Online Learning Update

 By Charlie Sorrel, Wired

If you wanted to know how many pirated e-books are being downloaded, BitTorrent would be a good starting place. TorrentFreak, a blog that covers these speedy, P2P downloads, recently decided to check the numbers. The question: did e-book torrent downloading become more popular after the iPad’s launch? The answer was a resounding “kinda.” While almost none of Amazon’s top ten appeared on public torrent trackers, six out of 10 books in the business category were available. When TorrentFreak checked the before and after numbers, it found that the number of BitTorrent book downloads grew by an average of 78 percent in the days after the iPad went on sale. Even so, the numbers were still tiny compared to the traffic in movies and music.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/05/is-the-ipad-driving-e-book-piracy-and-does-it-matter/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29#ixzz0ogquc2BV

 By Tanya Roscorla, Converge

During his senior year, Shaun Sims took online classes at the University of Texas at Austin to supplement his regular courses. Some of his friends took online classes too, but they turned in assignments that other people completed for them. That’s when Sims decided to do something to cut back on cheating online. In 2009, he and computer science Ph.D student Andrew Mills launched a startup company called Digital Proctor. By analyzing each online participant’s unique typing pattern, their software authenticates the student’s work.

http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/Typing-Analysis-Software-Keeps-Online-Students-Honest.html

By Russell Nichols, Converge

Udemy, a website launched Tuesday, May 11, allows anyone, anywhere to teach and learn online for free. As part of the universal trend to use the Web as a platform for instruction, Udemy aims to democratize online education by allowing users to post videos, presentations, blogs and host live virtual classroom sessions. Users can subscribe to courses, participate in forums and publish links to courses on Twitter and Facebook. With the live virtual classroom feature, as many as 10 instructors can host live video conferences, and more than 1,000 people can log on to watch the streaming sessions. “The Internet is a democratizing force,” Biyani said. “You can actually eliminate barriers to entry and provide anybody with access to education through technology.”

http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/Free-Website-Leverages-Teaching-Tools.html

By Greg Rienzi, The Gazette

This summer, four of the university’s academic divisions will switch to the popular course management software, now in use at a majority of U.S. colleges. Three others will be upgrading to the latest version in the near future. Blackboard will replace WebCT, the virtual learning system at Johns Hopkins since 2000. No courses will be offered in WebCT after summer 2010. The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Whiting School of Engineering, SAIS and Peabody will migrate existing course sites to Blackboard starting July 6 and begin use in the fall. (Part-time programs in the Krieger and Whiting schools will continue with Sakai, a customizable community source system used by more than 200 colleges and universities worldwide.) The Carey Business School, School of Medicine and the School of Nursing currently use an earlier version of Blackboard, and a specific migration schedule to 9.1 is being finalized.

http://gazette.jhu.edu/2010/05/17/planning-for-the-demise-of-webct/

The University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) has awarded Berkleemusic.com, the online extension school of Boston’s Berklee College of Music, with its 2010 Best Online College Course Award for Professor Stephen Webber’s Music Production Analysis course. This is the Berkleemusic’s sixth national award, having received the honor each year since 2005. The award is the highest recognition possible for online curriculum from UCEA, a membership association that promotes excellence in continuing higher education. The competition judges courses from all colleges and universities nationwide, representing all disciplines.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/berkleemusic/ucea-award/prweb4004944.htm

By Rob Ebert, The Northwestern

All the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh graduates looked the same lined up in rows on the floor of the Kolf Sports Center. They wore flowing black robes and donned black square hats, in stark contrast to the multi-colored crowd surrounding them.They acted the same, straining their necks to look for mom or dad, a friend or relative, in the stands. They smiled when they received their diploma, and exchanged high fives and congratulations with those around them, before moving their tassels from right to left. But underneath the formalities and uniforms lay striking differences. Justin Heim is not your typical college student. He’s a 27-year-old fire chief in the Eagle Fire Department, but he graduated from UWO with a bachelor’s in fire response and mercy management. He was able to take all of his classes online as part of UWO’s Center for New Learning program, which helps non-traditional students. Heim said the online course helps him every day at his job.  “I deal with a predominantly volunteer work force,” Heim said. “A lot of the education has been focused on organizational leadership and management.”

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20100516/OSH0101/100515074/1987/OSHopinion/2010-graduates-ready-for-next-step

by Online Marketer

Women Online Marketing Trainingis very popular now a days in Bangladesh like other parts of the world. Bangladeshi Women Online Marketing Training course is designed for Bangladeshi Women Online Marketer. By the training you can do Women Online Marketing Now a days Women Online Marketing Trainingis becoming more and more popular day by day in Bangladesh and other countries of the globe. Bangladeshi Women Online Marketing Training course is designed for Bangladeshi Women Online Marketer. By the social training you can do Women Online Marketing Trainingfor your own website or blog if you do Online marketing. You can do the same for your customers website and blog as well, if you work as a freelance worker in Bangladesh.

http://www.addpr.com/articles/marketing_and_internet/31575.html

by Rosemount Town Pages

Earlier this week the District 196 School Board took a first look at a proposed class that would blend classroom and online learning for some of the district’s most advanced students. The class is the first of its kind in the district, but if it goes forward we have a feeling it won’t be the last. Balancing the needs of students and the realities of education funding has never exactly been easy for school districts, but with the economy struggling and budgets tighter than ever it’s getting even tougher. The school board approved more than $15 million in budget adjustments in April, including the elimination of 144 classroom teaching positions. That tends to cut back on some options.

http://www.rosemounttownpages.com/event/article/id/24693/group/Opinion/

by Creston Advertiser and ARA

While more people than ever are participating in online education, 2008 statistics show that nearly 75 percent of today’s students have never taken a single class online. Some people still feel that online training doesn’t offer the same quality of education as a traditional college, while others think they lack the technical knowledge to handle online learning. Those who do take classes online find that advances in technology have made today’s online colleges more attractive than ever.

http://www.crestonnewsadvertiser.com/articles/ara/2010/05/13/8047651766/index.xml

by Joanna Nolasco, The University of Washington Daily

In February 2009, the Board of Regents granted approval of a pilot project that would charge an additional $350 fee to undergraduate students for each online class they take. While initially granted just for the current academic year, the board approved extension of this financial model for the pilot project into the 2010-11 academic year. “The extension of this pilot would help us determine the usefulness of online courses in a broader spectrum of disciplines, its role in large lecture classes, and the differences between its effectiveness in lower- and upper-division courses,” the academic and student affairs committee wrote in the proposal. The $350 fee is used for online-course development, instruction and administrative costs of the classes with at least 40 students.

http://dailyuw.com/2010/5/14/two-campus-wide-renovation-projects-ecc-update-onl/

by Sloan Consortium

Google Wave is fully released!  Invitations no longer required.  The revolutionary new free collaboration tool from the undisputed leader in online technologies promises to change the way we integrate Web 2.0 into our teaching and learning.  With more than three million people worldwide already using Wave, the technology is quickly becoming the preferred new tool for online collaboration.  Integrating Twitter, iframe Web windows, instant polling, drag-and-drop documents, native text chat modes, mind maps, streaming video, audio, and much more – all into a single slick Wiki platform, Wave is the ideal tool for group projects, reflective journaling, and class collaborations.  

This Wednesday, May 26 Webinar will introduce participants to the new technology and provide examples of effective uses of the technology, resource sites, and access to a Wave “sandbox” to test out the many gadgets, bots and extensions available in this exciting new technology. 

http://sloanconsortium.org/node/1145

by Nick Linardopoulos, JOLT

The increased availability of online coursework in higher education has prompted a number of research studies regarding the academic rigor and marketability of those courses. However, the existing literature pays little attention to the opportunities and challenges of the online delivery of skills based courses that require the mastery of a practical component in addition to the theory. This paper is a case study in the teaching of a public speaking course in a fully online setting. The format of the online setting of the course is analyzed and the challenges faced from an instructional and student perspective are described. The paper also discusses the effectiveness of teaching this specific course in an online setting based on student feedback. The paper concludes with a discussion of the educational implications and opportunities stemming from

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol6no1/linardopoulos_0310.pdf

by Anya Kamenetz, Huffington Post

Yesterday the University of California made a groundbreaking announcement that has the potential to break the tuition cost crisis and finally deliver the crucial benefits of higher education to millions of Americans and to tens of millions who demand it and deserve it around the world. They are putting $5 to $6 million into a pilot project to create online versions of courses with an eye toward eventually creating completely online degree programs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anya-kamenetz/u-of-california-resuscita_b_574184.html

by Kyle Rokes, Santa Barbara Community College Channels

Blackboard is also expensive, costing the college $208,000 a year in licensing and other fees to those same owners. Moodle, used by an increasing amount of instructors on campus, is open-sourced, so not only can anyone use it for free, but also any user can submit proposals on how to change or improve it. And instead of Blackboard’s corporate for-profit model, Moodle is made by educators for educators, and doesn’t cost a penny. Hersh said, in theory, the $208,000 can be used for other things, “like investing in the college’s future.” He said that would be “a wiser investment in resources.”

http://media.www.thechannelsonline.com/media/storage/paper669/news/2010/05/12/News/New-Program.Changes.Make.Online.Classes.Easier.To.Use-3919188.shtml

by Whitney Bryen, Colorado Daily

Last summer’s pilot program proved popular with students, professors. University of Colorado history professor Thomas Zeiler has been the umpire of his classroom for the last 20 years, but now he’s hoping to improve his batting average with students online. Zeiler taught “America through Baseball” during his first online course last June, and after a few minor adjustments, he’s hoping for a home run with this summer’s sequel. His is one 10 online summer courses offered by CU this summer, up from just three last year.

http://www.coloradodaily.com/cu-boulder/ci_15065293#axzz0o3OVDYtU

by Nok-Noi Ricker, Bangor Daily News

Gov. John Baldacci and his wife, Karen, popped into a third-grade classroom at Washington Street School for a visit Monday afternoon and did so from the comfort of the Blaine House in Augusta. The Baldaccis used the Internet and videoconferencing to meet pupils in Cherrie MacInnes’ classroom, which included visitors from Deirdre Bryant’s third-grade class. Third-graders in MacInnes’ class have traveled to 31 states this year by the Internet through her “Chatting Across the USA” project, and are planning trips to every other state in the nation before the school year is out.

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/143163.html

 by Jenngerl, Real Online Degrees

Colleges and universities are offering online learning for reasons other than increasing demand. The dwindling economy has been a major catalyst for the increase in online offerings. Recent cuts in education budgets nationwide have forced many institutions of higher learning to do more with less. About half of educational institutions who offer online coursework have experienced major budget cuts. Offering online learning is also a way to keep costs down for both the college and the students. However, the trend toward a more highly-educated society has prompted many working adults to do double duty: work full time while attending online college full or part time. President Obama’s initiative of creating a country of more educated citizens is also prompting individuals to beef up their job skills and go to school to remain competitive in today’s workforce.

http://www.realonlinedegrees.com/online-education-continues-to-grow_2010-05-10/

by Google Wave Blog

University students and professors worldwide have used waves within and beyond the classroom to collaborate on Latin poetry translations, write academic research papers and even build new functionality with Wave’s APIs. An ICT teacher also enjoyed having her 5th-graders do their class research in Wave. Now the Wave is open to all – no more invitations; no more waiting.  Let the online collaborations begin!

http://googlewave.blogspot.com/2010/05/google-wave-available-for-everyone.html

by the Chronicle of Higher Education

Officials at the University of California system have proposed an expansion of online efforts in the midst of a fiscal crisis, in an attempt to provide for-credit courses to a greater number of students. The proposal contrasts sharply with the system’s current online program. University of California campuses currently enroll more than 25,000 students each year online. But nearly all of them are in courses that are part of graduate or extension programs; undergraduate students cannot typically take those courses for credit.

http://chronicle.com/article/California-Dreaming-Remaking/65446/

by Colleen Glenn, Business Lexington

Biology professor Ruth Beattie remarks that the popularity of online learning has steadily increased since she started teaching them 10 years ago. “A lot of students like working on their own,” says Beattie. The class she is teaching this summer, Principles of Microbiology, is filling up quickly. “This particular course is required by the nursing program so a lot of the students who take my online course are in the nursing program or are thinking of joining it. It’s a way for them to take the course without actually being on campus.” Beattie is quick to point out that online courses are not easier versions of regular courses. “It’s the same course,” she states. “The learning objectives are the same. They’re doing the exact same thing. The only thing that’s different is the format for the classroom presentation.”

http://www.bizlex.com/Articles-c-2010-05-10-92556.113117_The_care_and_feeding_of_the_healthy_mind.html

by Jennifer Dunnville, Daily Gleaner

An international e-learning specialist says universities and colleges need to do more in the area of online teaching and distance education. Tony Bates, who has written nine books on distance education and served as a consultant on the topic in more than 35 countries, said the post-secondary education system needs to adapt to the changing needs of its students. “If you look at traditional university, it’s a one size fits all where everyone goes to campus to the same classes for the same exams,” Bates said during his visit to Fredericton on Monday. “That traditional model is the industrial model, but we’re not in an industrial world now. We’re in a more flexible world and people are more flexible in when they work and the way they work.

http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/cityregion/article/1047286