MOOCs — Massive Open Online Courses

Reflections on “Behind the scenes in the making of a MOOC”

On 10/15/2013, in 21st century, blended learning, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, digital video, education technology, higher education, hybrid learning, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, participation, using teams, by Daniel Christian

Behind the scenes in the making of a MOOC — from forbes.com by Michael Horn

A couple of thoughts hit me here:

1) This article is a great example of the use of TEAMS of people to create and deliver learning materials. Consider some quotes:

…we’ve been working for the past few months with Silicon Schools Fund and the New Teacher Center to create a MOOC on Coursera about high-quality blended learning.

…

Without the hard work of an entire team—from our team at the Clayton Christensen Institute to our partners and friends at the Silicon Schools Fund and New Teacher Center and from our videographer Eric L. Wong to The Learning Accelerator, which provided support—it’s been clear to me that we could not have pulled this off.

…

We could not have created this course without the amazing cooperation and insights from the students, teachers, and leaders at these schools.

Also see this posting on this topic.

2) There is no silver bullet in how to achieve learning objectives. Again, consider some quotes:

What we’ve learned–and what emerges in the course–is that there is no definitive way to do blended learning. The schools that we profile have made many different decisions and all produced wonderful results for students.

…

In the process, we believe that they will create a host of new innovations and make a series of novel choices around blended-learning design.

B of A partners with Khan Academy to help people develop better money habits

On 10/14/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, business, collaboration, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, elearning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Thanks to Krista Spahr, Senior Instructional Designer at Calvin College, for this resource.

It’s interesting to see the lines blurring between the workplace, higher education, and even K-12. Pooling resources, establishing more collaborations, etc. may be part of our future — especially if it initially costs a lot create the materials. But then — as with the Walmart of Education — there is some serious volume underlying these trends.

It appears from the introductory piece here that Sal’s not out to make money with this — he’s trying to stay true to their mission.

Harvard Business School launching online learning initiative [Lavelle & Zlomek]

On 10/10/2013, in 21st century, digital learning, distance education, education technology, elearning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, MBA, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, organizational change, United States, using teams, by Daniel Christian

Harvard Business School launching online learning initiative — from businessweek.com by Louis Lavelle and Erin Zlomek

Excerpt:

Harvard Business School is quietly developing its first online learning initiative, which it hopes will make HBS the world’s top provider of high quality online business education.

The move has the potential to shake up the nascent online education market and give the elite business school a toehold in the world of MOOCs, or massive open online courses. It’s a high-stakes gamble for HBS, which has one of the world’s best-known—and carefully burnished—educational brands.

Smart Machines: IBM’S Watson and the era of cognitive computing [Kelly &Hamm]

On 10/09/2013, in 21st century, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, computer science, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, programming, research, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Smart Machines: IBM’S Watson and the era of cognitive computing — from cup.columbia.edu by John E. Kelly III, Director of IBM Research, and Steve Hamm, writer at IBM and former business and technology journalist

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Computers today are brilliant idiots. They have tremendous capacities for storing information and performing numerical calculations-far superior to those of any human. Yet when it comes to another class of skills, the capacities for understanding, learning, adapting, and interacting, computers are woefully inferior to humans; there are many situations where computers can’t do a lot to help us.

…

But the goal is not to replicate human brains or replace human thinking with machine thinking. Rather, in the era of cognitive systems, humans and machines will collaborate to produce better results, each bringing its own skills to the partnership. The machines will be more rational and analytic-and, of course, possess encyclopedic memories and tremendous computational abilities. People will provide judgment, intuition, empathy, a moral compass, and human creativity.

From DSC:
Consider what Watson “read in” to come up with some recommendations:

Watson

Addendum on 10/14/13 (emphasis DSC):

Watson is being used to assist with the treatment of cancer patients. According to an article from medicalnewstoday.com, Watson is “revolutionizing cancer care and research and speeding up progress for patients.”

In that same article, it mentions that, so far, Watson has ingested:

Over 600,000 pieces of medical evidence
2,000,000 pages of text from 42 academic journals and clinical trials based on oncology research
A huge number of patients’ records spanning decades of cancer treatment history, including medical records and patient outcomes. Watson can sift through 1.5 million pieces of such records and provide doctors with evidence-based treatment options within seconds.

One of IBM’s General Managers who works with Watson said:

“breakthrough capabilities bring forward the first in a series of Watson-based technologies, which exemplifies the value of applying big data and analytics and cognitive computing to tackle the industry’s most pressing challenges.”

From DSC:
What does this have to do with learning? Keep your eye on the convergence of the television, the telephone, and the computer. This involves the software side of things as well (with technologies like WebRTC). I have it that in the future, it will have everything to do with learning and will greatly accelerate one of the other massive trends on my radar, the “Walmart of Education.”

Here it is: The Top 100 Tools for Learning 2013 — from c4lpt.co.uk by Jane Hart

Excerpt:

The Top 100 Tools for Learning 2013 list (released today, 30 September 2013) was compiled from the votes of over 500 learning professionals (from education and workplace learning) from 48 countries. Here are some of the highlights from this year’s list. For a fuller analyis, visit Analysis 2013

Twitter retains its no 1 position for the 5^th year running
Google Drive/Docs moves up to #2.
PowerPoint moves up to #5.
Evernote moves into the top 10 at #6.
Google +/Hangouts moves into the top 10 at #10.
There are 10 new tools on the list topped by Feedly (an RSS reader/aggregator) at #19 and Coursera (a MOOC platform) at #38, and 3 returning tools to the list, including Storify at #58.
The highest movers within the list are Skydrive (Windows file storage area) at #43 up 55 places since last year, and Keynote and iMovie up 40 and 32 places respectively (showing the increase in popularity of Apple software).
A significant descent down the list for some tools including Google Sites (down 60 places) and Wikispaces (down 50 places).
Tools moving off the list include Google Reader (now retired by Google), Bing and Scribd.
Although the list is still dominated by free online social tools, a number of e-learning authoring tools have had a good showing this year.
As for trends over the last 5 years, it is interesting to note that Firefox (#1 in 2007) is now at #97 on the list, and Delicious (#1 in 2008) is now at #60. What will topple Twitter from the top of the list?

Harvard plans to boldly go with ‘Spocs’ [Coughlan]

On 09/30/2013, in future of higher education, game-changing environment, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, pace of change, United States, by Daniel Christian

Harvard plans to boldly go with ‘Spocs’ — from bbc.co.uk by Sean Coughlan

Excerpts:

Harvard…is moving on to Spocs – which stands for small private online courses.

…

At Harvard, more people have signed up for Moocs in a single year than have attended the university in its entire 377-year history. That’s a great success story in opening up education, but what do you do with all those hungry minds?

Enter the Spoc. And the clue is in the “small, private” part of the name. These courses are still free and delivered through the internet, but access is restricted to much smaller numbers, tens or hundreds, rather than tens of thousands.

Job market embraces Massive Online Courses [Belkin & Porter]

On 09/27/2013, in 21st century, accreditation, business, business side of he, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, distance education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, innovation, learner profiles, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, open courseware and systems, professional development, training / L&D, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Job market embraces Massive Online Courses — from online.wsj.com by Douglas Belkin and Caroline Porter
Seeking better-trained workers, AT&T, Google and other firms help design and even fund web-based college classes

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Big employers such as AT&T Inc. and Google Inc. are helping to design and fund the latest round of low-cost online courses, a development that providers say will open the door for students to earn inexpensive credentials with real value in the job market.

New niche certifications being offered by providers of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, are aimed at satisfying employers’ specific needs. Available at a fraction of the cost of a four-year degree, they represent the latest crack in the monopoly traditional universities have in credentialing higher education.

…

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with its MOOC partner edX, is starting a course sequence called the XSeries, and plans to ask for input from a consortium of about 50 companies, including United Parcel Service Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. For up to $700, students will be able to take a test and earn a “verified certificate” in subjects like computer science and supply-chain management.

Meanwhile, companies such as Yahoo Inc. have begun reimbursing employees who take certified courses from Coursera, another MOOC provider.

Purdue software boosts graduation rate 21 percent — from purdue.edu

Excerpt:

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A data-mining and analysis software program called Signals developed by Purdue University has increased six-year graduation rates by 21.48 percent, according to a recent review of data from the 2007 cohort of students.

The increased graduation rates were for students who were in two or more Signals-enabled classes compared to students who had not taken any Signals-enabled courses. Students who had taken just one Signals-enabled course graduated 20.87 percent higher than those who had taken none.

…

The Signals software looks at students’ online academic behaviors, such as whether they opened a reading assignment or completed a set of math exercises. It combines this information with demographic information about the student, such as his or her standardized test scores, high school GPA, and current grades. In all the system uses more than 20 reference datapoints.

Signals then displays a simple and intuitive red, yellow or green signal on the student’s course website to let them know how they are doing in that course.

From DSC:
It seems to me that this is the type of underlying technology/toolset that holds enormous potential for online and blended learning environments. It’s similar to what IBM’s Watson seems to be doing for determining effective plans of action for cancer patients. The software takes in data from numerous different areas to form a list of the most potentially-effective plans of action (along with the %’s of how likely those items are the causes of actual concern).

Above graphic from:
IBM’s Watson interns at Memorial Sloan-Kettering

Also see:

IBM’s Watson supercomputer to diagnose patients
Watson will initially be used to help treat cancer patients

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

“The implications for healthcare are extraordinary,” said Lori Beer, WellPoint’s executive vice president of Enterprise Business Services. “We believe new solutions built on the IBM Watson technology will be valuable for our provider partners, and more importantly, give us new tools to help ensure our members are receiving the best possible care.”

Addendums on 9/27:

Why the Course Signals Math Does Not Add Up — from hapgood.us. by Mike Caulfield
Purdue U. Software Prompts Students to Study—and Graduate — from chronicle.com by Hannah Winston

True personalization is the next big thing in multiscreen TV [Moulding]

On 09/18/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, analytics, Apple, blended learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), collaboration, communications, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, disruption, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future of higher education, global / globalization, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, love of learning, machine-to-machine communications, Microsoft, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multi-touch, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, storytelling, streams of content, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, transmedia, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

True personalization is the next big thing in multiscreen TV — from .v-net.tv by John Moulding

From DSC:
Not a far stretch to see some applications of this in the future aimed at learning objects/learning agents/and personalized streams of content.

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

Addendum:
(With thanks going out to Mr. Richard Byrne over at the Free Technology for Teachers blog for this item)

Wharton puts first-year MBA courses online for free [Lavelle]

On 09/17/2013, in career development, MBA, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, professional development, by Daniel Christian

Wharton puts first-year MBA courses online for free — from businessweek.com by Louis Lavelle

Excerpt:

Getting a Wharton MBA involves taking off from work for two years, moving to Philadelphia, and spending about $200,000 on tuition and expenses. Now, with the addition of three new courses on the online learning platform Coursera, you can get much of the course content for free.

While you won’t get the full Wharton on-campus experience—or an internship, career services, or alumni network, for that matter—the new courses in financial accounting, marketing, and corporate finance duplicate much of what you would learn during your first year at the elite business school, says Don Huesman, managing director of the innovation group at Wharton.

Some serious 50,000-foot level thinking and debates occurring tomorrow in NYC!

On 09/16/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education reform, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, reinvent, social learning / networks, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Check out the agenda:

7:00 a.m.

REGISTRATION

7:45 – 8:45 a.m. The Hall

BREAKFAST PANEL: BRIDGING THE KNOWLEDGE GAP
Technology is giving educators and students more tools to promote the exchange of ideas and expertise. That exchange is key to improved knowledge and empowerment, but without a level playing field, equal access and the right tools, we will never take full advantage of the opportunity to connect. Panelists will discuss the knowledge gap and how new technologies and motivated citizens are bridging that gap to support formal education as well as lifelong learning.
Sponsored by Bank of America

Aditya Bhasin, consumer marketing, analytics and digital banking executive, Bank of America
Gov. Jack Markell, Governor of Delaware
Ted Mitchell, President and C.E.O., NewSchools Venture Fund
Jennifer Tescher, President and C.E.O., The Center for Financial Services Innovation
Joanne Weiss, Former Chief of Staff to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education

Moderated by John Merrow, Education Correspondent, PBS NewsHour

9 – 9:10 a.m.

WELCOME
Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher, The New York Times

9:10 – 9:45 a.m.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Sal Khan, founder of the Khan Academy

including 9:30-9:45 audience questions

9:45 – 10:30 a.m.

DEBATE: HAS THE UNIVERSITY AS AN INSTITUTION HAD ITS DAY?
Higher education has always been an array of autonomous institutions, each with their own courses, their own faculty, and their own requirements for their own degrees. But online education is starting to break down those lines in ways that are likely to lead to a lot more shared courses, consortia and credit transfers. In addition, there are a growing number of companies (not schools) providing higher education courses outside of the traditional higher education institutions. As we move towards the possibility of a multi-institution, multicredit qualification, is the traditional higher education institution in danger of losing applicants, income and identity?

Anant Agarwal, president, edX
Sal Khan, founder, The Khan Academy
Biddy Martin, president, Amherst College
Nancy Zimpher, Chancellor, SUNY

Moderated by David Leonhardt, Washington bureau chief, The New York Times

including 10:15 – 10:30 audience questions

10:30 – 11 a.m.

COFFEE BREAK

11 – 11:45 a.m.

THE DEALBOOK PANEL: WHAT’S THE NEW ERA BUSINESS MODEL FOR HIGHER EDUCATION?
The traditional idea that education is something the government provides, free, for the public good, is coming under assault from an increasing assortment of new ventures offering for-profit schools, for-profit online courses, tests, curricula, interactive whiteboard, learning management systems, paid-for verified certificates of achievement, e-books, e-tutoring, e-study groups and more. Which areas have the most potential growth — and where is the smart investment going?

Donn Davis, co-founder, Revolution
Tony Florence, general partner, NEA
Deborah Quazzo, founder and managing partner, GSV Advisors

Moderated by Andrew Ross Sorkin, columnist/editor DealBook, The New York Times

Including 11:30 – 11:45 audience questions

11:45 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.

CONVERSATION: THE DISRUPTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Michael Horn, co-founder, The Clayton Christenen Institute for Disruptive Innovation
In conversation with David Leonhardt, Washington bureau chief, The New York Times

12:10 – 12:45 p.m.

AUDIENCE DISCUSSION: INCREASING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
Student attrition is as high as 90 percent for some of the biggest online courses, and remains a problem even
in smaller-scale courses when compared with traditional face-to-face classes. The problem is exacerbated for
community college students who enroll in online courses, or for low-performing students. How can we increase student engagement in online classes, particularly among students who lack competence or confidence?

Yvonne Chan, principal, Vaughn Next Century Learning Center
John Palfrey Jr, head of school, Phillips Academy, Andover
Diane Tavenner, founder and C.E.O., Summit Public Schools

Moderated by Bill Keller, Op-Ed columnist, The New York Times

12:45 – 1:15 p.m.

COLUMNIST CONVERSATION

Senator Bob Kerrey, executive chairman, Minerva Institute

in conversation with Bill Keller, Op-Ed columnist, The New York Times

1:15 – 3:00 p.m.

LUNCH PANEL A: INCREASING HIGHER EDUCATION AFFORDABILTY AND COMPLETION THROUGH ONLINE INNOVATIONS
A thoughtful conversation about innovative online models that are lowering the cost of degrees and increasing degree completion. How do these models work – and where are they going?
Sponsored by Capella

(Held in The Hall)

Mark Becker, President, Georgia State University
Scott Kinney, President, Capella University
Jamie Merisotis, President and C.E.O., Lumina Foundation
Burck Smith, Founder and C.E.O., StraighterLine

Moderated by Melody Barnes, C.E.O., Melody Barnes Solutions (former Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council)

1:15 – 3:00 p.m.

LUNCH PANEL B: A MATHEMATICIAN, SCIENTIST, DOCTOR, AND SOCIOLOGIST WALK INTO A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE…WHO SURVIVES?
What skills give you the best shot at surviving a zombie apocalypse? Can you do anything to increase your odds of survival? Get an extended preview of UC Irvine’s MOOC “Society, Science, Survival: Lessons from AMC’s The Walking Dead” as we explore what math, science, public health, and sociology have to do with a zombie apocalypse and, in particular, survival. At the end of the panel, the audience will vote on who stands the best chance of survival: mathematician, scientist, doctor, or sociologist.
Sponsored by Instructure

(Held on 15th Floor)

Joanne Christopherson, Associate Director of the Demographic and Social Analysis M.A. Program, University of California, Irvine
Michael Dennin, Professor of physics and astronomy, University of California, Irvine
Sarah Eichhorn, Assistant Vice Chair for undergraduate studies in the mathematics department, University of California, Irvine
Melissa Loble, Associate Dean of distance learning, University of California, Irvine

Moderated by Josh Coates, CEO, Instructure

3 – 3:30 p.m.

COLUMNIST CONVERSATION
In an increasingly connected world, how do we ensure our students are being prepared to compete in a knowledge-based, global economy? What role does technology play in education, and what does the future of learning look like?

Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education

interviewed by David Leonhardt, Washington bureau chief, The New York Times

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

IS ONLINE THE GREAT EQUALIZER?
There is no doubt that we are in the middle of an online education revolution, which offers huge potential to broaden access to education and therefore, in theory, level the playing field for students from lower-income, lower-privileged backgrounds. But evidence to date shows that the increasing number of poorly designed courses could actually have the reverse effect and put vulnerable students at an even bigger disadvantage.

Karen Cator, C.E.O., Digital Promise
Dean Florez, president, 20 Million Minds Foundation
Candace Thille, director of the Open Learning Initiative (OLI) and assistant professor of education, Stanford University
David Wiley, founder, Lumen Learning

Moderated by Tina Rosenberg, Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times

Including 4:00 – 4:15 p.m. audience questions

4:15 – 4:45 p.m.

COFFEE BREAK

4:45 – 5 p.m.

COLUMNIST CONVERSATION

Daphne Koller, co-founder, Coursera

in conversation with Ethan Bronner, Deputy National Editor, The New York Times

5 – 5:45 p.m

GAMECHANGERS: HOW WILL ONLINE EDUCATION REVOLUTIONIZE WHAT WE KNOW AND UNDERSTAND ABOUT LEARNING?
Traditionally, pedagogical research has been done in tiny groups; but new-generation classes of 60,000 students make it possible to do large scale testing and provide potentially game-changing research on how students learn best. Using the Big Data from online courses, we have access to new information about what pedagogical approaches work best. MOOCs, and many more traditional online classes, can track every keystroke, every homework assignment and every test answer a student provides. This can produce a huge amount of data on how long students pay attention to a lecture, where they get stuck in a problem set, what they do to get unstuck, what format and pacing of lectures, demonstrations, labs and quizzes lead to the best outcomes, and so on. How can we use Big Data for the good of the education profession, and not for “Big Brother”?

Daphne Koller, co-founder, Coursera
Alec Ross, senior advisor on innovation and former senior advisor to Secretary Hillary Clinton at the U.S. State Department
Paula Singer, C.E.O. Global Products and Services, Laureate Education

Moderated by Ethan Bronner, Deputy National Editor, The New York Times

including 5:30 – 5:45 p.m. audience questions

5:45 – 6 p.m.

COLUMNIST CONVERSATION

Amol Bhave, student, MIT

in conversation with Tina Rosenberg, Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times

6 p.m.

CLOSING REMARKS

Gerald Marzorati, editorial director and general manager, conferences, The New York Times

Coursera hits $1M in revenue through verified certificates [Ki Mae Heussner]

On 09/13/2013, in business side of he, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, new business models, by Daniel Christian

Coursera hits $1M in revenue through verified certificates — from gigaom.com by Ki Mae Heussner

Summary:

For the first time, online education startup Coursera is sharing details on how it’s faring on the money-making front: the company said it’s earned $1 million from the verified certificate program it launched in January.

Will it take joining a consortium to survive/thrive in the new world of higher education? (Will it even be called higher education?)

On 09/11/2013, in business, business side of he, consortiums, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, innovation, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, open courseware and systems, platforms, staying relevant, surviving, trends, using teams, by Daniel Christian

EdX announces partnership with Google — from web.mit.edu; w/ thanks to Mr. John Shank for the Scoop on this
Google and edX to collaborate on an open-source learning platform and research, among other things.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

As part of the collaboration with Google, edX plans to build out and operate MOOC.org, a new website that will help educational institutions, businesses and teachers build and host online courses for a global audience. The site — slated to go live next year — will be powered by Open edX and built on Google infrastructure.
…
EdX, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Cambridge, is a nonprofit organization comprised of 28 leading global institutions, called the xConsortium. According to EdX, its aims are to transform online and on-campus learning through novel methodologies, gamelike experiences and research, among other things.

Also see:

.

Excerpt:

Today, Google will begin working with edX as a contributor to the open source platform, Open edX. We are taking our learnings from Course Builder and applying them to Open edX to further innovate on an open source MOOC platform. We look forward to contributing to edX’s new site, MOOC.org, a new service for online learning which will allow any academic institution, business and individual to create and host online courses.

Also see:

From DSC:
Creating media-rich, professionally-done, well-designed, interactive materials can be expensive — especially if back-end analytics, programming, AI, etc. are called for. Such capital-intensive work may require the use of teams…of partnerships…of alliances…of consortia.

Once created though, such materials could be made available at a low cost, as the costs would be spread out on a large number of people/institutions — i.e. The Walmart of Education.

If the corporate world starts going further down this path…

On 09/09/2013, in 21st century, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, professional development, reinvent, staying relevant, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Udacity teams up with Google, AT&T and other tech giants for Open Education Alliance— from gigaom.com by Ki Mae Heussner

Summary:

Online education startup Udacity says it’s partnering with a group of leading technology companies to better prepare students for work in the 21st century.

From DSC:
If the corporate world starts going further down this path — opting for alternatives to the historical means of filtering job candidates and for preparing their future hires — the only thing that I will be able to say with certainty is that the record will show that those of us working within higher ed didn’t learn a thing from/about:

The Internet’s affect on other industries
The disruptive power of technologies
The need to reinvent oneself — and to innovate and adapt

Learning Ecosystems

B of A partners with Khan Academy to help people develop better money habits

Harvard Business School launching online learning initiative [Lavelle & Zlomek]

Harvard plans to boldly go with ‘Spocs’ [Coughlan]

Job market embraces Massive Online Courses [Belkin & Porter]

Wharton puts first-year MBA courses online for free [Lavelle]

Coursera hits $1M in revenue through verified certificates [Ki Mae Heussner]

Will it take joining a consortium to survive/thrive in the new world of higher education? (Will it even be called higher education?)

If the corporate world starts going further down this path…

Categories

Tags