KhanAcademy.org Reviewing Christensen’s Disruptive Technologies (Harvard Business Review, 1995) in MOOC Terms One of the common citations in xMOOC artifacts and discussion is the idea of xMOOC as a disruptive technology. The concept, developed by Harvard Business professor Clayton Christensen, is tossed into discussion as if it’s vital reading I should already know…none of the authors do more than give a cursory definition to the concept in abstract fashion rather than concrete, and in all of the articles I have read, I don’t see consensus on the definition. This makes me think several possibilities: 1) this is a concept so integral to this field that I should know all about it and am an idiot for not having a foundational knowledge, or 2) this is a concept not fully understood but thrown out there in a way that sounds erudite but lacks foundation. I think it’s a mix of both. As a learner struggling to grasp a topic (my background is in both media and social sciences, not business), the best way is to personally dive in rather than rely on the previews of others. Like this: Like Loading...
16 Prestigious Schools that Offer Free Online Classes posted by admin on November 5th, 2008 The world of education is changing, big time. Information technology has revolutionized how we find and share information. Only 10 years ago we had to consult libraries and academics for answers to questions that are now directed to Google. While the business world is forced to change, education is lagging behind. While many schools offer their traditional curriculum online or are entirely Web-based (see our list of online schools for a look at available online colleges and degree programs), many schools and universities offer free courses online in the form of video and audio lectures, mp3 files or PowerPoint slides. Information wants to be free, and these progressive institutions have taken the first step by making their class free for anyone to use online: Need more? For students interested in online schools, there is a huge variety of colleges available offering online degree programs from certificate up to doctorate. And others.
MOOCs: The cutting announcement of the wrong revolution | betrokken wetenschap A litany of recent complaints shows that something is wrong with higher education: Cost are rising with 10% every year (US), content has lost track with the explosive development of new knowledge, alumni’s competences do not match with the requirements of the labour market, teachers deliver lectures in the same way as their predecessors did for centuries, revenues for society are unclear. 40% of all students are leaving without a grade. Universities are inside looking, fixed at ratings, complacent and self-confident and consequently do not consider any reason for change. According to Christensen[1], universities are on the eve of disruptive innovation. Disruptive innovation is the fast acceptance by the public of affordable new products and services, which were disregarded by established companies and are mostly offered by new entrants. Less than one year ago, the first MOOCs (massive online open course) were launched. However, this is the wrong revolution. Learning processes
10 Universities Offering Free Writing Courses Online See our list of universities that offer free online writing courses. Learn about what courses are available and what topics they cover to find the course that's right for you. Online Writing Courses for Credit Many schools offer free online courses and materials through OpenCourseWare (OCW) projects. For far less than the cost of enrolling in a traditional class, Education Portal offers hundreds of online courses that allow students to start working their way towards real college credit. Conventions in Writing: Usage - Instructors discuss tips for developing clear sentence structures, good diction and a strong writing style.Parts of an Essay - This chapter covers prewriting strategies and methods for organizing an essay. Free Online Non-Credited Writing Courses Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Writing and Reading the Essay focuses on the essay as a popular literary genre. New Jersey Institute of Technology Technical Writing Open University Purdue University University of Iowa
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
The OpenCourseWare Consortium - Members The OCW Consortium serves both the individuals who use OER & OCW and the institutions that make OER & OCW possible. The Consortium provides a gateway to Open Education projects for the entire Open Education Community, fostering the success of the Open Education movement and articulating its benefits. The Consortium educates general audiences about the Movement, directing potential users to resources that best suit their needs. For members, the Consortium marshals broad expertise regarding the ongoing development of open education projects, and connects its members with an even broader network of OER & open education practitioners. In other words, the OCW Consortium is an ideal meeting place for people wanting to make contributions to the development of open education worldwide. As the movement grows, the OCW Consortium will continue to expand its service offerings. Collaboration: Administrative support and meeting space for Working Groups and Communities of Interest. How To Join
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. "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. The first, called the "university self-service model," essentially allows a participating university to use edX's platform as a free learning-management system for a course on the condition that part of any revenue generated by the course flow to edX. Revenue Still a Puzzle
A Big List of 875 Free Courses From Top Universities: 27,000 Hours of Audio/Video Lectures In recent months, we’ve enhanced what’s now a list of 875 Free Online Courses from top universities. Here’s the lowdown: Our big list of free courses lets you download audio & video lectures from schools like Stanford, Yale, MIT, Oxford, Harvard and UC Berkeley. Generally, the courses can be accessed via YouTube, iTunes or university web sites. Right now you’ll find 100 free philosophy courses, 67 free history courses, 90 free computer science courses, and 47 free Physics courses on the list, and that’s just beginning to scratch the surface. Here are some highlights from the complete list of free online courses. Again, the complete list of Free Online Courses is here. Related Content: 550 Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free 635 Free Movies Online: Great Classics, Indies, Noir, Westerns, etc. Learn 46 Languages Online for Free: Spanish, Chinese, English & More 500 Free eBooks: Download Great Books for Free
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.
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