For years we’ve heard about the capacity of online learning to level the playing field, reduce costs and give people around the world access to a top-notch education. But somehow the technology—and our seemingly endless need to turn everything into a vehicle for celebrities or celebrity-making—has gotten in the way of the most important thing: the learning itself. Sample just ... Read More »
At its Blackboard World event in Las Vegas this week, course-management software company Blackboard—whose products drive numerous online and on-site education platforms—revealed plans to launch its own MOOC platform. The new platform will be free to use for existing Blackboard customers, but, according to this article by Jeffrey R. Young, at the Chronicle of Higher Ed, “there might be a fee if ... Read More »
Last Friday HuffPost Live hosted a Google Hangout about MOOCs and the decision by Amherst College not to join edX. Amherst President Biddy Martin was part of the disucssion, saying, “The faculty isn’t yet certain that it’s the right moment to get involved in any of the particular firms that are out there. That doesn’t mean the faculty isn’t interested ... Read More »
Daphne Koller makes a compelling case that her company Coursera (which partners with universities to offer free online courses open to anyone) and its massive open online course (MOOC) counterparts have the potential to transform lives. During a recent presentation at Northeastern University, Koller shared rich anecdotes about learners who live far from their U.S.-based courses of study who have ... Read More »