodle-e-learning-platform-released-1392791.html

By Sarah Bedell, The Oklahoma Daily

Courses are available for both the first half of the break and for the second half of the break, and those include classes online, in the classroom and even hybrid courses — online and in the classroom. This year, 1,713 students are currently enrolled for December intersession in 82 different classes, said Renee Williams, director of intersession. Eleven courses were canceled by the professors due to low enrollment. This group of December enrollees is considerably more than the 1,455 students who took courses December intersession classes last year. Historically, students who take intersession classes are upperclassmen, accounting for 84.5 percent of students taking classes, Williams said.

http://www.oudaily.com/news/2011/dec/09/more-students-opting-classes-during-winter-break/

By Gillian Burnett, Vancouver Sun

So far more than 50 volunteers have signed up to provide one-on-one online assistance with new technologies, research requests, curriculum enhancement, development of resources, writing content for websites and putting together budgets and business plans. “Going overseas to volunteer isn’t always possible,” said Melanie Wilson, a volunteer working on her PhD in Montreal, in a press release. “Now I’m in touch directly with a school in Uganda… It has been a fun, interesting and empowering experience that has nicely fit into my already busy schedule.” In addition to two schools in Uganda, there are six other partner schools in Afghanistan, Tanzania, Nepal and Liberia. The beauty of helping online, Aldred points out, is that because the network offers mainly expertise, there’s little risk that resources might be misused. Volunteers know the exact value of their contributions, and the schools provide oversight and feedback to determine their needs and evaluate the assistance they’re getting.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/canada-in-afghanistan/Online+education+network+lets+volunteers+help+needy+schools+across+world/5832023/story.html

By Jessica Jimenez, Diamondback

As we make our plans for next semester, we’re faced with a slew of new things to consider: which classes to take, which habits to break and whether or not e-books are superior to hardcopy textbooks. If you look at the list of required textbooks for your spring schedule on MyUMD, you can find these electronic books listed under the course must-haves. Obviously, makers of e-books have become tuned in to the needs of college students. We can get the same information as we would from our regular books via digital graphics behind a panel. Which of these e-books will be the most practical choice to carry around? Will they be as effective as hard copies?

http://www.diamondbackonline.com/opinion/e-readers-a-student-s-dilemna-1.2729415

By Valentina Didonato, the Montclarion

The connection a student makes in the online classroom on a literal level can be interactive when done properly, providing a stimulating experience as it becomes cross cultural and a true global experience. It allows the student to move past the confines of classroom walls, leading toward what becomes synonymous with a vast global classroom. The cost of online courses is also significantly lower than a conventional course. Not only are students saving money on the education itself, but also on either residence fees or the costs of commuting.The online classroom experience is unquestionably unique and will continue to be present in our tech-dominated world. It fits into many schedules and provides instant access to the information needed, assignments and the professor. The beauty of the online course is that it is always an option.

http://www.themontclarion.org/archives/3742069

by Michael Horn, Forbes

For someone who advocates for a transformed student-centric education system powered by digital learning, you might think my quick answer would be an emphatic yes, but I’m not so sure. I’ve never been bullish on mandates. As a general rule, they tend to distort markets and sectors, have unintended consequences down the line at best and immediately at worst, and lock in ways of doing things at the expense of innovation. My overriding concern has been to see a student-centric system emerge that can flexibly and affordably respond to different student needs so that students can realize their fullest human potential. Digital learning, I argue, provides the platform to do this at scale, but in many cases, students may learn better offline, and a system powered by digital learning should be able to accommodate that. The purpose should never be technology for technology’s sake.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelhorn/2011/12/07/is-mandating-online-learning-good-policy/

by Eric A. Tremblay, e-Learning Acupuncturist

A colleague of mine, Dr. Jean-Marie Muhirwa, recently returned back from the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) E-Learn 2011 World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare & Higher Education held in Honolulu, Hawaii on 18-21 October 2011. He told me about one keynote presentation that had a very high impact on the audience and after seeing it myself, I have to agree that it’s one of the best prezi-type presentations I have ever seen. If you are new to Prezi, then check their website out.

http://erictremblay.blogspot.com/2011/12/must-watch-best-prezi-of-year.html

By Mary Grush, Campus Technology

In fall 2010, Northeastern University began planning an expansion of its mobile applications to allow students, faculty, and staff to stay much better connected to the university. To support and expand this initiative, Alicia Russell, director of Northeastern’s Educational Technology Center, considered ways to facilitate faculty members’ use of mobile technologies and applications in teaching. Russell and other EdTech Center staff had noticed that faculty who had iPads found them fun and engaging but were not using them in the classroom. In light of that, the EdTech Center developed a mobile learning strategy for the institution–tied to the university’s academic priorities–that encourages faculty to go beyond simple apps for e-mail and games and explore the wide array of possibilities for integrating mobile technologies into their classes.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/12/07/creating-your-institutions-mobile-learning-strategy.aspx

by the Sloan Consortium

The Sloan Consortium, MERLOT, and our Emerging Technologies steering committee welcomes you to The 5th Annual International Symposium for Emerging Technologies for Online Learning hosted for the very first time in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 25-27, 2011. Started as a small gathering of technology and online professionals, the conference has blossomed into one of the best conferences around for examining the application of online and blended tools and instruction. Discoveries in such fields as energy, biotechnology, medicine, space, robotics, physics, transportation, and artificial intelligence continue to propel us towards future breakthroughs for society. Some of these technologies will become the catalyst for new ways to learn or provide learning extensions for our classrooms.

http://sloanconsortium.org/conference/2012/et4online/call-for-presentations

By Michael Keathley, Best Colleges Online

The first act a Social Empires player must complete is to stake out a piece of land and fortify it with towers. Within it, homes need to be built; patches of soil planted; and mills, mines, stables, and other creature comforts added. Setting up an online learning course is similar. The instructor must carefully set up an environment that guides students carefully through the material while providing a safe context within which students can feel comfortable and able to thrive. J.V. Boettcher (2011, May) provides ten best practices that instructors should follow in building a course. In general, online faculty must realize that their own presence in the room is just as important as it is a face-to-face setting; they should be checking in on their students regularly not only to provide feedback to activities, but also just to ask how they are doing in the course. It’s helpful to do this collectively and individually. For example, I usually send individual emails to each student a few times during a course to see if they have any questions or concerns. Guideposts including self-checks should be inserted throughout the course to help students understand what to do first, next, and last within each unit and overall.

http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/news/2011/12/09/is-your-online-class-a-social-empire/

By Amy Wang, Daily Californian

Next semester, the UC Berkeley School of Public Health will launch the first online degree program ever to be offered on campus. Beginning in spring 2012, students enrolled in the new program — the On-Campus/Online Professional Master of Public Health Degree Program — will be able to take a majority of their classes online, with only three on-campus sessions, to earn a master of public health degree. The degree program’s curriculum will require 14 courses for a minimum of 42 semester units, and at least a 3.0 grade point average. It has the same core requirements as its on-campus parallel degree program in public health, with the addition of eight courses to provide a “broad-based interdisciplinary background in public health,” according to the program’s website.

http://www.dailycal.org/2011/12/09/uc-berkeley-school-of-public-health-to-launch-online-degree-program/

By Charlie Osborne, ZD Net iGeneration

The increasing cost of campus-based education may cause those who attend university in the future to be a select few, but online education has the potential to remove these barriers to education. This in turn can ensure people become more desirable to employers. It is not only investors that need to keep on top of changes in skill sets required by an economic industry that is becoming more technology-driven. Students considering university or vocational courses should seriously consider taking courses that will make them look more appealing in an uncertain economy — whether a university course in computer science, or weekend basics in Microsoft Office applications. Failing that, consider taking a free online option and study in your own time. After all, it’s “something to put on the resumé”.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/the-rise-of-self-education-and-individual-investment/13613

By Catherine Groux, US News

Given the popularity of online learning, many schools across the country are finding ways to integrate the technology into their institutions. While some universities have added individual online classes or degree programs to their offerings, the University of South Carolina (USC) is taking this one step further by considering the creation of a new web-based college, the Daily Gamecock reports. The University of South Carolina is considering creating a new online college. new online institution, which would be called Palmetto College USC, would greatly expand the school’s distance learning offerings, giving students increased access to new majors and degree programs over the Internet.

http://www.usnewsuniversitydirectory.com/articles/schools-find-new-ways-to-increase-online-education_11991.aspx

by Stacey Lawrence, the Ithacan

The work of Ithaca College faculty members does not stop when they step outside the classroom, and a new online student magazine hopes to document professors’ most exciting endeavors. Tandem, an online magazine formed by students in a new writing course, highlights some faculty projects. Catherine Taylor, assistant professor of writing, formed the semester-long class on editing and publishing this year to provide students with an opportunity to learn more about the publishing industry. Taylor owns a small, independent press called Essay Press, and she said she feels as though the course was a much needed addition to the writing department’s composition-intensive course selection.

http://theithacan.org/19127/

by Anthony Stoeckert, Ultimate Pearlnad

Alvin Community College is offering students a chance to get a headstart on the spring semester with online courses beginning Dec. 19. Courses being offered include Composition I and II, American National and State Government I and II, U.S. History to 1877, U.S. History since 1877, Texas History, Developmental Math – Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, Fitness and Wellness, Introduction to Philosophy, General Psychology, Introductory Sociology and Interpersonal Communication, according to a press release.

http://www.ultimatepearland.com/stories/297736-schools-alvin-community-college-to-offer-three-week-online-courses

by Virtual College

Online learning graduation has been taken to the next level as a new system allows those who have used the virtual classroom to gain qualifications to have a “real life” ceremony complete with cap and gown. The University of Edinburgh has rolled out a new technology which lets online learners to view their own graduation on screen – the only difference being that they will be watching their own digital avatar instead of attending a ceremony in person. Distance learners receive their scrolls as personalised avatars, which are made to look like the real virtual classroom user through the Second Life programme. Jayne Roberts, 37, who is from Georgia in the US, was around 900 miles away from the university when she took part in her graduation ceremony on screen. She told the Edinburgh Evening News: “I was disappointed not to make it back home to the UK for the graduation ceremony, but Second Life made it possible for me to be there.

http://www.virtual-college.co.uk/news/Avatar-graduation-takes-elearning-to-next-level-newsitems-801227244.aspx

by Hayley Marx, Sonoma State Star

This initiative is going to spread awareness not just for faculty, but for students as well. Butler also explained that many students do not know that options like renting textbooks are available through websites, as well as at the SSU bookstore. “I think this is a really good way to raise awareness about cheaper textbooks to professors. I am tired of having to pay so much for a book that I don’t even use that often during the semester,” said junior Scott Alexander. Professors will hopefully become more aware of not only cheaper textbooks, but also other methods to buying textbooks such as e-books and putting copies of books on reserve at the library, according to Butler. “Reserve library books are going to soon be going to e-serves. As electronic textbooks become available, select chapters will be available in an online version,” said Butler.

http://www.sonomastatestar.com/news/affordable-learning-initiative-spreads-awareness-about-high-textbook-costs-1.2725225#.Tt5t-2OVrm0

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

In Monday’s New York Times, Somini Sengupta reports on the Khan Academy, a program of math and science lessons developed by Salman Khan that has become a YouTube hit, attracting up to 3.5 million viewers a month. This fall, at least 36 schools across the country are using software to try out Mr. Khan’s lessons in the classroom, combining traditional teaching with computer-based lessons and exercises. The classroom programs are subsidized by more than $16.5 million in donations from the likes of Bill Gates, Google, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the O’Sullivan Foundation. Critics say the lessons are simply rote learning in high-tech dress. But the popularity of the programs on YouTube have inspired interest in Mr. Khan’s approach; professors at Stanford University have borrowed his methods to offer a free online class in artificial intelligence.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/daily-report-online-learning-through-the-khan-academy/

By SOMINI SENGUPTA, New York Times

Jesse Roe, a ninth-grade math teacher at a charter school here called Summit, has a peephole into the brains of each of his 38 students. Jesse Roe, a teacher in the Summit school in San Jose, can use the teaching software to monitor the math progress of students like Cheyenne Grant, 14, right. Top, a lesson on the parts of a cell from a Khan Academy video on YouTube. He can see that a girl sitting against the wall is zipping through geometry exercises; that a boy with long curls over his eyes is stuck on a lesson on long equations; and that another boy in the front row is getting a handle on probability. Each student’s math journey shows up instantly on the laptop Mr. Roe carries as he wanders the room. He stops at each desk, cajoles, offers tips, reassures.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/technology/khan-academy-blends-its-youtube-approach-with-classrooms.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all