Google recently announced that it would give Carnegie Mellon $300,000 in each of the next two years to focus on “data driven” approaches to research on MOOCS, including “techniques for automatically analyzing and providing feedback on student work.” The goal is to develop platforms intelligent enough to mimic the traditional classroom experience. The grant is through the Google Focused Research Award program. Google can fund the research for a third year at the same price if it chooses.
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/google-will-finance-carnegie-mellons-mooc-research/53521