Online Learning Update

By Bridget McCrea, eCampus News

For the most part, ePortfolios are seen as online, digital repositories where college students can house their work for sharing with potential employers and other interested parties. Projects, resumes, artwork and designs, work samples, video clips, awards, honors, and myriad other materials can be neatly organized and presented in a digital fashion, making it easy for employers to access and review the work at their fingertips. But what happens when you take the original ePortfolio concept and expand its horizons to include other purposes? In “The Changing Landscape of ePortfolios,” The Australasian Journal of Educational Technology examined one Australian university’s integration of ePortfolio tools with learning and teaching outcomes across numerous disciplines and learning contexts

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/eportfolios-college-classroom-077/

by eCampus News

Students can access two complete degree programs at zero cost using OER. For colleges everywhere, offering a zero textbook cost degree program became easier as Northern Virginia Community College’s Extended Learning Institute (ELI) and open courseware provider Lumen Learning announced a collaboration to publish 24 online college courses for two complete degree programs. All courses were developed for zero student cost using open educational resources (OER) (i.e., no textbooks, just public access internet).

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/community-college-oer-764/

by Allison Dulin Salisbury, EdSurge

The next wave of experimentation for edX involves creating those for-credit pathway programs. EdX announced three in the last six months, including two just in the last four weeks: Global Freshman Academy: A complete freshman year offered on edX by Arizona State University which had a soft launch this year. The program is available worldwide to anyone, has no admissions requirements and will award full university credit when students pass courses. ACE Alternative Credit Project: An initiative to help millions of nontraditional learners gain a college degree launched by edX in October. By taking select online courses with edX, adult learners can aggregate credits for general education courses that will transfer directly into participating colleges. Supply Chain Management (SCM) master’s program that launches online in February. Students can complete an MIT master’s degree, if they choose, by then spending a single semester on campus.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-11-23-edx-buckles-down-to-offer-credit-for-moocs

by the Conversation

Research has shown that students who have access to better designed, and more personalised, courses tend to have higher engagement and better outcomes. A study of more than 1,000 engineering students taught with online lessons that adapt to suit individual needs cut the percentage of students who failed the course from 31% to 7% between 2007 and 2011. In Florida, a comparison trial delivery of a traditional online marketing course and one enhanced with adaptive lessons resulted in 16% of students increasing their marks from a C to a B. Lower-performing students quickly remediated to a competent level. These results point to the growing importance of new technologies and approaches to improve both the delivery and quality of online courses to cater for a diverse range of students.

http://theconversation.com/online-learning-can-work-if-universities-just-rethink-the-design-of-their-courses-50848

BY MOHAMMAD SYEDA, Daily Texan

2013 RAND Corporation study shows that for every $1 invested in prison education, we actually save $4 to $5 in the long run, purely due to recidivism decreasing. In the recent past, such a reform happened: Specter grants. These grants allowed prisoners to enroll in GED-level courses. However, Congress failed to renew federal funding in 2011 — the short-term cost of developing such a program proved to be problematic. With a society predicated on these ideas of opportunity and freedom, it’s important that we reform the current prison system. Through online education, we can turn individuals rejected by society into productive citizens. All the pieces of the puzzle are right in front of us. We just need to put them together.

https://www.dailytexanonline.com/2015/11/23/online-prison-education-is-the-route-to-reducing-recidivism

By Benjamin Farniok, Minnesota Daily

About 75 percent of faculty are part-time or adjuncts nationwide. Adjunct faculty members instructing online courses often don’t receive enough training, according to a recent study. The study, released earlier this month, suggested schools develop clearer policies and laid out a number of problems with adjuncts teaching online classes. The report found many institutions do not have specific rules to handle faculty who teach online courses. Seventy-four percent have written policies for how often they are expected to interact with students, and 42 percent have policies detailing when instructors must respond to student inquiries. And the number of adjunct faculty in colleges across the country is expected to rise, said Russell Poulin, policy and analysis director with the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Cooperative for Educational Technologies, a nonprofit that studies online learning.

http://www.mndaily.com/news/campus/2015/11/23/study-calls-clearer-rules-adjuncts-teaching-online-classes

by Will Worley, CNN

Nanodegrees are a new form of online learning, focusing on specialized tech related subjects. They are run by a company named Udacity, which has close links with Google.  If successful, they could herald changes in business practice (CNN)While college degrees take years to complete and cost many thousands of dollars, Google is now backing a scheme to get people a “nanodegree” in just six months. Devised by U.S.-based company Udacity, Nanodegrees are online learning courses aimed at providing up-to-the-minute qualifications in specialized tech subjects like “Android development,” “full stack web developer” and “data analysis.” Proponents say they are shorter, more focused and more practical than traditional degrees, and can be easily kept up to date in today’s fast-changing environment. The benefits, they say, are a cheap, world-class education that is easily accessible.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/23/tech/nanodegrees-google/

by Julie Wurth, News-Gazette

As a first-semester freshman, Madison Aiello was leery of piling too many hours into her class schedule at the University of Illinois this fall. So she signed up for four classes on campus and two more eight-week UI courses online: introduction to theater and integrative biology. With 16 hours of classes, a slightly above-average load, Aiello can better manage her time by doing part of her course work online, at her own pace. “It’s just easier,” she said. On today’s campuses, students mix easily between the face-to-face classroom and the online world, sometimes in the same course.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2015-11-22/class-only-click-away.html

by Julie Wurth, News-Gazette

Not everyone would show clips of the unfortunately named British game show “Golden Balls” to illustrate a microeconomics lesson, but Jose Vazquez is not a typical teacher. The UI professor no longer uses the centuries-old “chalk and talk” lecture style. Vazquez has chosen to “flip” his Principles of Microeconomics course — having students watch videos of his lectures online before coming to class in the cavernous Foellinger Auditorium.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2015-11-22/students-flip-over-profs-class-which-blends-online-and-class-learning.html

By Megan Carson, Duluth News Tribune

An entrepreneurship course offered at the University of Minnesota Duluth allows students to take the reins of a competitive class project and try to turn it into a profitable business. “This class is about how to identify new opportunities, and learn how to pursue those opportunities,” said Raymond Jones, associate professor of entrepreneurship and professor of the class, Management Studies — Entrepreneurship in the Labovitz School of Business and Economics. In addition to testing and running a business, students are simultaneously competing for points that count toward their grade.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/education/3887992-entrepreneurs-class-turns-projects-reality

by Jillian D’Onfro, Business Insider

Content from the nine apps that Google partnered with will now show up in mobile-search results, even if it doesn’t exist on the company’s website, and users will be able to click a “stream” button to get the full app experience without installing anything. Until this week, Google could only turn up information that also lived on a website. That meant that you were potentially missing out on the best results, because that information was locked away inside an app. But now that Google will show app-only content in search, you’ll be more likely to get better results since it can talk to both the apps and the websites. And with streaming, you won’t be limited to the “mobile-friendly” version of a service’s website, which could lack features. Instead, you’ll get the full experience as if you were really using their app, without the commitment or smartphone space required to download.

http://www.businessinsider.com/google-app-streaming-2015-11

By John K. Waters, Campus Technology

For-profit online education provider Udacity and Google today unveiled a new micro-credential program, the Senior Web Developer Nanodegree. The online program is designed to provide students with “the tools, frameworks, and techniques needed to write robust code for progressive Web applications that are secure and easy to use,” said Sarah Clark, program manager in Google’s Developer Training group, in a blog post. “Progressive app,” a term attributed to Google developer Alex Russell, refers to apps that “earn their spot on our home screens over time and preserve URL-based nature of the Web” and work offline. According to Clark, students who spend approximately 10 hours per week on the course should be able to earn the credential in 9 to 12 months.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/11/17/udacity-and-google-unveil-codeveloped-nanodegree.aspx

by Gabrielle Russon, Orlando Sentinel

Tiffani Harper’s online homework seemed to have a mind of its own. It knew that she learned best by watching videos and detected what topics she struggled to grasp. “It’s teaching me the best way to study,” said Harper, 32, a UCF student from Sanford. Harper’s nursing class is part of a growing pilot program that uses cutting-edge technology to personalize online homework for students. The University of Central Florida is one of a handful of schools in the country using the adaptive-style learning for several online courses, school officials said.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-ucf-nursing-online-class-20151120-story.html

By Judi Griggs, Houston Chronicle

With so many options, here are reasons to consider distance learning for your higher education needs.

»Time – Commuting to your own computer or tablet and having the flexibility to build your education schedule around other commitments and priorities remain the largest advantages. »Tools – Today, most classes have seamless production and participation tools and can be completed on a PC, tablet or smart phone. »Geography – Choices for working adults are no longer limited by programs within commuting distance. »Quality of programs – While some in traditional academia still voice resistance to distance learning, most of the top colleges and universities in the world have at least some online offerings, and many are highly competitive….

http://www.chron.com/jobs/article/Top-reasons-online-education-can-work-6647171.php

by Robin DeRosa and Scott Robison, EDUCAUSE Review

When no meaningful relationship exists between an educational technology and pedagogy, the tool itself loses value. We should start with a vision for our courses and curricula, and then identify the technologies or strategies that can help us achieve or further develop that vision. Open educational resources provide a relevant example of how pedagogy can point toward a richer way to integrate technology into our courses and our teaching philosophies, shifting to a student-centered approach to learning.

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/11/pedagogy-technology-and-the-example-of-open-educational-resources

by David J. Staley, EDUCAUSE Review

This essay proposes five models of innovation in higher education that expand our “Ideas of the University,” envisioning educational start-ups in the spirit of entrepreneurial experimentation. The author seeks to realize each of these feasible utopias as a way to disrupt higher education.

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/11/the-future-of-the-university-speculative-design-for-innovation-in-higher-education

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

The University of Georgia estimated that it has saved students $2 million through the adoption of open educational resources (OER) since 2013. According to Edward Watson, director of the university’s Center for Teaching and Learning, “Our approach has been to pursue large enrollment courses using expensive textbooks. This has enabled us to maximize savings for students.” The institution has worked with Affordable Learning Georgia, a partnership the University System of Georgia has with California State University, which manages MERLOT, a venerable OER library of resources.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/11/20/u-georgia-nears-2-million-mark-in-oer-savings.aspx

BY IAIN ALEXANDER, Film Industry Network

Filmmakers, digital marketers and entrepreneurs can benefit from incredible Black Friday deals and access online courses for a fraction of their usual price. Whether you are looking to study film, learn about acting or improve your social media game, there are some fantastic deals being offered over the next few hours that will get you high quality training at incredible discounts. Udemyicon are offering 17,000 online courses to all their new subscribers that select a program before midnight Friday with discounts of up to 97%. You can check out some of the most popular courses here and also our recommended selection of online classes that you can book with this deal.

http://www.filmindustrynetwork.biz/black-friday-deals-get-up-to-97-off-these-online-courses/29972

by SUZANNE BOWNESS, Globe and Mail

To help colleges and universities connect with online learners, several Canadian provinces have developed portals to centralize online courses. The latest, eCampusOntario, launched in early October, consolidates 13,000 online courses and 600 online programs from all of the province’s 45 publicly funded colleges and universities. Like a search engine, the new portal allows students to type in keywords that turn up programs and courses on that topic. Listings provide information on content, registration and transfer credit options.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/one-stop-shopping-for-online-courses/article27356635/

by Sue Gee, Iprogrammer

Udacity has opened a new Nanodegree in Machine Learning. At advanced level it prepares you to apply predictive models to massive data sets in fields like education, finance, healthcare or robotics. The curriculum for the Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree has been developed with Google and in his email announcement Sebastian Thrun played up this selling point: If you followed the news, you saw that our partner, Google, just open-sourced TensorFlow, its deep learning software. And get this: our program already has a class on deep learning in TensorFlow in development, overseen by Vincent Vanhoucke, technical lead and manager in Google’s deep learning infrastructure team.

http://www.i-programmer.info/news/150-training-a-education/9187-machine-learning-from-udacity-.html