Don't Dismiss Georgia Tech's $6,600 Online Master's Degree - WILLIAM FENTON, PC Magazine

I'm not about to let my ideological reservations foreclose my curiosity, especially given that so many Online Master of Science Computer Science students praise the program. A $6,600 master's degree in computer science with a 55 percent acceptance rate and no GRE entrance exam? It's a seductive proposition for an undergraduate, to be sure. Since the Georgia Institute of Technology announced its Online Master of Science Computer Science degree—OMS CS, for short—in May 2013, the program has elicited wonder, enthusiasm, and trepidation. When you consider the age of students, the OMS CS program is older (33-34 years old) and more educated (more than 700 applicants have advanced degrees and more than 120 hold Ph.D. or terminal degrees). In this sense, the Georgia Tech online master's program is more in line with ventures such as General Assembly, which enable professionals to advance skills and training. http://in.pcmag.com/coursera/102725/opinion/dont-dismiss-georgia-techs-6600-online-masters-deg

Employers, insurers see promise in self-directed online therapy - Christopher Snowbeck, Star Tribune

Employers and a large health insurer are considering a new way of reaching people with social anxiety and depression. Many who suffer from social anxiety, depression and other mental health problems won’t seek help from a therapist. However, they may find a sense of community in online discussion groups and “anxiety blogs,” said Dale Cook, the chief executive and co-founder of Learn to Live, a Minneapolis-based start-up. The company sells access to online courses for people struggling with mental health issues, and touts its strategies for engaging with sufferers. “They’re looking for online resources because they don’t want to tell anyone, or they don’t have time to go” for face-to-face therapy, Cook said in an interview. “We’re able to identify places where sufferers go to commiserate and suffer together and say: Have you found anything that works?” http://www.startribune.com/employers-insurers-see-promise-in-self-directed-online-therapy/376658941/

Expand access to high-speed broadband across the state - Russ Feingold, USA Today Network Wisconsin

Internet access at home is bad. Not just annoyingly slow, but truly bad enough that students can’t complete their schoolwork. So what do students do? Late into the evening, they head to the now-closed library parking lot and sit in their cars to get the Wi-Fi signal. It’s almost hard to believe. But it’s far too common. Just this week, I heard the same thing from students at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College's regional campus in Oconto Falls. Nearly a million Wisconsinites may lack adequate Internet access — access critical for education and commerce in areas outside of larger cities. FCC estimates claim more than half of rural Wisconsinites lack access to broadband. This must change. Rural Wisconsinites deserve the same level of Internet access as those in cities like Madison and Green Bay. How do we make that a reality? http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/04/23/expand-access-high-speed-broadband/83408428/

Sign of the Times: World Campus Certificate in Online Teaching Popularity - Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

Penn State U's World Campus plans further changes to its faculty development efforts after an online teaching certificate program became a surprise hit among graduate students. Pennsylvania State University is rethinking how it trains future faculty members after doctoral students flocked to a crash course in online teaching. The university had hoped its free, noncredit certificate program, which launched in September, would attract about 30 students interested in developing their online teaching skills. Instead, the program beat that target by a factor of ten. Laurence B. Boggess, director of faculty development for Penn State World Campus, the institution’s online degree and certificate division, said the interest in the program suggests this generation of graduate students sees online teaching experience as a core skill as they enter the job market. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/29/pennsylvania-state-u-sees-surge-interest-short-skills-based-faculty-development

IBM, Coursera Team Up on IoT Developer Course - Darryl K. Taft. eWeek

IBM and Coursera next month will begin teaching a new online course for developers to learn how to create applications for the Internet of things. Starting next month, Coursera, the education platform that forms partnerships with top universities and organizations worldwide to offer courses online, is teaming up with IBM to develop an online course to teach programming for the Internet of things (IoT). The new course, "A developer's guide to the Internet of Things (IoT)," is aimed at providing instruction on how to build IoT applications and will cost $79. Although it is an entry-level course, the assignments use both the Python and JavaScript programming languages, so basic skills in these languages are required. http://www.eweek.com/developer/ibm-coursera-team-up-on-iot-developer-course.html

Adaptive engineering course opens up engineering fundamentals to all - eCampus News

The University of New South Wales Australia and adaptive learning provider Smart Sparrow have unveiled what they call the world’s first-ever open adaptive engineering course designed to unlock access to high-quality courses for learners of all backgrounds. The course, Through Engineers’ Eyes: Engineering Mechanics by Experiment, Analysis and Design, was developed by Professor Gangadhara Prusty and Robin Ford, a retired Associate Professor, both from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing at UNSW. It is the first Engineering MOOC to leverage Adaptive Technology. Adaptive Tutorials built on the Smart Sparrow platform have been incorporated to engage students with real-life simulations and personalised course materials, addressing the low completion rates in MOOCs and high failure rates in introductory engineering. http://www.ecampusnews.com/online-learning/moocs/adaptive-engineering-course/

University of Colorado contemplates 3-year, fully online degree programs - SARAH KUTA, DAILY CAMERA

The University of Colorado is asking its faculty and staff to get creative and develop new, fully online degree programs to launch in the fall of 2018. The CU system is calling for online degree program proposals until July 15, with grants being awarded by Sept. 30. CU hopes to select three winning grant proposals and award each team $200,000 for course development. Faculty selected for the grant will receive a $15,000 stipend, with staff members receiving a $5,000 stipend to support the logistics of course development. Students must be able to complete the degree completely online and in three calendar years, though they won’t be required to work within that time frame. http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/university-3-online/

Fading Affordability - Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed

College affordability has declined in 45 states since 2008, with low- and middle-income students in particular feeling the pinch, new study finds. Overall college affordability has worsened in 45 U.S. states since 2008, creating a significant financial burden for students of modest economic means. That’s the top-line finding in a new, state-by-state study by researchers from the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development, and the Higher Education Policy Institute. The report defines affordability as reasonable estimates of the total educational expenses for students and families in each state, calculated as a percentage of family income. Educational expenses include tuition and costs of living, minus all grant-based financial aid from federal and state governments and institutions. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/28/college-has-become-less-affordable-most-states-threatening-worsen-economic

Bellevue U approaches online learning with liberal arts classroom model - Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

Bellevue University in Nebraska takes a liberal arts approach to online education, focusing on small class sizes and high-touch faculty who provide oversight and guidance to students, and, in turn, improve retention. According to eCampus News, the school requires faculty to take a course about online teaching strategies before leading their first classes, and they are then monitored by senior faculty and deans; a performance-based approach to student progress avoids automation of some competency-based programs. While programs map curricula and outline outcomes and performance skills students must master, it is a combination of tests and other assessments, like video presentations, that allow students to prove their skill — and while the programs are largely self-paced, students must meet major milestones to stay largely in step with one another. http://www.educationdive.com/news/bellevue-u-approaches-online-learning-with-liberal-arts-classroom-model/417870/

Udacity Debuts In China, Launches In-Person Group Tutoring - Kathleen Chaykowski ,FORBES

After launching in India last year, Udacity has made its way to China. The Mountain View, Calif-based online education company, cofounded about four years ago by Google GOOGL -5.53% X founder and Stanford University research professor Sebastian Thrun, is opening offices in China and making more than 100 of its free online courses available to anyone in China under the domain name youdaxue.com, the company said this week. On Wednesday, the company also announced it is launching its first in-person, instructor-led study sessions for students in its “Nanodegree” programs, which cover topics from iOS and Android development to machine learning and require students to complete a series of projects. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/2016/04/21/udacity-debuts-in-china-launches-in-person-group-tutoring/#586d9c9d4bd0

More UK adults taking online courses - Anthony Spadafora, Beta News

Adults in the UK are turning to online learning platforms in order to stay competitive in their fields and to learn new skills, despite their increasingly busy schedules. Coursera, which offers online courses from some of the top universities worldwide, has noticed that the number of new users registering for its educational platform has increased by 50 percent over the course of the past 12 months. In the UK, the company has over half a million users that are registered for a variety of courses. Coursera has noted that of those currently studying, 30 percent are using their smartphones to access their courses, which illustrates the flexibility of studying online. http://betanews.com/2016/04/21/uk-online-courses

Georgia Tech's Next Steps - Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

Georgia Tech's online master's program in computer science -- a much-watched attempt to apply the MOOC model to for-credit programs -- may not be the big revenue generator the institute projected it would be, but administrators deem it a success and plan to expand it. “We will start another program,” Georgia Tech President G. P. Peterson said during a recent interview with Inside Higher Ed. “We’re very pleased with the success of the program, and we’re looking to expand it into other areas.” “I couldn’t be happier with where we are,” said Charles L. Isbell Jr., a senior associate dean and professor in the College of Computing. “When I say that the program is successful, I mean it by the financial measures -- we’ve got tons of students -- but to me the big success is we’ve been able to take a bunch of people who are already clearly qualified and the vast majority of whom would never have been able to get an advanced degree from a great place because they were not mobile. Now they can.” https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/27/georgia-tech-plans-next-steps-online-masters-degree-computer-science

Online Vs. Traditional: Which is the Better Platform? - Stefanie Schmude, ULoop

Picture this. Two friends go out to eat for lunch; friend number one discusses the hard work of being a college student and juggling class schedules with work. Friend two discusses the same struggles, but whether or not they are going to attend their American Literature class on the couch or in bed. With the rising popularity of online courses, students are starting to think about not only where they want to go, what they want to do career wise, but how they are going to receive that education: online or traditional. Personally, I have done schooling in both mediums and I don’t find either one to be better than the other. I prefer one to the other because one option (online) works best for me. But there are pros and cons to each one, and to look at those, I took the Rasmussen College model, which broke it down into four simple categories. http://www.uloop.com/news/view.php/198063/Online-Vs-Traditional-Which-is-the-Better-Platform

Berkeley chancellor, Stanford president kick off online-learning summit - Public Affairs, UC Berkeley

Online courses may not have overwhelmed undergraduate education in a disruptive “tsunami,” as once predicted. But teaching and learning technology is “going to change the landscape of everything we do,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks told an audience at Stanford University on Friday. Dirks made that prediction in conversation with Stanford president John Hennessy, kicking off the fourth annual “learning summit,” held this year on the Stanford campus. “We’ve seen that online resources can be very important,” Dirks said. “But at the same time they don’t substitute for being there” – for personal contact with faculty or the sense of community that residential undergraduate institutions provide. So far, he added, MOOCs have been “most spectacularly successful for students who have graduated.” Hennessy concurred, observing that massive open online courses (MOOCs) have gotten their greatest traction among professionals already working in their field. Berkeley chancellor, Stanford president kick off online-learning summit - Public Affairs, UC Berkeley

4 Values That EdTech Leaders Should Champion - Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

What is the space for championing learning technologies to support learning, if our edtech leaders put their energies behind empowering and support educators? Is it really the place of edtech leadership to stray from our narrow technological lanes - championing and supporting values and practices that never mention technologies? Increasingly, the actions of our most impactful and effective campus technology leaders will be those that align most closely with our educators. Our best edtech leaders are fluent across domains of learning, postsecondary leadership, and technology. They need to speak the language of educators and campus leaders (including the language of finance, marketing, budgeting, and innovation) - as well as be expert in the world of educational technologies. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/4-values-edtech-leaders-should-champion

ASU's Global Freshman Academy Taps Adaptive Software for Math Students - Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

Arizona State University's online Global Freshman Academy (GFA) is rolling out adaptive software to help tens of thousands of students work through its College Algebra & Problem Solving course. The GFA program, delivered via massive open online course (MOOC) provider edX, will be the first to utilize McGraw-Hill Education's ALEKS adaptive learning product in a MOOC format. "To date, more than 17,800 students from 186 countries have registered for the College Algebra & Problem Solving course using the ALEKS program, which will provide students with individualized learning and instruct them on the topics they are most ready to learn," according to a press release from McGraw-Hill Education. https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/04/18/asus-global-freshman-academy-taps-adaptive-software-for-math-students.aspx

Higher Ed Needs Major Disruption - Froma Harrop, Real Clear Politics

Happily, there exists an alternative to four bankrupting years on campus. There's almost no learning, be it liberal arts or STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), that can't be had free -- or close to it -- online. MOOCs (massive open online courses) are perfectly suited to disrupt the campus model. As suggested above, expense isn't the only thing powering this revolution. It's the sense that the people running the universities have lost their minds. Either that or they'll say almost anything to get protesting students off their backs. (In doing so, they're also softly egging the students on to say absurd things that could haunt them when prospective employers Google their names.) http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/04/19/higher_ed_needs_major_disruption_130318.html

Udacity Brings Its Nanodegree Programs to China - Leena Rao, Fortune

Similar to the Indian expansion, Udacity has localized many of its most popular nanodegree certifications to China, including courses in iOS, Android, and machine learning development. Udacity has a local team in China that is providing in-person reviews and coaching in Mandarin. Udacity said it is working with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, and ride-sharing company Didi Kuadi to build customized courses for students. Udacity previously partnered with Google to create coursework targeted at Indian students. http://fortune.com/2016/04/18/udacity-expands-to-china/

Monitoring the Gatekeepers - Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed

The Obama administration continues to turn up pressure on accreditors, promising in new letter to measure the agencies against their peers and urging more focus on student achievement and troubled colleges. On Friday, the administration told accreditors to focus more on enforcing standards that measure student achievement and to consider additional scrutiny for colleges with significant problems. The new guidance from the U.S. Department of Education is the latest in a series of attempts by the White House to encourage accreditors to tighten up in their role as gatekeepers for federal financial aid. A group of 24 U.S. Senate Democrats also weighed in on accreditation on Friday. In a letter to the department, the senators said accreditors too often allow colleges with “shockingly poor performance” to retain their accreditation. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/25/education-department-tells-accreditors-focus-more-troubled-colleges-and-standards

Sebastian Thrun Steps Down As Udacity's CEO - Leena Rao, Fortune

Udacity’s founder Sebastian Thrun is stepping down as chief executive officer, the company announced on Friday. Vishal Makhijani, the company’s chief operating officer, will be Udacity’s new CEO. Thrun, who will remain as president and chairman of Udacity, said that he will continue to work full-time at Udacity, but he will take on a role focused on what he is passionate about—innovation. Thrun added that he has taken inspiration from his former employer when restructuring his role at Udacity. “While at Google, I was impressed with the way Larry and Sergey organized Google. Eric [Schmidt] was the CEO, but Larry and Sergey enjoyed the freedom of focusing on innovating within the company,” he said. http://fortune.com/2016/04/22/sebastian-thrun-udacity/

Online degrees could make universities redundant, historian warns - Richard Adams, the Guardian

Oxford, along with all other universities, faces an “uncomfortable future” unless it embraces online degrees and draws up plans for raising billions of pounds to go private, according to the university’s new official history. The book, to be launched by Oxford University Press this week, says new technology has the potential to make universities such as Oxford “redundant” and that it is “only a matter of time” before virtual learning transforms higher education. Laurence Brockliss, the historian and author, argues that Oxford itself should offer undergraduate degrees via online learning, and in doing so could solve the controversies it faces over student access. “I would like Oxford to pilot something, and say we are going to offer 1,000 18-year-olds online courses in different subjects, to experiment and see how it works and how it can be improved,” Brockliss said. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/apr/17/oxford-university-online-degree-historian-laurence-brockliss

Evaluating the Privacy and Security of Ed Tech: 7 Questions to Guide the Process - Bill Fitzgerald, THE Journal

When working with educational technology, responsible decision makers in schools recognize the need for solid security and privacy practice in software applications. However, defining an acceptable level of privacy protection, or an adequate level of security, can feel imprecise. While some of the loudest conversations about privacy and security try to reduce the issues to binary choice, the reality is often more nuanced. As we navigate evaluating the privacy and security protections of educational software, the following questions and observations can help guide the process. https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/04/14/evaluating-the-privacy-and-security-of-edtech-7-questions-to-guide-the-process.aspx

Universities must find alternative sources of funding in light of state budget cuts, University leaders and lawmakers say - CALEB WONG, Daily Texan

Institutions of higher education must work with each other and the public and private sectors to fund their programs in light of decreased state funding, said top higher education officials and lawmakers. Former U.S. Sen. Kay Hutchison (R-TX) and former University of California-Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau spoke at a press conference Wednesday before a closed-door meeting about higher education funding. “Historically, higher education funding has always come back after a recovery,” Birgeneau said. “This time, it has not.” The meeting comes after the American Academy of Arts and Sciences released a report, known as the “Lincoln Project,” last Thursday, warning that state support for higher education has declined an average of 34 percent over the past decade. http://dailytexanonline.com/2016/04/11/universities-must-find-alternative-sources-of-funding-in-light-of-state-budget-cuts

Optimizing Student Learning with Online Formative Feedback - Doris Cheung, EDUCAUSE Review

Online formative feedback using Google Forms and Sheets combined with FormMule facilitated instant data collection and structured feedback for a course at the University of Colorado Law School to optimize learning outcomes. By giving and receiving ongoing, timely feedback, students can practice and modify their behavior during the learning experience, which stimulates motivation and deeper learning. Adopting a low- or no-cost approach can make formative feedback easy to implement. Investing time and effort to give and receive feedback benefits both instructors and students by providing valuable information to adjust teaching and learning and helps ensure shared goals. http://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/4/optimizing-student-learning-with-online-formative-feedback

Learning Differences MOOC might help educators target instruction - eCampus News

A new report suggests that the Learning Differences Massive Open Online Course for Educators (MOOC Ed), provided by the Friday Institute for Education Innovation at NC State University, may help teachers around the world advance their knowledge of learning differences and better meet the learning needs of their students. Written by researchers on the Friday Institute’s evaluation team, What’s the Value of a Learning Differences MOOC-Ed? analyzes how participants found value in the course using a “value creation framework” developed by Etienne Wenger, Beverly Trayner, and Maarten De Laat (2011). They suggest that, in order to appreciate the richness of the value created by learning communities or networks such as MOOC-Eds, it is helpful to think about value creation in terms of cycles. http://www.ecampusnews.com/online-learning/moocs/learning-differences-mooc/

Redefining Student Success in a Digital Ecosystem - David Raths, Campus Technology

Retention and graduation rates may be good indicators of a college or university's success, but they have little to do with students' personal development as connected learners and contributors to the digital commons. What does student success mean in a digital ecosystem? The most prevalent measures involve retention and graduation rates — students pass their classes, move through the curriculum and ideally graduate in four years — but those "institutional outputs" are the lowest-common-denominator definition, according to Gardner Campbell, vice provost for learning innovation and student success, dean of University College and associate professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University. Campbell took part in a recent Future Trends Forum video chat to share his thoughts about how higher education might rethink ideas of student success in a digital age. https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/04/11/redefining-student-success-in-a-digital-ecosystem.aspx

Research Reveals Student-Instructor Relationships Shape Online Learning Success - ELIANA OSBORN, Good Call

Taking courses online is a great way to meet the demands of work and family while still pursuing higher education. The problem is that too many students don’t have a great experience with online classes, leading to low pass rates and academic consequences. New research published in the journal Computers and Education reveals some design features that lead to greater student success. Shanna Smith Jaggars with the Community College Research Center at Columbia University and Di Xu of the University of California-Irvine looked at different elements of online courses to see which ones were related to higher grades. The biggest factor leading to student success? Quality interpersonal interaction. https://www.goodcall.com/news/research-reveals-student-instructor-relationships-shape-online-learning-success-06004

People in developing countries use MOOCs differently - Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

A new study by researchers at the University of Washington has found significant differences in the types of people who take massive open online courses in developing countries, as compared to users in the United States — and they have different outcomes. In the U.S., MOOC users are disproportionately wealthy and already well-educated, and they more often take MOOCs for personal, rather than professional, reasons. But in developing countries, less than half of survey respondents had completed college, and they reported taking the courses to advance their education or career. Perhaps because of the motivations behind taking MOOCs, completion and certification rates are higher, and 49% of respondents said they had received certification for a course while 79% said they completed a course. http://www.educationdive.com/news/people-in-developing-countries-use-moocs-differently-1/417358/

Illinois Legislature Green Lights Emergency Short-Term Funding For Higher Education -Progress Illinois

A $600 million measure to fund the state's public higher education institutions cleared the state legislature Friday. The bill now heads to Gov. Bruce Rauner, who is expected to sign the legislation. The short-term funding bill is set to provide $356 million for public universities and $74 million for community colleges, including $20 million that is allocated for Chicago State University, which has been teetering on the brink of closure. In addition, nearly $170 million is slated to go toward the state's Monetary Award Program, which provides needs-based grants for tuition assistance to low-income college students. The bipartisan measure passed unanimously in the Senate and by a 106-2 vote in the House. "By passing this bipartisan agreement, lawmakers in both chambers put aside political differences to provide emergency assistance for higher education, ensuring universities and community colleges remain open and low-income students can pay for school," reads a statement from Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly. "We are hopeful the General Assembly will build on this bipartisan momentum in the weeks ahead as we negotiate a balanced budget with reform for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017." http://progressillinois.com/news/content/2016/04/22/state-legislature-oks-short-term-higher-education-funding-bill

Higher Ed in 2023 - Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

Higher ed nerds throughout the land rejoiced last week at the release of The National Center's for Education Statistics report Projections of Education Statistics to 2023. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2015073 Some stats from Josh's summary:
Postsecondary Enrollment Growth Is Slowing: Where as enrollment increased 42 percent from 1998 to 2012, enrollment is only expected to increase 15 percent (to 24 million) between 2013 and 2023. Traditional Age Student Enrollment Is Slowing: From 1998 to 2012 the number of 18 to 24 year olds enrolled in degree granting institutions increased from 8.2 million to 11.9 million. By 2023 that number will only grow to 13.3. The Number of Older Students (25+) Is Growing: By 2023, over 10.3 million students will be over 25. Part-Time Students Are Growing Faster Than Full-Time: Between 2012 and 2023 the number of part-time students will increase by 18 percent, compared to only 14 percent for full-time. Graduate Enrollments Increasing Faster Than Undergraduate: The number of students enrolled in graduate programs will increase by 25 percent between 2012 and 2023, compared to an increase of 14 percent for undergraduates. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/higher-ed-2023

'Stackable' Credential Options Rise in Online Education - Jordan Friedman, US News

In some programs, learners can earn several smaller credentials for an immediate career boost and build their way up to a degree. "Employers are showing trends of paying more attention to those levels of education and completion," says Deborah Seymour, chief academic innovation officer at the American Council on Education​, an organization representing more than 1,700 college and university presidents, in reference to microcredentials. Seymour says the trend of stackable credentials is still in its early stages, especially in online education, but believes it will continue to catch on and remain an option for online learners in the future. The University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign, in collaboration with the MOOC provider Coursera, recently launched a stackable online MOOC-based Master of Computer Science in Data Science program. Students can, for instance, first earn a MOOC specialization ​certificate in data mining or cloud computing, and then choose whether to go on to finish the full master's degree. Overall, the degree costs​ less than $20,000. http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2016-04-12/stackable-credential-options-rise-in-online-education

Learning online? You’re not alone: Returning to university and switching career at 45 - Women's Agenda

So, say for example I’m a 45-year-old woman considering a new career and want to develop my skills through online learning. What advice would you give me or what questions should I ask myself before starting? Start with believing in yourself. Ask yourself, what do I really want? Focus on the area of study that you are interested in. If you’re afraid, embrace it and break the fear. Go with it anyway. Online education does scare some people because of the technology – it certainly did for me. But it’s not that hard. It’s so user-friendly and is not something to be afraid of. All the support systems at CSU are there to help you. Even with the time difference, I have a live librarian and professors I can ask questions. You need to also ask yourself whether you can you block off some time from your family, your friends and your work for yourself to benefit your career. Don’t dwell on the long-term. The time is going to pass regardless. http://www.womensagenda.com.au/partner-content/item/6929-learning-online-you-re-not-alone-returning-to-university-and-switching-career-at-48

Tenure is disappearing, much to the detriment of higher ed - Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

Schools with a greater reliance on adjuncts have lower graduation and retention rates. The number of part-time faculty on college campuses has increased by 70% over the last 40 years. In the same time period, the number of full-time tenured positions has dropped 26% and full-time positions on the tenure track have gone down by half, according to data from the American Association of University Professors. The composition of the faculty on college campuses in the United States has fundamentally changed, and it is affecting institutions, students, and faculty members themselves. http://www.educationdive.com/news/tenure-is-disappearing-much-to-the-detriment-of-higher-ed/417296/

Online courses’ metadata helps NCAA catch cheating coaches red-handed - Megan Geuss, Ars Technica

Donnie Tyndall, the head coach of the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) men’s basketball team organized a cheating ring to help recruits satisfy academic standards. An IP address "associated with graduate assistant B's Pennsylvania hometown” was found to have submitted online coursework for a student in the town where one student-athlete was living, during a period in which graduate assistant B was traveling to that town. The metadata also apparently showed that graduate assistant B’s mother had completed some of the online math coursework, and then graduate assistant B modified it. And his mom wasn’t the only person in on the gig—the metadata for the online coursework also showed that a friend of the two graduate assistants had been completing and modifying psychology and English coursework as well. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/04/online-courses-metadata-helps-ncaa-catch-cheating-coaches-red-handed/

Market of online education predicted to surge in 2016 - Wang Fan, Ecns

China's online education sector continues to grow rapidly. The industry recently came into the spotlight again because of a post on social media, where one teacher boasted about earning nearly 20,000 yuan per hour, to deliver a physics course online. The sky high salary shows the popularity and demand of the market. And the reaction of other users to the post also gives us an insight what society believes a teacher should earn. But what's behind the explosion in internet tuition? And what's the difference behind online teaching and the traditional way classroom method? A computer, a headset and a microphone is all Chen Song needs to switch his role online. When he is offline. he works as a theatre actor based in Shanghai. He performs with other great artists from different countries around the globe. This is how it feels to take part in his class. http://www.ecns.cn/business/2016/04-11/206189.shtml

Stopping Stop-Outs - Online Enrollments in Community Colleges - Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

Improving economy leads to lower enrollments at community colleges, report shows. Can online programs help stanch the flow? Online courses have for years driven enrollment growth at community colleges, but as more students take their chances in the job market, institutions face new challenges to retain them, a new study found. During the height of the recent recession, community colleges saw double-digit percentage growth in their online courses, according to the Instructional Technology Council, which is affiliated with the American Association of Community Colleges. But the ITC’s most recent survey of trends in online education at two-year colleges shows growth last academic year sat at 4.7 percent -- the lowest in about a decade. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/13/study-explores-online-learning-trends-community-colleges

MIT: Focus on the People rather than the Technology in Online Learning - Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

Report on the future of online education stresses central role of faculty members and instructional designers. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology tasked with examining the future of online education have returned with a simple recommendation for colleges and universities: focus on people and process, not technology. But the report is as much about the shortcomings of online education as it is about its potential. Most importantly, it recommends online education play a supporting role as a “dynamic digital scaffold.” Online education can offer personalized pathways through course content with short lecture videos and well-timed quizzes that help students retain knowledge, the report reads, but it is most effective in a blended setting where students regularly interact with faculty members face-to-face. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/20/mit-online-learning-report-notes-importance-teachers-instructional-designers

When Students Are Skeptics - Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

At hybrid learning conference sponsored by the Teagle Foundation, participants discuss how to get students who signed up for a traditional liberal arts experience excited about online education. Rui Cao, instructor of Chinese at Schreiner University, was one of several participants who said faculty members need to be aware that blended learning may clash with student expectations. Instead of in a hierarchical model where faculty members lecture and students listen, the blended learning model challenges students to assume a more active role, she said, adding that there should be ample training opportunities both for faculty members and students. “The reason that we see sometimes resistance both from our students and from faculty to this kind of learning is neither of us are fully prepared for this new era,” Cao said. “If both students and teachers are realizing this changing dynamic in our classrooms, that’s going to prepare us better.” https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/11/teagle-foundation-grant-recipients-discuss-how-get-liberal-arts-students-excited

Is Online Tutoring the Future of Personalized Learning? - Dave Frey, EdSurge

Change is imminent. How schools adapt to incoming change, however, remains to be seen. In the face of an extensive range of education-technology resources, what are the best ways to move forward? Decades-old research has pointed to the clear advantages of one-on-one learning, but only in recent years has technology become capable of providing everyone access to it. This change begs the question: Which edtech resources should educators focus on in order to produce the healthiest future of education, and where does one-on-one tutoring fit into that? https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-04-09-is-online-tutoring-the-future-of-personalized-learning

Philanthropist’s global vision for free degrees via the internet - Stephen Corrigan, Connacht Tribune

ALISON began ten years ago when Mike Feerick spotted the opportunity of providing free education in the form of a sustainable, for-profit social enterprise, made easier with the decline in broadband and server costs and the growth of online advertising. “I guess that said two things to me; firstly, what an interesting financial business, but also what an exceptional social impact you could have by making education free,” he said. ALISON diplomas and certificates are not accredited in the traditional sense, but that is something that Mike sees as a positive. “We want to get away from traditional accrediting because it is too expensive. We want learning to be free and if we were to be traditionally accredited, we would have to be paying some other organisation, whether it’s Harvard, Cambridge or NUI, to use their brand – but we don’t need their brand, we are smart people and we stand by the quality of our courses,” said Mike. http://connachttribune.ie/philanthropists-global-vision-for-free-degrees-via-the-internet-201/

Introducing the LinkedIn Students App: Helping Soon-to-Be College Graduates Conquer Their Job - Ada Yu, LinkedIn

Graduation is quickly approaching. Your job search is all consuming. What do you search for? What job options are best for you? Today, LinkedIn unveils the first-of-its-kind LinkedIn Students app available for iOS and Android, tailored specifically for soon-to-be college graduates looking to answer these very questions. Using insights from LinkedIn’s database of over 400 million professionals, the brand new app helps you discover jobs that are a best fit for graduates with your major, companies that tend to hire from your school and the careers paths of recent alumni with similar degrees. 86% of students choose to go to college to get better jobs, but 44% of graduates are underemployed.* Let LinkedIn Students help you navigate these uncharted waters of finding your first job out of school. The new LinkedIn Students app is available for iOS and Android in the US only for now. https://blog.linkedin.com/2016/04/18/introducing-the-linkedin-students-app--helping-soon-to-be-colleg

Is virtual reality poised to transform higher ed? - Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

The Institute for Advanced Computer Studies at the University of Maryland College Park is at the forefront of visual communication and learning, and virtual reality is expected to become an important element for students and faculty.EdTech reports the latest generation of virtual reality technology, including the recently released Oculus Rift headset, could achieve mainstream adoption in five to 10 years, giving students a way to experience their lessons firsthand, without leaving the classroom. The University of Maryland is launching a major in immersive multimedia design, training the students who will go on to create virtual reality content to meet the demand in the classrooms of the future. http://www.educationdive.com/news/is-virtual-reality-poised-to-transform-higher-ed/416741/

UMassOnline joins the ranks of alternative credentialers - Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

The University of Massachusetts’ online arm, UMassOnline, has announced a non-credit badge program in project risk management, bringing the university in line with an alternative credentialing trend sweeping the higher ed marketplace. According to eCampus News, the self-paced program is made up of three modules that teach risk management planning, risk identification, qualitative and quantitative risk analysis, risk response planning, and risk control. Students can progress as quickly as possible through the modules or take up to a year from the time of enrollment, and, once they pass the assessments, they receive a digital badge for display on resumes and social media profiles. http://www.educationdive.com/news/umassonline-joins-the-ranks-of-alternative-credentialers/416742/

4 Features You Can Now Get by Paying for MOOCs - Jordan Friedman, US News

Given that MOOCs can be expensive to produce, it makes sense that providers would find ways to make a profit, says Ray Schroeder, associate vice chancellor for online learning at the University of Illinois—Springfield. Even when charging a fee, MOOCs are and will continue to be less expensive than paying for credit-bearing courses offered. "In the beginning, the return to universities came in generally marketing and publicity and giving examples of quality lectures, and showcasing certain faculty members who work for certain departments to prospective students," Schroeder says. "And yet still, that was a rather high price to pay for just that kind of indirect benefit." Nanodegrees enable students to earn a credential as they develop job-specific skills through project-based learning, and those who pay get additional benefits on top of the nanodegree, including access to live coaches. Meanwhile, students who enroll in edX and Coursera MOOCs might now gain access to the following features, the availability of which vary depending on the class and discipline. http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2016-04-08/4-features-you-can-now-get-by-paying-for-moocs

Co-deans increasingly embraced in higher ed - Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

Several university law schools have appointed co-deans in recent years, mostly on a temporary basis, but a few, including Case Western Reserve University Law School, have decided the co-dean approach is the way to go permanently. Inside Higher Ed reports Michael Scharf and Jessica Berg approach their co-dean positions at Case Western as a united front — sharing an email account, drafting formal statements together, jointly making big decisions, and supporting each other’s smaller decisions — which doesn’t give anyone room to divide and conquer. The co-dean position helps with isolation, giving those in it someone to talk to, it increases efficiency with fundraising and other duties, and, if the two deans split the standard dean’s supplement, it doesn’t cost any extra. But schools have to find the right people for the job. http://www.educationdive.com/news/co-deans-increasingly-embraced-in-higher-ed-1/417112/

Career and Technical Education a key part of revitalized ed outlook - Autumn A. Arnett, Education Dive

95% of American CEOs believe their companies suffer from a skills shortage. If there is to be significant progress made in closing the nation’s skills and innovation gap, input from all sectors involved — industry as well as schools at both the K-12 and postsecondary level, including traditional baccalaureate institutions, community colleges and technical and vocational schools — will need to collaborate to arm future workers with the skills they need to be successful. http://www.educationdive.com/news/career-and-technical-education-a-key-part-of-revitalized-ed-outlook/417048

Tips for designing an online course from a NextGen Leader - Yizhu Wang, EdScoop

Blended learning experts shouldn't be afraid to push other teachers into an online learning environment. That's what Michele Eaton, virtual education specialist of Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township, suggested to school technology chiefs and administrators during CoSN's annual conference in Washington, D.C. last week. Eaton helps to oversee the Achieve Virtual Education Academy at her district in Indiana. She created an online forum for teachers to share their experiences using text or video, and post questions. http://edscoop.com/tips-for-designing-an-online-course-from-a-nextgen-leader

Rick Levin, CEO, Coursera - Beckie Smith, PIE News

Rick Levin was the longest-serving president of Yale University, before moving into the edtech space in 2014 to become CEO of online learning giant Coursera. The PIE: Why did you choose to move to Coursera? Principally because the mission truly appealed to me and it resonated with what I had tried to do in my time at Yale, which was to open up the university’s teaching resources to the wider world. Coursera’s mission is to reach anyone anywhere to enable them to transform their lives by access to the world’s best learning experience. I think that’s what we’re providing: great universal access for people who’re stuck mid-career, who see a course as an opportunity for real change, or a person who’s never had an opportunity to go to a top university who builds self confidence simply by learning they can master courses offered by these universities. I found it very inspirational. http://thepienews.com/pie-chat/rick-levin-coursera-ceo-usa/

Is higher ed too preoccupied with the present to plan for the future? - Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

A new book by Jon McGee, vice president for planning and public affairs at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in Minnesota, says higher education leaders need to step back from the demands of the present to plan for the future. University Business reports "Breakpoint: The Changing Marketplace for Higher Education" lays out three areas of change — demographic, economic and cultural — that will fundamentally shift the way colleges and universities have to operate to remain competitive. The demographic changes can be obvious years in advance by tracking the younger generation, and while the timing of a recession is hard to predict, the economy is cyclical, giving higher ed leaders clues that can help institutions prepare. http://www.educationdive.com/news/is-higher-ed-too-preoccupied-with-the-present-to-plan-for-the-future/416531/

Udemy Course Helps Fill Online Adjunct University Professor Vacancies - Udemy

Udemy has announced that they have released a new course that encourages people to make money teaching through online universities as distance learning adjunct instructors. The course is suitable for graduate degree holders and helps them generate a lucrative household income. The course can be accessed through https://www.udemy.com/making-money-teaching-online-get-your-first-academic-job/ Daniel Hall, J.D. from Udemy says: "We're very happy to see that the Udemy course that we are promoting is proving to be very popular, and that it is helping people find work. Perhaps most important to us, however, is the fact that those who are finding work thanks to our course are providing an invaluable service to others, which is teaching the next generation of academics." http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2894157

How To Satisfy Demand For The Biggest Job Of The 21st Century - Lydia Dishman, Fast Company

Data scientist is one of the most in demand jobs of the future. These three companies are trying to fill the skills gap. Harvard Business Review once called it "the sexiest job of the 21st century." Data scientist is not only the top job this year (the position ranked number one on Glassdoor’s top jobs for 2016) but based on hiring demand and the potential for salary growth it's poised to be the top job in the future as well. But there may not be enough people to fill it. A McKinsey report predicted that by 2018, "the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills, as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions." http://www.fastcompany.com/3058502/the-future-of-work/how-to-satisfy-demand-for-the-biggest-job-of-the-21st-century

Communications is next 'top' technical skill - LISA KATZ, Crain's Business

According to data from the Workforce Intelligence Network for Southeast Michigan (WIN), 40 percent of job postings identify communications skills — including verbal, written, and interpersonal skills — as a need. It is likely that the true number of job postings emphasizing communications skills is even higher, but the attribute is not specifically stated in the posting. WIN's Eureka Report on preparing the workforce for innovative and disruptive technologies further underscores this research: It found that employers are less concerned about young peoples' technical skills and more concerned about their abilities to relate and engage with others in the workplace. http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20160405/BLOG107/160409927/communications-is-next-top-technical-skill

Can 'Learning Paths' Boost LinkedIn's Education Revenues? - Trefis Team, Forbes

LinkedIn now appears to be working on several initiatives to accelerate the revenue generation from this platform. The company recently announced that Linda.com is introducing ‘Learning Paths’ for its subscribers to help them stay ahead in their current jobs or acquire the necessary knowledge and skills if they are looking to make a career pivot. The step by step structured courses in ‘Learning Paths’ include several skills such as Web Development, Digital Marketing and 50 other such programs. We believe this initiative, which is currently targeted towards individual professionals, can also be expanded at an enterprise level, thus boosting LinkedIn’s revenues from this segment. http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/04/05/can-learning-paths-boost-linkedins-education-revenues/#409dd97173cd

A Collective Vision for Business Education - AACSB

This is a vision for a future where business schools are drivers of change. Where business schools change the narrative about the role of business education, and of business, in society. Where business schools respond to the world’s demands to be more inventive. More daring. More connected. More agile. And even more impactful. This is a vision that challenges business schools to examine their relationship to society, to the business community, and to the higher education landscape. It will mean thinking, organizing, and acting in ways that have thus far been unusual or underdeveloped. It will mean incorporating new models and strategies and devoting renewed attention to economic, environmental, and personal well-being for all populations around the world. http://www.aacsb.edu/~/media/ManagementEducation/docs/collective-vision-for-business-education.ashx

How Obama's new education secretary could build a legacy in less than a year - Jamie Merisotis, Fox

U.S. Secretary of Education John King Jr. has just shy of 10 months in his post before the next administration takes over. But that doesn’t mean he’s a caretaker—far from it. Indeed, Secretary King has many opportunities to have a real and lasting influence on the trajectory of education in the country. An ideal opportunity to create an outsized impact is by leveraging his position to advance higher education equity. By “equity,” I mean this. Huge disparities remain in the number of Americans with an education beyond high school based on race and class. To address this, our nation’s postsecondary system must better serve students who traditionally have been left behind: first-generation students, adult learners who are working and parenting, and students of color – all of whom are quickly becoming the new college majority. King can move the needle in achieving this, both by raising awareness about the problem and emphasizing policies that put students, not institutions, at the center of higher education. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/04/05/how-obamas-new-education-secretary-could-build-legacy-in-less-than-year.html

The State of Education Video 2016 - Paul Riismandel, Streaming Media

Both inside and outside the classroom, video is as essential to students as email and Wi-Fi. Look for live streaming to increase in higher-ed, especially for popular events. Online video in education is the new normal. To grasp the full impact of that declaration, it’s important to take a step back from thinking only about memories of our own classrooms. Sure, video has come a long way in traditional teaching environments—something I won’t neglect in this review. But video takes a central role in learning in general. By the looks of it, LinkedIn agrees. Last April the company spent $1.5 billion to acquire Lynda.com, an early—and profitable—pioneer in providing skills-based video courses online. Lynda is a go-to destination to gain proficiency in areas such as web design, as well as courses on topics as diverse as accounting fundamentals and “The Neuroscience of Learning.” http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/The-State-of-Education-Video-2016-110211.aspx

Govt needs to look at online learning for skills shortage, says expert - SHANNON WILLIAMS, IT Brief

ALISON founder Mike Feerick says global inequality and the skills gap is one of the biggest challenges facing governments, and free online education is one of the most powerful modern tools available to address it. However, he says governments and advisors are looking in the wrong places for answers, and asking the wrong people for solutions. “We have been stopping people from educating themselves, and stopping those who can teach from having a wider impact,” Feerick explains. Speaking at SXSW in Texas, Feerick says there are three policies that governments could implement to radically propel online learning for all societies. “Firstly, governments could mandate that free online informal learning becomes an integral part of any hiring decisions across public and semi-state recruitment,” he says. “It would comprehensively deliver the message that free online lifelong learning is important, relevant and valued.” https://itbrief.co.nz/story/govt-needs-look-online-learning-skills-shortage-says-expert/

Online Education as a Catalyst for Organizational Change? - Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

Online Education: A Catalyst for Higher Education Reforms The Final Report from MIT's Open Education Policy Initiative. “...learning-science-based online education (including the blended model) is disrupting the existing higher education teaching paradigm." Recommendation 4: Foster Institutional and Organizational Change in Higher Education to Implement These Reforms What do you make of this recommendation? The MIT report argues that like other legacy sectors, higher education is due for disruption. This higher ed disruption will come from a combination of learning science, new (scalable) online learning technologies, and an altered set of economic and political arrangements (such as competency based learning and government / employer supported alternative credentialing). Disrupting the power / position of legacy higher education institutions, according to the MIT report, will not be easy. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/online-education-catalyst-organizational-change

The Shrinking Ph.D. Job Market - Scott Jaschik, Inside HIgher Ed

American universities awarded 54,070 research doctorates in 2014, the highest total in the 58 years that the National Science Foundation has sponsored the Survey of Earned Doctorates, a new edition of which was released Friday. But while more doctorates are being awarded, the figures also point to transitions and concerns in graduate education. Increasingly, the pool of doctoral degrees coming out of American universities is dominated by science and engineering Ph.D.s. Their numbers were up 2 percent in 2014, compared to the prior year, while all other research doctorates were down by 2 percent. With those changes, science and engineering Ph.D.s make up 75 percent of all doctorates awarded in 2014. In 1974, they made up only 58 percent of the total. And science and engineering doctoral education remains dependent on non-American talent -- which many view as a sign of success for American higher education but others worry leaves American universities vulnerable if students opt to enroll elsewhere. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/04/new-data-show-tightening-phd-job-market-across-disciplines

UC Berkeley to eliminate 500 staff jobs - Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle

Financially troubled UC Berkeley will eliminate 500 staff jobs over two years to help balance its budget by 2019-20, The Chronicle has learned. Chancellor Nicholas Dirks sent a memo to employees Monday informing them of the job reductions and said they will amount to “a modest reduction of 6 percent of our staff workforce.” Berkeley employs about 8,500 staffers, from custodians to administrators. Faculty members will not be affected. Dirks said the reductions will be done in part through attrition and did not mention layoffs. But the campus is in the process of laying off about 60 employees, spokesman Dan Mogulof said without identifying the departments they’re from. http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/UC-Berkeley-to-eliminate-500-staff-jobs-7244049.php

Why traditional institutions must assess or be assessed - MERIS STANSBURY, eCampus News

It’s a debate that’s spreading across the country: should colleges and universities have standardized assessments to measure student performance metrics? The Obama administration says yes, while most campus faculty and students say no. What should be done? According to Fredrik deBoer, a scholar and lecturer at Purdue University, it’s only a matter of time before institutions are forced to assess student performance in a standardized way, so they might as well get ahead of the curve in order to retain control of those assessments. “Every conversation that’s taking place about higher education today ultimately ends up around assessments,” said Kevin Carey, New America’s education policy program director. “Whenever there’s talk about price, value, outcomes, accreditation, innovation implementation, et cetera, it always comes down to proving student learning somehow. And weirdly enough, there’s very little solid research on student learning at the individual student- and department-level.” http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/colleges-standardized-assessments/

Deep learning will be huge — and here’s who will dominate it - AMIT KARP,Venture Beat

Artificial intelligence* is developing much faster than we thought. Just last month, Google’s DeepMind AI beat Lee Sedol, a legendary Go player, at his own game in a defining moment for the industry. What enabled this win is a relatively new AI technique called deep learning, which is transforming AI. Until deep learning was introduced, even the best AI systems were always highly tuned for specific problems and required many rules to operate successfully. But deep learning has changed that, causing many researchers to abandon classical AI approaches. Deep learning relies on simulating large, multilayered webs of virtual neurons, which enable a computer to learn to recognize abstract patterns (somewhat similar to the way a human brain operates). It can be used to solve any general-purpose pattern-recognition problem, which means that any activity that has access to large amounts of data can find it useful. http://venturebeat.com/2016/04/02/deep-learning-will-be-huge-and-heres-who-will-dominate-it/

#Infographic: The Urban Higher Education Ecosystem Solution - the Kresge Foundation

Earning a college degree or credential, now more than ever, is essential to achieving a stable, middle-class life and upward mobility. But just 1 in 10 students from low-income families will earn a bachelor’s degree by age 25, compared with more than 7 in 10 people from higher income families. With so many low-income students attending postsecondary institutions in urban areas, the Education Program at The Kresge Foundation has focused on a solution – improving the urban higher education ecosystem. This ecosystem includes colleges and universities, nonprofit organizations, employers, K-12 school districts and government agencies, as well as systems such as housing, transportation, food, financial aid, and childcare. http://kresge.org/news/infographic-urban-higher-education-ecosystem-solution

Change We Must: Deciding the Future of Higher Education (Release date today) - Otte, Goldstein... Ray Schroeder, Vickie Cook, et al.

President of APLU, Peter McPherson, writes: "This book about change and reform is written by people who have spent their lives in higher education. Their concerns and proposals come from their deep commitment to our purposes and should be taken seriously by other serious people." With chapters by the editors and Schroeder/Cook; Cathy Davidson; Candace Thille; James Hilton; Jonathan Cole; and Michael Zavelle, this book looks closely at the forces at play in higher education and the points to paths of positive change. William Kirwan, Chancellor Emeritus of the University System of Maryland writes “In eight insightful essays and with uncommon wisdom, this anthology addresses major issues confounding American higher education leaders today. From university governance in a time of dramatic change to the challenges and uncertainties of technology-based “disruptions,” the authors provide a thoughtful and hopeful roadmap to the future. It is a 'must read’ for all who care about the well being of our nation’s colleges and universities.” [disclosure note: as indicated, I am a co-author]. http://www.amazon.com/Change-We-Must-Deciding-Education/dp/0795348045/

Explore the Do's, Don't's of Interacting With Online Course Instructors - Bradley Fuster, US News

Everyone remembers the students in grade school who sat in the front, raised their hands to give every answer, endlessly complimented the teacher, grabbed attention at every opportunity and frustrated the entire class. Socially intelligent students eventually learn how to be a star pupil without resorting to such disruptive behavior. The ideal balance of admiration for the teacher and need to impress is tricky to establish in a live learning environment. In an online class, without the ability to process nonverbal cues and a lag time in most dialogue, establishing healthy patterns of communication with professors is even more complex. Below are four common do's and don't's for online learners to establish and maintain a healthy interpersonal relationship with their professors. http://www.usnews.com/education/online-learning-lessons/articles/2016-04-01/explore-the-dos-donts-of-interacting-with-online-course-instructors

Online learning equals virtual success - William J. Lowe, Chicago Tribune Op-Ed

Earlier this year, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education released an alarming figure. More than 750,000 Indiana residents, or about 22 percent of the state's working-age adults, have attended some college, but, due to various circumstances, quit before completing their degrees. The value of a degree has never been greater or more attainable, thanks to advances in technology. There is no better time than now to support your family, and your dreams, by investing in a college degree. One way to do so is through online learning, which provides all students the convenience that fits their busy, highly complex lives. http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/opinion/ct-ptb-lowe-oped-st-0403-20160401-story.html

Putting Her In Her Place: How Men Engage In Targeted Harassment Online - Casey Bennett, Libertarian Republic

Of course, when women talk about targeted online harassment, we aren’t denying it happens to men. No, when women talk about this type of harassment, we’re talking about the 26% of young women aged 18-24 who have been stalked online, compared to 7% of young men in the same age group. We’re talking about the 25% of women who have experienced sexual harassment, compared to 13% of men, and, while it’s close, the 18% who have experienced sustained harassment, compared to 16% of men. We’re talking about gender-specific harassment, to which women are subjected more often. Several solutions have been floated as a means of combating targeted online harassment, of course, from the creation of women-only social media websites and additional reporting measures to banning IP addresses as a means of preventing specific users from registering new accounts, but these “solutions” are merely band-aids. They do nothing to address the underlying problem that some men feel it’s their duty to put a woman in her place. http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/putting-her-in-her-place-how-men-engage-in-targeted-harassment-online/

MIT Just Released an Online Learning Report Worth Reading - WILLIAM FENTON, PC Magazine

While I will focus my attention on the report's four main recommendations, I recommend the background section to those interested in educational theory and the state of online education. The authors provide some of the sharpest synopses I have encountered, anchoring buzzwords such as "flipped classrooms," "active learning," and "student-centric education" to educational history and theory. Those interested in that research would do well to peruse the notes, which includes direct links to scholarship. http://www.pcmag.com/commentary/343501/mit-just-released-an-online-learning-report-worth-reading

MIT releases Online Education Policy Initiative report - Jessica Fujimori, MIT News

New report draws on diverse fields to reflect on digital learning. Titled “Online Education: A Catalyst for Higher Education Reform,” the report presents four overarching recommendations, stressing the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, integration between online and traditional learning, a skilled workforce specializing in digital learning design, and high-level institutional and organizational change. “We hope that this work will help to give our point of view on how university professors, policy makers, and government officials can think about technology and online education in the context of education at large,” says Sarma, who is the Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers Professor in Mechanical Engineering at MIT. The analysis covers — among other forms of digital learning — Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) such as those on edX, which provide free courses to millions of people around the world. http://news.mit.edu/2016/mit-releases-online-education-policy-initiative-report-0401

Study Big Data Through Online Learning - Jordan Friedman, US News

While the meaning of the term can vary​, "big data" usually refers to data sets that are too large and complex to be processed by traditional types of software. As technology advances and more and more data ​are collected and used each day to drive business decisions and strategies, there's an increasing demand for employees who are educated in this area, says Daphne Koller, president and co-founder of Coursera, a major provider of massive open online courses, or MOOCs. "What you do with all of that data, how you make use of it, is an opportunity that everyone is excited about," says Koller, "but yet there's not nearly enough qualified people to actually live up to that promise right now." With this growing demand for talent, the U.S. alone by 2018 could see a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 workers with "deep analytical skills," according to a 2011 report by the McKinsey Global Institute. http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2016-04-01/study-big-data-through-online-learning

College rankings seen as key element in higher ed's commodification - Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

In the third story of a three-part series about elite college admissions in The Atlantic, Alia Wong outlines the history of rankings and their pernicious impact on higher education, forcing colleges to compete in selling their value to students. Among other things, the rankings have encouraged colleges to recruit aggressively to foster an image of selectivity and couple admissions and financial aid in a bid to entice high-performing, wealthy students with “merit” aid. While college leaders have recognized the danger of the rankings since their inception and alternatives to U.S. News & World Report that prioritize different metrics have provided some new direction in the market, the vast majority of students still consider rankings very important to their application decisions — and U.S. News is at the top of their lists. http://www.educationdive.com/news/college-rankings-seen-as-key-element-in-higher-eds-commodification/416703/

UC Irvine Offering Scholarships for Gamers, Building Gaming Arena and Webcasting Studio - David Nagel, Campus Technology

University of California, Irvine is launching a new e-sports initiative this fall, which it's describing as "the first of its kind at a public research university." As part of the initiative, UCI is constructing a 3,500-square-foot gaming arena with 80 high-end gaming PCs from iBuyPower "loaded with popular gaming titles" and a webcasting studio that will live stream gaming events, such as multiplayer competitions. UCI will also be offering up to 10 academic scholarships to students who make UCI's eSports team, supported in part by iBuyPower. "UCI eSports will be built on four pillars: competition, academics, entertainment and community," said Thomas Parham, vice chancellor for student affairs, in a prepared statement. https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/30/uc-irvine-offering-scholarships-for-gamers-building-gaming-arena-and-webcasting-studio.aspx

ASU recognized for creating most engaging online content by Coursera - ASU Now

An online series of classes offered by Arizona State University has the highest combined learner rating and course completion rate for any class available on the Coursera platform. The “Teach English Now!” specialization, produced by ASU’s Global Launch, received Coursera’s inaugural Learners First award in recognition of the accomplishment. The “Teach English Now!” specialization boasts a completion rate of 20 percent, higher than the 9 percent average reported by Cousera for other massive online open courses on its platform. The specialization boasts 32,000 active learners amongst 67,000 enrolled in the course. https://asunow.asu.edu/20160330-asu-recognized-creating-most-engaging-online-content-coursera

In-state and interstate initiatives aim to improve transfer pathways - Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

While the vast majority of community college students enroll with plans to transfer and earn a bachelor’s degree, only one in 10 actually do so within six years. Fixing the leaky transfer pipeline has become a major concern of state higher education systems, the federal government and a number of foundations in recent years. California is one state that has enshrined expectations for transfer in state law, creating a framework to ease the transition from the state’s community colleges to its four-year schools in the California State University system. In 2010, legislators approved transfer reform legislation that created the Associate Degree for Transfer, which comes with guaranteed admission to a CSU school with junior standing. http://www.educationdive.com/news/in-state-and-interstate-initiatives-aim-to-improve-transfer-pathways/416372/

Stackable degrees gaining prominence as entry points to grad school - Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will soon offer a master’s degree in data science through Coursera, opening its curriculum to students who are interested in the full master’s as well as individual or groups of courses. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports the “stackable” nature of the degree, in which students can take a few courses, get a certificate, and later apply those courses toward a full master’s program, is expected to become increasingly popular among institutions looking to create more flexible and affordable programs for students. MIT is piloting its own stackable credential in supply chain management by offering the first half of the master’s program through edX, and edX CEO Anant Agarwal says more institutions are planning to debut similar program models through the MOOC platform in the coming year. http://www.educationdive.com/news/stackable-degrees-gaining-prominence-as-entry-points-to-grad-school/416612/

EdX Inaugurates Financial Aid Program - MARELLA A. GAYLA, Harvard Crimson

EdX, a virtual education platform co-founded by Harvard and MIT, recently launched a financial aid program, allowing financially disadvantaged students to receive a 90-percent discount on verified course certificates. While it is free to enroll in courses, users are required to pay fees that range from $50 to $100 in order to earn a verified certificate from an institution upon completing a course. Until last December, edX students had the option of earning a free “honor code certificate” for courses they audited, but the company discontinued that option. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/3/31/edx-inaugurates-financial-aid/

UW-Extension dean David Schejbal: Flexibility critical in serving nontraditional learners - Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

When David Schejbal thinks about expanding opportunities for nontraditional students in higher education, he thinks about them as consumers. Schejbal is the dean of continuing education, outreach and e-learning at the University of Wisconsin-Extension. The bulk of his career has been driven by a desire to make education flexible, affordable and accessible for working adults, some of whom have degrees and are looking for new skills, some of whom have no prior postsecondary experience, but all of whom have real commitments outside of schooling. http://www.educationdive.com/news/uw-extension-dean-flexibility-critical-in-serving-nontraditional-learners/416646/

12 Promising Non-traditional College Pathways to Attainment - Education Design Lab

We hear a lot about reinventing college and how we might better design the journey from school to work. Some students want faster or more experiential paths to prosperity, re-entry points after stop-outs or opportunities for lifelong learning. “Non-traditional pathways” is a phrase you’ll hear a lot if you hang around policy and design folks who are thinking about broadening “attainment of degrees” to include meaningful credentials that lead to career readiness. This broader college success definition is not a cop out—it’s a recognition that technology, access to micro-credentials, and access to modular learning generally are blurring the lines between vocational training, liberal arts exploration, and 21st century skill building because, increasingly, students are in a position to order all these off the menu. Lumina Foundation strategists Holly Zanville and Amber Garrison Duncan are in the thick of these designs, and the Lab caught up with them recently to help us build a list of the most promising ways that institutions, students, and third parties are piecing together non-traditional paths to meaningful credentials. http://eddesignlab.org/2016/04/12-promising-non-traditional-college-pathways-to-attainment/

Faculty, Students Disagree on Digital Content Usage Savvy - Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

In spite of seemingly unlimited sources of reusable multimedia content available online, digital literacy is still a struggle in higher education. A recent survey found that while 45 percent of students consider themselves as "highly digitally literate," only 14 percent of faculty would agree. Conversely, 49 percent of faculty say they're quite digitally literate, but only 23 percent of their students agree. Maybe both groups need more practice with multimedia. Nearly a third (31 percent) of faculty have assigned three or fewer projects to students that required them to create or include multimedia. https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/23/faculty-students-disagree-on-digital-content-usage-savvy.aspx

Microsoft's new 'holoportation' tech lets you jump into someone else's reality -DAVID NIELD, Science Alert

You've probably already heard about the HoloLens, Microsoft's much-hyped new augmented reality (AR) headset, but details have just been released about a cool new feature coming to the hardware called 'holoportation'. Basically, it lets you jump into someone else's reality as a full-sized, three-dimensional hologram, just like in the movies. So if you're having a business meeting, for example, remote staff members can appear in the same room together, or if you're having a video call with grandma, she can stand right in front of you rather than appearing on a flat laptop screen. It feels like technology straight from the future, and it's coming soon to an AR headset near you. http://www.sciencealert.com/microsoft-s-new-holoportation-tech-lets-you-jump-into-someone-else-s-reality

Your Course Accessibility Checklist - David Raths, Campus Technology

Yes, it's possible to embed accessibility into the course creation process, without expending too much time or effort. Here are things to consider during each development phase. "If you are teaching an online course, the chances are you have a student with a disability," according to Jason Khurdan, department administrator in the Office of Disability Services at Rutgers University (NJ). Regardless of whether a university considers accessibility a priority now, he said, "eventually they will because it is becoming an issue that is more apparent in society as a whole." Khurdan spoke about accessibility issues at a Rutgers-hosted online learning conference in New Brunswick, NJ, this past January. He started his presentation by giving a live demonstration of the struggles a student would have using an NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) screen reader on a typical syllabus he found online. "Attendees saw how difficult it was to work through this document." https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/30/your-course-accessibility-checklist.aspx

UIUC Announces Second Degree Program on Coursera - Inside Higher Ed

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is adding a second degree program made up of stackable courses offered by massive open online course provider Coursera. On Wednesday, the university announced its new master of computer science in data science program, a $19,200, 32-credit-hour degree broken down into MOOCs, each lasting four to six weeks, coupled with "high-engagement" online courses. In addition to offering a master's degree, the program awards certificates to learners who complete a handful of the courses. UIUC also offers an online M.B.A. program through Coursera. https://online.illinois.edu/MCS-DS

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/03/31/uiuc-announces-second-degree-program-coursera

So You Want to Be an Instructional Designer? - Marguerite McNeal, EdSurge

Good listener. People person. Lifelong learner. Sound like you? No, we’re not trying to arrange a first date. These are some common traits of people with successful careers in a booming job market: instructional design. Colleges, K-12 schools and companies increasingly turn to instructional designers to help them improve the quality of teaching in in-person, online or blended-learning environments. Once-lonely techies who helped faculty figure out Blackboard and dwelled in university IT departments, IDs now are growing in number and gaining celebrity status at their institutions. Arizona State University employs roughly 40 of them, and the role ranks among The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Top Trends of 2016." https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-03-29-so-you-want-to-be-an-instructional-designer

Competency for the Traditional-Age Student - Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed

The toughest nut to crack for competency-based education appears to be bachelor’s degrees aimed at traditional-age students. But that’s what Purdue University is doing with a newly approved bachelor’s in transdisciplinary studies in technology. And the customizable, competency-based degree from the new Purdue Polytechnic Institute combines technical disciplines with the humanities. Purdue’s personalized, interdisciplinary approach is a promising one, said Charla Long, executive director of the Competency-Based Education Network, a relatively new group of colleges and universities. “Competencies can be developed outside your discipline,” she said, “and be as relevant to your discipline.” https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/03/30/purdue-u-gets-competency-based-education-new-bachelors-degree

Digital Overtakes Print - Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

Major publishers report sales of digital course materials surpass sales of print textbooks for the first time. When McGraw-Hill Education this week reports its finances for 2015, the results will show that the company’s digital products -- including learning platforms ALEKS, Connect and LearnSmart and digital textbook service SmartBooks -- for the first time sold more units than its print products. The company already teased that detail in a press release earlier this month, showing healthy year-over-year digital growth. McGraw-Hill Education isn’t alone. A spokesperson for Cengage Learning, whose digital offerings include the MindTap learning platform, said the company is on track this fiscal year to see digital sales surpass print sales, both in terms of unit sales and revenue. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/03/30/publishers-report-digital-sales-overtaking-print-sales

Online learning key to breaking “male breadwinner” model - Women's Agenda

Distance learning and online education will play a big part in breaking the male breadwinner model in regional areas. “It’s almost like a vicious cycle - you need to get those skillsets up in order to command higher wages, afford childcare and return to the workforce. If you don’t have good public transport to take you between TAFEs and universities it’s not possible,” she says. “Therefore in regional areas distance education facilitates a lot of women to be able to get their skills up to date and return to work.” Charles Sturt University is also placing a big focus on regional entrepreneurship to help women develop better entrepreneurial skills, encouraging women to apply what they are learning through workplace learning experiences or assessment tasks that relate directly to their industry. “This is another way in which a lot of regional women can overcome these barriers to the labour market – by setting up their own business,” says Dr Bamberry. http://www.womensagenda.com.au/partner-content/item/6890-online-learning-key-to-breaking-male-breadwinner-model

Google getting serious about deep learning – Publishes free three month course - MUHAMMAD, Tech Worm

The course is free and will only take three months to complete, if you’re serious. Google is getting ready for deep learning and it wants you to be ready as well, which is why the tech giant has launched a three month course in order to help you learn its next level machine language. Deep learning is a machine learning technique that has become the foundation of the several services that Google already provides (this would include everything from speech recognition to automatically sorting your photo collection). The course is available to see on educational site Udacity, and could actually take longer than three months, depending on how quick you are to learn it. The course details state that if a student or any interested other person is able to invest 6 hours a week into the course, then they will be able to complete it in a period of months. http://www.techworm.net/2016/01/google-getting-serious-deep-learning-publishes-free-three-month-course.html

Learn How To Code For Free Using These Top 10 Coding Lesson Sites - Innov8tiv

In the past half a decade or so there has been a lot of concerted effort to make learning how to code a mainstream thing in the society. From boot camps, hackathons to push by civil societies to have coding become part and parcel of school’s curriculum. As we wait for these efforts to yield fruit, does it mean you will wait until the day coding lessons become mainstream especially in our public education system? Well, you don’t have to, there are plenty of sites online that can teach you how to code, and the best part you don’t have to spend much to get the coding lessons. In fact, you don’t have to spend anything at all! Well, except Internet connection and a device to connect to the web. http://innov8tiv.com/learn-code-free-using-top-10-coding-lessons-sites/

Virtual Reality Is Cool; This May Be Bigger - DAN GALLAGHER, Wall Street Journal

Augmented-reality devices like Microsoft’s HoloLens are still a work in progress, but they may bear more fruit for investors. Augmented-reality technology mixes the real world with objects that aren’t really there. Investors contemplating the “next big thing” in tech should appreciate the irony in this. At the moment, virtual, not augmented, reality has the spotlight. VR made a splash this year thanks to the technology’s early focus on videogames. Augmented reality, on the other hand, will have to wait. While some companies sell specialized, expensive smartglasses for businesses, major efforts remain shrouded. Microsoft, which holds a developers conference this week, plans to get its HoloLens device to developers later this year. A market launch is a way off. Google’s on-again, off-again smartglasses project is apparently back on again, though details aren’t known. http://www.wsj.com/articles/virtual-reality-is-cool-this-may-be-bigger-1459099968

MOOCs for Credit: All the different ways you can get credit from MOOCs - Class Central

Online learning is transforming education. There are many innovations taking place, such as coding bootcamps, MOOCs, and learning in virtual reality — to name but a few. Everyone is beginning to debate and reevaluate the meaning of degrees, certificates, academic credit, portfolios, and so on. Linked below are all the ways you can receive academic credit for completing MOOCs. https://www.class-central.com/report/moocs-for-credit/

Should Instructional Designers Be Called ‘Learning Engineers’? - Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

How many of you spent some of your weekend, like me, reading the MIT report - Online Education: A Catalyst for Higher Education Reforms? It really doesn’t get more exciting for us online learning nerds. This report, the final report of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Online Education Policy Initiative, has lots to say about the future of higher education. The first thing that caught my eye is - Recommendation 3: Support the Expanding Profession of the Learning Engineer. Have you ever heard the job title learning engineer? I haven’t. At my school, these folks go by the title of instructional designer. At some places they are called learning designers. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/should-instructional-designers-be-called-%E2%80%98learning-engineers%E2%80%99

How Data Can Help Shape Higher Education Policy - Brian C. Mitchell, Huffington Post

The report’s authors - Louis Soares, Patricia Steele, and Lindsay Wayt - make the case that “making the black box transparent and deploying the business intelligence therein are among the keys to re-imagining the academic enterprise itself.” Specifically, they argue that “a model that prioritizes granular data transparency provides stakeholders visibility into the connections between expenses, revenue, and educational outcomes.” Put in other terms, data infuses good policy decisions influenced by a transparent process with nothing to hide. It’s a remarkably simple and telling conclusion. The authors assume, of course, that current governance supports full transparency. But there are some sticking points that must first be overcome if “networked leadership” that will guide transparency is going to work. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-brian-c-mitchell/how-data-can-help-shape-h_b_9556700.html

What Higher Education Can Learn From The Fall Of The Newspapers - Frederick Singer, Forbes

Today, technology is also changing the way that even the most venerable institutions of higher education operate at a difficult time when even the value of the degree is being called into question. Students face a multiplicity of options to acquire knowledge outside of colleges and universities. Colleges and universities will adapt and unbundle, some argue, or go the way of the local newspaper. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Visionary institutions are already making smart, competitive choices without disrupting their values or upsetting faculty. The analogy is imperfect but instructive. So what might higher education learn from the newspaper industry? http://www.forbes.com/sites/schoolboard/2016/03/28/what-higher-education-can-learn-from-the-fall-of-the-newspapers/#253a02634ce0

Reciprocity and Online Education - Phil Hill and Russ Poulin, Inside Higher Ed

A coalition of consumer groups, legal aid organizations and unions object to the state of New York joining an agreement that would change how colleges offering distance education courses in the state would be regulated. As coalition members asserted in an Inside Higher Ed article, the state would be ceding its authority to other states. Students would be left with no protection from predatory colleges, and it would make it easier for “bad actors to take advantage of students and harder for states to crack down on them.” That all sounds ominous. It would be, if it were true. A backlash against state reciprocity in the regulation of online education is misguided, write Phil Hill and Russ Poulin, who argue that consistently applied regulations are good for consumer choice and protection. https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/03/29/essay-value-states-banding-together-stronger-more-clear-regulation-online-education

U Toronto Makes Course Eval System Available to other Institutions - Michael Hart, Campus Technology

An innovative course evaluation system that the University of Toronto has used for some time will now be marketed to other colleges and universities. eXplorance, a company that provides learning experience management products, will market evalUT, which was created by the university's Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation. The course evaluation framework uses a cascaded approach to measure learning metrics. By incorporating multiple levels of evaluation into a single form, the model enables any institution to include questions from divisions, departments and individual instructors. Meeting differing priorities, the approach enables a centralized evaluation and data control process with the ability to preserve autonomy. https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/28/u-toronto-makes-course-eval-system-available-to-other-institutions.aspx

NASA Backs Arizona State on Adaptive Science Courses - Inside Higher Ed

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will spend $10 million on a grant to Arizona State University to encourage the development of personalized, digital online courseware in science education, the university announced this week. The money will help fund a five-year project, led by faculty members at Arizona State, who seek to build on their experimental work with adaptive science courses, which respond to individual learners. A few years ago, Ariel Anbar, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the university, created a popular online course, dubbed Habitable Worlds, which introduces nonscience students to space exploration, climate science and the search for life beyond Earth. The course uses adaptive technology from Smart Sparrow, an adaptive learning company. https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/03/28/nasa-backs-arizona-state-adaptive-science-courses

Compare Top Online, On-Ground MBA Programs Through Data - Jordan Friedman, US News

The top ​online MBA programs had lower average student enrollment than the top in-person, part-time programs, U.S. News data show.​ While acceptance rates and incoming students' GPAs were similar in both categories, there were greater differences in average GMAT scores. When it comes to online and in-person, part-time MBA programs, both generally attract a similar demographic of students: working professionals looking to balance their jobs and other responsibilities with an education. And while flexibility is a key reason to consider pursuing an online MBA program over one on a physical campus, you can also look at data to compare your options. Most online MBA students complete their programs [at an average 30% lower indebtedness -ed. note] on a part-time basis, experts say. Linked below are the latest data​ submitted to U.S. New​s ​by both the top 20 online MBA programs for the 2014-2015 school year and the top 20 part-time, on-ground MBA programs for fall 2015.​ http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2016-03-21/compare-top-online-on-ground-mba-programs-through-data

Creating Connections for Online Learners - Eric Stoller, Inside Higher Ed

Online learning is different. It's not face-to-face. It's digital-to-digital. People and personalities interacting via pixels and text. And, we're not sure what to make of it. A lot of people seem quite keen on projecting their inner bias against online learning simply as a reflection of the fact that it's not "what they did" or "how they learned." Well, welcome to 2016 and the reality of the higher education sector. Online learning is here and it benefits a lot of people. These are committed individuals who are striving to learn more, to earn a credential, and to increase their career prospects. It's true that online learners will not have the same types of interactions as their on-campus peers. However, we need to stop thinking about what's "missing" or "lacking" and focus on what we can do to increase connection and build community via digital channels. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/student-affairs-and-technology/creating-connections-online-learners

Open course moves OU professor to top of world online class - Candace Stuart, Crain's Business

With an investment of $5,000 in video supplies and free labor from family, Oakland University engineering professor Barbara Oakley became the most popular online instructor in the world, at least according to one measurement. Oakley is among educators who have used massive open online courses — Web-based, open-enrollment classes — to teach students across the globe. To date, more than 550 universities worldwide host MOOCs on topics as varied as computer programming and Buddhism. According to Online Course Report, offerings have grown from a handful of courses in 2011 to north of 4,500 today. Oakley's "Learning How to Learn" MOOC enrolled 1.2 million students by late 2015 after its August 2014 release, earning it the top spot in Online Course Report's "50 Most Popular MOOCs of All Time" list. http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20160327/NEWS/303279997/open-course-moves-ou-professor-to-top-of-world-online-class