Professor plans massive collaborative effort to tackle challenges facing higher ed
Duke University Professor Cathy Davidson, co-founder of the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory (HASTAC) is launching a new multi-institutional, worldwide initiative on the future of higher education.
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New council to develop standards, best practices for online learning
Carnegie Mellon University has created a Global Learning Council of educators, researchers, and technology executives to "spearhead efforts to develop standards and promote best practices in online education."
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Mobile learning: Definition, facts, opportunity, examples
As the first part of a new "Key Concepts of Online Learning" series, Contact North explores the meaning of mobile learning, which they define as "the use of broadband connected devices – smart phones, tablet devices, e-readers, and laptop computers – so that students can connect to learning opportunities either synchronously or asynchronously from anywhere in the world.
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Guidelines for faculty from educational technology research
Dr. Tony Bates has identified the following outcomes "as among the most consistent and helpful" lessons from research into successful online teaching: different media have different educational capacities, online learning is compatible with constructivist approaches, the focus should be on the teaching - not the technology, and that asynchronous learning supports reflection and critical thinking skills.
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Harvard and MIT’s online education startup has a new way to make money
EdX has announced partnerships using the Open edX code with the nations of France and China.
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U.S. teams up with operator of online courses to plan a global network
Coursera has partnered with the U.S. Department of State and other international organizations to create a new world-wide "learning hub" initiative that that will offer physical spaces where people can access the Internet to take a Coursera course, while "learning alongside peers in an interactive, facilitated setting."
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MOOC rival OERu puts accreditation on the menu
Students who complete an Open Educational Resources University (OERu) course will be able to pay a fee to have their work assessed for academic credit, which would then be recognised by the 31 universities participating in the OERu.
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Learner experiences with MOOCs and open online learning
The open access journal Hybrid Pedagogy recently published an e-book of graduate student essays focused on student experiences in MOOCs.
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Going (further) online
The Berklee College of Music will offer two 120-credit fully online accredited bachelor’s degree programs at a costs of 60 percent less than the equivalent residential degree.
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Optimal video length for student engagement
Philip Guo, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Rochester and visiting research scientist at edX, shares preliminary results from an analyses of edX math and science courses that shows students engaged more with shorter videos.
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