Online Learning Update

January 25, 2012

Apple Offers Online Learning through iTunes U App

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:05 am

by JEFF GAMET, Mac Observer

Apple is making its iTunes U online learning service even more accessible as of Thursday with the introduction of its iTunes U app for the iPad. The app links users to iTunes U courses, supports notes, class outlines and assignments, tracks instructor office hours and class credits, and messaging with instructors. Notes from iBooks 2 textbooks sync with the iTunes U app, too.

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple_offers_online_courses_through_itunes_u_app/

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January 24, 2012

An Online Learning eTextbook Apple for the Professor?

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:08 am

By Dean Dad, Inside Higher Ed

Apple’s latest foray into the education market caught my eye. It’s promising, but I can’t get past some sticking points. As I understand it — and I don’t claim to fully get it — Apple is making several moves. It’s releasing a software package for prospective authors, to make it easier to format books to sell on ibooks. It’s partnering with several of the major textbook publishers to issue ipad-only versions of textbooks in several basic courses, complete with interactive bells and whistles. And it’s making available about 100 courses from name-brand universities, though it’s not entirely clear just what “making available” means just yet. It sounds like more than just podcasts of lectures, but how much more isn’t obvious.

http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/apple-professor

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Learning Online: UW-Madison to be part of e-textbook pilot program

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:05 am

by DEBORAH ZIFF, Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison and five other major universities announced plans this week to try buying electronic textbooks in bulk, an experiment that officials say could help rein in burdensome textbook costs and bring e-textbooks into the mainstream. The university will try it on a small scale at first, in five courses involving about 600 students when the spring semester begins Monday. At UW-Madison, students will spend an average of about $1,140 on books and supplies this year, up from $680 in 2001-2002. “That’s one of the big motivators behind doing this pilot and evaluating this more broadly, for wider adoption by the Madison campus,” said Brian Rust, communications director for the UW-Madison Division of Information Technology.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/university/uw-madison-to-be-part-of-e-textbook-pilot-program/article_27a68986-4234-11e1-8402-0019bb2963f4.html

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Digital Learning Day Cometh February First – Featuring Online Learning in K-12

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

by Michael Horn, Forbes

With the arrival on February 1, 2012 of the first-ever national Digital Learning Day, the disruptive innovation of K-12 online learning—from in blended-learning environments to remote ones—seems to be taking yet another step toward the mainstream. For over a couple decades, supporters of technology in education have talked of its potential benefits in transforming education. But beyond a set of enthusiastic early adopters, the use of technology in formal education remained largely stalled. Its talked-about benefits remained unrealized at best, as the cramming of computers produced few notable results that scaled. With the rise of online learning, that began to change. Its growth is rapid and undeniable. Increasingly we’re seeing online learning stretch beyond areas of nonconsumption—where the alternative is nothing at all and where disruptive innovations first take root.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelhorn/2012/01/17/digital-learning-day-cometh/

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January 23, 2012

How Many Faculty Discussion Posts in an Online Learning Discussion Board Each Week? A Simply Delicious Answer

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:10 am

By: Cheryl Hayek, Faculty Focus

One of the most frequently asked questions from veteran and novice online faculty alike is, “How many weekly discussion posts should I contribute?” The reality is, there is an intricate balancing act to achieve the coveted “guide on the side” role in discussion forum facilitation. At the onset of weekly discussion, outstanding online instructors wait cautiously to ensure that peer interactions and student self-discovery have the time to flourish. Then, at precisely the right point, they add several probing responses, invoking relevance and scholarship into the discussion. Concomitantly, they vigilantly strive to avoid omniscient, overbearing, or evaluative posts that inhibit future participation. This professional dialogue continues in this way throughout the length of the discussion, where sustained interaction becomes a rich environment for critical thinking to flourish.

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/how-many-faculty-discussion-posts-each-week-a-simply-delicious-answer/

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Online Learning + In-Class Learning: Five minute primer on Flipped classes

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:06 am

by Donna Krache, CNN

It might not be the answer to all pedagogical prayers, but some educators say that flipping is an effective way to teach a generation that’s grown up on YouTube. District Administration magazine calls flipping a type of “blended learning” that is a combination of online and face-to-face approaches. Flipping capitalizes on technology to allow students to watch online video lectures and explanations of content for homework. Students can replay the lectures several times if they need to to get a better grasp of the material while they are at home. The next day in class is spent doing what is traditionally considered homework – completing assignments like working on math problems, for example – with the teacher as more of a learning facilitator than lecturer. Classmates contribute to the learning process by working together on in-class assignments. Technology is the key ingredient in flipping, because students must have Internet access after school hours in order to watch the lessons that educators record and upload.

http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/17/five-minute-primer-flipped-classes/

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Learning Online May Be Less Expensive with Better E-Textbook Prices

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:02 am

by Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed

Beginning this month, five major universities — the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, the University of Virginia, Cornell University, and the University of California at Berkeley — will start a pilot program in which certain courses will use only electronic texts. The texts will be available via Courseload, a device-agnostic platform that will integrate with the universities’ learning-management platforms (LMS). If students respond favorably to the pilots at those universities, other members of the consortium might wade in as well, says Dave Lambert, the CEO of Internet2. And as more universities sign on, their negotiating position with publishers stands to improve. The consistency of having e-texts available on a single platform that works with any device and lives inside the LMS could be the catalyst for student acceptance of digital content that campus tech-watchers have been waiting for, says Michael McPherson, the deputy chief information officer at Virginia.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/18/universities-look-get-discounts-e-textbooks-students

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January 22, 2012

Online Learning: Shy students should be able to tweet their teacher in class, study finds

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:08 am

by: Jeremy Pierce, The Courier-Mail

Students who don’t have the confidence to speak out in class can benefit from Twitter, a study has found. There could soon be a whole lot more twits in our school classrooms. New research from Southern Cross University has found strong benefits for the use of Twitter by students too embarrassed or uncomfortable to ask teachers questions in the time-honoured raised-hand method. Southern Cross business lecturer Jeremy Novak, along with Central Queensland University’s Dr Michael Cowling, studied the use of Twitter among university students as a method for asking questions and gaining feedback without having to stand the stares and scrutiny of fellow students. The positive feedback from students, particularly international students, has convinced the research team the use of Twitter technology could also be embraced by classrooms at high school and even primary school level.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/technology/to-tweet-or-not-to-tweet/story-fn5kfsdd-1226244868289

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Numerous Brentwood students suspended over Internet breach

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:03 am

by Rick Wills, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

A number of Brentwood High School students face one-day suspensions for using a free Internet program to access websites that had been blocked from school computers, according to a letter sent to parents. The letter states the students’ Internet, network and computer privileges will be suspended for the third nine weeks of the school year. At first, 83 students were given suspensions, after additional searches were done on school computers, the number grew to more than 100, she said. Wired magazine in 2010 said Ultrasurf is “one of the most important free-speech tools on the Internet.” It was designed to thwart Chinese government Internet firewalls and has millions of users, the magazine said. And in a 2007 study, Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society found Ultrasurf to be the “best-performing” of all tested circumvention tools.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_776738.html

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Is Online Learning One Third Cheaper?

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

by Tom Vander Ark, Huffington Post

Blended learning can save some money; online learning can save a lot. That’s the conclusion of a working paper — The Cost of Online Learning–from Fordham’s Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning series. A talented team from Parthenon lead by Tammy Battaglino wrote the report. They estimate “that full-time virtual schools cost, on average, $6,400 per pupil, compared with $8,900 for blended schools and $10,000 for traditional brick-and-mortar public schools.” Online learning providers won’t agree with the projected 35% savings. They would say that with staffing ratios not all that different from traditional schools there is some opportunity for cost savings — maybe half of what Parthenon came up with.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-vander-ark/is-online-learning-one-th_b_1198033.html

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January 21, 2012

5 Things Every Online Student Should Do When Starting a New Online Course

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:05 am

by Brian C.Steinberg, Associate Degree Online

So you finally decided to go back to school and with your very busy schedule figured you would try this online thing everyone is talking about. But once you start your first classes, what should you first do to make sure you will be successful in your first and future online classes? Here are 5 things you should do right away in any online class as an online student.

http://www.associatedegreeonline.com/2012/01/5-things-every-online-student-should-do-when-starting-a-new-online-course/

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Rio Salado College predicts online learning student success

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

by Mary Beth Faller, The Republic

The same kind of number crunching that Netflix uses to recommend the perfect movie to each subscriber is being used by Rio Salado Community College to boost student success. When movie-rental customers vote often enough on which films they like, Netflix can take that data, apply a mathematical formula and predict other movies their customers will like. Rio Salado is now doing the same kind of “predictive analytics” by tracking student behaviors, such as how often they log in, to determine which students are most likely to succeed — meaning complete the course with a grade of C or better. Those at risk of failure are offered extra help right away. The online public community college has found that the level and pace of engagement — rather than good grades — early in the term is a good predictor of success.

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/2012/01/12/20120112college-predicts-student-success.html

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Supporting International Students in the Online Learning Environment

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

By: Tracey Pritchard, Faculty Focus

One area of challenge I have personally experienced is the relational and learning aspects of teaching foreign students. I have had students from all over the world in my courses. While I enjoy the rich diversity of foreign students in the online environment, I realize that I do not always respond well or effectively relate course material to this population. This was brought to my attention when I received an email from a student that simply stated “have sent two emails with no response, reasons?” I handled this as any good instructor would and explained that I had not received the emails and did not find the phrasing of this most recent email professional. I received a response from this student profusely apologizing, explaining he was from a remote area of Africa, this was his first venture into online learning, and he desired to learn how to communicate by Western standards, and would I please teach him? I was mortified by the assumptions I had so quickly made regarding a student I had never met and knew little about.

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/supporting-international-students-in-the-online-environment/

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January 20, 2012

Online learning instruction teaches on students’ own time

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:10 am

By Stacie Spring, AFN

As more and more students take online university or college courses, professors, the universities that employ them, and the makers of the lecture video software find it increasingly necessary to make those classes as easily accessible to their students as possible. “Online instruction gives non-traditional students, usually people with full- or part-time jobs, to increase their education on their own time,” said Kristin Zurovitch, product marketing manager for Sonic Foundry, the makers of Mediasite. “The next logical step is providing that on any device they need.” At Arizona State University, where about 450 master’s degree students – taking about 750 courses a year – in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering take classes entirely online, providing them with a relevant education is a top priority, said Octavio Heredia, associative director of global outreach and extended education at the engineering school.

http://www.ahwatukee.com/community_focus/article_3ce0d702-3ed3-11e1-a4bc-0019bb2963f4.html

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Creating Sound Policy for K-12 Online Learning

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:04 am

by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Ultimately, new technology-rich education models will need to be evaluated based on their productivity, that is, the results that they produce relative to the required investment. Unfortunately, within the nascent field of online learning, this information simply isn’t yet available. While embracing the need to understand and illuminate both costs and outcomes, our goal in this paper is to explore the cost issue. We seek, to the extent possible, to compare the costs of digital education on various dimensions with the costs of traditional brick-and-mortar schooling in order to help lay the foundation for the ultimate lens on productivity. This analysis is not straightforward, of course, because costs vary within digital education just as they do within brick-and-mortar schooling options. Educators and policymakers pursue online learning for different reasons and adopt different flavors of technology-rich models. Broadly speaking, today’s policymakers and educators appear to pursue online-learning solutions for one or more of three primary reasons: to reduce overall costs (often in response to budget shortfalls); to increase the range of course offerings available to students (such as advanced or remedial classes or unusual subject areas); or, more radically, to use technology to rethink the traditional teaching-and-learning model (primarily reflecting a leader’s instructional vision, but often linked to budgetary considerations).

http://www.edexcellencemedia.net/publications/2012/20120110-the-costs-of-online-learning/20120110-the-costs-of-online-learning.pdf

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4 Time Management Tips for Online Learning Students

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

By KELSEY SHEEHY, US News

Online courses give students the flexibility to take their class anytime, anywhere. The trick, students say, is staying on top of them. Doing so requires discipline, commitment, and organization—traits any successful student should possess, no matter what path they’re taking to complete their degree. A need for flexibility is one factor fueling the growth in online education—online enrollment hit an all-time high in 2010 with more than 6.1 million students—but a lack of direct oversight can make it easy for them to fall behind. Throw in everyday distractions typical for an online student—full-time jobs, kids, family activities—and the work can easily pile up. These time management tips from online learning veterans can help you stay ahead of the game.

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2012/01/13/4-time-management-tips-for-online-students

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January 19, 2012

Stanford University Provides Free Online Classes On Everything From Game Theory to Anatomy

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 1:10 am

by Cassandra Khaw, Indie Games

Is this a sign of the encroaching apocalypse or an indication of better things to come? Stanford University used to be one of those top-notch educational institutes that cost an arm and a leg to attend. And now they’re offering free courses? I’m not sure what to think about this but I’m definitely not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

http://youtu.be/_UcRbnJoDKc

http://indiegames.com/2012/01/stanford_university_provides_f.html

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Some see blended online learning as future of education

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:05 am

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

Interactive and adaptive learning technologies can help advance U.S. education, experts say. More and more school districts are embracing digital learning as the next step in improving education, and a number of stakeholder groups are hoping to guide policy makers in their efforts to implement state-level online learning policies. A Jan. 11 International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) webinar focused on the continued work of the Digital Learning Council on the reform needed to provide all students with the opportunity to engage in high-quality online learning.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/01/12/some-see-blended-learning-as-future-of-education/

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Education at Lifehacker U: Spring Semester 2012

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:01 am

by Lifehacker

Whether you’re in school and getting ready to head back for the spring semester, or you’re out of school and just want to keep learning and growing, there are an incredible amount of free, university-level courses that become available on the web every school year, and anyone with a little time and a passion for self-growth can audit, read, and “enroll” in these courses for their own personal benefit. Schools like Yale University, MIT, Stanford, the University of California at Berkeley, and many more are all offering free online classes that you can audit and participate in from the comfort of your office chair, couch, or computing chair-of-choice.

http://lifehacker.com/5875092/plan-your-free-online-education-at-lifehacker-u-spring-semester-2012

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January 18, 2012

MIT to Open Online Classes & Certificates to the Public

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:10 am

by Chilton Tippin, Signal News

With the announcement of a new educational program called MITx, in which MIT will offer online classes culminating in a certificate of completion, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is breaking new ground in free online education. Ten years ago, the university launched OpenCourseWare (OCW), an initiative to make hundreds of lectures and materials ubiquitous online. Since OCW’s inception, more than 100 million people have accessed the online classes, which range from computer programming, to chemical engineering, to physics, to literature. MITx takes the initiative a step farther in a few important ways. First of all, it allows people who take the online classes to earn a certification of mastery. Second, it will make the open-source software infrastructure freely available to educational institutions worldwide, thereby hoping to encourage other universities to share their materials.

http://signalnews.com/mit-offer-online-classes-certificates-to-public-849

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Online degree? Avoid heartache, do your research first

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:05 am

By Charlie Osborne, ZD Net

More prospective students are turning to online learning options. What are some factors you should keep in mind before enrolling? In the aftermath of rising tuition fees, competition among university places and an increasingly hectic lifestyle, online degree qualifications are rising in popularity as a means of progressing a career and studying around commitments. However, do your research before you commit to a qualification. Online learning courses may be a means to study around picking the children up from school or balancing a full-time job, but unless you choose wisely, it’s not necessarily a financial shortcut, and you may even finish without a recognised qualification.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/online-degree-avoid-heartache-do-your-research-first/14537

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