The Trouble with College, Online or Off There is an editorial in the New York Times entitled "The Trouble with Online College" this morning about online education. It argues that online education has high attrition rates and that students who are unprepared for college will not do very well. The "therefore" is that we should think twice before seeking to attempt the MOOC model (Massive Open Online Courses). To begin with, I generally agree with this article but disagree with the take-away. There is a large body of research in online learning that shows that there is no significant difference between face-to-face and online learning that has been going on for decades and is routinely ignored by many educators and columnists. Student OrientationWe designed a free, fully online student orientation that used all the tools that the school's learning management system used.
The Crisis in Higher Education A hundred years ago, higher education seemed on the verge of a technological revolution. The spread of a powerful new communication network—the modern postal system—had made it possible for universities to distribute their lessons beyond the bounds of their campuses. Anyone with a mailbox could enroll in a class. Frederick Jackson Turner, the famed University of Wisconsin historian, wrote that the “machinery” of distance learning would carry “irrigating streams of education into the arid regions” of the country. Sensing a historic opportunity to reach new students and garner new revenues, schools rushed to set up correspondence divisions. The hopes for this early form of distance learning went well beyond broader access. We’ve been hearing strikingly similar claims today. The excitement over MOOCs comes at a time of growing dissatisfaction with the state of college education. But not everyone is enthusiastic. Is it different this time? Rise of the MOOCs Professor Robot Big Data on Campus
Disruptive Innovation Some examples of disruptive innovation include: As companies tend to innovate faster than their customers’ needs evolve, most organizations eventually end up producing products or services that are actually too sophisticated, too expensive, and too complicated for many customers in their market. Companies pursue these “sustaining innovations” at the higher tiers of their markets because this is what has historically helped them succeed: by charging the highest prices to their most demanding and sophisticated customers at the top of the market, companies will achieve the greatest profitability. However, by doing so, companies unwittingly open the door to “disruptive innovations” at the bottom of the market. An innovation that is disruptive allows a whole new population of consumers at the bottom of a market access to a product or service that was historically only accessible to consumers with a lot of money or a lot of skill.
Teaching a MOOC: Lessons Learned & Best Balch Practices | the augmented trader I just completed teaching a MOOC on Computational Investing via coursera.org. I did some things right and a lot of things wrong. Here are my lessons learned from the first round. Some people will be upset: Be prepared I’m not talking about the students. Your course will be closely scrutinized. One critique MOOCs are susceptible to is an accusation of “dumbing down” or “oversimplification.” Many of these attacks arise from a belief that MOOCs are promoted as “identical” to college course content; Or that the course is “just as rigorous” as graduate course CS XXXX at Georgia Tech. That being said, I do believe that we can produce and deliver “rigorous” content via MOOCs, and many are working on that. Set expectations for the students In your course description and your video introduction be sure to make it very clear who your intended audience is. You probably want to discourage folks who don’t have the tools to succeed (for instance in my course, programming experience). More to come
AUDIO | Exploring MOOCs from the Corporate Perspective AUDIO | Exploring MOOCs from the Corporate Perspective While individual companies might look at the MOOC model as an approach to delivering training to its employees, there is still a way to go before they are—in their current form—considered to be acceptable training options during company time. The following interview was conducted with Dan Pontefract, TELUS’ senior director of learning and collaboration. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are gaining a lot of attention across the higher, continuing and professional education spaces for their capacity to deliver learning opportunities to large numbers of students for a relatively low cost. In this interview, Pontefract discusses how MOOCs could be operationalized in the corporate world, and whether he sees corporations coming together to develop industry-wide open-learning opportunities. To listen to The EvoLLLution’s interview with Dan Pontefract, please click here. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Tags: Business
About MOOC Completion Rates: The Importance of Student Investment | the augmented trader I just finished teaching a Massive Online Open Class (MOOC) titled “Computational Investing, Part I” via coursera.org. 53,000 people “enrolled,” which is to say they clicked a “sign up” button. How many finished? related post regarding lessons learned Completion rates are low, but that statistic is misleading Much of the criticism of MOOCs centers on supposedly low completion rates. One of the 53,000 students in my class watches a lecture video. What does it cost a student to enroll in a course? The economics are significantly different for a student at a traditional university than for a student starting a MOOC. At a regular university all of the students starting a course have paid tuition, they have moved to an apartment or dorm near the university, and they’ve set aside time to complete the course. Also, at most universities, students may withdraw from a course early in the semester with no penalty. What’s the cost of failure or withdrawal? What are the implications for completion rates?
How EdX Plans to Earn, and Share, Revenue From Free Online Courses - Technology By Steve Kolowich How can a nonprofit organization that gives away courses bring in enough revenue to at least cover its costs? That's the dilemma facing edX, a project led by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that is bringing in a growing number of high-profile university partners to offer massive open online courses, or MOOCs. Two other major providers of MOOCs, Coursera and Udacity, are for-profit companies. While edX has cast itself as the more contemplative, academically oriented player in the field, it remains under pressure to generate revenue. "Even though we are a nonprofit, we have to become self-sustaining," said Anant Agarwal, president of edX. Legal documents, obtained by The Chronicle from edX, shed some light on how edX plans to make money and compensate its university partners. According to Mr. Although the edX-supported model requires cash upfront, the potential returns for the university are high if a course ends up making money.
Dave's Educational Blog To MOOC or Not to MOOC - WorldWise MOOCs have become a media obsession. Why? In part because they are the continuation of a story that has been around since at least the 1990s and the first days of magazines like Wired and Fast Company. At that time, information technology was depicted as part of a revolution: Marxist rhetoric had been appropriated by capitalism. Information technology would change everything through a peculiar mix of a corporate charge and evangelism, expanded profit opportunities and enlightenment. I’d like to think that since then we’ve learned something. After all, universities have produced a substantial body of research that argues that information technology is not an epochal economy-changing technology. These sources must induce at least some suspicion about the wider claims concerning MOOCs, or massive open online courses. Why this obsession with MOOCs? Second, because it taps into a vein of middle-class anger over tuition costs. And there is a historical irony about all this, too. Return to Top
What You Need to Know About MOOCs - Technology We'll be updating this page regularly.Please check back for updates. Call it the year of the mega-class. Colleges and professors have rushed to try a new form of online teaching known as MOOCs—short for "massive open online courses." The courses raise questions about the future of teaching, the value of a degree, and the effect technology will have on how colleges operate. If you'd like to learn more about MOOCs in a condensed format, try reading "Beyond the MOOC Hype: A Guide to Higher Education's High-Tech Disruption," a new e-book by The Chronicle's technology editor. What are MOOCs? MOOCs are classes that are taught online to large numbers of students, with minimal involvement by professors. Why all the hype? Advocates of MOOCs have big ambitions, and that makes some college leaders nervous. These are like OpenCourseWare projects, right? Sort of. So if you take tests, do you get credit? So far there aren't any colleges that offer credit for their MOOCs. Who are the major players? edX Udemy