Online Learning Update

by Edutopia

Check out Edutopia’s collection of articles, videos, and resources on using video games, simulations, and gaming concepts in the classroom. Just updated!

http://www.edutopia.org/game-based-learning-resources

by Anne Niccoli, EDUCAUSE Review

What effect do digital devices have on our digital brains? To uncover the influence on learning of using digital tablets for reading, the Coast Guard Leadership Development Center conducted an experiment to ascertain differences in recall and comprehension between tablet and paper readers. As of 2014, 63 percent of colleges reported using e-textbooks, while 27 percent planned to in the near future.1 But what drives these digital book policies and practices in higher education — technology or research?

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/9/paper-or-tablet-reading-recall-and-comprehension

In the synchronous online class, small-group chat rooms can be one of the most integral and engaging portions of an online course, and they will make your whole-class chats that much more engaging. Small-group chat rooms provide excellent avenues for students to bond with one another as this venue offers a multitude of opportunities to discuss course material in more depth.
<a href=”https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1436

BY City News

Ontario post-secondary students can now access thousands of university and college courses over the Internet. A new web portal was created by the province and released on Thursday to give students more flexibility in completing their courses. Ontario is investing $72 million over five years to eCampus Ontario, and 45 publicly-assisted colleges and universities in Ontario are offering courses through the portal. “Students should be excited about eCampus online portal, which gives them the flexibility to access high quality online courses whenever and whenever works best for them,” said Reza Moridi, minister of Training for Colleges and Universities. Moridi said the web portal allows institutions to share best practices and online resources. There are 13,000 online courses including 277 new and redesigned courses with transferable credits between participating institutions.

http://www.citynews.ca/2015/10/08/ontario-universities-colleges-team-up-to-offer-13000-courses-online/

By Nick Anderson, Washington Post

Four years after the debut of free online courses from elite universities, the statistics on this unprecedented digital outreach to the world are staggering. Coursera, a leading platform for these courses, reports 15 million people globally have registered on the education Web site that distributes free interactive content from 120 institutions. They are not all just browsers and dabblers. The company counts 2.5 million “course completers.” For comparison, the federal government reports about 17.5 million undergraduates enrolled in all U.S. colleges.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/10/08/global-online-college-courses-a-career-booster/

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

For-profit Apollo Education Group has been in a steep decline for five years as the University of Phoenix loses enrollment and shrinks in response, but CEO Greg Cappelli believes the future is bright. In a sprawling piece for the Arizona Republic, Ronald J. Hansen writes that net revenues have fallen 47% since its peak in 2010, the stock price is down 82% in the same time period, and student enrollment is expected to be down 70%, comparing next year to 2010. The company is still profitable, however, and Cappelli has reminded investors the profit margins were favorable in 2002 before the University of Phoenix entered its heydey.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/u-of-phoenix-hopes-enrollment-losses-stabilize-at-2002-levels/406817/

by WTXL

FAMU’S Developmental Research School in Tallahassee will be part of a new research project, designed to pioneer online learning and technologies. The project aims to bring these methods to historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). The school says by utilizing these blended learning strategies, they can better prepare students for college and help them graduate on time.

http://www.wtxl.com/news/new-project-at-famudrs-hopes-to-pioneer-online-learning/article_92b59ef8-6ddf-11e5-8928-9747522e3ffa.html

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

A new facility at Virginia Tech uses large-scale visuals and sound to immerse users in vast amounts of data. Imagine walking through a black room four stories high, 50 feet wide and 40 feet deep, populated with speakers. As you move through the space wearing a head-mounted display (no mouse, keyboard or joystick needed), you’re immersed in vast amounts of data — both visually and aurally — collected from an actual storm that took place a little more than two years ago. As the recorded data shows the formation of some kind of supercell, your ears detect something distinct from every other sound that permeates the space — akin to hearing your name being spoken across the room during a lively cocktail party. You turn and move toward the sound to explore it further. Before your eyes a gigantic tornado forms.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/10/07/virtual-reality-space-lets-students-experience-big-data.aspx

By Meg Lloyd, Campus Technology

In an effort to modernize the way more than 130,000 constituents across its eight campuses locate and get access to services, Indiana University developed and deployed One.IU, an alternative to the traditional campus portal that leverages search and mobile technology to help guide users to the information and resources they need.  IU provides students, faculty, and staff one easy place to access campus services from any computer or mobile device, in an online marketplace format.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/10/08/changing-the-way-users-discover-and-access-campus-services.aspx

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

MIT is piloting a MicroMaster’s credential, awarded to students who complete the first half of the supply chain management master’s program online in MOOC format. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that students who complete the first semester of courses online and pass a “comprehensive proctored examination” will get preference in the admissions process for the final portion of the master’s degree on campus. After spending just one semester on campus, students who do the first half of the coursework online can walk away with an MIT master’s degree.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/mit-micromasters-unbundles-supply-chain-degree-with-moocs/406985/

By Sarina Rhinehart, Ames Tribune

With the first of four sessions of Iowa State University’s first massive open online course (MOOC), which covered the Iowa Caucuses, having just wrapped up, political science professor Steffen Schmidt said the session was “very satisfying,” having had more than 1,300 enrolled in the first session, and at this time, more than 2,000 enrolled through the four different sessions of the course. “It was great; it was fun,” Schmidt said. “There were a good mix of people from different kinds of backgrounds.” This free courses offered to anyone in the world with Internet access, is the first MOOC course offered by ISU, and focused on the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucuses, including lectures, interviews, readings, quizzes and discussion forums.

http://amestrib.com/news/isu-online-course-iowa-caucuses-draws-international-attention

By COLLIN BINKLEY, Associated Press

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has offered free online courses for the last four years with one major downside: They didn’t count toward a degree. That’s about to change. In a pilot project announced Wednesday, students will be able to take a semester of free online courses in one of MIT’s graduate programs and then, if they pay a “modest fee” of about $1,500 and pass an exam, they will earn a MicroMaster’s credential, the school said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/1st-time-mits-free-online-classes-carry-credit-34313786

BY ASTRID ZWEYNERT, Reuters

Kiron University, named after the centaur Chiron, known in Greek mythology for nurturing others in times of need, was founded last year by a group of students in Berlin. “A lack of resources, legal documents and language skills all combine to make it very hard for refugees to get back into education,” said Kiron co-founder Odai Al Hashmi, a Syrian who fled to Germany via Turkey in 2013. To join Kiron University, applicants have to present only a document confirming their refugee status or a certificate stating that they have started applying for it. Kiron has designed a three-year program and partnered with top universities such as Harvard, Stanford and Yale in the United States, which already offer accredited online degree courses.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/01/us-germany-refugees-university-idUSKCN0RV4E320151001

By Heather Betancourth, Houston Chronicle

Colleges across Texas have made it easier to attend class online than ever before. Not only is online learning flexible and convenient, but students actually are preferring it. San Jacinto College started a basic online learning program in 1998. During that time when the Internet was starting to emerge as a new technology, the program mainly offered VHS tape checkout. Today, students can do everything on the web: registering for classes, paying tuition and ordering books. The also can use the web to attend class, meet with professors and chat with peers. “People say students aren’t successful with online learning, but we’ve found that they are very excited about those classes,” said Niki Whiteside, vice president of educational technology services at San Jacinto College.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Options-for-online-learning-abound-6556787.php

by Justine Thomas, Observer-Reporter

There are many myths about online training, and even more people who believe in them. Even so, it is a great pleasure to see that the number of students who prefer online education is growing. People aspire to get knowledge despite any myths and misleading ideas. This article contains most common myths about online training debunked and we hope it will help you to start and succeed in learning.

http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20151007/BLOGS20/151009558

By: Erin Bamer, the Argonaut

Like some people know they want to be a police officer or an astronaut, University of Idaho Senior Edwin Latrell has known he was going to serve in the military since before he can remember. “I have known since I was little that I would do the military,” Latrell said. “There was not a doubt.” Latrell enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2004, two years after he started his education at UI. He said he lacked energy and enthusiasm for school when he first enrolled at the university and ended up dropping out of many of his classes. “I was the best student at not being the best student,” Latrell said. While he was enlisted, Latrell remained a student at UI and completed 40 courses online in seven different countries including Afghanistan, Iraq and Cuba.

http://www.uiargonaut.com/2015/10/05/learning-and-serving/

by Rob Kelly, Faculty Focus

In their 1995 Change magazine article, “From Teaching to Learning—a New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education,” Robert B. Barr and John Tagg described the Learning Paradigm, which emphasizes learning over teaching and student discovery and construction of knowledge over transfer of knowledge from instructor to student. They wrote: “A paradigm shift is taking hold in American higher education. In its briefest form, the paradigm that has governed our colleges is this: A college is an institution that exists to provide instruction. Subtly but profoundly we are shifting to a new paradigm: A college is an institution that exists to produce learning. This shift changes everything. It is both needed and wanted.” The Learning Paradigm (as opposed to the Instruction Paradigm), emphasizes the students’ active role in learning and the purpose of that learning, which can be strong motivators for students. The challenge for instructors is to cede some control of learning to the students.

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/the-learning-paradigm-in-online-courses/

by Seth Stutman, Mass Appeal

Why are college students taking courses online? What are the advantages? What are the disadvantages? College planning expert, Paul Hemphill told us more. “Taking courses online means taking a college course by sitting in front of your computer instead of sitting in a classroom. And the advantages of going online are… First, it’s convenient – you’re at home, you can role out of bed, get your cup of joe, and walk over to your computer. Second, you don’t have to take notes – hit the REPLAY button on your screen and you get what you need. Thirdly, you can pick and choose what course you want when you want to view it – very convenient, and lastly, you save time on travel and save money on gas and auto expenses. Just so you know, about a third of college students are taking online classes.”

http://wwlp.com/2015/10/06/online-college-is-it-for-you/

By Ryan Robinson, Entrepreneurs

Starting a business is no easy feat. Especially if you’re trying to pull it off while you hold onto your day job. From learning how to prioritize your efforts (and limited resources) on what matters most at the beginning, to becoming a stand-out marketer, and building the skills that’ll help your business succeed, these essential online business courses will teach you how to launch successfully today. Here are my picks for the 12 best online courses for starting a business.

http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/Technology/fl/12-Best-Online-Courses-for-Starting-a-Business.htm

by Business World India

The digital wave in the country has transformed the entire education ecosystem, making it more tech-oriented and student-friendly. As technology seeped into every aspect of life, it was only a matter of time for it to penetrate one of the most important facets of one’s existence i.e. education. Online learning presents various benefits such as easy accessibility, on-the-go learning, flexibility and convenience to name a few. These are the main reasons behind the increasing inclination of people towards this mode. In fact, it has quickly become a default way of studying and has evolved from being an option to being a need. Digitisation of the education landscape is also letting the students residing in tier-2 and tier-3 cities reap the benefits of quality education tools. On the other hand, however, offline learning also has its own merits, which definitely cannot be overlooked. Therefore, a seamless blend of both offline and online pedagogical approaches is now the need of the hour.

http://www.businessworld.in/education-institutions/e-learning-becomes-essential-india#sthash.ZWBaZ5bo.dpbs