Exploring the frontiers of DIY education

Task Discussion

• 
  Rob   Aug. 21, 2012, 11:54 a.m.

  New York Times article on mechanical MOOC...patching together MOOCs: 

  The new course, “A Gentle Introduction to Python,” will blend content from M.I.T.’s OpenCourseWare, instant-feedback exercises and quizzes from Codecademy, and study groups organized by OpenStudy, and will be coordinated through an e-mail list operated by Peer 2 Peer University.

   

  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/education/mechanical-mooc-to-rely-on-free-learning-sites.html?_r=1

• 
  Terry Brown   Aug. 3, 2012, 2:57 p.m.

  I wanted to share this message from Aaron Brown, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning at UW Madison:

  Hi all.  I'm passing on a TED talk by Stanford Professor Daphne Koller, one of the founders of Coursera.  It's the best description and vision of Coursera that I've seen. 

  Jeff Russell (Dean of Continuing Studies here at Madison) and I have looked into what it takes to post courses to Coursera--i.e., much more than just posting a standard lecture, but the technology needed is not extraordinary.  It's likely something we want to explore in the context of the Flex Degree, and something we could consider investing up-front funds towards.

  Aaron

   
   
   
   
• 
  Rob   July 26, 2012, 10:48 a.m.

  The Khan Academy starts a sumer camp that is about getting your hands dirty, not staring at the screen. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/the-khan-academy-goes-to-camp-and-its-all-offline/
• 
  Terry Brown   July 27, 2012, 4:03 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Rob   July 26, 2012, 10:48 a.m.

  Rob,I couldn't get to this.  It was a broken link.  Terry              

• 
  Rob   July 27, 2012, 6:20 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Terry Brown   July 27, 2012, 4:03 p.m.

  For some reason it appended https://p2pu.org/etc(group info) to the link, even though it was not detected in HTML code.  Don't know why.  It's fixed now though.

• 
  Megan Mullen   July 23, 2012, 9:58 p.m.

  Here's a story I heard on the radio today about Stanford's president John Hennessy and his perspective on the free online courses they provide. It's very interesting -- and touches on some things we've been discussing.

  http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/07/23/157132291/stanfords-next-lesson-free-online-courses-for-credit-and-degrees

• 
  Terry Brown   July 20, 2012, 12:29 p.m.

  I'm looking forward to hearing how you like the coursersa course!

  Terry

• 
  Terry Brown   July 20, 2012, 12:28 p.m.

  Theresa, thanks for sharing this.

  Terry

• 
  TCastor   July 18, 2012, 5:24 p.m.

  FYI, I signed up to take the Internet history class on Coursera. It starts next week on the 23rd.

• 
  Terry Brown   Aug. 19, 2012, 9:36 p.m.
  In Reply To:   TCastor   July 18, 2012, 5:24 p.m.

  Theresa,

  How is the course going?

  Terry

• 
  TCastor   July 18, 2012, 5:09 p.m.

  I wasn't really sure where to post this, but here's an informative resource on research related to distance ed that I received through an Assessment listserv:

  From: ASSESS - Assessment in Higher Education [mailto:ASSESS@LSV.UKY.EDU] On Behalf Of James Moses

  Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2012 9:24 AM

  To: ASSESS@LSV.UKY.EDU

  Subject: [ASSESS:] New Publication: The Survey of Distance Learning Programs in Higher Education, 2012-13 Edition

   

  Primary Research Group has published the 2012-13 Edition of The Survey of Distance Learning Programs in Higher Education, ISBN 157440-204-8.

   

  The 165 page study is based on highly detailed interviews with higher education distance learning programs, predominantly in the USA but also in Canada and the UK. 

   

  The report paints a detailed statistical profile of trends in distance learning, covering, but not restricted to: revenue and enrollment growth, evolution of cost structure, trends in  salaries, use of tutoring, delivery mediums, developments in faculty training and certification, grants and financial aid to students, student loans, assessment and retention practices, marketing budgets with details on spending and plans for spending on billboards, television, newspapers, radio, direct mail, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and many other venues.

   

  Data is broken out by size and type of institution and size of distance learning program, among other variables.

   

  Just a few of the report’s many findings are that:

   

  • Enrollment in distance learning programs has increased by approximately 5.8% in the last year.

  • 80% of survey participants in junior and community colleges and 90% of those in MA/PHD granting colleges believe enrollment in distance learning programs at their college has grown to some extent.

  • Revenue growth is increasingly cannibalistic and comes from reduced enrollment in traditional classes rather than new student enrollment.

  • The mean increase in tuition prices in the 2011-12 school year for the US colleges in the sample was 4.18%.

  • While 18.18% of colleges have at least one full-time staff person devoted to assessing the online distance learning program.

  • 21.15% of colleges in the sample have a marketing budget for their distance learning program that is administratively separate from their overall university marketing budget.

  • MA/PHD granting colleges spent a mean of $7,250 on newspaper and magazine ads to support distance learning enrollment in the past year.

  • 17.65% of the community colleges in the sample have advertised their distance learning programs over the radio in the past year.

  • 30.77% of the colleges in the sample plan to hold their advertising spending on Google constant over the next year.

  • 24% of the colleges sampled have improved their retention rate in the past year.

   

   

  For further information view our website at www.PrimaryResearch.com.

• 
  Terry Brown   July 11, 2012, 3:36 p.m.

  Here's an article of interest about MITx.