by Matthew Grillo, The Daily Collegian

Following Penn State’s continued advancements in online education, Conrad Tucker is hoping to blend virtual reality with online classes. Tucker, an assistant professor in engineering design and industrial engineering at Penn State, received a research grant from the Penn State Center for Online Innovation in Learning. “The importance of online and digital learning is only going to expand as we move toward a more connected world,” Tucker said.

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/campus/article_3afd7250-cb84-11e5-91d8-bb9da8a079e0.html

by Bradley Fuster, US News

Online classes typically require more written communication and interaction than oral participation. Unlike face-to-face classes, which often credit oral participation, online courses generally rely more on written work for grading and assessment purposes. As students submit assignments from the same devices they use to communicate for instant messaging, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Yik Yak and countless other social platforms, the trap exists to treat the weekly PHI 101 reflection or SOC 100 paper as an LOL, ROFL, SMH, GR8 hot mess. Consider these five tips to improve your performance when taking writing-intensive online classes.

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-learning-lessons/2016/02/05/5-tips-to-improve-writing-for-online-classes

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

Pearson has announced it will phase out support for its learning management system Learning Studio in the coming years, following a similar announcement last fall about OpenClass, which will leave the educational testing and services giant without an LMS in its portfolio. Inside Higher Ed reports Pearson believes it can create the greatest value for its customers by investing in course materials and other products that directly impact students and faculty, leaving the crowded LMS market behind.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/pearson-to-leave-the-lms-market-within-2-3-years/413333/

By Laura Devaney, eCampus News

Many say the presidential candidates’ debates and discussions lack a focus on higher education—here are the issues the candidates should research. The presidential campaign and debates among candidates have shed light on the issues most important to the U.S. public—and among those issues is higher education, from financing it, to institutions’ accreditation, to accessibility. As Generation Z takes ownership of its higher-education future, the following issues will become even more important as a new president takes office. Here, we offer a handful of higher education issues, along with important developments pertaining to each issue, which should be on the presidential candidates’ radar and present in their debates as November nears.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/highered-presidential-candidates-024/

by Judy Maltz, Haartz

In a forecast published last week, the Israeli army addressed the probability of an all-out confrontation with Hamas or Hezbollah sometime soon. Its conclusions were not particularly heartening. But whether or not Israel finds itself embroiled in another large-scale military operation in the near future, the country’s educational system intends to be prepared. At schools throughout the country this week, students participated in online learning drills designed to keep them on track with their studies in the event of war or any other national crisis that might keep them homebound.

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.701472

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

Gallup announced Thursday it has developed a certification process for colleges based on their efforts to improve the “well-being” of students and faculty. The certification process could take up to three years and is akin to the process builders go through to get LEED certification for environmentally friendly designs, offering a more results-based evaluation of colleges than U.S. News has offered for more than 20 years.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/gallup-to-give-us-news-rankings-more-competition/413382/

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

Large-scale survey recognizes often-contradictory demands from students; offers recommendations for programs. Higher ed online learning students expect a lot from their programs; but with every student’s unique expectations and desires, how can institutions not only rise above the competition, but offer the best online learning options for their students? Those are the questions a joint survey–conducted by Learning House and Aslanian Market Research of 1,500 individuals part of higher ed online learning programs nationwide–aimed to answer in its fourth annual survey.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/students-online-learning-277/

by Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

Penn State uses hard data to see if faculty professional development in student engagement actually makes a difference. How can institutions know whether or not professional development (PD) programs for faculty are effective? And does student engagement increase when faculty complete PD courses aimed at promoting student engagement in the online learning environment? According to one large university, PD in student engagement makes a significant difference…when applied in practice.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/faculty-student-engagement-913/

By Laura Devaney, eCampus News

Teaming up with industry cybersecurity providers, universities are hoping to produce more highly-skilled cybersecurity professionals. As the information technology industry grows, cybersecurity careers are projected to grow along with it–leading to an increased need for students to pursue cybersecurity at the higher-ed level. National defense leaders and experts at the fourth annual Cybersecurity Summit in October revealed that in 2014, cybersecurity crimes cost the U.S. more than $1 trillion in damage

http://www.ecampusnews.com/safety-and-security/cybersecurity-education-partnerships-982/

by Megan Hamilton, MATC

In online courses, where a student completes a test off-campus without instructor supervision, online tests must be considered as open-book tests because students often have access to a wide variety of information resources. Furthermore, students with a mobile device would still be able to take pictures of the test questions as displayed on the computer monitor. Faculty concerned about cheating in online testing are encouraged to consider these countermeasures when creating their tests in Blackboard.

http://tlc.matc.edu/index.php/discouraging-cheating-in-online-tests/

by drbrucej – Affordable Quality Writing

The for-profit online school industry has received a great deal of attention over the past few years and the reasons have involved recruiting practices, low retention rates, and the failure to pay student loan rates. Recently there was an article about one online school that was being audited, specifically regarding the level of faculty to student interactions. This particular school offers competency-based online degree programs and students are completing their degrees without being enrolled in traditional online classes. The underlying reason for the audit is related to the programs being qualified to receive federal aid. In order for students to be eligible to receive federal aid there must be “significant instructor to student interactions” and if those interactions aren’t present the programs become ineligible for aid.

http://affordablequalitywriting.com/blog/2016/01/what-makes-online-class-real-students

by Talya Zax, Forward

That goal of building an ideal life, whether at home or at work, came up again and again in our conversation. If there’s one takeaway from Mattan Griffel, who last year was named to Forbes’s 30 Under 30 list in Education, it’s that he’s obsessed with making all things — online education, the process of building a startup, his company’s workplace culture, himself — better. Griffel’s position on the Forbes list is a symbol of the way in which the education industry is changing. In schools, the ratio of computers and iPads to students grows closer and closer to 1-to-1; more broadly, the Internet has opened up the world of self-education and continuing education in unprecedented ways.

http://forward.com/culture/332268/learning-to-build-a-business-in-one-month/

by the White House

President Obama is unveiling his plan to give all students across the country the chance to learn computer science (CS) in school. We’ve made real progress in education — over the past seven years, 49 States and Washington, D.C. have raised expectations by adopting higher standards to prepare all students for success in college and careers.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/30/fact-sheet-president-obama-announces-computer-science-all-initiative-0

by Tom Lindsay, Forbes

In his 2011 State of the State Address, then-Texas-Governor Rick Perry issued a bully-pulpit challenge to the Lone Star State’s public universities. He asked them to create bachelor’s degree programs that cost no more than $10,000 in tuition, fees, and books. He also asked that ten percent of Texas public university degrees awarded reach this price point. How would it be accomplished? Perry advised schools to reduce costs through offering some classes online as well as through awarding course credits based on competencies acquired outside the classroom, such as during military service and/or previous employment.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomlindsay/2016/01/30/pricing-revolution-texas-expands-its-affordable-bachelors-degree-program/#11d4a4ff7e45

by the Examiner

In her eBook, Jacqueline Myers nails the top 10 success strategies for distance learning in a way that students can understand and implement immediately. As promised, the book is written for college students of all types by a legitimate online college educator. Students get the core strategies of successful online learning, all in one easy-to-read guide. To make implementation of the strategies even easier, action step checklists have been included at the end of each chapter.

http://www.examiner.com/review/book-review-your-online-college-course-survival-guide-by-jacqueline-myers

by the Inquirer

No matter how far we progress in formal education, there is always a point at which taught learning becomes optional. With adulthood comes the agency to decide when school or university learning will end. While professional development can mean acquiring new skills, we generally reach a critical point where the frequency with which we learn new information and disciplines slows down. The growth of the e-learning technology market was predicted to reach $51 billion (around £36 billion) by 2016. This could revolutionise how, when, and where we learn and enable adults to achieve more than ever before.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/industry-voice-blog/2444215/the-future-of-technology-in-adult-learning

by ALISON

ALISON, the global free learning pioneer has launched a free course entitled “Zika Virus – What you need to know”. The course has been developed by ALISON Pedagogic experts within the guidance issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US-based Centre for Disease Control (CDC). The course highlights the virus origins, how people become infected by it, its impact, and how to minimize your risk of acquiring the virus. WHO estimates that over one million Brazilians are now infected with the virus and that it will inevitably spread to North America. Mike Feerick, Founder & CEO of ALISON, stated, “Free Online Learning via ALISON is well placed to assist in developing public awareness of the risks of the Zika Virus. Our success of educating communities in West Africa about EBOLA tells us just how important our role can be.”

http://news.sys-con.com/node/3656708

by Nick Morrison, Forbes

Universities have long been wrestling with the internet. On the one hand it represents a huge opportunity, in the shape of an enormous resource and new methods of delivery; on the other it represents a huge threat, in the shape of an enormous resource and new methods of delivery. But a pilot program at one of the world’s top universities is providing evidence that blended learning could be the future of higher education. Starting last semester, undergraduates in the engineering faculty at Imperial College London have been taking online business courses. While online courses are nothing new, the idea of delivering them to students who are physically present in the university is unusual.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2016/01/29/blended-learning-the-future-of-higher-education/#37761e5e2708

by Amy X. Wang, Quartz

Online learning, in 2016, is no longer the cautious experiment it once was. Universities all over the world are warming up to the idea of internet-based degree programs, while free online education—popularly offered in the form of massive open online courses, or MOOCs—remains a booming area. There are obvious benefits: Online courses are accessible to anyone with a computer, (usually) cheaper than a brick-and-mortar education, and can be helpful to those who are in the middle of their careers or have other full-time commitments. But e-learning is still lacking in certain key areas. One of its drawbacks is a heavy skew toward certain subjects—a problem that results not from uneven offerings, but from a lopsided modern mindset about the role of education, and the inherent pitfalls of trying to learn from the internet in the first place.

http://qz.com/594710/turns-out-some-subjects-really-cant-be-taught-online/

By Travis Grandy, Inside Higher Ed

As I build my course in preparation for this summer, one of the challenges I anticipate is how I can create similar kinds of active learning experiences for students without the benefit of in-person meetings. This started my thought process about ways to foreground collaboration in an online class. Today, my post will discuss some approaches to designing online activities that promote active learning and team-building skills. Although I’ll focus on some example activities intended for an online class, they can also be adapted for blended classes as well. What follows are a few activities that I’ll be working to adapt for my online class. Hopefully they’ll give you some ideas too!

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker/build-more-collaboration-your-online-class

by Track.in

This is surely a big leap forward and a positive one at that. According to reports, Flipkart has started hiring fresh graduates based on the capabilities they have built through Udacity’s Nanodegree Programs. And yes, these graduates did not have to face any in-person interviews. This move clearly shows that Indian companies (especially startups) are open to move away from traditional hiring methods and are looking at people who are building their expertise through online education portals like Udacity! Peeyush Ranjan, CTO at Flipkart said, “The kind of disruptive work that we do at Flipkart demands a world-class talent pool and we are constantly on the lookout for experts who can solve the problems of Indian consumers. The conventional hiring process often comes down to the performance of the candidate on that specific day, which may not be a true reflection of their skills and temperament. This is where a partner like Udacity comes into the picture.”

http://trak.in/tags/business/2016/01/28/flipkart-interview-hiring-nanodegree-udacity/