by Jed Lipinski, The Times-Picayune Prior to Hurricane Katrina, most colleges in New Orleans provided few if any online courses. But the widespread displacement that followed the storm forced many local schools to find ways of allowing students to continue their education remotely. In the 10 years since the storm, online learning in higher education has gone from a fringe concept to one many New Orleans colleges and universities see as an integral part of their institution’s future. http://www.nola.com/futureofneworleans/2015/09/new_orleans_universities_gradu.html Share on Facebook

By Anna Burleson, Jamestown Sun Distance learning and part-time enrollment continue to grow at the University of North Dakota, according to new figures from the university. Official enrollment data released this week showed 78 percent of students were attending classes on campus. Over the last five years, the percentage of all enrolled students who are taking courses solely on campus has decreased by 9 percent to 9,691 this year. The percentage of the student body enrolled solely in distance or online courses has increased from 16 percent in 2010 to 22 percent this year. http://www.jamestownsun.com/news/state/3848725-distant-learning-grows-und Share on Facebook

by Matt ZalaznickUniversity Business More institutions now offer digital badges as a form of micro-credential or "subdegree" to students who pass individual courses or certifications, and want to show potential employers what they’ve learned. Badges, which can be posted to LinkedIn profiles and in digital portfolios, link to detailed information about the course taken, skills taught and assessments passed. Today’s professionals are more likely than were previous generations to return to higher education—perhaps more than once, says David Schejbal, dean of continuing education at University of Wisconsin-Extension. "The vision is to create a structure of alternative credentials that students could acquire relatively quickly and inexpensively that will also be immediately useful from an employment perspective." http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/digital-badges-hit-big-time-higher-ed Share on Facebook

by Ryan Craig, Forbes Two high-profile companies are pursuing a badge-based future: Coursera and Udacity. Both began their lives as providers of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). While some figured out quickly that there was no business model to support credential-less online learning, it took the companies a bit longer. Udacity pivoted first in 2013, announcing "Nanodegrees" developed in partnership with leading technology companies ("built by industry"). The thinking being that Google’s involvement in the Android Developer Nanodegree improves the curriculum; the Google brand doesn’t hurt either. Udacity has done the same with iOS (Apple), Tech Entrepreneur (Google) and its other programs (by a committee of leading technology lights). For its part, Coursera is betting on content and brands from top universities. Coursera launched its "Specializations" in 2014 and now offers 75 different programs, the vast majority from a single university. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryancraig/2015/09/30/coursera-udacity-and-the-future-of-credentials/ Share on Facebook

by Arizona State University Arizona State University and Coursera announced Tuesday that they will offer open online professional-development courses targeted towards Hispanic audiences in Latin America and the U.S. that will help students succeed in the global economy. Through this partnership with Coursera, ASU becomes the first university in the United States to offer online courses tailored to the needs of Latin America and the Hispanic community. The announcement underscores why U.S News and World Report named ASU the most innovative school in the nation. "ASU continues to develop new ways to provide students a path to learning that fits their life balance," said Mark Searle, interim provost at ASU. "Yesterday’s announcement also reflects our efforts to prepare students for an increasingly interconnected global economy." https://asunews.asu.edu/20150930-asu-coursera-spanish-courses Share on Facebook

by Aakash Chaudrhy, Business World The introduction of digital education in rural India came with its own set of infrastructural issues. The erratic electricity supply and lack of access to educational facilities made the penetration of technology-based education tough. The incursion of cable television eventually changed the prevalent indolent way of thinking. The rural population is now welcoming the idea of using mobile devices and is equally comfortable in handling technology devices. Online learning or Live Virtual Classrooms (LVC) has paved the way for modern education in rural India. Moreover, the integration of technologies such as Cloud, Data Centers & Virtualization into the education industry is making information available to the students from far-flung areas in just one click. http://www.businessworld.in/education-institutions/digital-learning-fosters-gen-y-rural-india Share on Facebook

by Eric Convey, Boston Business Journal Facing significant enrollment challenges in two graduate programs, Curry College moved some MBA offerings to the Internet beginning this academic year and recently began to insist that masters of education students take part in what’s called a "cohort" system designed to encourage faster graduation. A spokeswoman for the Milton college said the changes are a response to shifts in student demand. She said the move also helps explain drops in traditional on-campus enrollment, as fewer students take occasional courses without clear plans for competing their programs. http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2015/09/30/curry-college-embraces-online-mba-amid-enrollment.html Share on Facebook

by Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will next year launch the first of what could be several pilots to determine if pieces of what it has provided face-to-face can be delivered through massive open online courses.  The institute on Wednesday announced an alternative path for students to enroll in its supply chain management program and earn a master’s of engineering in logistics degree. Instead of students being required to move to Cambridge, Mass., for the duration of the 10-month program, MIT will offer half of the program through MOOCs, saving students tens of thousands of dollars in tuition. Learners who complete the MOOCs but can’t afford or simply aren’t interested in finishing the degree won’t walk away empty-handed. MIT will offer those learners a new microcredential, called a MicroMaster’s, and is working with other organizations that offer supply chain management programs to ensure they will accept the credential toward degree completion. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/08/massachusetts-institute-technology-launch-half-mooc-half-person-masters-degree Share on Facebook

By C. RAMSEY FAHS, Harvard Crimson With the addition of Princeton to its list of partners, edX, the non-profit MOOC provider that Harvard and MIT founded in 2012, now has more Ivy League partners than its largest for-profit competitor, Coursera. Princeton’s decision, announced on Sept. 24, comes just three months after the University of Pennsylvania joined edX with the intention of publishing three courses on the virtual education platform. Both schools were among Coursera’s first four partner universities and will continue to publish courses on Coursera’s platform as well. With the creation of PrincetonX and PennX, edX now has six Ivy League partner’s to Coursera’s five. Princeton, Penn, and Columbia publish courses to both platforms. Today, Coursera lists over 133 total partner organizations on its website, while edX lists 82. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/10/2/edx-ivy-league-coursera/ Share on Facebook

by Anastasia Salter, Chronicle of Higher Ed I’ve been chronicling my experiences this semester adapting my approach to teaching from my previous experience with small courses to a new challenge of large-scale classes, and particularly to the needs of a large online course. The most overwhelming aspect for me so far has been the challenge of grading and providing meaningful feedback. This is unsurprising, given grading has been one of our most debated subjects here at ProfHacker. Taking grading to new scales has definitely required me to rethink my teaching and methods. http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/5-tips-for-handling-grading-in-large-online-classes/61131 Share on Facebook

by WTXL FAMU’S Developmental Research School in Tallahassee will be part of a new research project, designed to pioneer online learning and technologies. The project aims to bring these methods to historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). The school says by utilizing these blended learning strategies, they can better prepare students for college and help them graduate on time. http://www.wtxl.com/news/new-project-at-famudrs-hopes-to-pioneer-online-learning/article_92b59ef8-6ddf-11e5-8928-9747522e3ffa.html Share on Facebook

BY KEVIN MANEY, Newsweek A company called Udacity, partnering with Google, shows us that we’ve been focused on the wrong disruption. The big change won’t be the digitization of college—it will be the unbundling of the college degree into discrete, focused chunks, which Udacity calls nanodegrees. In other words, technology will assault the college degree, not the experience of college, and that will make all the difference. Technology tends to unbundle stuff. Look how it’s unbundling television, or how it unbundled the music album. The college degree is a bundle that doesn’t work for everybody and creates unnatural market conditions, which is why college costs consistently rise faster than inflation. The next generation will be able to pull apart the college bundle the way people today are pulling the plug on cable. http://www.newsweek.com/college-nanodegrees-379542 Share on Facebook

by University of Michigan The University of Michigan announced a partnership today with global nonprofit online learning destination edX, further expanding the university’s experimentation with digital learning and learning analytics. Under the name MichiganX, the university will launch at least 20 new courses on edX over the next two years that leaders from the Office of Digital Education and Innovation say will draw upon the breadth of U-M’s 101 academic programs ranked in the top 10 and align with strategic institutional priorities such as interdisciplinary collaborations, diversity and inclusion, access and affordability, and internationalization. Three of the first courses will focus on finance, learning analytics and data science ethics. http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/23184-u-m-joins-edx-as-charter-member Share on Facebook

by Ellen Wexler, Chronicle of Higher Ed When refugees want to enter higher education, they often lack the paperwork. But in the past few months, some online universities have been reaching out to those students, telling refugees that they don’t have to provide comprehensive records to enroll and offering free tuition. The University of the People, an online degree program based in the United States, is one of those institutions. Founded in 2009, the university charges students a $100 examination fee for each course as well as a one-time application fee. Last month the university announced that it would admit 500 Syrian refugees, including those without official transcripts and documentation. The refugees will be able to study either business administration or computer science, and those who cannot afford the examination and application fees may apply for scholarships. http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/can-online-education-help-refugees-earn-degrees/57456 Share on Facebook

by Liam Jackson, Penn State A general education course at Penn State has been revamped to include interactive videos designed to teach students about conservation and sustainability. The course, Global Parks and Sustainability (GEOG 001), will be taught online in spring 2016 by Erica Smithwick, associate professor of geography in Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. The course is designed to teach students about global trends and patterns in conservation management in different park environments, including national parks, provincial or state parks, and privately managed conservation areas. By traveling virtually to these park landscapes, students will have the chance to learn about key social and environmental processes affecting sustainability, including climate change, biodiversity and environmental policies, and how these factors pose challenges to local communities and the environment. http://news.psu.edu/story/372878/2015/10/05/academics/interactive-videos-used-explore-complexities-conservation-online Share on Facebook

by Business World India The digital wave in the country has transformed the entire education ecosystem, making it more tech-oriented and student-friendly. As technology seeped into every aspect of life, it was only a matter of time for it to penetrate one of the most important facets of one’s existence i.e. education. Online learning presents various benefits such as easy accessibility, on-the-go learning, flexibility and convenience to name a few. These are the main reasons behind the increasing inclination of people towards this mode. In fact, it has quickly become a default way of studying and has evolved from being an option to being a need. Digitisation of the education landscape is also letting the students residing in tier-2 and tier-3 cities reap the benefits of quality education tools. On the other hand, however, offline learning also has its own merits, which definitely cannot be overlooked. Therefore, a seamless blend of both offline and online pedagogical approaches is now the need of the hour. http://www.businessworld.in/education-institutions/e-learning-becomes-essential-india#sthash.ZWBaZ5bo.dpbs Share on Facebook

By Ryan Robinson, Entrepreneurs Starting a business is no easy feat. Especially if you’re trying to pull it off while you hold onto your day job. From learning how to prioritize your efforts (and limited resources) on what matters most at the beginning, to becoming a stand-out marketer, and building the skills that’ll help your business succeed, these essential online business courses will teach you how to launch successfully today. Here are my picks for the 12 best online courses for starting a business. http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/Technology/fl/12-Best-Online-Courses-for-Starting-a-Business.htm Share on Facebook

by Seth Stutman, Mass Appeal Why are college students taking courses online? What are the advantages? What are the disadvantages? College planning expert, Paul Hemphill told us more. "Taking courses online means taking a college course by sitting in front of your computer instead of sitting in a classroom. And the advantages of going online are… First, it’s convenient - you’re at home, you can role out of bed, get your cup of joe, and walk over to your computer. Second, you don’t have to take notes - hit the REPLAY button on your screen and you get what you need. Thirdly, you can pick and choose what course you want when you want to view it - very convenient, and lastly, you save time on travel and save money on gas and auto expenses. Just so you know, about a third of college students are taking online classes." http://wwlp.com/2015/10/06/online-college-is-it-for-you/ Share on Facebook

by Rob Kelly, Faculty Focus In their 1995 Change magazine article, "From Teaching to Learning—a New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education," Robert B. Barr and John Tagg described the Learning Paradigm, which emphasizes learning over teaching and student discovery and construction of knowledge over transfer of knowledge from instructor to student. They wrote: "A paradigm shift is taking hold in American higher education. In its briefest form, the paradigm that has governed our colleges is this: A college is an institution that exists to provide instruction. Subtly but profoundly we are shifting to a new paradigm: A college is an institution that exists to produce learning. This shift changes everything. It is both needed and wanted." The Learning Paradigm (as opposed to the Instruction Paradigm), emphasizes the students’ active role in learning and the purpose of that learning, which can be strong motivators for students. The challenge for instructors is to cede some control of learning to the students. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/the-learning-paradigm-in-online-courses/ Share on Facebook

By: Erin Bamer, the Argonaut Like some people know they want to be a police officer or an astronaut, University of Idaho Senior Edwin Latrell has known he was going to serve in the military since before he can remember. "I have known since I was little that I would do the military," Latrell said. "There was not a doubt." Latrell enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2004, two years after he started his education at UI. He said he lacked energy and enthusiasm for school when he first enrolled at the university and ended up dropping out of many of his classes. "I was the best student at not being the best student," Latrell said. While he was enlisted, Latrell remained a student at UI and completed 40 courses online in seven different countries including Afghanistan, Iraq and Cuba. http://www.uiargonaut.com/2015/10/05/learning-and-serving/ Share on Facebook

by Justine Thomas, Observer-Reporter There are many myths about online training, and even more people who believe in them. Even so, it is a great pleasure to see that the number of students who prefer online education is growing. People aspire to get knowledge despite any myths and misleading ideas. This article contains most common myths about online training debunked and we hope it will help you to start and succeed in learning. http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20151007/BLOGS20/151009558 Share on Facebook

By Heather Betancourth, Houston Chronicle Colleges across Texas have made it easier to attend class online than ever before. Not only is online learning flexible and convenient, but students actually are preferring it. San Jacinto College started a basic online learning program in 1998. During that time when the Internet was starting to emerge as a new technology, the program mainly offered VHS tape checkout. Today, students can do everything on the web: registering for classes, paying tuition and ordering books. The also can use the web to attend class, meet with professors and chat with peers. "People say students aren’t successful with online learning, but we’ve found that they are very excited about those classes," said Niki Whiteside, vice president of educational technology services at San Jacinto College. http://www.chron.com/news/article/Options-for-online-learning-abound-6556787.php Share on Facebook

BY ASTRID ZWEYNERT, Reuters Kiron University, named after the centaur Chiron, known in Greek mythology for nurturing others in times of need, was founded last year by a group of students in Berlin. "A lack of resources, legal documents and language skills all combine to make it very hard for refugees to get back into education," said Kiron co-founder Odai Al Hashmi, a Syrian who fled to Germany via Turkey in 2013. To join Kiron University, applicants have to present only a document confirming their refugee status or a certificate stating that they have started applying for it. Kiron has designed a three-year program and partnered with top universities such as Harvard, Stanford and Yale in the United States, which already offer accredited online degree courses. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/01/us-germany-refugees-university-idUSKCN0RV4E320151001 Share on Facebook

By COLLIN BINKLEY, Associated Press The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has offered free online courses for the last four years with one major downside: They didn’t count toward a degree. That’s about to change. In a pilot project announced Wednesday, students will be able to take a semester of free online courses in one of MIT’s graduate programs and then, if they pay a "modest fee" of about $1,500 and pass an exam, they will earn a MicroMaster’s credential, the school said. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/1st-time-mits-free-online-classes-carry-credit-34313786 Share on Facebook