Online Learning Update

OSCAR HARTZOG, Rolling Stone

Music production is more technical than ever — but it’s also more necessary than ever. Whether you’re an aspiring hip-hop beatmaker or electronic producer (or you’re simply looking to polish acoustic recordings), being able to make music digitally and use production software can seriously advance your career. Luckily, you don’t have to attend a fancy school or even leave the house to break into the biz. You can now enroll in some of the best online courses for music production right from your home.

https://www.rollingstone.com/product-recommendations/lifestyle/best-online-courses-music-production-1121635/

By Luke Dormehl, Digital Trends

The most prolific musical artists manage to release one, maybe two, studio albums in a year. Rappers can sometimes put out three or four mixtapes during that same time. However, Auxuman plans to put out a new full-length album, featuring hot up-and-coming artists like Yona, Mony, Gemini, Hexe, and Zoya, every single month. How? The power of artificial intelligence of course. Before this goes any further, don’t worry: You’re not hopelessly out of touch with today’s pop music. Yona, Mony, Gemini, and the rest of the bunch aren’t real musicians. Well, at least not in the sense that you could meet them and shake their hands. They’re A.I. personalities, each with their own characters and genres, which have been created by Auxuman, an artificial intelligence startup based in London.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/auxuman-ai-album/

By Lindsay McKenzie, Inside Higher Ed

In its quest to find a sustainable business model, online course provider edX will test charging users for access to previously free content. Observers say the move was inevitable. Massive open online courses got a little less open with edX’s recent announcement that it is introducing support fees for some of its MOOCs. Midway through an innocuous-looking blog post, Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX, said the nonprofit would be “moving away from our current model of offering virtually everything for free.” On May 3, edX began testing the introduction of a “modest support fee” that will “enable edX and partners to continue to invest in our global learning platform.” Adam Medrox, edX COO and president, said in an interview that the support fee was just one option being explored to ensure the long-term sustainability of the MOOC provider.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/06/14/edx-introduces-support-fee-free-online-courses

by Eduardo Yi, Hypebot

IDELT-Core-ProgramAs the online learning industry continues to grow, more people are now able to make a living through teaching online. The music industry is no exception, and here we look at seven steps those interested in teaching online courses can get started building a business. Online learning is a massive growing industry that’s projected to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Everywhere around the world, individuals are making a living through understanding how to teach online. If you’ve been interested in starting up a successful music business, you may have been curious about online courses.

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2017/05/how-to-create-a-successful-music-business-by-teaching-online.html

by Sandra Larson, Bay State Banner

“Every time music gets played, someone gets paid,” John Kellogg is fond of saying. The musician, lawyer, book author and Berklee College of Music professor follows the statement with his signature advice for anyone involved in music performance and production: “You should get paid, not played.” Kellogg’s music business wisdom has accrued over a multi-faceted working life that spans songwriting and singing with the band Cameo in the 1970s, decades as an entertainment lawyer representing star R & B and rap acts, and educating students at University of Colorado and now at Berklee, where he also is assistant chair of the music business/management department. So far, nearly 70,000 people from around the world have accessed “Introduction to the Music Business,” a six-week course offered four times per year on the EdX platform, or the shorter “Music Business Foundations” offered every few weeks on Coursera.

http://baystatebanner.com/news/2017/feb/22/berklee-college-music-professors-online-courses-pr/

By Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

What is so great about How Music Got Free is that Witt takes us into the minds of the people running the record company’s. (And very deeply into the mind of Doug Morris, the guy who ran Universal Music Group). Perhaps no group of executives have ever been less prepared for the digital economy than the record executives. (Although newspaper people – and maybe even higher ed folks – may argue with that assertion). Even if the music industry honchos had understood the new digital world, it is not clear to Witt that they could have done much differently…. Today’s successful musician will make most of their money from touring, not music sales. How Music Got Free offers an insiders guide to the demise, and possible reinvention, of an industry. When will someone like Stephen Witt turn their attention to higher education? What should us higher ed incumbents learn from the story of the record industry?

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/%E2%80%9Chow-music-got-free%E2%80%9D

by Peter Casey, Business Irish

The key is Ireland’s potential role with Tata in the development of Massive Open Online Courses (or MOOCs). These are courses which are published and promoted on the internet and promise to do for education accessibility what iTunes did for music. MOOCs are rapidly gaining popularity worldwide and cover a massive range of topics, immediately addressing current urgent business needs, such as the latest in predictive analytics, data structures and algorithms. TCS has pioneered the most developed learning exchange platform there is, which combines the power of MOOCs with community-structured learning spaces. It is using it to astounding success in India, where they have 650,000 learners and 32,000 teachers engaged.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/moocs-could-do-for-skills-what-itunes-did-for-music-30784458.html

by NME

The two year BA course is being run in conjunction with the University of Falmouth and British musical education specialists E-Mu, reports Music Radar. Courses in guitar, songwriting and music management will start in September 2014, with bass, drums and vocals courses in the pipeline. For more information, visit Emuedu.com. Earlier this year, a new heavy metal degree at Nottingham’s New College was criticised by leading education campaigners. The two-year course offers students the opportunity to learn how to compose and perform heavy metal music. However, the Campaign for Real Education hit out at the course and the college; labelling it an “easy option”.

http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/74612

by Hispanic Business Online

The college’s award-winning online division, Berklee Online, will offer 120-credit bachelor of professional studies degrees in music business and music production. The music business degree offers courses on licensing, management, marketing, and touring, with a focus on mobile music, streaming, funding, and developing revenue sources. The music production degree provides an extensive background in Berklee’s approach to music production, with courses on the world’s top software programs, recording, engineering, mixing, and more. All courses are taught by Berklee faculty members or industry experts.

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2013/10/2/berklee_college_of_music_will_offer.htm

by Andrew Maynard, 2020Science

YouTube is gearing up to transform the way we learn…We are at the beginning of an exciting revolution in online educational content. That’s the message that came across loud and clear at this morning’s VidCon breakout panel on education. In an overflowing room of well over two hundred conference goers, head of YouTube Education Angela Lin led a panel of five leading video makers in a lively discussion, that gave a compelling glimpse of the future of online education. And it was a future that didn’t feature too many conventional lessons or institutionalized videos! As the panel included John and Hank Green (SciShow, CrashCourse and a gazillion other things) I was expecting a room packed to the brim with their incredibly engaged teen fans – which it was. An odd audience you might think for a panel on education. But this was a serious, intelligent and engaged crowd, eager to listen to the panel, ask questions and provide their own insight on online learning.

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/maynard20120706

Regan Thomas, UNO Gateway

Gradually, students and professors have adapted to the new learning environment. This can be challenging for some, but others have found the positives in the situation. Junior Faith Loudon says that remote learning is the safest option right now. Loudon is a music therapy major, and although she would rather be attending in-person classes, she feels it is best for her and other students of UNO to be doing remote learning at the moment.

https://unothegateway.com/how-uno-students-have-adapted-to-online-learning-in-the-face-of-covid-19/

Heidi Tandy, IP Watch

While educators revised policies, two decisions were published; each has the potential to broaden how copyright-protected works can be used in virtual classrooms. On March 24, 2020, the Ninth Circuit said in Tresona Multimedia, LLC v Burbank High School Vocal Music Association that “the defense of Fair Use, if applicable, should cover ‘teaching’ whether in a private or public setting.” The same week, the Supreme Court ruled in Allen et al. v. Cooper, Governor of North Carolina, et al., 589 U.S. ___ (2020) that a state could not be sued for copyright infringement by a company that held copyrights in photographs. Justice Kagan wrote for the unanimous court that “Article 1’s Intellectual Protection Clause could not provide the basis for an abrogation of sovereign immunity.”

https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2020/04/02/emergency-distance-learning-fair-use/id=120328/

Sandeep Kishore, Forbes

Artificial intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous. Whether we are consciously aware of it or unknowingly using it, AI is present at work, at home and in our everyday transactions. From our productivity in the office to the route we take home to the products we purchase and even the music we listen to, AI is influencing many of our decisions. Those decisions are still ours to make, but soon enough the decisions will be made by AI-enabled systems without waiting for the final approval from us. As of now, the default state for decision systems is “off.”  What if we switch that default state to be “on”?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/01/03/living-ai-from-potential-to-practice/#4c24d3d6571a

Sandeep Kishore, Forbes

Artificial intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous. Whether we are consciously aware of it or unknowingly using it, AI is present at work, at home and in our everyday transactions. From our productivity in the office to the route we take home to the products we purchase and even the music we listen to, AI is influencing many of our decisions. Those decisions are still ours to make, but soon enough the decisions will be made by AI-enabled systems without waiting for the final approval from us. As of now, the default state for decision systems is “off.”  What if we switch that default state to be “on”?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/01/03/living-ai-from-potential-to-practice/#4c24d3d6571a

Lindsay McKenzie, Inside Higher Ed

Many critics weighed in earlier this month when tech giant Apple announced it was dismantling its iconic iTunes music platform and replacing it with separate apps for music, podcasts and video. In numerous articles reflecting on the legacy of iTunes, they remarked on how the software became bloated and suffered from poor user design. But they also acknowledged the pivotal role iTunes played in shaping the music industry by changing the way consumers bought and listened to music. Largely absent from the discussions, however, was the central role iTunes played in opening up higher education to the public.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/06/12/apple-winds-down-itunes-u

Brian Uzzi, Forbes

It’s about to get personal. Even more personal, that is. We’re already accustomed to AI-driven personalization of everything from book and movie recommendations to music playlists. But this year should bring what we could consider “hyper-personalization” to consumers through a range of applications focused on health, finances, shopping, and everything in between. This is due to the growing capabilities of AI applications to make cost-effective, more accurate predictions; the ever-larger pool of personal data from which such applications can draw; and our collective willingness to “opt-in” to customized suggestions and services. Here’s a quick look at four key areas in which we can expect AI-based hyper-personalization in this year.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianuzzi/2019/03/15/you-can-expect-more-hyper-personal-ai-applications/#537f01dc659f

ASU Prep Digital and Belgrano Day School in Buenos Aires, Argentina, have partnered to offer students enhanced educational opportunities on an international scale. ASU Prep Digital is a college prep option where online high school and university courses converge in a unique learning opportunity. The rigorous virtual school program prepares students for college acceptance and encourages them to start earning credit toward college majors and careers in an increasingly interconnected environment.  Belgrano Day School is a bilingual and coeducational school, offering a national and international curriculum for students ages 2 to 18 years old. Established in 1912, the school has a long-held tradition of academic excellence; achievements in art, drama and music production; and competitive sportsmanship. Currently, two students from Belgrano Day School are taking concurrent courses with ASU Prep Digital.

https://asunow.asu.edu/20190107-asu-prep-digital-partners-offer-college-level-courses-argentinian-high-school-students

Jonathan Moules, Financial Times
When the Association of MBAs, the accreditation body for postgraduate management education, gives its approval to a business school’s MBA programme, it does so for a maximum of five years. But when that same business school awards one of these degrees, it is for life.  This does not make sense, according to Bodo Schlegelmilch, who is both chair of AMBA and a professor of international management and marketing at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. He is involved in both assessing schools and teaching masters degree students.  Subscription business models, such as car clubs and music streaming services, have made it a smart, easy choice to rent the things we used to own, Prof Schlegelmilch says. It would not, he thinks, take a great leap to apply this logic to degrees.

https://www.ft.com/content/257d9aa8-fd69-11e8-ac00-57a2a826423e

By Lauren Barack, Education Dive

Peter Nilsson is teaching his students at Massachusetts’ Deerfield Academy how to code through humanities text — which includes rap music, speeches and news stories — by having them use those skills to analyze linguistic details, according to The Hechinger Report.  More states are adding computer science classes and standards to their curriculum, with 40 states and the District of Columbia now allowing students to take computer science classes and count them as part of their math and science high school graduation requirements. To expand access, schools are also looking to weave more computer science skills into other core classes, from music courses where students compose through computer equipment to science classes where they build computer simulations to understand principles.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/contextualizing-coding-across-subjects-enhances-entire-curriculum/540258/

By Mark Lieberman, Inside Higher Ed

Berklee College of Music’s online program, priced at just over a third of tuition for the Massachusetts institution’s face-to-face degree offerings, raised eyebrows when it got off the ground in 2013. Conventional wisdom that online programs require more resources to produce had taken hold, and pricing models that favor online students were few and far between. Five years later, Berklee remains an anomaly in higher ed, as most institutions continue to charge the same or more for online programs as for their face-to-face equivalents. Some arguments hinge on a philosophical belief that online education should be valued equivalently to face-to-face programs, while others emphasize the significant financial burden of designing and launching online courses from scratch.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/07/11/berklee-college-music-defies-conventional-wisdom-low-price

by Najja Parker The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Atlanta-born director is partnering with MasterClass, a platform that hosts dozens of celebrity-led tutorials, to educate up-and-coming artists about the craft. For $90, Lee will discuss the technicalities of writing stories, collaborating with actors, choosing music, financing and picking the best camera angles. He will also take a critical look at the current film industry, sharing his personal experiences and advising filmmakers how to overcome hurdles within the field. “There are no absolute truths in filmmaking and no one way to be a filmmaker,” Lee said in a statement. “I’ve learned in 30 years things that I can give back. I’m teaching this MasterClass because very few people get to sit in my classes at NYU, so this is an opportunity for me to share what I’ve learned with as many students as possible, no matter where they are in their film career.”

https://www.ajc.com/news/world/spike-lee-launch-first-online-class-for-filmmakers/EDlmlYsrpbSFwXZYqbNZ7J/