Online Learning Update

June 23, 2013

Brenau University in early stages of accepting free online course credits

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:09 am

by Carly Sharec, Gainesville Times

Some colleges, like UNG and Brenau University, offer online courses and degree programs, but via regular student registration. However, the University System of Georgia has recently joined a partnership that is looking at how the MOOCs can increase access and participation in college degree programs. “A lot of universities, including the University System of Georgia, have signed on to agreements that will probably move towards being able to offer some of these courses of credit,” University of North Georgia VP Al Panu said. “Or, for those courses to be used as a supplement to existing courses that people enroll in through the normal, existing registration process.” David Barnett, senior vice president for administration and chief financial officer at Brenau, said that the institute is in the very early stages of discussing accepting MOOC credits.

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/85010/

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Online Learning: UK Commission on future proposes major changes for HE

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

by Peta Lee, University World News

Britain’s high-powered Commission on the Future of Higher Education last week called for vocationally focused ‘fee only’ degrees for local students, a new postgraduate student loans system and credit recognition for MOOCs, among many other recommendations. In its report, A Critical Path: Securing the future of higher education in England, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) commission – chaired by University of Warwick Vice-chancellor Nigel Thrift – acknowledged the tough economic conditions and the transformation over the past half century of higher education in Britain. However, it suggested a raft of reforms and expansions to ensure that the sector continued to play a pivotal role in the country’s economic and social renewal.

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130614065052260

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A MOOC Quality Scorecard applied to Coursera Course

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

by Debbie Morrison,Online Learning Insights

To provide an illustrative framework for this review, I’ve created a MOOC quality scorecard review, that is [loosely] based on a quality scorecard approach and my course design experience. To put this course review into context, following is the course description for Sports & Society. I want to emphasize that they were no objectives, goals or purposes outlined for the course, which made defining the scope of the course a challenge, as well as determining my learning goals.

http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/a-mooc-quality-scorecard-applied-to-coursera-course/

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June 22, 2013

Online Learning: The future of higher education is debatable

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

by Celia R. Baker, Deseret News

New learning platforms driven by technology promise to make college learning less expensive and more accessible, but some say those radical changes could topple higher education’s traditional model. That was the subject of a recent web-based video debate about the future of higher education titled “It’s the End of College as We Know It.” The discussion was part of New America Foundation’s “That’s Debatable” series about the next generation of college classrooms. The two education experts in the debate agreed that dramatic change is inevitable but diverged about what path it will take.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865581611/The-future-of-higher-education-is-debatable.html

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MOOCs: Interesting Legal Territory Ahead

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

by Kelly Sheridan, Information Week

Massive open online courses have the potential to change higher education, but people and schools implementing MOOCs face some emerging legal questions. As massive open online courses (MOOCs) gain publicity and popularity, it’s time to address the legal concerns affecting this trend in higher education. While MOOCs have the potential to change higher education, those who wish to implement them have a few issues to confront. Copyright and intellectual property issues are currently of particular concern, Amanda Marie Baer, an attorney at Mirick O’Connell who specializes in higher education, said in an interview.

http://www.informationweek.com/education/online-learning/moocs-interesting-legal-territory-ahead/240156712

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A Luddite learns to teach anew via online learning

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

By James Borton, the State

I am — or rather, was — a Luddite, a migrant to technology, an in-your-face grammarian, diagramming sentences for college freshmen on a chalk board and distributing reams of handouts. My views shifted this past semester when I taught my first online course and adopted Blackboard. Sure, it may seem that I am just another senior citizen, an AARP newbie embracing and offering another paean to the virtues of technology. But wait; there’s more. Students are connected, and they are learning to embrace literature and experience empathy despite all the latest downloadable distracting apps on their iPhones. Although I have yet to purchase my smartphone, I did produce a new online course in literature and medicine for undergraduates at Coastal Carolina University.

 http://www.thestate.com/2013/06/14/2817206/borton-a-luddite-learns-to-teach.html#storylink=cpy

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June 21, 2013

HBCU’s Inching Toward the Internet

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:09 am

By Lauren Ingeno, Inside Higher Ed

Public historically black colleges and universities have made some — but not drastically significant — progress in terms of their online education offerings, while private HBCUs have had no gains in the past three years. Growth in the total number of historically black colleges offering online programs has been steady yet modest, says a new report from Roy Beasley, who manages the Digital Learning Lab at Howard University. Of the 106 total historically black institutions in the United States, 27 — or about 25 percent — offer fully online degree programs, compared with 24 in 2012 and 19 in 2010, according to the report. The number of public HBCUs offering such programs increased from 18 last year to 21 in 2013. But only six of the 55 private HBCUs currently offer online programs, which is a number that has stayed stagnant since 2010.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/14/online-programs-historically-black-colleges-are-increasing-modestly

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College Students Taking Advantage of Online Summer Courses

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

By Melinda Barrett, St. Joe Channel

When summertime hits, college students begin to juggle jobs, internships and some keep taking classes. Northwest Missouri State University is seeing a large increase in online course enrollment for the summer, something students say is easier to handle with busy summer schedules. Cody Uhing just finished his sophomore year at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, and even though it’s summer, he’s not wasting any time by taking advantage of online summer classes. “I think it allows flexibility with everybody’s schedule during the day, it allows people to work during the day and then work on classes during the night,” said Cody Uhing, enrolled in summer classes at Northwest. With more than 2,500 students enrolled this summer at Northwest, 70-percent of them are taking at least one online course.

http://stjoechannel.com/fulltext?nxd_id=349212

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Coursera, Udacity and edX get pushback, but hopefully it won’t capsize the MOOC movement

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

By Mike Cassidy, Mercury

The San Jose State philosophy professors who recently spoke out against the school’s embrace of a video version of a social justice class were right to worry about the boom in online learning and how it might harm their life’s mission and their students’ education. After all, philosophy is all about raising the right questions and exploring the answers. And in fact, there is a rising buzz of professorial protest over what are broadly known by the moniker MOOCs, or massive open online courses. Eucators at Amherst and Duke have come out against the courses on their campuses. But it would be a shame if the well-meaning professors’ concerns derailed a movement toward wider use of online courses across the country.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23453863/cassidy-coursera-udacity-and-edx-get-pushback-but

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June 20, 2013

Early experiences from running an online learning course

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

by Ulla Rajala, (Cambridge) Landscape Perceptions

The greatest surprise this far when running my Googling the Earth online course is the amount of ‘proofreading’ it requires. In the end it is not enough that you come up with an idea, sell it, prepare the material and hand it over. One also has to make sure that it is correct, since the lovely people in the e-learning department do not know the subject matter. In the end, the person who has created the material knows the order it has to be presented for a maximum learning effect and how different parts (podcast, audio PowerPoint, web pages, exercises and links) link and build up into a learning experience. I have realised that I have probably included too much content into the course. This is quite normal for an academic archaeologist; you just think the amount of basics people have to grasp in order to be able to process certain new topics.

http://landscapeperceptions.blogspot.com/2013/06/early-experiences-from-running-online.html

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Online Modern Greek now a reality at Griffith University, AU

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

by Neoskosmos

Queensland’s Greek community in the South East has seen its tireless efforts to campaign for Modern Greek come to fruition with the inclusion of online Modern Greek courses in 2014 at Griffith University. Griffith University language students will soon benefit from new courses and scholarships arising from a tertiary partnership between the university and the Greek community. The online Modern Greek courses will begin in 2014 and, given Greece’s status as the birthplace of democracy, reflect a fittingly democratic collaboration between Griffith University and South Australia’s Flinders University

http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/online-moder-greeknow-a-reality

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OSU-Tulsa willing to make it worth students’ while to attend class on campus

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

by Sara Plummer, Tulsa World

Administrators at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa say there are benefits to taking a college course in a classroom, and they are willing to put money on it.  Starting in the fall, OSU-Tulsa will offer $250 tuition waivers to undergraduate and graduate students in an effort to get people to take more classes on campus instead of online.  The “Get Here” tuition waiver is available for undergraduate students with a 2.0 grade-point average and taking at least 15 hours on campus and graduate students with a 3.0 grade-point average taking nine hours on campus.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/OSU_Tulsa_willing_to_make_it_worth_students_while_to/20130612_11_a9_cutlin216006?subj=1

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June 19, 2013

University of Chicago Free Open Online Learning Courses

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

By LINDSAY WELBERS, Hyde Park Herald

Casual learners interested in taking a University of Chicago class but not taking out student loans or reenrolling in college have the opportunity to study at the university for free. The university has partnered with Coursera, a company that offers free, notfor- credit courses from colleges and universities online. Two provost-appointed faculty committees recommended that the university proceed in offering online courses, in part because it will give professors the opportunity to experiment with new venues for their teaching and research. The first two courses offered will comprise one on global warming, taught by David Archer, professor in geophysical sciences, and another by John Cochrane, the AQR Capital Management Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the Booth School of Business, on asset pricing.

http://hpherald.com/2013/06/12/u-of-c-courses-online-and-free/

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Study: real world learning helps online learning grades; few students complete online courses

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

by Jed Kim, KPCC

Online courses benefit from real world studying. Students who take online courses perform better when they spend time studying outside the virtual classroom, according to a study by MIT and Harvard researchers. Researchers from MIT and Harvard looked at the performance of students who enrolled in a massive online open course version of a popular class taught at MIT. They found that students who said they studied with a partner scored an average of about three points higher than those who studied alone. But they also found that few did so. Only one in five students who completed an end-of-course survey said they collaborated offline with other students or subject experts.

http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2013/06/11/13947/study-real-world-learning-helps-online-grades-few/

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Online Courses Have Reached A Turning Point That Should Seriously Scare Colleges

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

by MAX NISEN, Australian Business Insider

Colleges around the country should be worried. The quality of online courses is catching up fast. Kevin Carey, the director of the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation put it to the test, spending four months taking two MOOCs, from start to finish. One, a Coursera Introduction to Philosophy was everything critics dislike, he says. Too brief, and with none of the problem sets, essays, or tests that make sure you absorb and apply the information. The second, an MIT introductory biology course hosted by edX, was an entirely different animal. After taking the course, Carey admits that while not every course can transition online for less money and at a higher level of quality than what most students experience, the amount that can is “a lot more than people realise or want to admit.” That’s going to lead to a lot of disruption, and many lost jobs. But there’s a lot of upside, as well.

http://au.businessinsider.com/online-courses-are-challenging-college-classes-2013-6

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June 18, 2013

EdX Wants YOU To Improve Their Online Learning Platform

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

by Jeff Dunn, Edudemic

One of the biggest (yet newest) names in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is edX. In case you’re new to the MOOC or Edudemic world, edX is basically a consortium of schools that have banded together to assemble a robust library of online courses. From Physics to History to Computer Science, many of the world’s largest universities and colleges have come together to use the edX online learning platform. And now the edX platform is yours. The edX team made their code open source as of June 1, 2013 and are actively encouraging developers around the world to remix, rethink, and build onto the platform. After all, what better way to develop a product than to have countless people around the world add to it, use it, and continuously test it. The model has worked for a ton of major web tools like WordPress and Wikipedia.

http://www.edudemic.com/2013/06/edx-wants-you-to-improve-their-online-learning-platform/

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Online Learning + face-to-face = blended learning

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

by Käri Knutson, University of Wisconsin News

“Blended learning is about engaging students in deeper learning,” says Ron Cramer, senior learning technology consultant. “It’s about blending online and face-to-face activities together in a thoughtful way.” Many instructors already implement blended learning, but the weeklong session allowed them to discuss their successes, challenges and ask questions about how to better teach their students. “I think the students learn more when they’re interacting in a well-structured environment — things that stretch them but are attainable,” says Brad Barham, a professor in agricultural and applied economics. “It behooves us when the technology is available to take advantage of that capacity.”

http://www.news.wisc.edu/21871

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Texas A&M faculty considers expanding online learning courses

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

By ALLEN REED, the Eagle

Texas A&M is close to deciding whether it plans to start offering what’s called massive open online courses — a controversial and growing trend in higher education that relies mainly on lecture videos and coursework evaluated by university faculty. Provost Karan Watson gave an update to the faculty senate at its Monday meeting, telling fellow professors that a committee of their peers and administrators — which started discussions in October — is close to finalizing a recommendation. She then will take their suggestion to President R. Bowen Loftin, most likely this summer. The massive open online courses, commonly known as MOOC’s, typically are provided through third-party private companies at little or no cost to anyone with an Internet connection. They are delivered almost exclusively online.

http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/article_605d0137-3880-5ffb-ac79-51792d1f6144.html

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June 17, 2013

Academic Partnerships Publishes Guide to Quality in Online Learning

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

By Academic Partnerships

Academic Partnerships (AP), one of the largest representatives of online learning in the United States and around the world, today announced that it has published in both English and Chinese a pioneering primer on the key quality issues in online education. Edited by international higher education authorities Stamenka Uvalic-Trumbic and Sir John Daniel and authored by learning experts Neil Butcher and Merridy Wilson-Strydom, A Guide to Quality in Online Learning is designed to provide insight into opportunities presented by online learning and is available to readers free of charge.

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/11/5487871/academic-partnerships-publishes.html

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MOOCs For Teachers: They’re Learners, Too

Filed under: Online Learning News — Ray Schroeder @ 12:07 am

by Ellen Moir, Forbes

Rarely a day goes by when MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are not in the news. There is no hotter topic of conversation in education technology today. Journalists are asking “has the future of college moved online?” While many think that MOOCs are the future of higher education in America and are excited by the enticing business opportunities they offer others are expressing concerns. What is certain is that the evolution of MOOCs is still in the experimental stage and I’m excited that New Teacher Center (NTC) is now part of that experiment. NTC is partnering with Coursera to offer high-quality online professional learning for K-12 teachers via MOOC. Honestly, it’s exhilarating.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/skollworldforum/2013/06/10/moocs-for-teachers-theyre-learners-too/

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Data from edX’s first course offer preliminary insights into online learning

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

by MIT News

Researchers from MIT and Harvard are now trying to make sense of this data, which includes students’ clickstreams (recordings of where and when users click on a page) and their homework, lab and exam scores, as well as comments made on discussion forums and responses to an end-of-course survey. Within this data, researchers hope to find answers to some common questions about online learners, such as their demographics and how they use online resources. Data from 6.002x may also help to answer more complex questions: What factors encourage users to stick with an online course? What helps or hinders online learners’ achievement or performance? In a paper published this month in the journal Research & Practice in Assessment, the MIT-Harvard team reports preliminary results from its analysis of 6.002x data on users’ characteristics, study habits and motivations for taking the course

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/6002x-data-offer-insights-into-online-learning-0611.html

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