Online Learning Update

by Open, Equal, Free

They’ve been theoretically discussed for a decade, tested by some of the United State’s elite universities, and discussed on our site before, but Massive Open Online Courses (or, MOOCs) are now truly taking the world by storm. MOOCs are an experiment in accessible higher education, free online courses taught by professors or other leaders in a field that are available to people around the world. They can provide a high-quality educational experience for people who may otherwise lack direct access (because of geographical, economic, or other reasons) to higher education. This creates tremendous potential for opportunities and advancement that was previously unheard of for the poor, marginalized, and isolated.

http://www.openequalfree.org/massive-open-online-courses-take-world-by-storm/8340

by Ryan Carter, Learning Online Info

Completing online classes, you work on and submit your assignments in your own time and in your own way. For most students, that flexibility represents the principal advantage of online study. It can, however, degenerate into the class’s greatest threat, because it allows for lots of avoidance and procrastination. You know that big assignments buried in small print can sneak-up and ambush you. In order to avoid digital disaster, you must restructure all the old school rules to fit with your virtual circumstances. Take advantage of the flexibility built into your online classes, but beware the risk that comes with the flexibility. Most of all, make sure you maintain the foundation of your academic success: Make sure your colleagues and supervisors at work understand the importance of your college study, and make even more certain your family knows what your degree means to you and will mean for their quality of life.

http://learningonlineinfo.org/stay-productive-in-your-online-classes/

by Charlotte Bailey, the University of Ottowa Fulcrum

Students looking to get ahead in their studies during their summer months usually turn to local classes. But if the choices for courses are lacking the classes they need, students have an alternative option. Online courses from universities across Canada are being offered for University of Ottawa credit. “Most often, courses are taken in the summer in order to catch up,” said U of O academic advisor for the faculty of arts Julien Quesnel. According to Quesnel, there’s more flexibility with the courses offered when students start searching in alternate universities—most of which are found through the Canadian Virtual Universities website.

http://thefulcrum.ca/2012/03/students-turn-online-for-courses/

by Peter Cownie, Des Moines Register

Is the Internet a good tool to help educate Iowa students in our schools? If yes, how should it be used? Relatively speaking, the Internet is a new product and has not been a regular part of American life for more than about 15 years or so. It has helped create wealth, make unlimited access to information available, and become an invaluable tool in the workplace. I also believe there is a place for online learning in Iowa education. House File 2380, the education reform bill, was debated and passed last week by the Iowa House. House File 2380 is a complex and far-reaching bill. Online learning is an important part of the bill. Part of the online learning piece essentially allows for students to take a class online through the Department of Education if their own school does not offer that class. For example, if a 10th-grader at Baxter High School wants to take German even though that class is not offered at high school, he or she would be able to take German online through the Department of Education.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120318/COMM/303180034/-1/profile_images/Cownie-Rural-students-would-gain-options-Internet-classes-were-available

by Bruce Johnson, Online College Courses

What I’ve discovered along the way is that action is doing something with the materials; however, interaction provides an opportunity to work with the information. For example, students take action by reading the assigned course materials. When students participate in the discussion board they interact with that information and their classmates, which in turn creates an enhanced learning experience…. An EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative report, Authentic Learning for the 21st Century: An Overview, states that “students say they are motivated by solving real-world problems. They often express a preference for doing rather than listening. At the same time, most educators consider learning-by-doing the most effective way to learn.

http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/03/15/what-makes-an-online-class-an-interactive-learning-experience/

By Char Booth, American Libraries

Mirroring the best practices of colleagues—while adding your own pedagogical tweaks to the mix—is what moves the profession forward. Most librarians are educators in one sense or another, even when the role is not explicit. The best teachers learn from others and learn by doing. This is a good rule for improving at virtually anything: Seeking inspiration and accepting criticism makes your work richer and more well rounded. Many of the ideas I present here I first observed among friends and teachers whose methods I admired or whose recommendations led me to a new approach or tool. Through mentorship, coteaching, professional organizations, online forums, and other channels, I have expanded my own method base and gained a clearer perspective on my impact as a communicator and designer.

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/features/03142012/reflective-teaching-librarians

by Melissa Venable, Online College

As technology rapidly evolves and becomes more pervasive in our lives and our students’ lives, it is also becoming more prevalent at all levels of education. Higher education leaders are looking for ways to meet challenges related to budgets and access, while addressing academic objectives and learner needs. Online learning is one way for institutions to meet the many requirements. While not everyone is interested in technology-enriched learning, and it’s not a remedy for all that ails education, it is making headway even in traditional classrooms.

“Oh please. Make this stuff go away.”

This is the first comment on a recent post titled Study Suggests Many Professors Use Interactive Tools Ineffectively in Online Courses from the Wired Campus blog. It’s unclear whether the commenter was referring to the interactive tools or the online courses, but the sense of frustration comes through loud and clear.

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2012/03/15/five-fundamental-strategies-for-new-online-instructors/

by Eric Stoller, Inside Higher Ed

Supporting Online Students, written by Anita Crawley, is a brand new publication that specifically positions itself as a “guide to planning, implementing, and evaluation services” within an online learning context. I came upon it while perusing the selection of books at the Jossey-Bass booth at this year’s NASPA Annual Conference. In a previous post on this blog, I asked about whether or not the Student Affairs profession was ready to support online learners and I think that this book is a great introduction to the topic. While I’m only about half-way through the 262 page tome, what I’ve read thus far should be required reading for all Student Affairs graduate programs. [ed note: my endorsement is included on the cover of this excellent book -Ray Schroeder]

http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/student-affairs-and-technology/supporting-online-students-new-paradigms-evolving-profession

by Lisa Garcia, Colorado Education

Today’s online education providers are being challenged to deliver a learning experience equal to if not better than what students find in traditional schools. Happily, more and more online learning programs are up to the challenge, thanks to technology, research on teaching and learning, and the commitment of educators to help students succeed. However, there are still misconceptions or “myths” about online programs, left over from the early days of online learning.

http://www.ourcoloradonews.com/education/secondary/what-s-real-and-what-s-not-the-truth-about/article_db89446e-6f36-11e1-a613-001871e3ce6c.html

by Sue Gee , I Programmer

The prototype MITx course opened on this month with over 100,000 students enrolled. Now its creator and tutor, Professor Anant Agarwal has been appointed the director of MIT’s Open Learning Enterprise. MIT’s latest initiative in online learning, MITx, was announced in December 2011 and its first, “experimental”, course, 6.002x – Circuits and Electronics, is on-line adaption of 6.002, MIT’s undergraduate analog design course. This 18-week course is designed as a first course in an undergraduate electrical engineering (EE), or electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) curriculum and is a free online course with videos interspersed with quizzes, interactive labs, weekly homework and two exams.

http://www.i-programmer.info/news/150-training-a-education/3937-anant-agarwal-heads-online-learning-at-mit.html

by the US Dept of Education

This report by SRI calls for further research and identifies nine areas for possible gains in productivity in K/12 via online learning:

1) Broadening access in ways that dramatically reduce the cost of providing access to quality educational resources and experiences, particularly for students in remote locations or other situations where challenges such as low student enrollments make the traditional school model impractical;

2) Engaging students in active learning with instructional materials and access to a wealth of resources that can facilitate the adoption of research-based principles and best practices from the learning sciences, an application that might improve student outcomes without substantially increasing costs;

3) Individualizing and differentiating instruction based on student performance on diagnostic assessments and preferred pace of learning, thereby improving the efficiency with which students move through a learning progression;

4) Personalizing learning by building on student interests, which can result in increased student motivation, time on task and ultimately better learning outcomes;

5) Making better use of teacher and student time by automating routine tasks and enabling teacher time to focus on high-value activities;

6) Increasing the rate of student learning by increasing motivation and helping students grasp concepts and demonstrate competency more efficiently;

7) Reducing school-based facilities costs by leveraging home and community spaces in addition to traditional school buildings;

8) Reducing salary costs by transferring some educational activities to computers, by increasing teacher-student ratios or by otherwise redesigning processes that allow for more effective use of teacher time; and

9) Realizing opportunities for economies of scale through reuse of materials and their large-scale distribution.

http://ctl.sri.com/news/ImplicationsOnlineLearning2.pdf

by MARY ELLEN ELLIS, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Khan Academy offers offline learning with a new app for iPads. The app has a time-syncing feature between devices, which allows users to access the lectures without an internet connection. This gives iPad owners the ability to download lessons and then use them where internet access is sparse, for instance on road trips or on subway commutes. In keeping with the spirit of the original website, the iPad app for the Khan Academy is free. As reported by the Washington Post, the new app already ranks sixth in popularity of free apps at the iTunes store.

http://chronicle.com/article/Online-ClassesCollege/131133/

By TONY BATES, Online and Distance Learning Resources

By 2015, paper textbooks will disappear in South Korean classrooms. The Ministry of Education, Science and technology will develop digital textbooks that include various multimedia data, apply them to elementary schools in 2014 and to middle and high schools in 2015, linking them to every kind of educational platform. However, the Ministry faces a number of challenges. For instance, some teachers said that as long as entrance examinations for college (like the national college exam) persist as paper-based written tests, students have no choice but to grab paper and pen, instead of using tablets. Consequently, the Ministrytook a step back, saying that they would use the existing book-type textbooks along with digital textbooks even after 2015.

http://www.tonybates.ca/2012/03/13/south-koreans-extensive-users-of-e-learning/

by the Innovative Educator

If you’re interested in discovering more about do it yourself learning there’s a new group with authors, experts, parents, educators, and young people who are passionate about empowering individuals to take ownership of their learning. If you are frustrated with traditional schooling this group is a great place to come together to discuss the more effective options that are available including designing your own learning online, and/or via uncollege, unschooling, homeschooling, and more.

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2012/03/interested-in-diy-learning-join-this.html

By: Tammy Stuart Peery and Samantha Streamer Veneruso, Faculty Focus

Increasingly, online learning educators are faced with two key directives that are critical for student success and retention: increasing instructor presence and building a community of learners. All too often, instructors with the best intentions try to implement these concepts by being hyper responsive, trying to maintain as close to a 24/7 presence in the online classroom as possible and responding to each student discussion posting, blog, or wiki.  Others try to meet this need through the use of automated feedback to provide instant canned responses to student work, but this approach can leave students wondering if a “roboteacher” is in charge of the class rather than a real person. Furthermore, “building a community of learners” is often interpreted as a directive to create group projects for the sake of student interaction, even though many teachers groan at the thought of another difficult to manage group project that is time consuming and unpopular with students. Online instructors can avoid these pitfalls and truly reap the benefits of strong presence and building a community if they clearly communicate how and when they will provide feedback to students and design assignments and materials that focus on student interaction from the beginning.

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/balancing-act-managing-instructor-presence-and-workload-when-creating-an-interactive-community-of-learners/

by Paula Schleis, Beacon Journal

The size of the Kent State online learning community has nearly doubled in the past two years as the university focuses on getting students and faculty to see the value in flexible learn-from-home offerings. President Lester Lefton made a presentation to his board of trustees Wednesday that showed the number of students taking “distance learning” classes has grown from 6,945 in 2010 to a current enrollment of 12,359. In that same period, KSU has gone from offering 272 unique online courses to 428. But the “real measure” of the program’s success, Lefton said, is in watching the number of credit hours that are matriculating from face-to-face classrooms to the Internet.

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/ksu-working-to-grow-online-classes-1.274383

By Gloria Lloyd, Duke Chronicle

Students and professors are increasingly finding new ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. The University has adopted several online tools, such as digital textbooks, applications and online courses, to aid students in their academic endeavors. One such Apple iPad app, Cachalot, was developed by University faculty, staff and students spanning several departments for marine biology classes taught by research scientist David Johnston. The electronic textbook integrates text, photos, videos and other digital material in a single app.

http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/duke-adopts-online-learning-tools

By Garth Sundem, Wired.Com Geek Dad

Stanford University is offering a free online course in Game Theory. It starts March 19 and promises to be that awesome college class that you always wished you could take but couldn’t squeeze in between your electrical engineering core classes and that pass/fail you took in Anthro 101 to fulfill the liberal arts requirement. Prerequisites state, “You must be comfortable with mathematical thinking and rigorous arguments. Relatively little specific math is required.” No university credit is offered, but you can watch the lectures at your leisure (as if we GeekDads have any leisure…) and it’s 100% FREE!

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/03/stanford-game-theory/

By Julianne Pepitone, CNN Money

After 244 years, Encyclopedia Britannica will cease production of its iconic multi-volume book sets. Britannica usually prints a new set of the tomes every two years, but 2010’s 32-volume set will be its last. Instead, the company will focus solely on its digital encyclopedia and education tools. “Everyone will want to call this the end of an era, and I understand that,” Cauz says. “But there’s no sad moment for us. I think outsiders are more nostalgic about the books than I am.”  In truth, Cauz says, the death knell sounded long ago. Though the name “Britannica” calls the print sets to mind, Cauz says they represent less than 1% of the company’s total sales.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/13/technology/encyclopedia-britannica-books/index.htm

by AppAdvice and Mashable

If you’re one of the tens of thousands of customers who pre-ordered the new iPad and you’re wondering what educational app to download to counter the potentially mind-numbing effects of playing Angry Birds HD for hours on end, look no further than the official app of Khan Academy. Released Sunday, Khan Academy for iPad lets you do exactly what its subtitle says: “Watch. Practice. Learn almost anything for free.” Khan Academy is a non-profit organization that houses an online library of almost 3,000 educational videos. The topics covered by the videos on the site range from the mathematical subject Algebra to the mathemusician Vi Hart. (Apparently, the site has no videos pertaining to a topic that starts with the letter Z.) And the best thing about these videos is that they’re free. You know, the best things in life and all that.

http://mashable.com/2012/03/12/khan-academy-ipad-app/

By Jena McGregor, Washington Post

On Monday, the nonprofit TED, which puts on a popular annual ideas conference, announced it would be starting TED-Ed, an online collection of free video lessons delivered by the best teachers on a range of subjects. Khan Academy is the brainchild of Salman “Sal” Khan, a former hedge fund analyst that founded the service initially to help remotely tutor his cousin in algebra, only to find his videos going viral, his career changing as a result, and Bill Gates taking notice. Khan’s method—in which students watch videos to learn the lessons at home, and then work through problems in school with their teachers’ assistance—has been described by some as “flipping the classroom,” and is being hailed as a solution for better educating students and perhaps, as Sanjay Gupta suggested on 60 Minutes, “the future of education.” Commenters on 60 Minutes’ story are suggesting he should win the Nobel Prize. And yet, he has no PhD in education, no experience working for nonprofits to turn around schools, no time spent studying education reform in think tanks or universities.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-leadership/post/khan-academy-ted-ed-and-the-new-leaders-in-education-reform/2011/04/01/gIQARWmU7R_blog.html