Online Learning Update

by the Economist

One reason is that universities are wary of undermining the value of their degrees. Resistance by faculty also slows down the adoption of new technology. When academics at San Jose State University were asked to teach a course on social justice created for EdX, a MOOC, by Michael Sandel, a Harvard professor, they refused, telling Mr Sandel that such developments threatened to “replace professors, dismantle departments and provide a diminished education for students in public universities”. Similar protests have been echoing around the country. For now, the interests of academics generally prevail over those of students.

http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21646986-online-learning-could-disrupt-higher-education-many-universities-are-resisting-it-not

by Joy Hollowell, WABI

It’s not uncommon for inmates at Maine’s county jails to complete their GEDs.  But a new program in Madison is taking that one step further. After attending two years of college in the 1990’s, Travis Carrigan decided to return to school.  “Just something that I always put off, put off, put off,” says Carrigan.  This past fall, he took three online courses through Kennebec Valley Community College. The school provided scholarships that paid for two-thirds of Carrigan’s tuition. He ended up acing all three classes, earning a 4.0.

http://wabi.tv/2015/03/24/somerset-county-jail-offers-online-college-courses/

By Cynthia Washington, Tucson News

The University of Arizona is exploring new ways to make up for nearly $30 million in state funding cuts. One way may be boosting the number of people taking university classes online. Starting Fall 2015, the U of A will be offering 21 undergraduate programs that are all completely online. These online classes are geared to 25 to 34 year olds. Administrators say the online classes are for anyone that doesn’t have the time to physically go to class. This is a plus for the university. The school will be able to admit more students, which means more money, all while current students don’t have to worry about overcrowding in classrooms.

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/28606299/u-of-a-boosts-enrollment-with-online-classes

By The Hechinger Report

Does online learning work? Do college students learn better, or at least as well, from computer instruction as they do from a human teacher? That’s a question asked over and over by not only students, parents and professors, but also by academic researchers. It’s especially important because universities are offering more and more of their courses online. A new paper sheds some light on this question. The author sorted through the best studies on online university courses published in the past couple years, and concluded that online education, or partial online instruction, is neither worse nor better than traditional face-to-face instruction.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/23/studies-online-instruction-neither-harms-nor-benefits-average-university-student

by Ava Seaves, Forbes

“I’ve logged over 2 million miles. I have developed a very deep appreciation for not only languages but the culture that is behind the language and what it takes to be successful,” said Mike Elchik, co-founder of free online language learning platform WeSpeke, in a recent interview. Elchik formed a business by generalizing from his own experience. “As I was traveling the world, I saw that there was a way to take what I had experienced every day, whether I was on the street of Paris, Tokyo or Shanghai. I was envisioning that you could move the exchange that might happen on the street on line. And have two highly compatible people help each other to learn a language.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/avaseave/2015/03/24/crowd-sourcing-drives-latest-disruptive-tech-in-online-language-learning/

by The Pitt News Editorial Board

Students should be aware of the alternative resources available to them for free — such as massive open online courses (MOOCs) — because standardized tests just don’t tell the whole story. Open source textbooks have gained popularity in the growing market for free higher education materials, but MOOCs aim to boost students’ access to college in an even more pivotal way. One nonprofit consortium called EdX offers students video lectures and discussion forums to engage with one another. EdX’s MOOCs are a gateway for students of all income levels to prove their ability to excel in a college environment. Universities such as Harvard, MIT, the University of Texas and Caltech offer complete online versions of their prestigious classes — for free. Universities sometimes directly accept a student that excels in one of their MOOCs. “Given that we know how rigorous MITx classes are, seeing a student’s performance in that class can help calibrate us to their readiness for an MIT education,” says Stuart Schmill, MIT’s Dean of Admissions.

http://www.pittnews.com/opinions/article_3ea28354-d1d5-11e4-8c03-4fe81c53d6d9.html