College 2.0: The New Face of Higher Education. What will education look like 15 years from now? What will education look like 15 years from now? This was the first question posed to a group of four leading educators during a recorded panel discussion, College 2.0: The New Face of Higher Education with Richard Miller of Olin College, Anant Agarwal of edX, Peter Hopkins of Big Think, and Eric Mazur of Harvard University. I listened to this recorded session last night and found it enlightening and worthwhile, though it appears that no one really knows what the future holds for higher education. The divergent viewpoints expressed in the discussion no doubt mirror the conversations happening within higher education institutions in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. This session was held at Suffolk University in Boston on June 4, 2013. Kara Miller of Innovation Hub facilitated this civil and intimate discussion that lasted for one hour and forty minutes.
Four Different Perspectives The discussion was interesting, albeit reserved. New MOOC Research Hub, ROI on Higher Ed Degrees, Ed-Tech Tools. In this ‘Need-to-Know’ blog post series I aim to share noteworthy stories that speak of need-to-know developments within higher education and K-12 that have the potential to influence, challenge and/or transform the traditional model of education. Icon image for Flipboard Never a dull moment in the education sector, and this past week was no exception. The value of a college degree is the topic of much discussion of late, and the NYT recent article, The Premium from a College Degree, highlights data on the return on investment of higher education, suggesting that an Associate Degree is a better deal than a Bachelor’s.
In the MOOC world, more money invested in MOOCs—this time not by a venture capitalist, but for a research Hub. And more debate about MOOCs; the value and purpose. 1) The Return of Investment [ROI] of a Degree The value of a college degree is in question, in the Unites States at least. Insight: Insight: 3) Ed Tech Tools Like this: Like Loading... Dark-Side-of-MOOCs-800.png (PNG Image, 800 × 2327 pixels) - Scaled (39. Minerva’s Model, MOOC Students Reveal Why they Quit and More. Groups, Clay Shirky and Online Education. This post explores the significance of student groups in online learning courses—the value and influence on institutions in light of the principles outlined in Shirky’s book “Here Comes Everybody”.
Image: penguingroup.com I just finished reading Clay Shirky’s book Here Comes Everybody, The Power of Organizing Without the Organization. You may wonder how valuable such a read would be given the book was written in 2008, yet reading the book with five years of Internet advancements under our belt, was strangely thought-provoking. More so when considering the influence and power that groups can, and have wielded in the realm of online education, specifically in courses attracting massive numbers. Here I’ll share the potential that groups hold for learning within online courses, the three principles needed for successful groups, and how student groups are subtly influencing the paradigm shift in education. Groups, Learning and MOOCs Here is where things get interesting.
Resources Like this: Professors, Pedagogy and MOOCs. The Reason THIS EDUdotcom May Not Be As Different From Last Time As You Think. If there was ever any doubt that we are in the midst of a new dot.com boom for education, that doubt was removed at last week’s SXSWEDU. The event brought entrepreneurs and educators to Austin, Texas for four days of panels and a competition for education start-ups. I had the great fun of participating in a panel discussion on “Are Courses a Commodity?” With Myk Garn, Mickey Revenaugh and Michael Horn. Vanessa Dennen and I helped Curt Bonk rehearse his “cage match” answers while sharing beers and ribs at one of the Cengage social events. I enjoyed hearing Bill Gates speak to the crowd about his vision for a transformed education system.
Ellen Wagner, Executive Director of WCET Gotta say, not all of it felt all that good. Really? I have to say that the confident assurances that this educational technology boom is different just didn’t make me feel any less skeptical. Ready? People. Ellen Wagner Executive Director, WCET Like this: Like Loading... A MOOC Contest, the Week of Open, and California’s Bold Move. In this ‘Need-to-Know’ blog post series my goal is to share noteworthy stories with readers that speak of need-to-know developments within higher education and K-12 that have the potential to influence, challenge and/or transform the traditional model of education.
There are three hot topics creating much buzz this week in education around the world including 1) a MOOC contest with a stipend of €25,000 that is open to scholars from around the world that seeks to find the ten most creative and innovative MOOCs, 2) Open Education Week with new courses for learners and webinars for scholars offered around the clock, and 3) California’s bold announcement that’s rocking higher education institutions in California, and perhaps other public higher education institutions across the United States. 1) Calling all Instructors and Professors: A MOOC Contest There is a contest for building a better MOOC—or at least building one that is sustainable and innovative. Further Reading: Like this: The Professors’ Big Stage. A Tale of Two MOOCs @ Coursera: Divided by Pedagogy. The Web as a classroom is transforming how people learn, is driving the need for new pedagogy; two recently launched courses at Coursera highlight what happens when pedagogical methods fail to adapt.
Divided pedagogy I wrote recently about the Fundamentals of Online: Education [FOE] the Coursera course that was suspended after its first week and is now in MOOC hibernation mode. Over thirty thousands students signed up for the course hoping to learn how to develop an online course. It was a technical malfunction when students were directed to sign-up for groups through a Google Doc that shuttered the course, along with hundreds of student complaints about lack of clear instructions, and poor lecture quality.
The course was suspended on February 2, and there has been no word yet as to when it will resume :(. The Tale of the Two What made e-Learning and Digital Cultures successful and FOE not? Our current higher education system is grounded in behaviorist and cognitive theories. References. A Course Design ‘Sprint’: My Experience in an Education Hackathon. This past Saturday, February 23, I participated in my first hackathon event; not a coding event as typical of computer programmers, but an education hackathon—a “Course Sprint” where a group of fourteen individuals [educators, open science advocates, community members and students] collaborated to design and build an open, online course, An Introduction to Open Science and Data for the School of Open on P2PU.
Creative Commons hosted the event at their office in Mountain View, California and invited both face-to-face and remote participants, of which I was one of four remote. The event was held in support of Open Data Day to raise awareness and involve communities worldwide in exploring how to liberate, promote and publish open data. In this post I’ll review the Course Sprint experience—how it worked, what worked and didn’t, the results, which ended up being not a complete course, but a solid framework for the course which is ready to be incorporated into the platform on P2PU.
Like this: Grapevine - Home. Tony Bates.