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Online Learning News and Research
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Saturday, June 18, 2005
Diplomas For Sale - CBS 60 Minutes
You probably get emails from them every day: Internet sites that call themselves universities offering college degrees. They're called diploma mills, and many of them are nothing more than a post office box. But then there's Hamilton University, not to be confused with the legitimate Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. When Correspondent Vicki Mabrey first reported on this story last fall, Hamilton claimed to be a legitimate school offering a very non-traditional education. There are a lot of Hamilton graduates, including the CEO of a major corporation, and even a former manager from the Department of Homeland Security. (0) comments
Why mobile e-learning fails to make a move -Eric Wilson, SMH
Australia's telecommunications companies are stifling the economic benefits of mobile e-learning (m-learning). Dr Marcus Bowles, director of the Institute for Working Futures, says the incumbents are defending market share by confining mobile data transmissions to high-cost cellular networks. This is being accomplished using clever marketing and interconnected blocking of cheaper technologies. "They say mobile is the cellular network," Dr Bowles says. "That's a big misconception. There's the cellular network, wireless network and satellite technology. The misconception is it's all going to happen over the cellular network. There are extremely viable options beyond the mobile phone but there's a lot of ignorance about it." Dr Bowles' interest comes from a belief in m-learning, which he defines as the ability to perform training and assessment tasks using any device connected to any network. (0) comments
E-learning in Sri Lankan schools - Digital Opportunity
The Sri Lankan Education Ministry has launched an ICT program for senior and junior school students. An extensive plan for IT development in the school system is presently being developed for implementation from 2005 - 2010. Teaching General Information Technology in the Advanced Level classes will be strengthened with a new national examination (scheduled for August this year) for Grade 12 students. Besides, IT as an optional will be introduced at the Ordinary Level from January 2006. As part of the strategy, all the Navodya and National schools will have computers and and CD packs in their activity rooms. For primary school students, Science/Maths Corners will be introduced where ICT concepts will be taught through special learning packages. (0) comments Friday, June 17, 2005
City University London to use e-learning data to improve effectiveness of courses - Karen Gomm, Computer Weekly
The university is one of four institutions participating in the Quality Assessment Innovation Project. The other participants, all in the US, are the University of Georgia, Weber State University and Santa Barbara City College. The project's main goal is to foster innovation in education and to make it easy for colleges and universities to measure their results. This follows a recent warning from The Quality Assurance Agency that universities in the UK must maintain teaching standards.Under the project, City University London will use WebCT Vista's Powersight Kit to extract data on student activities, compare it against student achievements, combine it with other campus data, and use it for accreditation and programme improvement. The university will also track students' online behaviour and navigation pathways to help it improve the effectiveness of its e-learning courses. (0) comments
Duke Prepares for New Digital Initiative, Distributes Results of iPod Evaluation
Duke University has released the results of an evaluation of the 2004-2005 Duke iPod First-Year Experience. A report on the evaluation, conducted by the Center for Instructional Technology (CIT), is available for download from the Duke iPod website at www.duke.edu/ipod. The report details feedback from faculty, staff and students involved in the distribution of more than 1,600 iPods to incoming first-year students and their use in courses. In April 2005 Duke announced that preliminary information from the ongoing CIT evaluation contributed to the university's decision to continue using iPods in the classroom for the coming 2005-2006 academic year. The iPod use is part of the Duke Digital Initiative, a wide-ranging technology effort including digital audio, images and video, collaboration tools and tablet and hand-held computing. (0) comments
How do you handle a situation in which students do much more work than is expected of them? - Embanet
Occasionally, students overestimate how much work is required for assignments and submit so much that the course is barely manageable for the instructor! How do you handle a situation in which students do much more work than is expected of them? Q: An essential component of any online learning environment is the online discussion between students and between students and their instructor. Occasionally, a group becomes overzealous and engages in so much discussion that it cannot effectively be managed. Such discussions are usually not very reflective and consist mainly of opinions instead of postings pertaining to the course material. How can this best be managed? A: Students who work too hard at the beginning of a course often burn out early and do not enjoy the remainder of the class time as they should. The course may become a burden requiring too much time in front of the computer. (0) comments Thursday, June 16, 2005
Survey: Good grade for online learning - Sacramento Business Journals
Most people considering online education believe the quality of online education equals or is better than taking classes in an actual classroom setting, according to research conducted by Feedback Research, a division of Claria Corp. Results suggest that the online education market is continuing to grow in popularity with more than two-thirds of online education respondents indicating they see no difference between online and traditional schools on a variety of attributes such as starting salary (72 percent), quality of likely job after graduation (69 percent), quality of degree (68 percent) and overall quality of education (67 percent). (0) comments
Is Online Learning The Future for UK? - Brooke Van Dam, Further Education
Online learning is not something new. Many United States universities use it as their main source of teaching. In fact at some schools, you can even get an MBA online. So is the UK ready to jump on the online bandwagon? Although FE is still keeping classrooms as their main source of teaching, there are some interesting prospects ahead. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) are planning a Virtual Academy for London, commissioning Tribal Technology to draw up plans for an academy that would improve educational provisions for 14-19 years olds. The London Grid for Learning proposed the idea, within which framework they would make the London Virtual Academy an independent institution and that will enroll its own students. (0) comments
Labor agency programs aim to give women means to succeed - MIRIAM GOTTFRIED, the Oregonian
Shinae Chun, director of the U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau came to Portland on Wednesday looking for business partners to help teach career and financial skills to women.... A majority of the Women's Bureau's programs center around online learning where a volunteer mentor -- usually a teacher, a woman business owner or a financial expert -- instructs and evaluates participants through a Web site. Some, such as a program to teach computer skills to women re-entering the work force, also require participants to attend classes at a local college. The focus on technology is intentional -- a woman with computer skills can make 60 percent more money than a woman who's not tech savvy, Chun said. (0) comments Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Computer upgrade - KATHLEEN LYNN, North Jersey.com
At 9 p.m., after her three children are in bed for the night, Samika Jackson, 30, turns on her laptop computer and goes to school. Jackson is one of more than 100 women upgrading their job skills through a state program that provides laptops to working single mothers so they can take classes online at home. The idea is that the Internet can deliver education to low-income women who find going to classes all but impossible because they often lack child care, transportation and free time. "You can still maintain your lifestyle with your kids and your family, and go to school at the same time," said Jackson, of Paterson. "It fits right in." The program, called the New Jersey Online Learning Project for Single Working Poor Mothers, began in 2001 as a pilot program to teach workplace skills in seven counties, including Bergen and Morris. It is run by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development and funded with a $500,000 federal grant.... The Sloan Center was created with a $150,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to expand the online-training idea to other states. (0) comments
Drexel University Launches Unique Graduate Degree in Higher Education for Working Professionals
Drexel University, one of the top 50 private, non-profit, national doctoral/research universities in the U.S., announces the launch of Master's of Science in Higher Education in a distance learning format. One of the only Master's programs of its type in the nation, the distinctive online or blended formats provides working professionals with the tools and knowledge needed for career advancement in the field of higher education without any career interruption. “Higher Education is one of the nation's most unique industries and one of its largest exports,” said Dr. William Lynch, director of The Drexel School of Education. “Careers in higher education are professions onto themselves, and their unique nature more than ever requires special skill sets and career preparation. The goal of this program is to professionalize higher education careers and prepare students to launch or advance their careers in higher education.” (0) comments
Online Courses at Union College are Expanding
Union College's first online course started in May 2004 and after great success expansion plans for the online program were underway. The online course enrollment has more than tripled in the last year.... Dr. Lou Ann Hopper, Dean of Graduate Studies at Union College, had the following to say in regards to the success of the online courses: “I am pleased with the level of satisfaction our students have about the services Learning House enables us to offer. Given that some of our students have to travel a good distance before reaching our campus facilities, online courses have helped tremendously. The graduate school at Union responded to student desires for more online classes by adding more Learning House classes to our schedule. These classes have been met with great success.” Dr. Edge is also pleased about the expansion and had this to add, “We are excited that the programs are being embraced by the students enthusiastically and look forward to offering new advanced programs for Union to reach students nationally and globally.” (0) comments Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Overcoming the Biggest Barrier to Student Success - Ron Bleed, Campus Technologies
In order to overcome the biggest barrier to student success, higher education must understand that the residential experience that is portrayed in many glorified forms and memories is a reality today for only a small minority. Although my research is from the Maricopa Community Colleges (AZ), the results are applicable to many other types of colleges--an estimated 87 percent of all students in the US now commute to their campuses, according to the National Clearinghouse for Commuter Programs, University of Maryland. (0) comments
Free Online Course Focuses On Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has evolved into a strategic, global business management practice. Understanding how to incorporate social, environmental and economic sustainability into the planning processes is critical to an organization's success. By integrating CSR with Balanced Scorecard processes, organizations can improve business performance across the enterprise. BetterManagement, the world's premier business resource for visionary perspectives and management insights, is offering a free Learning Series entitled Corporate Social Responsibility: Aligning the Organization for Competitive Advantage. The Learning Series, presented in part by Certified Management Accountants and The Balanced Scorecard Collaborative, focuses on actionable information and effective methodologies to help organizations develop successful CSR strategies. (0) comments
OUM Strives for Best Instructional Platforms - Black Enterprise, Kuala Lumpur
Within the context of fast-paced technological change and shifting market conditions, the Malaysian education system is constantly challenged with providing quality educational opportunities. Hence Open University Malaysia (OUM) is answering this challenge through its Open and Distance Learning (ODL) programmes. Flexibility is the core of the ODL concept. There are three components in the ODL concept: self-managed learning, on-line learning and face-to- face interaction. But why teach at a distance, you might ask? Educators at OUM have envisioned that the opportunities offered by on-line distance education outweigh the obstacles. (0) comments
Winneba University of Education to be put on-line - Ghana Web
Mr Kwasi Adu-Gyan, a Director at the Ministry of Communications, has said the ministry was collaborating with the Ministry of Education and Sports to put the Winneba University of Education on-line. This will enable the university to broadcast its academic programmes on-line and speed up the academic work of its students pursuing distance-learning programmes. The project will be undertaken through the Africa Virtual University and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)/Electronic (E)-Schools Initiative. Mr Adu-Gyan said this at a ceremony on Saturday at which Nana Amoako, the Member of Parliament for Upper Denkyira East, presented five computers and their accessories worth 10 million cedis to the Dunkwa Secondary-Technical School. (0) comments Monday, June 13, 2005
Approaches to online learning design: metaphors, taxonomies, and metrics - Ulises A. Mejias & David Shoemaker, Learning Circuits
As designers of online learning experiences, it’s not unusual to find ourselves working with subject matter experts (SMEs) who are relatively new to the field. They may be technical specialists, stand-up trainers, or university faculty; they may be first-rate classroom teachers. But even with the emergence of new production technologies that facilitate the rapid development of online content by SMEs, asking a stand-up trainer or classroom teacher to develop instructional material for the online environment is like asking a theater director to direct a movie. What works in one medium doesn’t necessarily work in the other, and each has its unique vocabulary, tools, and capabilities. Our ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with SMEs plays a significant role in determining how well we take advantage of the online medium to create an engaging and effective learning experience. The solution? Use metaphors, taxonomies, and metrics to manage the collaborative process, define an effective online pedagogy, and ensure the success of the project as a whole. (0) comments
Google Woos Book Publishers - Stacy Cowley, IDG News Service
The publishing industry's top annual showcase and networking conference, Book Expo America (BEA), is a massive affair that brings together authors, publishers of all sizes, librarians, agents, distributors, and virtually everyone else connected in any way to the book publishing field. This year, Google made its first appearance, using last week's show in New York to publicize its new Google Print venture and to recruit publishers into the fold. Google Print technically remains in beta, but the service went live in October and began accepting submissions. Google's goal is to extend its information-organizing ethos to the offline world by offering searchable copies of as many books as possible. The company's approach is two-pronged: A publishers' program solicits commercial books, while Google's Library Project is working with five major libraries to scan their collections and make portions of them available to Web surfers. (0) comments
Online scholar Diunde excels - COLIN O'CONNOR, the Royal Gazette
Diunde Smith is a young Bermudian who has reaped the rewards of distance learning. Not only has she earned two degrees from Schiller International University, she is the latest recipient of the joint Schiller / Ministry of Telecommunications pilot online education scholarship to graduate – and she did so with distinction. Minister of Telecommunications and E-Commerce Michael Scott congratulated Ms Smith on graduating with an MBA in International Business, and also for being "the beneficiary of the distinguished Graduate Chairman's Award in recognition of her outstanding academic competence in the MBA International Business programme". In addition to Ms Smith, two other students have graduated from the programme, and four others are nearing completion of their studies.The Minister said he was "delighted that Diunde Smith has completed her degree and gained special recognition from the university. One of the key selling points of Bermuda as an e-commerce jurisdiction is our educated workforce. (0) comments Sunday, June 12, 2005
Using Screen Recording and Compression Software to Support Online Learning - Lyn Barnes, Sheila Scutter, and Janette Young, Innovate Online
Lyn Barnes, Sheila Scutter, and Janette Young examine the instructional potential of screen recording and compression software in online courses. In a pilot study, they solicited student feedback on the use of 15 Capture CAM-PRO (CCP) recordings in a summer course. These files, each 10 minutes or shorter, did not introduce new course content; instead they reinforced key lessons and addressed student questions. Results from the study indicate that the addition of visual and aural communication helped students feel connected to the instructor and the course; enhanced their understanding of assignments, and improved their comprehension of content. (0) comments
How effective is Online learning? - New research seeks answer - EGovMonitor
As more and more people are using computers and the Internet for a whole host of different life tasks – such as shopping, banking and booking holidays - the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) is conducting a research project to find out how effective learning online is. With over 3000 courses now available to study online - in subjects as diverse as languages, IT and fork lift truck driving – this form of learning is often seen as convenient for learners and, as such, it is anticipated to become ever more popular. However NIACE is keen to hear about the experiences – good and bad - of learners who have chosen to study online, so future learners can benefit. Lisa Englebright, Researcher, ICT and Learning Team, NIACE, said, “This is the first generation of learners who have studied online. For NIACE it’s both interesting and important to find out what the benefits are and what the drawbacks have been. (0) comments
Long behind the curve, Oregon tries to catch up on cyberschools - Julia Silverman, Associated Press
When it comes to virtual schools, Oregon — a state that prides itself on being ahead of the education curve — is admittedly late to the party. From Florida to California, other states have forged ahead with online schools of all shades. The federal government estimates that about 36 percent of the nation's 15,000 public school districts had students enrolled in distance courses in the 2002-03 school year; exact figures from Oregon change so frequently that they are not available from the state Department of Education. In Oregon, at least 365 different courses are available for virtual learning, but the programs are scattershot. Some districts, like Salem-Keizer, offer broad online learning programs, while others offer only token efforts. (0) comments Online Learning News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
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