Online Learning Update

BY CHRIS PARR, Times Higher Ed

A UK massive open online course will offer students the chance to purchase accreditation that would count towards the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants qualification. Students who take the University of Exeter Mooc, Discovering Business in Society, and then pass an accredited online examination will be exempt from the “Accountant in Business” paper which forms part of the ACCA qualification. The course will begin in September, and is aimed at anyone interested in learning the principles of business. This may include prospective undergraduate students, working professionals without a background in business and people interested in entering the finance profession and seeking a route to ACCA membership.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/futurelearn-mooc-to-offer-route-to-accountancy-credit/2012194.article

By Kanoe Namahoe, Campus Technology

The future of distance learning, in particular massive open online courses (MOOCs), “holds much promise,” according to a new report released by the Distance Learning Committee (DLC) at Cornell University. The new report advises the institution to develop a scalable, diverse menu of online offerings. “Cornell should pursue a diverse portfolio of distance learning avenues, continually rebalancing it as evidence emerges,” stated the committee in the executive summary of the report. In doing this, though, the institution should take steps to ensure that faculty members do not overextend themselves. “In particular we do not want our faculty making commitments that adversely impact on-campus teaching and research.”

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/03/05/cornell-releases-distance-learning-report.aspx

By Jake New, eCampus News

Canvas’ new competency-based gradebook is part of a larger trend toward alternative student assessment competency-assessments-learningAt a January conference in Washington, D.C., two representatives from Western Governors University claimed that the institution had transitioned from an experiment in competency-based learning to a “proof of concept.” “We know from that different people learn things at different rates,” Sally Johnstone, vice president for academic advancement at the university, said. “We also know that the same individual may learn different subjects at different rates. We can use competency-based education and online tools to accommodate that. We are no longer in a position where we have to ask all students to do the same thing at the same time at the same pacing.”

http://www.ecampusnews.com/curriculum/competency-based-canvas-020/

by eCampus News

Colleges and universities have come together to discuss the future of competency-based degree programs and business models degree-competency-colleges. The Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) has selected 19 colleges and universities to address shared challenges to designing and developing competency-based degree programs and related business models. This initial cohort of institutions either offer degree programs with well-defined learning outcomes and rigorous assessment, or are on their way to creating them. The network was established to support institutions that have an interest in accelerating progress on their models and contributing lessons to the field through structured collaboration involving rapid-cycle testing of practices, processes, and concepts.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/new-degree-programs-791/

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

According to a new report, there are basic questions institutions, with access to internal data, need to be able to answer—for themselves and for prospective students and the community. It’s up to institutions, notes the report, to help combat rising college costs and stagnating rates of completion through better collection and dissemination of data. The report, “Mapping the Postsecondary Data Domain: Problems and Possibilities,”produced by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, says that while seemingly straightforward questions, such as “Which students have access to which colleges,” can’t easily be answered with current data available.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/featured/featured-on-ecampus-news/questions-institutions-data-882/

By Sean Griffey, Education Dive

edX and GEMS Education announced a partnership during the Global Education & Skills Forum to bring MOOC courses to pre-university students. While edX has previously worked with Davidson College and The College Board to launch AP modules in calculus, macroeconomics, and physics, GEMS will be the first exclusive K-12 provider on its platform. Currently, only 5% of edX’s 2 million world-wide users are K-12 students. The first GEMS courses are scheduled to rollout in late 2014. Marc Boxser, GEMS Director for External Relations & Strategic Initiatives, indicated that the organization has not yet determined which group of students they will target with initial offerings but anticipates the focus will be on late secondary education.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/edx-announces-partnership-to-bring-moocs-to-k-12-students/239607/

by Jeff Schweers, Gainesville.com

The University of Florida had to pay an education consulting company cash up front before it could help get the Legislature-mandated and state revenue-funded UF Online up and running. But UF officials have been mum on how much the university is paying Pearson Learning, the largest “enabler” of online education for nonprofit universities. In response to a public records request from The Sun, the university this week released heavily redacted documents that blot out the amount of money UF will pay Pearson over the life of the 10-year contract — saying that information is a trade secret exempt from the public records law.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20140321/ARTICLES/140329905

Sujit John,TNN Times of India

Over 2.5 lakh Indians have registered for courses on edX, the massive open online course (Mooc) platform founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University in May 2012 to host online university-level courses. This makes Indians the second largest community, after Americans, to register for these courses, said edX president Anant Agarwal, an Indian American who grew up in Mangalore and who has been teaching the circuits & electronics course in MIT for 26 years. The courses have been put together and are led by some of the finest professors in the world. Students require just an internet connection. The courses are free, can be normally completed within a duration of 4 weeks to 12 weeks, and those who complete them receive a certificate from the university that provides the course.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/jobs/Indians-No-2-users-of-MIT-Harvard-e-courses/articleshow/32481530.cms