Online Learning Update

More on Online Language Learning - ERIC A. TAUB, Gadgetwise New York Times

2010-02-09T00:10:00.001Z

Last week�s article on online language learning apparently hit a nerve; not only was it widely e-mailed, but a number of individuals told me about other language courses that I had missed in my research. In addition, a few factual corrections to the story are in order. Starting with the latter, the free language courses at the BBC�s web site may not work in all countries. For example, the videos cannot be played in the U.S., but other elements of the program do work.

From the Campus to the Future - Diana G. Oblinger, EDUCAUSE Review

2010-02-09T00:05:00.002Z

The purpose of higher education is to equip students for success in life � in their workplaces, in their communities, and in their personal lives. Yet though this purpose has remained constant for centuries, colleges and universities themselves are undergoing major change. The campus, the library, the refereed journal article, the classroom, and the traditional-age student � common features of higher education today�may be inadequate in describing higher education tomorrow.

Innovating the 21st-Century University: It�s Time! - Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, EDUCAUSE Review

2010-02-09T00:02:00.001Z

At first blush, the university seems to be in greater demand than ever. Yet there are troubling indicators that the picture is not so rosy. And we're not talking just about the university endowment reductions caused by the current financial meltdown. A dismal 58 percent of entering freshmen actually graduate from the same college within six years.4 More and more students are questioning the "bang for the buck" as college tuition has risen in cost more than any other good or service since 1990, leaving students with $714 billion in outstanding student-loan debt in the United States alone.5 Students around the world are increasingly choosing alternative models of higher education.

Google to Push Google Voice, Google Wave to Businesses - Clint Boulton, eWeek

2010-02-08T00:12:00.000Z

Google Enterprise President Girouard said Google will release Google Wave, the company's real-time collaboration platform, for all consumers and businesses in 2010. Google, which currently offers the open-source Wave platform by invitation only, has rolled the platform out to more than 1 million users. Wave lets users communicate in via instant messaging, and enables multiuser document editing and social networking all in real time on one user interface. As such, it is a sort of lively incarnation of many of the Google Apps programs. Girouard said parts of Wave will show up in other Google products, but it is unclear how this will take shape. For example, Wave and Gmail may be integrated. Wave could easily leverage the word processing, spreadsheet and presentation programs in Google Docs.

Bill Gates looks to improve online learning through grants - Staff and Samantha Lockhart, the Manitoban

2010-02-08T00:10:00.000Z

Bill Gates has recently announced in his 2010 annual letter that he will be offering grants from his foundations to further the usage of online learning. One aspect of online learning is the availability of video lectures online. Many free lectures from universities appear on such websites as AcademicEarth.org, whose goal is to �bring the best content together in one place and create an environment in which that content is remarkably easy to use and where user contributions make existing content increasingly valuable.�

Report reveals spike in online learning enrollment - Dennis Carter, eSchool News

2010-02-08T00:04:00.001Z

Three-fourths of public colleges believe online courses are "critical" for long-term success. The 2009 Sloan-C report on online education confirmed what campus officials have seen during the country�s economic downturn: Americans are flocking to web-based college classes. The seventh annual study, based on responses from more than 2,500 colleges and universities and funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, reported a 17-percent increase in online course enrollment, with more than one-fourth of U.S. college students taking at least one web-based class during the fall 2008 semester.

Top 8 Higher Education Trends of the Decade

2010-02-08T00:01:00.000Z

Those of us in the higher education field learned a lot during the 2000-2009 period, mainly that nothing stays the same. Things evolve at record speeds as technology develops, mindsets change, and trends take hold. Here are 8 of the biggest higher education trends I witnessed during the last decade:

1) Online Learning � A decade ago, the idea of earning a degree from your home computer sounded a little shady. Fast forward, and over 3.5 million people are taking online learning courses today, with most major colleges and universities offering online degree programs. The concept of �point, click, study� is officially mainstream.

New online learning chemistry course offers students greater flexibility - Rick Moore, University of Minnesota

2010-02-07T00:10:00.003Z

For months last year, U chemistry instructor Michelle Driessen dreaded the lectures for her fall 2009 class, Introductory Chemistry. It�s not that she doesn�t love to teach. It�s just that she knew she�d be teaching in a room with no students. Such is life when you�re taping lessons for a new online course.

Hybrid courses to shift costs - Michelle Miron, Press Pubs

2010-02-07T00:03:00.001Z

Mounds View Schools will soon be addressing how its offering this fall of 19 hybrid courses � those that combine online learning with classroom time � will affect costs incurred in teaching and other factors. District Superintendent Dan Hoverman said a conference he and other school officials attended recently at the St. Paul-based education technology collaborative TIES brought up points about how the shift may lessen costs for textbooks and other materials.

More Colorado Students are Choosing Online K-12 Schools - KUNC

2010-02-07T00:01:00.001Z

More and more Colorado K-12 students are leaving traditional brick and mortar schools in favor of online education. Colorado is one of 24 states to offer students the option of going to virtual schools full time - and last year enrollment numbers jumped to 11,641 students. That's according to an annual report released this week by the Colorado Department of Education. Pam Ice is director of the Department's Unit of Online Learning. She says last year's 12.5 percent increase in student enrollment is actually down from the previous school year.

High schools rely more on online learning - Kalen Ponche, St. Louis Today

2010-02-06T00:10:00.003Z

In a recent first-hour class at Francis Howell Union High School, a class of 10 students worked on biology, history or business. Their teacher, Ed Nelson, wasn't leading the various lessons. Instead, each student sat in front of a computer, working through an online program on the course he or she needed to pass to graduate. The students at Francis Howell Union - an alternative high school - take the majority of their courses online.

Online learning classes could net scholarships - Rena Delbridge, Alaska Dispatch

2010-02-06T00:05:00.001Z

One of the big concerns surfacing about Gov. Sean Parnell's proposal to offer merit-based scholarships to Alaska high school graduates bound for the state's universities and job training programs is a core curriculum requirement. There's some question as to whether the core classes that students would have to take in order to meet eligibility for the Governor's Performance Scholarship are available throughout the state, especially in rural areas where class sizes and offerings can be pretty small. The House Education Committee is going to look into that a bit on Wednesday morning with a round-table presentation by Alaska Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux. He'll go over existing on-line high school programs and talk about possible expansions that could make a wider variety of courses available to students anywhere in the state.

Online learning classes help students get ahead, ready for college - JEFF WALD, Northfield News

2010-02-06T00:01:00.001Z

What do the three Northfield High School students all have in common? They�re all pursuing college through TORCH. The program, Tackling Obstacles and Raising College Hopes, offers post secondary education classes to minority high school students who might not otherwise have the chance to go to college. They are likely to be the first in their families to attend college. The three take online classes up to three days a week through Riverland Community College in Austin. The college also has facilities in Austin and Albert Lea.

Online learning opportunities - Shea Conner, St. Joe News

2010-02-05T00:10:00.001Z

Between layoffs and pay freezes, more and more people are seeking a college education. The problem is that many can�t quit their full-time jobs to go back to school. Others have been out of school for so long that they feel uncomfortable returning to classrooms full of 20-somethings. For these folks, an online learning or distance-learning program provides a perfect remedy. They can earn a degree without driving through the cold Missouri winter to a campus. Not to mention, they can set their own hours.

Summer classes in Des Moines moving to online learning mode - CYNTHIA REYNAUD and JARED STRONG, Des Moines Register

2010-02-05T00:05:00.001Z

Summer learning programs in classrooms across Des Moines schools are being eliminated as the district searches for ways to save money in light of a budget shortfall. The district announced Friday that high school students will be offered online classes to make up most course work they fail this school year. Last year, teachers taught most of the makeup classes.

Online Learning: The Web Way to Learn a Language - ERIC A. TAUB, New York Times

2010-02-05T00:01:00.001Z

Online courses are either fee-based, free or a combination. Starter kits of fee-based programs may cost just a few hundred dollars, but the cost to reach higher levels of comprehension and speaking can easily be $1,000. While that may sound expensive, language company executives say it isn�t; college courses often cost many thousands of dollars to reach the same level. So, cost aside, how do you choose which program to use? The answer is that one size doesn�t fit all.

UT TeleCampus caters to frenzied schedules - Julie Bissinger, Daily Texan Staff

2010-02-04T00:06:00.001Z

More students are opting to take online courses � so many that online enrollment through the UT TeleCampus increased by 30 percent between fall 2008 and fall 2009. The increase is almost double the national average increase of 17 percent in online course enrollment, according to The Sloan Consortium, a leadership organization that advocates online classes. The convenience of taking classes online has attracted younger students to enroll, said Darcy Hardy, the executive director of UT TeleCampus. For some students, taking online courses is more compatible with their busy schedules.

Grading professors gravitates online - Jennifer Parli, Kentucky Kernal

2010-02-04T00:04:00.001Z

Students might be seeing one less scantron sheet at the end of the semester. Teacher and course evaluations are slowly transitioning into using online methods to get student input about classes, said Roger Sugarman, director of Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness at UK. The online evaluations were first used in Spring 2008 and 83 courses participated. That number jumped to 825 courses using the online forms in Fall 2009. Sugarman said the use of online evaluations is still just an option at this point because he wanted faculty to feel more comfortable before making the switch a requirement.

Cyber Schools: Future of Education? - Katie Kim, WILX

2010-02-04T00:02:00.000Z

Dropping and picking up your children from school may become a thing of the past. Instead, instruction could come to your home. "A cyber school is a school where you don't have students inside of a physical classroom," says Gary Naeyaert from the Michigan Association of Public School Academies. Naeyaert says qualified educators would teach the same curriculum as in a traditional school, but learning would be done online. Naeyaert says this model best serves at-risk students. "Students who have already dropped out of the traditional school system or are in a situation where because of their personal life, or where they work, or what their family situation is where they just can't attend school from 8 until 3," says Naeyaert.

Online learning an educational option - Howard Carlson, Wickenburg Sun

2010-02-03T00:10:00.000Z

Online learning is growing at an exponential rate in this country at both the K-12 and college levels, and this pace is expected to continue into the foreseeable future. An article published in the Arizona Republic this week indicated that �more than 26,000 Arizona students took K-12 online courses last year.� Today�s student, both K-12 and adult, are often times looking for greater flexibility and choice as learners or in some cases may face geographic barriers to learning, which are fueling this dramatic change to the educational landscape. How is this impacting the Wickenburg Unified School District? How will it impact our district in the future? These and other questions are being pondered as we consider how to compete in today�s technologically oriented educational environment.

Digital textbooks cut costs, expand lessons - Michael Woyton, Poughkeepsie Journal

2010-02-03T00:05:00.001Z

When students show up for Kevin Gaugler's Spanish in technology class at Marist College, they don't have to lug around a textbook. The entire class is done electronically. For Gaugler, who teaches the course, not using printed textbooks made sense. "The whole course is task-based learning," he said. "There just isn't a textbook I could choose." While college students frequently have the option of buying used textbooks or even electronic versions that can save them a little cash, purchasing required textbooks can cost hundreds of dollars.

Student enrollment in online K-12 courses up 12.5% in Colorado - Mark Harden, MSN

2010-02-03T00:01:00.003Z

While the explosion in online college education has received a lot of attention, a new state report says that enrollment in high-school and even elementary-school courses offered over the Internet is also growing rapidly in Colorado. Enrollment in online courses offered by Colorado schools is up 12.5 percent in the 2009-2010 school year from the previous term, the Colorado Department of Education reports. There were 13,093 Colorado K-12 students enrolled in online programs for the 2009-2010 term as of October 2009, versus 11,641 as of October 2008.

Online Learning Gets High Praise From Bill Gates - Zach Miners, US News

2010-02-02T00:10:00.001Z

In his 2010 annual letter, recently posted to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website, Bill Gates makes a pretty strong case for incorporating different elements of the Internet�specifically, online video and interactive lessons�into both K-12 and higher education. "A lot of people, including me, think this is the next place where the Internet will surprise people in how it can improve things," he writes. It is a fact that "online learning," "educational technology," and "distance education" are buzzwords that are practically ubiquitous among today's teachers, education gurus, and even high-profile business executives

E-learning changing the face of health care education - Tara Bannow, University of Minnesota Daily

2010-02-02T00:05:00.000Z

The six schools and colleges that reside within the University of Minnesota�s Academic Health Center are rapidly beefing up their e-learning offerings � a trend experts say only makes sense when it comes to health education. �E-learning is becoming incredibly core to what we do here,� said Barbara Brandt , assistant vice president for education in the AHC. The rumblings will culminate in the unveiling of the AHC�s Office of e-Learning , anticipated to happen this spring.

Ten Demographic Trends Offer Unprecedented Challenge -- and Opportunity -- for Colleges and Universities in 2010

2010-02-02T00:01:00.001Z

Enrollment in online high school courses is growing rapidly. In fact, it is growing faster than online college enrollments. The "online-experienced" new students will expect both the convenience and flexibility of online and hybrid courses as well as a high level of instructional quality when they enroll in college. Opportunity: Focus on innovation and excellence in online learning experiences by creating an environment that rewards faculty for bringing a high level of teaching creativity to their online courses.