StudentAdvisor Blog

College Credit For Online Learning?

 

Debate is raging around the approval of college credit for MOOCs (massivley open online courses). Coursera.org recently announced the approval of five Coursera courses for college credit, but college professors are not all in agreement that it should be in their future. Read my most recent post entitled College Credit For MOOCs to weigh in on the subject.

 

 

MOOC Monday: An Interview with UC Irvine's Gary W. Matkin, Ph.D.

One of the biggest advancements in education technology is the Massive Open Online Course, or the MOOC. Even though MOOC was one of 2012’s most popular words, the concept still remains a mystery to those who haven’t taken or administered an online course.

I spoke with Gary W. Matkin, Ph.D., Dean of Continuing Education, Distance Learning and Summer Session at University of California, Irvine. Dean Matkin has pioneered online education and distance learning and has instituted is the first online master’s program in the University of California system. We wanted to get Dean Matkin’s expert opinion on the rise of the MOOC, and where online education is going from here. Read more...

Report: Online Education in the United States

Last week, Pearson released a survey titled Changing Course:Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States, describing the rise of online learning over the past decade. Surveying 2,800 Chief Academic Officers (CAOs) and academic leaders, authors Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman quantify the trends of MOOCs and digital learning. 

Some of Pearson's most interesting findings are:

• Online learning is growing substantially. In 2003, 11.7 percent of students were taking an online course. In 2011, 32 percent of students participate in digital learning.
• Online learning is comparable to classroom learning. 77 percent Of academic leaders surveyed reported online learning outcomes to be the same, somewhat superior or superior to face-to-face in 2012.
• Colleges are taking online learning seriously. The number of CAOs that consider online education to be critical to the long-term strategy of their institution has risen nearly 30 percent over the past ten years.

Is your college offering online learning options? Let us know what you think of digital learning in the comments below. 

 

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MOOC Monday: What is edX?

EdX, one of the top companies offering MOOCs today, has had incredible success over the past few months. Bringing together some of the biggest names in higher education, edX has become one of the largest contenders in education innovation. We took a closer look at edX, and what students are saying. Read more...

MOOCs: JHU Bloomberg School of Public Health has Massive Success

by Taylor Cotter
StudentAdvisor.com Staff

How do you measure the success of a MOOC? Johns Hopkins University, a recent partner of Coursera, has seen an amazing response to their first course on the site. Read more... 

 

University of Maryland University College talks MOOCs

by Taylor Cotter
StudentAdvisor.com Staff

A massive open online course, or MOOC, is a type of online course aimed at large-scale participation and open access via the web. MOOCs are gaining increased popularity and have begun to redefine online higher education. 

StudentAdvisor.com Editor-in-Chief Dean Tsouvalas talked to Marie Cini of University of Maryland-University College about this new model of learning and where it might take higher education. Read more...

 

MOOCs: Bunker Hill Community College and MassBay Community College to Offer edX Course

by Taylor Cotter
StudentAdvisor.com Staff 

MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses, have been taking the higher education world by storm. However, these online courses have long been seen as a threat to community college, and other affordable education options, as they provide college courses free of charge.

Today, edX, the online-learning initiative founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), announced an innovative blended MOOC offering at Bunker Hill Community College and MassBay Community College to begin a collaborative effort between online and community education.

What does this announcement mean for higher education, especially online  higher education? Read more...