A new form of distance learning, online learning is education in which instruction and content comprising a formal course of study are delivered primarily via the Internet. K-12 enrollments in online courses continue to grow, and while there is great potential in the virtual schools movement,…
October 14, 2011
WASHINGTON — Most distance education experts agree that the eventual solution to the new requirement that colleges be authorized by every state where they operate is reciprocity — states will agree to accept each others’ authorization, as they do for driver’s licenses and other credentials.
But although some efforts are already under way, finding a reciprocity agreement that appeals to a large majority of states will be a challenge, state officials and representatives of interstate associations said in two panel discussions Thursday at the annual meeting of the Presidents’ Forum.
(Continue Reading: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/10/14/presidents_forum_discusses_barriers_to_state_authorization_reciprocity)
The DIY learning movement is on the rise, but alternative-minded lifelong learners—unlike traditional students who receive a degree to show for their work—don’t have an easy way to show prospective employers that they’ve gained skills and knowledge. That could all change thanks to “Badges for Lifelong Learning,” a new competition seeking to make it easier for people to acquire badges from online learning ventures as evidence of what they’ve learned.
The competition, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla, and the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory at the University of California at Irvine, marks a sure sign that DIY learning is becoming mainstream At the kickoff event, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that digital badges will support “anytime, anywhere” learning and legitimize the knowledge and skills people pick up online and in community settings. The contest also has some heavyweight collaborators: NASA, the U.S. Departments of Education, Labor, Energy, and Veterans Affairs, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Microsoft, and Intel have all committed to “exploring the potential of badges for their own work and programs.”
(Source: youtube.com)
Students from Brad Peach’s ninth grade World Geography class in McKinney, Texas, gathered in their high school classroom on a Sunday night. On a screen in front of them, teenagers in Siberia dished to their Texan peers about life in eastern Russia.
Seeing the faces of students across the globe and learning about a culture firsthand brought his students to life, Peach says.
[Read more about technology in the classroom.]
“They wanted to sit right in front [and] be right in the camera; they wanted to really interact,” Peach notes. “This thing is drawing kids out who might be a little wallflowerish.”
The students chatted about sports, school, and food using Skype, a Web-based phone and video service. Skype started in 2003 as a voice service and quickly expanded to include video calls and mobile apps. The service now averages 145 million users worldwide each month.
(Continue Reading: http://education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2011/10/11/high-school-students-learning-by-skype)
I did an interview with the Chronicle of Higher Education on Why Universities Should Experiment With ‘Massive Open Courses’. Thanks to Jeff and Warren for the opportunity to share some of the work that Stephen Downes, Dave Cormier, Alec Couros, and a growing number of educators have engaged in over the last four years. The interview ran over 30 minutes, but was edited down to 12 minutes, so some of my discussion about the history of open courses (Wiley, Couros) was not included in the final version.
I was surprised (disappointed) to read some of the comments.There is a chasm between those who are actively experimenting with educational models and those who are focused on preserving it. This chasm is complicated by different language use and different visions. These two camps are talking past each other.
For example, in the comments I/we (those who run open courses) are presented as being corporate shills:
Not surprising that online learning is being pushed by corporate entities who smell the bottom line figures. Faculty should resist this movement at every turn. It will undermine and dilute higher education as we know it, mass producing degrees that mean nothing. This is why the liberal arts are necessary. Critical thinking skills, writing, and close reading cannot be taught in cyberspace. The movement toward degrees in “Business” and other faux disciplines was the beginning.
Huh? Corporate entities? I haven’t made money on open courses. I haven’t tried.
and in terms of engagement:
(Continue Reading: http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2011/10/06/chronicle-interview-why-universities-should-experiment-with-open-online-courses/)
GI Bill 2.0 and Online Education Infographic
The National Center for Education Statistics has released a report on online-learning growth between 2000 and 2008, showing that the percentage of undergraduates enrolled in at least one online class went from 8 percent to 20 percent during that time. Computer-science and business classes were the most popular. This expansion has also been documented in a series of Sloan Consortium reports.
Earlier today, students from at least 100 college campuses around the country walked out of class in a show of solidarity and support for the Occupy Wall Street movement.
While the Occupy Wall Street movement has yet to present a coherent agenda or message, the college students who marched today in support of it were clear about their concerns. They banded together to make their voices heard, many citing the rising amount of student loan debt and the increasing cost of college, in addition to a dearth of decent jobs for recent graduates.
“With budget cuts and tuition increases, students’ voices are demanding to be heard,” said Conor Tomás Reed, 30, a participant in today’s walkout. Reed teaches at the City University of New York and is also a student at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. “It’s a collective roar, and students are beyond disgusted and fed up. The time is especially ripe for this kind of mobilization.”
Continue Reading: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/05/college-students-walk-out_n_996904.html
I’ll leave you all with this quote from his 2005 Stanford University Commencement Address.
