Online Learning Update

October 11, 2014

Assess Students’ Readiness to be Online Learners

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

by eLearning Industry

Many universities assume that because their students are part of the Facebook and Instagram generation, that they have the skills to be automatically successful online learners. This is a dangerous assumption as the high rates of attrition in online courses and MOOCs (as high as 90 percent in some cases) attest. Education institutions also assume that because students are eager online learners that they will understand and accept the new models of instruction and ways of working online or in blended environments. This is also dangerous assumption. Many students, though they may appear to be eager online learners, will often resist new models of teaching and learning and the increased responsibility they will need to be pushed and supported to learn differently. And many university students will take online courses because of the perception that it is easier, and they will need to be pushed and supported to work harder (especially when they see that an online course often involves more work than a face-to-face course.)

http://elearningindustry.com/helping-online-learners-succeed-part-1

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October 10, 2014

With Online Video, the Classroom Becomes a Laboratory

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

By Paul Riismandel, Streaming Media

With thousands of courses and hundreds of thousands of students, MOOCs have the potential to be an enormous laboratory in which to study online learning. Compared to the traditional classroom, most MOOC platforms track significantly more analytic data about how students use materials and proceed through courses. This should be important to Streaming Media readers, because most MOOCs rely on video to deliver instructional content. That makes them a prime source of data about how students consume videos, as well as how consuming those videos correlates with performance.

http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/With-Online-Video-the-Classroom-Becomes-a-Laboratory-99686.aspx

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Higher education: It’s all about the user experience

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

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but higher education is in the user experience industry right now,” said one big-name vendor during EDUCAUSE’s annual conference in Orlando. “It’s the first time anyone’s ever really seen this level of dedication to the ‘customer,’ as they like to call it.” It was only in hearing this statement out loud that I realized this is what’s different about the conference sessions this year: everyone’s talking about what’s best for their customers.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/education-user-experience-287/

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Poland creates free online courses for Polish and Ukrainian languages

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

by Euromaiden

Polish Internet portal Port Europa organized free online courses for Ukrainians to learn Polish and for Poles to learn Ukrainian. According to the author of the course, Port Europa Editor Jakub Loginov, they are trying to encourage further closeness between Ukrainians and Polish people this way. “As Euromaidan has shown, our nations should stay together. We want to encourage Poles to learn the Ukrainian language and Ukrainians to learn Polish. The Polish language is very similar to Ukrainian, therefore there is no need to use English as a mediator in mutual communication, and mastering at least the basics of a language from a neighboring country is always interesting and useful,” porteuropa.eu cites him.

http://euromaidanpress.com/2014/10/02/poland-creates-free-online-courses-for-polish-and-ukrainian-languages/

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October 9, 2014

4 keys to survival in a rapidly changing ed-tech market

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

by Connor Gray, eSchool News

While the quality of higher education in the United States is the envy of the world, colleges and universities are approaching a critical inflection point in the way they do business. Greater competition, lower enrollment numbers, reduced funding, and changing demographics are impacting almost every institution. At the same time, we’re all trying to improve student outcomes (Borders was under no pressure to increase literacy while trying to survive market forces). One of our most successful clients, an early adopter of online and emerging technologies as its model, has seen tremendous growth in its online programs, tripling enrollment year over year. Today, it’s a basic supply-and-demand issue. You may still be able to squeeze out your enrollment numbers by offering online programs, but you may be lowering your prices and digging deeper into a degraded pool of students to hit those numbers. You’re achieving your recruiting goals, but now your revenue and retention rates are shrinking.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/rapidly-changing-market-321/

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Redistribution of tuition money leaves courses cancelle

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

By Tyler Williams, the Nebraskan

Several departments are scrambling to cover an unexpected reallocation of funds. The political science and history departments, among others, are set to lose classes as a result of budget constraints. Departments have begun eliminating online classes in order to make budget ends meet, causing headaches for students and department chairpersons. The university had the policy of giving departments a portion of online tuition dollars in order to fund both online and in-person classes. Now, those funds are being fed into the larger University of Nebraska-Lincoln budget.

http://www.dailynebraskan.com/news/redistribution-of-tuition-money-leaves-courses-cancelled/article_f9aac13c-49ec-11e4-b9e1-0017a43b2370.html

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Furthering your education: in class and online

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

By: Vawn Himmelsback, Toronto Star

More and more professionals are upgrading their skills, and their careers, through a mix of classroom and web-based curriculum. Many adult students are choosing a hybrid education – both online and in the classroom – to accommodate their busy, working lives, and a desire to upgrade or diversify skills. These days, professionals are often required to upgrade their skills to stay relevant or advance their career, but for many adults going back to school full-time isn’t an option. While continuing education has always been an alternative for adult learners, post-secondary institutions are starting to explore hybrid or blended learning options they say offer the best of two worlds: online and in-class learning.

http://www.thestar.com/life/further_education/2014/10/02/furthering_your_education_in_class_and_online.html

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October 8, 2014

Researchers using data mining to improve the online learning experience

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

by Byrne Reilly, Venture Beat

Computer scientists are hoping data mining technology will improve online education. A $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University to begin construction of a database called LearnSphere that will act as a repository for data for researchers studying the effects on students taking online courses. LabSphere researchers are culling information from 550 datasets on subjects like interactive tutoring methodologies, games, and open online courses, called MOOCS. The data points will provide computer engineers with a decent tally of what’s working and what’s not. The objective of LearnSphere is to make online education more effective and immersive. Specialists in human-computer interaction from MIT, Stanford, and the University of Memphis are also involved in the project.

http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/02/researchers-using-data-mining-to-improve-the-online-learning-experience/

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Become A Web Developer With Udacity

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

by Sue Gee, i-Programmer

Last week Udacity opened its classroom doors on Front-End Web Developer, its first nanodegree. This credential, which is estimated to take six to nine months to complete at a cost of $200 per month, is designed with “job-readiness” in mind. As we reported Udacity Offers Nanodegrees when Udacity first announced nanodegrees they are designed to prepare you for a specific job and are being built with industry partners including hiring managers. Now that the first nanodegree is underway there’s more information about how this new type of credential is different. The obvious distinction is that it is project-based. To gain the Front-End Web Developer nanodegree, which is co-developed with AT&T, a student will complete the following five projects, each of which is associated with a Udacity course that provides the necessary preparation to complete it.

http://www.i-programmer.info/news/150-training-a-education/7813-become-a-web-developer-with-udacity.html

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Corporate Training Gets an Online Refresh from MOOC Providers

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

by Melissa Korn, Wall Street Journal

MOOC operators like edX, Udemy Inc. and Coursera are finding steadier, and possibly more substantial, earnings opportunities in a well-established market: corporate training. For a fee, companies can access existing online courses or create their own, with perks like user analytics and separate study groups for employees. The move marks a new chapter in the groups’ continued search for a business model, as the corporate offerings may subsidize their less lucrative courses for the masses. EdX, an outfit founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, announced on Wednesday that it is opening up registration for its first suite of professional education classes on topics including energy, entrepreneurship and cybersecurity, priced at up to $1,249 a person, with volume discounts available for some employers. A March edX pilot on big data enrolled about 3,500 people from more than 2,000 organizations, including Microsoft Corp. and Thomson Reuters Corp. The class grossed nearly $1.75 million.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/corporate-training-gets-an-online-refresh-1412194344

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October 7, 2014

EdX Joins Professional Education Market

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

by MEG P. BERNHARD, Harvard Crimson

EdX will now offer courses geared toward employers and employees in the professional sphere, marking the second move by the platform this fall to target a new audience for its MOOCs. Anant Agarwal, the platform’s CEO, announced the launch of the new courses on the edX blog Tuesday, writing that the courses “will be offered in a convenient manner, tailored to busy schedules, and will reduce costly travel time and expenses for both.” Rice University, MIT, and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands will begin offering these professional education courses in 2015. The first of the five courses listed on edX’s website is slotted to begin in Jan. 2015.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/10/3/edX-professional-ed-courses/

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Active courses may be more beneficial to students

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

by Ave Rio, Daily Vidette

A recent study found that college courses with higher student involvement and participation improved academic achievement in science courses, especially among African-American and first-generation college students. In addition, students are asked to complete LearnSmart activities online that go along with the book material. The researchers think that the LearnSmart activities help students significantly, especially in regard to their grade. For example, if someone failed the first exam, but they did all the online activities, they still have a C in the class, rather than an F.

http://www.videtteonline.com/index.php/2014/09/30/active-courses-may-be-more-beneficial-to-students-study-says/

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EDUCAUSE 2014: Online Learning Could Fundamentally Change Role of Universities

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

by D. Frank Smith, EdTech

Higher education institutions are poised for a massive shake-up, not unlike what tech companies experienced in the 1980s during the rise of the PC, said EDUCAUSE’s first general session speaker Clayton Christensen. “Disruption is always a great opportunity before it becomes a threat,” he said. “In the future, I don’t think universities themselves will be nearly as prominent as they have been in the past,” he said. Instead of merely conferring degrees, universities are increasingly offering alternative certifications and accreditations for students seeking a more narrowly focused education. The growth of online learning options plays directly into that, Christensen said. Online higher education institutions are growing, offering a modular educational experience with an open architecture, he said — and “when it becomes modular, then anybody can declare themselves a university.”

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2014/09/educause-2014-online-learning-could-fundamentally-change-role-universities

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October 6, 2014

Crouching Tiger, Mobile University

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

By Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

Education, at least the sort of education that is worth paying for, is not about consumption. Education is about relationships. Education is about a skilled and experienced educator getting to know individual each learner as an individual. The future will belong to the small seminar and the competency based credential (consumed on a mobile device no doubt). The place-based but impersonal model of teaching (think big lecture classes) will go away. This form of teaching will be replaced by adaptive mobile learning. Good riddance. The future will belong to those institutions wise enough to invest today in quality, in faculty, in small-classes and infrastructure that supports student / educator relationships.

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/crouching-tiger-mobile-university

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3 Things Higher Education Should Know about Disruptive Innovation

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

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Education

Harvard Business School professor Clay Christensen explains how disruptive innovation could affect the future of higher education at the EDUCAUSE conference in Orlando on Tuesday, September 30. Disruptive innovation is already at work in higher education, and universities have to look no further than online classes to see examples of change at scale. And how universities respond to this change will determine whether they live or die.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/3-Things-Higher-Education-Should-Know-about-Disruptive-Innovation.html

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UW-Madison joins consortium to improve digital teaching and learning

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

by the University of Wisconsin

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is joining Unizin, a consortium of like-minded universities that are developing a common set of improved digital tools for teaching and learning. Unizin collaborators are developing flexible digital teaching and learning infrastructures that share common standards and support experimentation. Unizin will offer an evolving set of digital tools that allow faculty to design effective learning experiences and improve how course content is created and delivered to students. The consortium was officially established in July 2014 with Indiana University, Colorado State University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Florida as the charter members. In addition to UW-Madison, Oregon State and Minnesota are also joining at this time.

http://www.news.wisc.edu/23164

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October 5, 2014

Proving Grounds for a New Model for Higher Education

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

by John P. Imlay Jr., Huffington Post, Dean of Computing at Georgia Tech

The key point is that the online nature of the degree is affirmed to be immaterial: the online classes are fully the equivalent of on-campus ones, in terms of both education and credentials, at a fraction of the cost. Having the coursework constitute a Georgia Tech master’s degree is the only way we could have credibly put the Institute’s reputation behind the rigor and quality of our online courses. But now that the point has been made, we expect the next wave of online higher education to include not only additional degrees offered online, but also individual online courses that are treated no differently from their on-campus equivalents. Indeed, students will be able to tailor courses of study to their individual needs. For example, they could begin with a few online courses, then transition to a year or two of on-campus courses before pursuing the last stretch of their degree program online so as to be able to combine it with work experience.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zvi-galil/proving-grounds-for-a-new_b_5899762.html

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Building the University of the Future

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

by Vala Afshar, Huffington Post

“Higher education is now ground zero for disruption,” said Todd Hixon in a Forbes column, questioning the value, cost, and the antiquated business model of higher education. That said, there are a number of brilliant CIOs in higher education who are actively leading digital business transformation projects, aimed at minimize institutional disruption and improving the experience of the student, faculty and administration. With the underlying forces of mobile, social, cloud and the rising costs of higher education coming to a head, Georgetown University appointed the former CIO for the US Marshals, Lisa Davis, to lead IT and business transformation across the 225 year-old institution.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vala-afshar/building-the-university-o_b_5889016.html

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E-learning has ‘potential to save charities time and money’

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

by Virtual College (UK)

As the demand for charity services grows, the pressure on learning and development (L&D) budgets increases. This means it is now more important than ever for organisations to find cheaper ways to deliver training programmes and e-learning could provide the solution. Online courses provide an unparalleled level of flexibility, meaning staff can work towards self-development at their own convenience, and ensures the workforce isn’t depleted while employees are away on training days.

http://www.virtual-college.co.uk/news/Elearning-has-%E2%80%98potential-to-save-charities-time-and-money%E2%80%99-newsitems-801750948.aspx

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October 4, 2014

A Straightforward Guide To Creative Commons

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

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Creative Commons licenses allow any internet user to easily understand how they can (and can not) share what they find on the web. The licenses are visual, and if you aren’t sure of what you see on the work you’d like to use, you can refer back to the CC website to see. The handy infographic linked below gives a pretty thorough overview of the licenses and what they mean. Whether you have a personal blog, a class blog, or your students want to use a photo they’ve found in a presentation, this guide will be super handy!

http://www.edudemic.com/guide-creative-commons/

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5 ways to work video into the learning system

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

By Ioanna Opidee, University Business

A large part of implementing an institution-wide video strategy is creating procedures for incorporating the medium into courses—specifically, into learning management systems that can serve as a campus video repository for video and other course material. But some faculty and administrators are much more comfortable with, or interested in, using the technology than are their colleagues. So although there are LMS features and add-on tools to make integrating video into the course system simpler, there are still challenges to ensuring faculty are using video. The following are five best practices for effectively integrating video into course collections at the campuswide level.

http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/5-ways-work-video-learning-system

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