by JOE PINSKER, the Atlantic

Cornerstone’s researchers found that people who took the test on a non-default browser, such as Firefox or Chrome, ended up staying at their jobs about 15 percent longer than those who stuck with Safari or Internet Explorer. They performed better on the job as well. (These statistics were roughly the same for both Mac and PC users.)

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/03/people-who-use-firefox-or-chrome-are-better-employees/387781/

By Alex Koeberle, Cornell Chronicle

Cornell has joined an effort to teach public garden educators how to use natural assets as a resource for learning and social change within their communities. Crnell has joined a national online education effort designed to help public garden educators transform their natural assets into community resources for scientific knowledge and social change. The first online class co-hosted by Cornell, a free six-week online course called EECapacity for Public Garden Educators, wrapped up last month and is part of an ongoing national environmental education training program. Lectures were delivered as a series of live videos, with opportunities for participants to answer questions and provide feedback on Facebook.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/03/online-course-aims-put-public-gardens-community-mission

by Karen H. Sibley and Ren Whitaker, EDUCAUSE Review

By drawing on direct experience, facilitating learning from peers, and exploring engagement practices, Brown University’s online development team is creating an online learning “adoption wave” among faculty. The online development team continues to introduce ways of helping faculty and senior administrators more fully understand and expand on the opportunities online learning presents. An institution steeped in the traditions of residential education and initially dubious of online education now builds on its early success with online learning.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/engaging-faculty-online-education

By Mary Grush, Campus Technology

The push for “student success” is all around us. Today, new campus IT implementations, software development efforts, and academic program redesigns all seem conceived in the popular context of student success, or they are in some significant way connected to it. But what about the notion of “faculty success”? Michael E. Cottam is Webster University’s Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director of its Online Learning Center. He has moved innovative support programs for online faculty forward there and in his previous posts with very large online programs at higher education institutions including Rio Salado College and Mount St. Mary’s University Online. Michael Cottam: I think faculty are the most important piece in achieving student success. In spite of all the supports we might provide (advisors, success coaches, counselors, tutors, and so forth) I do not believe that student success will happen without really effective faculty.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/03/17/faculty-success-means-student-success.aspx

by David Catt, Hills Shire Times

The Kelly family, Julian, Charlie, and Michelle are one of the first to use the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children’s eLearning Braille course. It is hard to imagine the isolation that being blind can create, especially when you live in a far-flung outback town like Tamworth. Until now. The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children at North Rocks has launched the world’s first eLearning system for braille that is aimed at teaching people who can see the incredibly challenging language.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/the-hills/world-first-internet-braille-course-launches-in-north-rocks/story-fngr8i1f-1227265112688

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

XYZ, the company that owns .college, is opening the first sales period for its domain today to registered trademark holders looking for matching .college addresses. The “sunrise” period lasts until April 17 and will offer domain registry for free, XYZ announced today. XYZ is announcing its sales push for .college domains as a way to open opportunities for colleges and universities that were previously restricted by the regulations surrounding .edu. Accredited, post-secondary, U.S.-based institutions were the only ones with access to .edu, while .college will be available to higher education institutions, organizations trying to recruit the campus community, and individual professors, departments, or programs, according to XYZ. Back in 2013, XYZ CEO Daniel Negari said he expected .college to supplement .edu, not replace it. That is probably a safe bet as .college sales get underway this week.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/higher-ed-gets-a-new-domain-in-college/375843/

By Liyuan Yang, Daily Illini

This summer the University will offer over 300 online courses, including more than 20 new ones, in a range of subjects. So far, 138 graduate sections and 186 undergraduate sections have been added, though more are on the way, Deanna Raineri, associate provost for Education Innovation, said. Registration starts April 6 for students with Chancellor’s Honors status, and eligible veterans or service members. Courses were chosen based on a survey conducted by the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning during the winter term, said Raineri. The “two big ones” students asked for were general education and business courses, she said.

http://www.dailyillini.com/news/article_3e1c2b30-cc47-11e4-ab80-c75a1a5072f3.html

by Cheng Han Lee, Udacity

There are lots of resources out there to learn about, or to build upon what you already know about, data science. But where do you start? What are some of the best or most authoritative sources? Here are some websites, books, and other resources that we think are outstanding.

http://blog.udacity.com/2014/12/24-data-science-resources-keep-finger-pulse.html

by Lauren Everitt, Forbes

Laurie Pickard started her journey in August 2013 and planned to complete 16 courses over two to three years. Now, a little more than halfway in, she’s completed 20 courses, exceeded the MBA curriculum, and can “graduate” at any time. However, she has no intention of stopping now. “I have to keep my finger on the pulse and keep my skills fresh,” she says. She also has no plans to leave her current job as a development and entrepreneurship specialist at USAID. “I just see this [MOOCs] as a totally new field, and I want to be in it,” she says. Pickard plans to offer a No-Pay MBA community and support package, including a handbook, a regularly updated course guide, a course checklist, support networks, a digital credential, and a web presence where No-Pay MBAs can present their work to potential employers. Pickard plans to launch the program in June 2015 with a tiered pricing structure.

http://fortune.com/2015/03/16/how-to-get-an-mba-education-for-less-than-1000/

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/3-big-issues-we-heard-about-at-sxswedu/56063

By David Barry, US Markets Daily

The world is going after initiatives that help humanity to grow further, and corporate houses don’t seem to miss this opportunity. The newest addition to the list of corporate houses that tend to offer free services for social betterment is Microsoft Corporation. According to reports, Microsoft has decided to enter the world of free education. The company has partnered with EdX, based in Cambridge, MA.

http://www.usmarketsdaily.com/microsoft-corporation-nasdaqmsft-looks-forward-to-creating-free-online-programming-courses-for-edx-10346

By Jennifer Doody, Harvard Gazette

Jonathan Haber earned his bachelor’s degree, in chemistry, from Wesleyan University in 1985. Nearly three decades later, he decided to earn another bachelor’s, this one in philosophy. He also resolved to complete his studies in just one year, entirely online, for free. Haber documented those 12 months on the website Degree of Freedom, detailing his experience completing the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree using Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, and other forms of free learning. As the inaugural HarvardX Visiting Fellow, Haber recently spoke at the Harvard Ed Portal about what he had learned during his year of intense online study. Appropriately, in addition to nearly three-dozen Ed Portal visitors, more than 80 people watched the talk online.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/03/earning-a-bachelors-degree-the-new-way/

By Adam Stone, Military Times

For those who wear the uniform, the appeal of online learning is obvious. Deploy with a laptop and you’re still in school, regardless of where you go. When the marching pace picks up, put the books aside and learn when it’s convenient. Don’t be lulled, though. Just because it’s convenient doesn’t mean it’s easy. Timing matters when chasing a degree. Technology tools can ease the load. And just as when out on maneuvers, it always pays to plan ahead. Here, four military members and veterans share what they’ve learned about making the most of online learning opportunities.

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/veterans/best-for-vets/education/2015/03/14/e-learning-advice-from-4-troops-who-are-succeeding/23224055/

by Paul J. LeBlanc, EDUCAUSE Review

The enthusiasm of the ed-tech and DIY sectors sometimes lapses into a kind of insurgent rhetoric. In this narrative, all traditional colleges and universities are dinosaurs, and the meteor that will spell their doom is about to hit. A key part of this “disruptive innovation” argument is the broad displacement of faculty and staff by technology. In truth, higher education, like health care, is a highly regulated industry that remains slow to change. There is no precipice. But there are certainly tough times ahead. Even if technology will not soon replace people, it seems poised to dramatically redefine roles and to change the nature of faculty/staff work.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/human-technology-intersection-framework

by eCampusNews

Udacity and Accredible have partnered to provide Udacity’s Nanodegree program students with professional profiles powered by Accredible, which develops interactive certificate technology. The profiles will provide recruiters with a better understanding of the capabilities and learning styles of potential candidates. The Nanodegree program is a new type of credential for lifelong learners giving professionals the ability to advance their skills or get a new job. They are designed to be efficient, focused and affordable, making them extremely applicable to the needs of today’s tech-centric world. Developed to take about 6-12 months to complete, Nanodegrees are lean and “stackable” enabling individuals to earn new credentials over the course of their career.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/profiles-nanodegree-learners-894/

By Michael Hart, Campus Technology

Higher education has been talking about big data for years now. And most schools have come around to the idea that massive amounts of data can be collected, analyzed and used to make recommendations to decision-makers who must determine the best paths for their institutions. Yet, as a practical matter, data analysis and data-driven decision-making are still in their infancy. According to the Education Advisory Board, just eight institutions have a staff member who carries the title of chief data officer — out of 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States. It’s no wonder, really. There are countless pitfalls and obstacles on the way to successful data analytics. Here are nine common mistakes, and what some institutions are doing to avoid them.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/03/12/9-ways-to-doom-your-data-analytics-efforts.aspx

By Russ Poulin, WCET

This is the third in a series of three blog posts examining the 2013 IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey and its counts of distance education enrollments. The first blog focused on the 2013 survey statistics and the second compared the growth between 2012 and 2013. The survey also asked if institutions enrolled students from other states or other countries. We examine those statistics in this blog post, especially in relation to state authorization regulations.

https://wcetblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/ipedsstateenrollments/

by Adam Palin, Financial Times

While universities have been largely protected from the competitive pressures of international competition, technological advances are quickly making the world of higher education much smaller. Massive open online courses, (Moocs), non-degree programmes usually offered free, are often heralded as an embodiment of the globalisation of higher education, with students from around the world enrolled on courses. But the process is not restricted to Moocs. Advanced online technology is also breaking down geographical boundaries in degree learning, with distance programmes seen increasingly as an attractive alternative to studying on campus.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d1bab2c6-aaf5-11e4-81bc-00144feab7de.html

by D. Derek Wu, Ithaka S+R

“Online Learning in Postsecondary Education: A Review of the Empirical Literature (2013-2014)” assesses the current state of research on online teaching and learning. In reviewing twelve recent studies we found that there are still significant gaps in our understanding of the effectiveness of online and hybrid formats of teaching. The most methodologically rigorous studies in this review join a growing list of similarly rigorous research finding that students in online and hybrid formats perform about as well as their counterparts in face-to-face sections. Yet, we identify several areas where more research is needed.

http://sr.ithaka.org/research-publications/online-learning-postsecondary-education

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

Recent efforts are tweaking the formula for massive open online courses and expanding their reach to new audiences. The MOOC philosophy has always come across as “Go big or go home.” But some of the most interesting experiments occurring right now would better be described as “Divide and conquer.” These undertakings — one an experiment at Harvard (MA) and the other a longer-term commitment at the University of Michigan — are allowing schools to try out new practices from a narrower perspective, while still impacting the broader workings of the institution.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/03/11/innovative-moocs-take-learning-in-new-directions.aspx