Dear All,
Sharing another set of articles posted in todays Chronicle:
This first one speaks to the infrastructure in-process presently for proctoring exams for online courses.
edX Offers Proctored Exams for Open Online Course
September 6, 2012, 3:11 pm
By Marc Parry
Students enrolled in a free open online course offered through edX will now have the option of getting their learning validated with a proctored final exam, under a new program announced today.
The nonprofit online-learning venture, founded by MIT and Harvard, will let students take on-site exams administered by the Pearson VUE service, which has more than 450 testing centers in more than 110 countries. Students who pass the tests will receive certificates noting that they completed a proctored exam.
Full article: http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/edx-offers-proctored-exams-for-open-online-course/39656
This second article speaks to recogniozed articulation - but I will not say a trend at this point. Interestingly the university making this "first" is the "Colorado State's Global Campus, which opened in 2008, is completely online and offers bachelor's and master's degrees, mostly to working adults. It operates independently from the university's other two campuses and has a separate regional accreditation."
A First for Udacity: a U.S. University Will Accept Transfer Credit for One of Its Courses
By Katherine Mangan
A Colorado university is announcing on Thursday that it will give full transfer credit to students who complete a free introductory computer-science course offered by the online-education start-up company Udacity.
The announcement, by Colorado State University's Global Campus, is a milestone for the Stanford University spinoff.
Full article: http://chronicle.com/article/A-First-for-Udacity-Transfer/134162/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
The third article is a comentary on MOOCs
Will MOOC’s Take Down Branch Campuses? We Don’t Think So
September 6, 2012, 12:15 pm
By Jason Lane and Kevin Kinser
In a recent blog on University World News, Rahul Choudaha argues that MOOC’s (massive open online courses) could lead to the decline of international branch campuses. There is some logic to this argument. Access to online learning is available just about anywhere, and economies of scale as represented by the MOOC’s can make education incredibly inexpensive. Branch campuses, on the other hand, double down on geography and are often more expensive than other local options. But does that make MOOC’s and branch campuses mutually exclusive options and interchangeable entities for the provision of higher education? We don’t think so.
Full Article: http://chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/will-moocs-take-down-branch-campuses-we-dont-think-so/30358
This last article is from the NYTimes regarding the pricing of e-texts:
Judge Approves E-Book Pricing Settlement Between Government and Publishers
By JULIE BOSMAN
Fred R. Conrad/The New York TimesJudge Denise Cote, whose opinion expressed support for the government’s position.
8:35 p.m. | Updated In a decision that could start an e-book price war in the publishing industry, a federal judge on Thursday approved a settlement between the Justice Department and three major publishers in a civil antitrust case that accused the companies of collusion in the pricing of digital books.
Full article: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/06/judge-approves-e-book-pricing-settlement-between-government-and-publishers/
Jim