A 2011 Wall Street Journal article “Why Software is Eating the World”, by Marc Andreessen, asserted that software would continue to disrupt new industries, with the next targets being health care and education. Continue reading… “How LinkedIn’s acquisition of Lynda.com will disrupt the university”
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Online classes really can teach as effectively as traditional classroom courses.
Two years ago, a New York Times article declared it the “year of the MOOC,” short for “massive open online courses.” For the first time every, researchers have carried out a detailed study that shows that these classes really can teach at least as effectively as traditional classroom courses—and they found that this is true regardless of how much preparation and knowledge students start out with.
Continue reading… “Study: Online classes really do work”
The beauty of the on-demand MOOC format is that the student is in the driver’s seat.
Elliott Masie: After 30 years in a corporate learning setting, I wanted to try something different. So, I decided to experiment in the world of massive open online courses (MOOCs), knowing I could share my passion of big data and learning with an even larger audience (after all, the “M” in MOOC stands for “massive”).
Continue reading… “Understanding the value of a Massive Open Online Course”
The option to learn anywhere at any time boosts community college students’ likelihood of transferring to a 4-year college.
There is some good news for massively open online courses (MOOCs) in business topics: Student GPAs are slightly higher, and MOOCs are more likely to reach students in developing countries.
Continue reading… “MOOC’s beat campuses in GPA’s and diversity”
The State Departments’ goal is having more foreigners learn English and experience the U.S. education system.
U.S. embassies around the world this fall are hosting weekly discussions for students enrolled in free online courses, called MOOCs, in partnership with Coursera, the Silicon Valley-based platform with over 5 million users. Embassy employees and Fulbright fellows (Fulbright being an academic exchange program sponsored by the State Department) will volunteer to host the discussions. There will be over 30 sites to begin with, in countries like India, China, and Bolivia. Topics include English, science, technology, engineering, business, and U.S. civics.
Jane McGonigal, game designer and game researcher.
A game designer and game researcher, Jane McGonigal, says technology will intensify the personalization of the student experience in the coming years.
Continue reading… “Learning will become personalized and spontaneous”
Harvard Business School
The hallowed halls of Harvard Business School are about to open up to the world virtually. The elite institution is reportedly working on an online learning initiative, called HBX, that would mark its first foray into the world of massive open online classes (MOOCs).
Continue reading… “HBX – Harvard Business School launching online learning initiative”
A typical MOOC is an online course open to people all over the globe via the Internet.
MOOCs are massive open online courses that have been heralded as an inevitable transformation in higher education. They have been called a revolution, a boom, and, a “disruption” – a term that at first invokes a welcome alternative to the stagnation and elitism of the American university.
Continue reading… “When MOOCs profit, who pays?”
Sebastian Thru, Udacity CEO and co-founder .
Sebastian Thrun, cofounder and CEO of Udacity, says more AI is coming to online education, but we’ll still need humans to grade our English essays.
Continue reading… “Sebastian Thrun: The future of learning”
Bossier Parish Community College in Louisiana.
One of the thorniest problems facing higher education is remedial education. Some community colleges have found a way to dial-up free online courses to help tackle the problem. The two-year colleges aren’t offering massive open online courses as substitutes for their offerings, however, or for the instructors who teach them.
Continue reading… “Community colleges go open source to seek fix for remediation”
More artificial intelligence will make online learning faster and fun.
Udacity has evolved the MOOC (massive open online courses) concept into one that really helps people throughout the course; to complete the course. The most recent completion rates in pilots we’ve been running have been 85 percent, as opposed to 5 percent or 4 percent, which is common in MOOC-land.
Georgia Tech teams up with Udacity.
Sebastian Thrun and Udacity’s resolve to re-imagine higher education in a more affordable, accessible virtual classroom. Udacity continues to push forward with its plans to bring higher education online — and not just in bits, pieces and homework assignments.
Continue reading… “Udacity introduces $7,000 Master Degree Program”
