Online Learning Update

by Mapping Student Debt

More than 42 million Americans owe a total of $1.1 trillion in student debt, making it the second-largest liability on the national balance sheet. A generation ago, student debt was a relative rarity, but for today’s students and recent graduates, it’s a central fact of economic life that we don’t know much about. Mapping Student Debt is changing that. The maps below show how borrowing for college affects the nation, your city, and even your neighborhood, giving a new perspective on the way in which student debt relates to economic inequality. [ed note: this is an astounding interactive data map!]

http://www.mappingstudentdebt.org/#/map-1-an-introduction

By DAVE EISENSTADTER, GazetteNet

Long touting its small, seminar-style classes, Smith College is making a foray into the opposite extreme, creating a Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC. The course, “Psychology of Political Activism: Women Changing the World,” will be available in March through the platform edX, run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Smith Professor Lauren Duncan, 50, who developed the class, believes it is not normally taught in a MOOC setting. “Most are ‘how to program’ or ‘calculus’ and have talking heads lecturing,” she said. “We don’t teach that way at Smith normally.” In designing the course, Duncan relied on Smith students who enrolled in her class on the same topic in the spring semester. The students each picked an activist featured in the Sophia Smith Collection in the Smith College archives.

http://www.gazettenet.com/home/19840969-95/women-activists-subject-of-smith-college-massive-open-online-course

By HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press

Saturday was the last day for those seeking a completion certificate or continuing education credit to finish the course’s 13 quizzes, but the material itself will remain available online. That includes video lectures by professors Andrew Smith and Dante Scala that explore how and why New Hampshire rose to its prominent position in the nominating calendar, the art of organizing and campaigning in New Hampshire, and the political landscape heading into the 2016 contest. A series of videos called “Faces of the Primary” introduced students to grassroots activists, campaign strategists and journalists who’ve played key roles over the years. “We could’ve done twice as much and still be going and not have covered everything about the primary, but I think we were able to cover all of the major points,” said Smith, a political science professor and director of the UNH Survey Center. “We gave people a sense of the history, and also gave people a sense of the political science of the primary.”

http://www.concordmonitor.com/news/nation/world/19903228-95/unh-wraps-up-online-course-on-new-hampshire-primary

by Ariel Diaz, EdSurge

Making the jump to more affordable, online courseware is the logical next step to cut costs, and many learning platforms and digital content providers are stepping up to help. Even the government is in support of digital, open textbooks, with members of Congress recently proposing the Affordable College Textbook Act and the U.S. Department of Education’s #GoOpen campaign. But despite available resources and growing support, digital textbooks are still met with doubt and resistance sparked by some key—and not so unfounded—objections. No stranger to having to set the digital versus print textbook debate straight, I’ve pulled together a list of common objections to sort out what is, in fact, true and what is completely false.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-12-05-facing-the-facts-four-common-objections-to-digital-textbooks

by Star Daily Standard Times

A pair of researchers looking into whether Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are helping to bridge the disparity gap in education access in the U.S. has found that those who take the courses tend to be from wealthier neighborhoods. In their paper published in the journal Science, John Hansen, with Harvard University and Justin Reich, with MIT describe their research efforts and why they came to believe that MOOCs are not the remedy to educational disparity that many had hoped. Access to a high quality is not guaranteed in the U.S. People who live in tend to live in less well funded schools with lower success rates. Over the years some have espoused technological advances as the key to leveling the playing field—some believed radio could change things by offering educational programming, others believed television would help, offering even more programming such as that provided by PBS.

http://www.stardailystandard.com/science/research-exhibits-large-open-on-line-programs-used-principally-by-wealthier-individuals/33377/

by Voice of America

University of the People is a university that has no tuition costs. The university’s classes and teaching materials are all free online. Also, all of the teachers are volunteers. Federal laws in the U.S. do not prevent undocumented immigrants from going to college. But laws do ban undocumented immigrants from receiving government financial aid. The Pew Research Center is an organization that studies social issues around the world. The organization recently reported there were 11.3 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. in 2014. Of those, 49 percent were from Mexico. Many undocumented immigrants come to the U.S. with little money to pay for things like higher education. Currently, the University of the People only offers degrees in computer science and business administration. Though tuition is free, the university does require students to pay a $50 application fee. Also, the university requires students to pay a $100 test fee when they complete a class.

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/online-university-offers-poor-a-chance/3088042.html

by Tim Dodd, Financial Review

Learn how to reduce your stress and enjoy life by learning “mindfulness” in a new free online course being offered by Monash University. “Mindfulness is … about intentionally paying attention to each moment, being fully engaged in whatever is happening around and within you, with an attitude of friendliness and compassion,” the university says on the course website. Course presenters Craig Hassed (who is a senior lecturer and mindfulness co-ordinator at Monash University) and Richard Chambers (a clinical psychologist and mindfulness consultant at the university) say on their blog that mindfulness is an important life skill that can be learnt.

http://www.afr.com/leadership/management/productivity/mooc-watch-monash-university-teaches-mindfulness-in-free-online-course-20151203-gle7z4

by Robert Talbert, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Making a portfolio for tenure and promotion is a long-term, high-stakes project that requires care and attention. A judicious use of helpful technologies, with the right mind-set, can help us place attention on it productively so we can focus our main efforts on the jobs we were hired to do.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/how-tech-tools-can-help-professors-prepare-their-tenure-portfolios/57644

by Anya Kamenetz, NPR

What’s not clear is exactly how these innovations are expected to spread or influence practices in public schools that don’t have dedicated resources for that purpose. “The technology is important, but it’s not really the hard or expensive part,” Feldstein says. “These challenges are particularly hard for poorer schools, where there is less money and less support for teachers.” In other words, scaling the benefits of personalized learning requires more than just software. Because of their resources and very public platform, any education idea supported by billionaire philanthropists is likely to receive more than its share of attention. Zuckerberg has been criticized for his previous foray into educational philanthropy in Newark, and he seems to be advocating a different approach here that partners more closely with educators and communities.

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/12/05/437536957/mark-zuckerberg-is-betting-tech-can-address-educational-equity-is-it-that-simple

by Melanie Pinola, LifeHacker

CourseBuffet not only highlights free courses from top universities, it groups some of them into degree paths, so you can get a college BA-equivalent education from these free online courses. Currently two degree paths are available: Computer science and management, with finance coming soon. When you choose one of these paths, you’ll be presented with groups of courses organized similarly to traditional degrees, with core, advanced, and elective courses. And, just like a traditional degree, to complete the “program” you’re expected to achieve all the credits. The Core Computer Science courses include everything from intro to computer science to computer architecture, algorithms, programming languages, and databases. Within each topic, you can select from a variety of online courses to add to your path.

http://lifehacker.com/coursebuffet-organizes-online-courses-into-a-diy-degree-1745973758

by Ryan Lasker, GW Hatchet

The Milken Institute School of Public Health will allow all of its graduate students to take part of their course loads online or on-campus starting next semester. The flexible program option will give students the opportunity to customize their class schedules to include a mix of online and on-campus courses for the first time. Julie DeLoia, the associate dean of academic affairs at the school, said in an email that the program will offer more flexible options to graduate students who are juggling responsibilities outside school. It can attract more non-traditional students who might have outside obligations like a family or a job to balance with their course loads, she said.

http://www.gwhatchet.com/2015/12/02/public-health-school-combines-online-and-on-campus-graduate-programs/

by Zach Oldham, Campus Chronicle

One could equate speeding to cheating on several levels: It is clearly something that you are not supposed to do, yet some still will do it. Those who do try to avoid any and all enforcement. There are regulations in place to prevent us from doing so, and yet, everyone was 16 once. So what happens when the enforcement, or perception of enforcement, is removed?

http://www.campuschroniclenews.com/?p=1747

by Gabrielle Russon, Orlando Sentinal

UCF is considering waiving some student fees for online-only programs. UCF is considering lowering some fees for future students who enroll in online-only courses. During a Wednesday meeting, University of Central Florida officials said it makes sense to eliminate several student fees for people who never come to campus or use the school’s resources. Eliminating the fees – including the $14.32 charge per credit hour for athletics – would save about $33 per credit hour for undergraduate students who enroll in online-only programs starting in the summer 2016.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/school-zone/os-ucf-online-classes-1202-post.html

by Mike Krings, University of Kansas

Researchers at the Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities have issued “Equity Matters: Digital and Online Learning for Students with Disabilities.” The expansive report analyzes the online education policies of all 50 states and five U.S. territories and combines those findings with other research projects in the center to support recommendations for how to improve online and blended learning for all students. The report takes a wide view at online and blended learning for students with disabilities. In its five chapters it explains transformative change, provides a scan of policy for all 50 states and five territories regarding online learning for students with disabilities, details special education in online environments, explores the changing structure and roles within education and finally, examines access to online education, issues of data and privacy and graduation. It is available online.

http://news.ku.edu/2015/11/17/ku-researchers-co-author-extensive-examination-online-learning-students-disabilities

By C. RAMSEY FAHS, Harvard Crimson

The Harvard Extension School will offer a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree program next year, a first for the school. The program’s inaugural cohort of students will begin online coursework in June and earn a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in global studies and a Master of Liberal Arts in management. The entire program, according to the Extension School’s website, will cost roughly $45,000, a price point that Ray Schroeder, the associate vice chancellor for online learning at the University of Illinois Springfield, called “tremendous.” The program asks that applicants have at least two years of undergraduate coursework and roughly seven to 10 years of “professional experience” under their belts. Applicants should not, however, have taken any previous courses at the Extension School or Harvard Summer School.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/12/2/extension-school-accelerated-degree/

by Karli Grant, eCampus News

Institutions with a focus on mentoring, apprentice-based and vocational learning have embraced the CBE model since its inception, but many schools with a variety of academic programs are now exploring the possibility of offering competency-based courses. For the many colleges and universities currently testing the waters, the question is “where do we start?” Early-adopters like Rasmussen College are partnering with regional accreditors and the U.S. Department of Education as best practices begin to emerge, but in the meantime there are steps every institution can take to create a basic framework for CBE.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/competency-based-education-728/

by Jane LeClair and Robin Berenson, Evolllution

Competency based education (CBE) is, in many ways, an outgrowth of the earlier concept of outcomes based education (OBE) but they vary in that OBE has an initial goal or stated outcome that is sought by the education, whereas CBE is concerned with a narrow skill set that must be demonstrated to have been mastered by the learner. CBE is not a new concept in higher education, but change is being driven based on the quality of the education as well as access and cost. The challenge to learning institutions is to innovate with a purpose rather than with an eye to being the “next big thing.”

http://evolllution.com/revenue-streams/market_opportunities/designing-a-competency-based-education-cbe-program-context-challenges-and-pivots/

by Richenda Gould, Rutgers

Now in its seventh year, RUOnlineCon has expanded from a statewide event to include attendees throughout the mid-Atlantic region, from New York to West Virginia. It is meant for faculty and others from higher education institutions who are active in online and hybrid learning environments, including instructional designers, educational technology specialists, department and program chairs, curriculum managers and online program administrators. Early registration is available at http://ruonlinecon.rutgers.edu. “Higher education is now interwoven with education technology tools and instructional design approaches,” explained Richard J. Novak, vice president of continuing studies and distance learning at Rutgers. Speakers include Jeff Selingo (College unBound); Deb Adair, Quality Matters; Ray Schroeder, UPCEA and UIS ; Joan Bouillon, Pearson; and Kenneth Ronkowitz, New Jersey Institute of Technology

http://cenewscenter.rutgers.edu/articles/2015/11/online-education-hybrid-learning-focus-rutgers-conference-educators

Now in its seventh year, RUOnlineCon has expanded from a statewide event to include attendees throughout the mid-Atlantic region, from New York to West Virginia. It is meant for faculty and others from higher education institutions who are active in online and hybrid learning environments, including instructional designers, educational technology specialists, department and program chairs, curriculum managers and online program administrators. Early registration is available at http://ruonlinecon.rutgers.edu. “Higher education is now interwoven with education technology tools and instructional design approaches,” explained Richard J. Novak, vice president of continuing studies and distance learning at Rutgers. Speakers include Jeff Selingo (College unBound); Deb Adair, Quality Matters; Ray Schroeder, UPCEA and UIS ; Joan Bouillon, Pearson; and Kenneth Ronkowitz, New Jersey Institute of Technology. Rutgers’ co-presenters of the conference are the Mid-Atlantic chapter of UPCEA and the New Jersey Research and Education Network, a nonprofit technology consortium of academic and research institutions.
http://cenewscenter.rutgers.edu/articles/2015/11/online-education-hybrid-learning-focus-rutgers-conference-educators