Online Learning Update

by ELISE MUELLER, Duke

Before the start of the second run of English Composition I: Achieving Expertise, the Duke staff went on the hunt for students from the first offering of the course who would be good candidates for the volunteer position of Community Teaching Assistant (CTA). With the help of analytics from Coursera, we invited 25 students who had a high number of forum posts and a top GPA. Thirteen students volunteered to monitor the discussion forums and provide technical and content support for the 89,000 students who signed up.

http://cit.duke.edu/blog/2014/07/community-teaching-assistants-courseras-student-warriors/

by Kristin Decarr, Education News

According to a recent study by two professors from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, online learning could benefit students in ways separate from the benefits gained from traditional classroom learning. The study, titled “Will Video Kill the Classroom Star? The Threat and Opportunity of MOOCs for Full-Time MBA Programs,” looked at the video technology used for massive open online courses (MOOCs), which the authors call “SuperText”, and discovered that it could make MBA courses 40% cheaper to produce. Currently, a full-time traditional MBA involves many professors giving in-class lectures. Each course costs about $1,500 to produce, while “it costs just pennies to register a new student in a MOOC,” writes Seb Murray for website Business Because.

http://www.educationnews.org/online-schools/upenn-professors-say-moocs-future-of-mba-programs/

by IBL Studio

Here is a list of the top 5:

Class-Central.com. It tracks more than 50,000 courses. It has a great feature called “Mooc tracker”, which allows you to build your own catalog of courses and get notified.

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Accredible.com. It tracks free and paid video courses from the nine best course providers. It highlights the idea of collecting certificates and getting references.

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CourseBuffet.com. It includes MOOC providers such as Saylor.org Academy, India’s NPTEL and the OpenCourseWare consortium, that aren’t well represented by other aggregators.

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edHoop.com. It covers an extensive offering of video-based courses, both free and paid. So far, RedHoop has collected over 21,400 courses, of which 3,600 are free. It features an interesting top 100 list.

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TopFreeClasses.com. It ranks courses in terms of popularity.

http://iblstudios.com/moocs-offer-grows-exponentially-the-top-5-moocs-finders/

By Michael Patrick Rutter, Harvard Gazette Correspondent

Bergeron’s research team developed a set of recommendations for faculty who are planning to blend existing courses, designing new ones, or are interested in critically assessing new teaching approaches. Foremost is planning, which should address questions such as how time is spent in class or sections; the instructor’s role as facilitator; what form of content — media, lecture, or text — works best for what purpose; what physical environment best promotes learning objectives; how to ensure in-class engagement. The study found that expectations about participation and time commitments should be well-defined across all components, especially those that are online. Grading systems for online components should also be transparent. Likewise, instructors must be clear about the nature of the course and why and how it is blended, as many of the students regarded the digital component as an attempt to supplant rather than supplement the in-class experience. Lastly, digital materials and in-class activities must be evenly balanced.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/07/a-virtual-analysis/

by Adam Conner-Simons, CSAIL

The rise of online education and massively open online courses (MOOCs) have prompted much naysaying on their effectiveness, with detractors citing single-digit completion rates and short-lived pilot programs. Amidst all the arguments about “flipped classrooms” and “hybrid learning,” however, few people have actually analyzed what makes MOOCs work (or fail): the content. Online learners spend most of their time watching videos — but are the videos any good? This year edX, the online learning platform co-run by MIT and Harvard University, gave researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) data on the second-by-second viewing habits of more than 100,000 learners perusing more than 6.9 million video sessions. In a paper published this spring, the CSAIL team outlined some key findings on what online learners want from videos.

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/what-69-million-clicks-tell-us-about-how-fix-online-education

by BENJAMIN WINTERHALTER, the Atlantic

An expanding body of research suggests that providing students with feedback in real-time has a big impact on how much they retain. And this just so happens to be something that MOOCs—and automated grading—do exceptionally well. As Mitros put it: “We have study after study suggesting that you learn very little as a result of me talking at you for an hour. Whereas if I convey information to you for five minutes and then assess you on it, and repeat that for an hour, you learn a lot more.” For the time being, MOOCs seem unlikely to take the place of physical campuses—or even replace for-profit universities, as Lue hopes they will. In order to do that, MOOCs would have to begin offering meaningful credits—the kind someone could take to a job interview and expect to have taken seriously.

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/07/how-online-courses-are-becoming-educations-new-wave/375152/

by OLC

The Online Learning Consortium (OLC), formerly The Sloan Consortium, announced its 2014 class of Fellows. Recognizing exceptional professional excellence, the OLC Board of Directors confers the distinction upon individual members of the Consortium. The 2014 Fellows of the Online Learning Consortium are: Thomas B. Cavanagh, Cathy Cheal, Marie A. Cini, Gerard L. Hanley, David A. Sachs, Wayne D. Smutz, and Murray Turoff.

http://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/2014/07/28/MN76456

by Louis Columbus, Forbes

Amazon Web Services, Coursera, Google, MIT Courseware and Microsoft are accelerating the depth and variety of cloud computing courses, courseware and learning materials they are freely making available online. Over the last six months since the last Roundup Of Free Cloud Computing Online Courses, Amazon Web Services has added an additional series of free instructional videos, self-paced labs and selected free courses in the seven areas their AWS Training programs focus on. Microsoft’s Virtual Academy has grown to include more courses, training material and entire section of free downloadable books from Microsoft Press. Google’s continual additions to the Developer Academy include online courses to learn more about Google AppEngine, Python App Engine and Google Cloud SQL.Roundup Of Free Cloud Computing Online Courses Midyear Update – Louis Columbus, Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2014/07/27/roundup-of-free-cloud-computing-online-courses-midyear-update/

By Jasen Lee, Deseret News

BYU graduate Rick Walter made $45,000 for teaching his first online class on the Udemy marketplace website. He developed an online course on Apple’s new programming language, Swift. Within just three days of Apple announcing Swift, Walter had studied the 500-page programming manual and understood the content enough to develop video lectures to teach the language to others.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865607619/BYU-grad-strikes-gold-teaching-via-online-markpetplace.html

by MICHAEL S. ROTH, e-International Relations

Much of the euphoria and hype around MOOCs has died down in the last year, and some of the fear-mongering, too. That’s a good thing. Online classes that reach an international audience won’t solve all the problems of higher education, but they are an effective tool to use for increasing awareness, stimulating research and creating widely dispersed networks of learning and action. Rather than fear them or celebrate them as “disruptive forces,” we should work at making them more effective for reaching an international group of “learners” who want to connect with important material and with one another.

http://www.e-ir.info/2014/07/26/massive-open-online-classes-and-international-learning/

by Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

How ready is your institution for competency-based education?  Here are 8 questions to help get started.  With the recent signing of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, the popularity of jobs training programs across the country, and the recent surge in the offerings of digital badges, competency-based education (CBE) is becoming a must for any higher education institution looking to serve a broader pool of 21st-century students. But competency-based education is about more than just offering digital badges for one-off skills–any institution looking to implement CBE knows that strategic planning for programs and credentials is critical…but where do interested colleges, universities, and institutions start?

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/considerations-competency-education-291/

by Richard Byrne, Free Technology for Teachers

FutureLearn, a subsidiary of The Open University, offers a wide range of free online courses. FutureLearn offers online courses on academic topics in history, science, literature, and political science. You will also find FutureLearn courses on topics like public speaking, developing a resume, and digital marketing. Courses range in length from two weeks to eight weeks. Some of the courses, like this public speaking course, require you to submit assignments to participate.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/07/futurelearn-offers-wide-range-of-free.html#.U9V5euNdW2o

By Gaby Arancibia, eSchool News

Deciding if you want to use a tutor, or if you’d just rather download an app to help you, is becoming more difficult these days. Technology has and will continue to amaze us with its new inventions, but when people question if professions are necessary, should we become concerned? A tutor has historically been an instructor who meets a student at their home or a library to help with assignments or a specific subject–but with apps, students often have more on-demand academic help. Learning from an app can be ideal for the new generation because it offers flexibility and little or no cost.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/07/25/apps-traditional-tutor-492/

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

Technology and digital resources are expanding rapidly in U.S. libraries, and important tech tools that serve entire communities are available at nearly all libraries across the nation. The American Library Association’s 2014 Digital Inclusion Survey makes note of the large role libraries play in education, individual engagement, as well as new programs they are developing, such as maker programming and 3D printing. Though digital resources are growing throughout libraries, the survey also found that this growth is uneven. For instance, fewer than half of rural libraries said they increased bandwidth speeds in the last 24 months, compared with 64 percent of urban libraries and 56 percent of suburban libraries.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/07/25/emerging-trends-libraries-652/

By ARIEL SMITH, Daily Pennsylvanian

Two Wharton professors think that online learning may provide benefits absent from traditional classroom learning environments. In their study titled “Will Video Kill the Classroom Star? The Threat and Opportunity of MOOCs for Full-time MBA Programs,” Co-director of the Mack Institute of Innovation and Management Christian Terwiesch and Vice Dean of Innovation Karl Ulrich said that the technology embedded in massive open online courses is beneficial to the learning process, but doubt it will displace the traditional classroom system. MOOCs utilize a system of technology — which Terwiesch and Ulrich coined SuperText — featuring three main components: videos, online learning platforms and a social network that creates a sense of community. Both professors believe that SuperText has the potential to be more reactive to a student’s needs than a professor in a traditional, in-person classroom.

http://www.thedp.com/article/2014/07/moocs-cater-to-student-needs

by JOHN BYRNE, Business Insider

In reality, negotiation isn’t an either-or. It is about creating more. That’s the philosophy behind a new MOOC course from Stanford University: “Introduction to Negotiation.” Taught by David Johnson, a celebrated Silicon Valley attorney. Stanford’s Johnson isn’t alone in pushing for transparency, self-understanding, and mutual benefit. Kirk O. Hanson, a pioneer in the field of ethics, launches his first MOOC: “Business Ethics for the Real World” (along with a sequel, “Creating an Ethical Corporate Culture.”) Case Western Reserve’s Richard Boyatzis returns with another section of his popular “Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence.” A highly-regarded author, Boyatzis was ranked as the ninth-most influential thinker in a survey by HR Magazine. Celebrity professor Peter Navarro jumps into the MOOC fray with “Managing Your Time, Money, and Career: MBA Insights for Undergraduates,” a UC-Irvine course designed for college freshmen who are striking out on their own for the first time.

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-online-business-courses-august-2014-2014-7

by Morton Daily Press

Gov. Pat Quinn on Friday visited the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to sign a law to help boost the quality of distance and online learning programs across Illinois and other states. Senate Bill 3441, sponsored by state Sen. Pat McGuire, D-Crest Hill, and state Rep. Robert Pritchard, R-Sycamore, authorizes the Illinois Board of Higher Education to make agreements with other states to guarantee distance learning programs maintain common standards and that completed course work is recognized by institutions in each state. The agreements will also establish a mechanism for handling complaints and refunds across states and institutions. The new law is effective Jan. 1, 2015. The new law will allow Illinois to join other members of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact to make distance education courses more accessible to students across state lines while also making it easier for states to regulate and institutions to participate in interstate distance education. The Midwestern Compact will interact with other regional compacts across the country.

http://www.mortontimesnews.com/article/20140725/NEWS/140729351/1994/NEWS

by Keith Williams, Realty Times

As independent contractors, who are entrepreneurial by circumstance and design, real estate professionals must be competitive in a dynamic and increasingly global marketplace. The best way for these individuals to achieve that goal – the most effective and convenient means for them to leverage and profit from this environment – is through online learning. With the right platform to make this scenario a reality, everyone benefits from the promotion of education, and the engagement of a lively community, which is also a highly successful community. Realtors can take classes from another company’s library of instructional materials, or they can highlight their services about their respective areas of expertise; they can be mentors and sages, commanding generous compensation (in an open marketplace) for the wisdom they possess and the insight they apply to a host of challenges.

http://realtytimes.com/agentnews/agentadvice1/item/29425-20140726-the-future-of-online-learning-and-the-real-estate-industry

By Devon Haynie, US News

During a U.S. News Twitter chat, experts discussed ways students can engage with online courses. Online learning has increasingly become an option for students seeking to earn a degree without having to quit their jobs or relocate to campus. Here’s a look at some highlights of a recent U.S. News Education Twitter chat in which online education experts shared tips for how online students could develop good habits for success. The chat included Ray Schroeder (@rayschroeder), associate vice chancellor for online learning at the University of Illinois—Springfield; academic staff from Pennsylvania State University—World Campus (@PSUWorldCampus) and the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University—Bloomington (@KelleySchool); and Devon Haynie (@DevonHaynie), online education reporter for U.S. News.

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2014/07/31/twitter-chat-how-to-develop-good-online-learning-habits

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

“Although some would argue that online education is only an awesome alternative to traditional education because of the savings and convenience, there are actually many other advantages,” says Brad Zomick, SkilledUp’s chief content officer. “Only online education fully integrates itself into today’s educational technology. It is also more efficient for fast and especially motivated learners and offers skills that lack resources in traditional education despite high demand from employers (coding and social media marketing are common examples). One could even claim that it isn’t an alternative at all but rather a different path with its own rewards.”

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/advantages-online-courses-349/