Online Rx for 'Cost Disease' - Ry Rivard, Inside Higher Ed

Universities must slow the rising cost of higher education or risk losing the support of the American public, the president emeritus of Princeton University, William Bowen, argues in his new book.To do that, college administrations should turn to online courses to combat the “cost disease,” a term explained several decades ago by Bowen, a labor economist. The disease is simple: higher education prices are hard to bring down because labor prices rise while productivity remains the same. Bowen says that in academe, like a string quartet, there’s traditionally been little chance for colleges to reduce the number of laborers or the time it takes to finish the work. The cure, Bowen writes, may be online education. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/29/bill-bowens-new-book-moocs-and-online-education

Free Online Courses Mean College Will Never Be the Same - Randy Rieland, Smithsonian

Depending on who you’re listening to, Massive Open Online Courses, aka MOOCs, are either the greatest boon to the spread of knowledge since Gutenberg cranked his first press or the biggest threat to learning on campus since the coming of cheap beer. No question that they are the most disruptive innovation to come out of universities in a very long time, although it’s still too soon to say if that’s “good” disruptive or bad. A quick refresher: Though free online courses, notably through Khan Academy, were already starting to build an audience, the first MOOC by a university professor popped up at Stanford in the fall of 2011 when Sebastian Thrun, also head of the team behind Google’s driverless car, decided that he and his colleague, Peter Norvig, would offer online–and free–their course on artificial intelligence. About 160,000 people around the world signed up. http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/ideas/2013/03/free-online-courses-mean-college-will-never-be-the-same/

Massive open online courses discover global talent - Tyler Falk, Smart Planet

We’re starting to learn more about how massive open online courses — free online classes from some of the world’s top universities — are being used. The four major organizations Coursera, edX, Udacity and Udemy already have millions of users. But while the appeal of gaining knowledge from Harvard or MIT, among many others, is strong about 90 percent of participants never finish or even start their classes. Still, there are real benefits to offering free higher education to anyone in the world. Namely, they’re helping universities discover talented young people around the world whose talents might otherwise be overlooked by major institutions. The Financial Times reports on one teenage boy from India who was accepted to MIT after his skills caught the eye of the professor who then wrote him a letter of recommendation to attend the university, a win-win for both student and school. http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/massive-open-online-courses-discover-global-talent/16274

U Washington announces new, low-cost online-only degree completion program in early childhood studies - Molly McElroy, University of Washington

The University of Washington will offer a new low-cost online bachelor’s degree completion program in early childhood and family studies. Pending final approval, the program will start in the fall. “This is a very exciting development in the use of technology to meet critical educational needs that otherwise might be difficult to do in a more traditional educational setting,” said UW President Michael K. Young. “The country is moving towards better education, training – and certification – for the teachers of our youngest students. This is an optimal way to ensure they have access to high quality education in a place and at a cost that makes sense for them. We will be doing more of this.” http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/03/27/uw-announces-new-low-cost-online-only-degree-completion-program-in-early-childhood-studies/

State budget officers seek overhaul of university funding - Lisa Lambert, Reuters

Public colleges and universities face a funding crunch, state budget officers from across the country said on Wednesday, as the fiscal watchdogs called for reforms and even broached the possibility of boosting state spending to limit tuition increases. The National Association of State Budget Officers joined a chorus of voices calling to make college affordable and also suggested increased state spending could keep tuition in check. State budget officers rarely advocate for appropriations or policy. "Resources for the states are getting tighter. We have rising costs, the high tuition, and the debt load that a lot of students have," said NASBO Executive Director Scott Pattison on a call with reporters. "Whether or not one could argue about the system working in the past, the bottom line is we don't think it's sustainable going forward." http://news.yahoo.com/state-budget-officers-seek-overhaul-university-funding-224325437--business.html

Institutions Are Increasingly Incorporating Online Learning Technologies Into Their Long-Term Plans - Jamaal Abdul-Alim, Diverse

At Oregon State University, students use a “virtual spectrometer” to measure the absorbance of different solutions in an online chemistry course that features a “virtual lab.” At the University of Central Florida, aspiring teachers practice their skills in a simulated middle school classroom that features digital avatars controlled by trainers who act like students. At Weber State University, students in an online marketing course issue time-stamped critiques of student presentations. These are some of the ways technology is transforming teaching and learning in higher education. And the trend is likely to continue. http://diverseeducation.com/article/52236/

Turn On, Log In and Graduate: Online Solutions to Student Debt Crisis - Nico Mele, Huffington Post

Meanwhile, online learning is exploding in its depth, variety, and accessibility, in part due to the proliferation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC's). You can actually take an MIT course online for free on the EdX website or a Stanford class at no cost by logging on Coursera. In the world of lecture halls and dorms, four years at MIT will run you about a quarter of a million dollars. Granted, online coursework may not look as good on a resume as a diploma, but this could be changing. While unemployment rates remain higher for non-graduates than for graduates, most can agree that a traditional college degree no longer confers the same benefit it once did. As Caryn McTighe Musil of the American Association of Colleges and Universities has said, "A bachelor's is what a high school diploma used to be." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicco-mele/online-classes_b_2964281.html

Yet More Conflation of MOOCs with Online Education - Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

A MOOC may contain a number of positive and negative attributes, but these attributes differ in both kind and degree from a traditional (small scale) online course. What distinguished a MOOC is not that it is delivered online, but that it is delivered at scale. What distinguishes a traditional online class is not the technology that students interact with the course, but the degree to which the instructor is able to build relationships and engage in collaborative knowledge creation with the students. The quality of a traditional online class, one that is cohort based and instructor led and is limited in enrollment, is best evaluated by the level of interaction and discussion and debate within the course. http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/yet-more-conflation-moocs-online-education-open-letter-dr-matloff

Machine learning a growing force against online fraud - Paul McCloskey, GCN

A group of ex-Google employees has started a company that wants to expand the use of big data to spot fraud — a blight that costs taxpayers over $125 billion a year, and affects public-sector agencies involved in payments, collections and benefits — before it occurs. San Francisco-based Sift Science says it has developed an algorithm that uses machine-learning techniques to stay ahead of new fraud tactics as they are introduced into its customers’ networks. “Many anti-fraud technologies follow a set number, maybe 175 to 225 rules, against which to measure user behavior,” Sift Science co-founder Brandon Ballinger told GigaOm. “The problem is fraudsters don’t follow the rules and change all the time.” http://gcn.com/articles/2013/03/26/sift-science-machine-learning-anti-fraud.aspx

Economies of Online Learning Scale - Ry Rivard, Inside Higher Ed

The State University of New York, a system of 64 campuses, and Florida’s dozen-member university system are seeking to offer new online degree programs by January while consolidating authority and avoiding redundant efforts by different campuses. In New York, this means the system office is taking the reins. In Florida, it means the University of Florida is likely to lead a new online effort on behalf of the state system and gain thousands of new students in the process. While the two approaches are a bit different, officials in both states seem to realize online education programs need to be pruned to properly grow. SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher wants to consolidate online course offerings after nearly 20 years of institutional independence. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/27/florida-and-new-york-look-centralize-and-expand-online-education

Google funds 'BOOC' learning assessment course online by IU School of Education researcher - Indiana University

Google has funded an associate professor in the Indiana University School of Education to develop a "Big Open Online Course," or BOOC. Daniel Hickey will offer a free course in September focused on educators and titled "Assessment Practices, Principles and Policies" for as many as 500 students, funded by a $50,000 Google grant. Hickey intends for this BOOC to offer most of the advantages of a Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC, but with more interaction, while taking advantage of Google's new Coursebuilder course management system. "Google wants to know whether interactive online practices that are working well with 20 students can be scaled up," Hickey said. http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/24014.html

Online Learning: A Global Jesuit University? - Libby A. Nelson, Inside Higher Ed

In a place whose name means “Nowhere” in Swahili, a small group of students -- refugees from several neighboring African countries, including Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia -- are enrolled in online courses taught by 28 Jesuit colleges, mostly in the United States. The courses are part of Jesuit Commons, a project that seeks to bring courses from the order’s universities to refugee camps worldwide. So far, the program has enrolled about 225 students at three camps in a diploma track that will eventually lead to a credential from Regis University, a Jesuit college in Colorado with a well-established online presence; more than 350 students have participated in service learning courses intended to give them knowledge they use while still at the refugee camps. The program is eyeing a major expansion -- and perhaps, in the coming years, the creation of an online-only Jesuit university that would issue degrees of its own. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/27/jesuit-universities-offer-online-courses-refugee-camps

USNH head’s goals: online classes, sharing - KEVIN LANDRIGAN, Concord Telegraph

The new acting chancellor of the University System of New Hampshire says all four public institutions need to become “more nimble” to compete with private and public colleges nationally. In an interview with The Telegraph, Dr. Todd Leach said expanded use of online education and getting the four campuses to share their strengths are top priorities of his brief tenure at the top. “We know higher ed is going through enormous amounts of challenges nationally,” Leach said. “The board of trustees put in place a number of changes intended to help the four institutions become more nimble and more competitive in the public and private education marketplace,” Leach said. http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/politics/997315-476/usnh-heads-goals-online-classes-sharing.html

Online's range getting wider and deeper as Stanford's course offerings take advantage of new technology - R.F. MACKAY, Stanford News

As new MOOCs are made available to the world at large, professors innovate on campus to make Stanford-only courses more exciting and effective. Among the MOOCs offered in spring is 'Democratic Development,' taught by Larry Diamond, a professor of political science and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Around 20 Stanford courses will be taught entirely or partially online this spring. According to the university's Office of the Vice Provost for Online Learning, some courses have been taught before, others are brand new; some are entirely for public consumption, while others are reserved for on-campus students. While at first online courses tended to emphasize computer science and engineering, the offerings now include courses from political science, the humanities and public health, among many other fields. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/march/spring-online-courses-032513.html

Harvard Asks Graduates to Donate Time to Free Online Learning Humanities Class - RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA, NY Times

Alumni of elite colleges are accustomed to getting requests for money from their alma mater, but the appeal that Harvard sent to thousands of graduates last Monday was something new: a plea to donate their time and intellects to the rapidly expanding field of online education. For the first time, Harvard has opened a humanities course, The Ancient Greek Hero, as a free online class. In an e-mail sent Monday, it asked alumni who had taken the course at the university to volunteer as online mentors and discussion group managers. The new online course is based on Professor Gregory Nagy’s Concepts of the Ancient Greek Hero, a popular offering since the late 1970s that has been taken by some 10,000 students. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/education/harvard-asks-alumni-to-donate-time-to-free-online-course.html?_r=0

How Online Education Has Changed In 10 Years - Katie Lepi, Edudemic

We all know that education, specifically online education, has come a long way in the last few years. We’ve already taken a look back – way back – at online education as we rarely think of it (in the 1960′s and 70′s), but it is also interesting to see just how much online learning has evolved in just the more recent past. Thanks to this handy infographic from OnlineColleges.org, we can take a look at the past decade of online education – and see just how much has been happening. http://edudemic.com/2013/03/how-online-education-has-changed/

Walk Deliberately, Don't Run, Toward Online Education - William G. Bowen, Chronicle of Higher Ed

There is a real danger that the media frenzy associated with MOOCs will lead some colleges (and, especially, business-oriented members of their boards) to embrace too tightly the MOOC approach before it is adequately tested and found to be both sustainable and capable of delivering good learning outcomes for all kinds of students. Uncertainties notwithstanding, it is clear to me that online systems have great potential. Vigorous efforts should be made to explore further uses of both the relatively simple systems that are proliferating all around us, often to good effect, and sophisticated systems that are still in their infancy—systems sure to improve over time. In these explorations, I would urge us not to hesitate to experiment, but always to insist on assessments of outcomes. I would also urge us to think in terms of systemwide approaches—and to exercise that rarest of virtues, patience. http://chronicle.com/article/Walk-Deliberately-Dont-Run/138109/

Our View: Senate bill aims for good online learning classes - the Merced Sun-Star

The latest frontier in higher education -- online courses -- offers promise for widening access to knowledge. In California, done right, online courses can help reduce failure rates in entry-level courses, reduce bottlenecks in access to classes, reach people who are place-bound and spread unique courses offered on particular California campuses statewide. However, in the new world where for-profit firms offer "massive open online courses," or MOOCs, our public colleges and universities need rigorous standards to make sure online educa- tion doesn't become a newfangled equivalent to "correspondence school" diploma mills. http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2013/03/25/2901348/our-view-senate-bill-aims-for.html

Disrupting the Degree? Credentialing in 2023 - Ray Schroeder, Evolllution

Universities will be called upon to assess and interpret the experiences and learning a student has accumulated through MOOCs, internships, work, personal learning networks, projects, etc. in addition to traditional courses. The universities, if they are to remain relevant and viable, will aggregate evidence of competencies and create enhanced transcripts that will provide more detailed and meaningful information about the competency and understanding than merely a course prefix, number and title. The college transcript of the future will describe a variety of accumulated “learning modules” – some for credit within the university, others from outside of the university. Each of the entries will include a description of competencies, understandings and relevance to the workplace/career. Cumulatively, the portfolio of assessed activities and experiences, as well as courses that comprise the full transcript of learning activities, will be validated by the university as meeting the qualities of a 21st-century degree. In this way, the degree may survive to be documented by far more descriptive and meaningful transcripts that will be offered by those universities that escape bankruptcy. http://www.evolllution.com/technology/disrupting-degree-credentialing-2023/

For Libraries, MOOCs Bring Uncertainty and Opportunity - Jennifer Howard, Chronicle of Higher Ed

A lot of the discussion about massive open online courses has revolved around students and professors. What role can academic librarians play in the phenomenon, and what extra responsibilities do MOOCs create for them? At a conference held here at the University of Pennsylvania, librarians talked about the chances and challenges that open online courses throw their way. The conference, “MOOCs and Libraries: Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge?,” was organized by OCLC, a library cooperative that runs the WorldCat online catalog and provides other services and library-related research. http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/for-libraries-moocs-bring-uncertainty-and-opportunity/43111

How to get rid of massive waitlists for college courses and turn professors into rock stars - John Duhring, GigaOM

There has been rapid growth in the number of online-only college courses that have accredited professors teaching audiences that can number in the tens of thousands. This development could be a huge boon for students, professors and universities.... What are we to make of this? Millions of people around the world want to take online course, but the current offerings are too rigorous and not yet suited to their needs. And this is a problem? Sounds to me like we are engaging a whole new set of students and developing new methods to invite them to pursue their dreams through the courses and classes they can take online. If the goal is spreading knowledge and education, then MOOCs are wildly succeeding. http://www.dailydemocrat.com/editorial/ci_22860460/editorial-academics-and-lawmakers-collide-over-online-classes