In this article Joshua Kim says that although we constantly hear that the Internet is broken, the education Internet is NOT broken. About three million students take all their classes online, and an additional three million take at least one online class.
The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) has announced that it is going to spin off its IT department into a separate for-profit department called AccelerEd. Joshua Kim does not think this is a good idea, but I think it probably is the wave of the future. UMUC is the university’s online division.
Virtual collaboration tools such as conferencing tools and robotic proxies make it possible for students to have meaningful, real-time interactions with each other and instructors.
I will just list them and not discuss them:
They are:
The network for working professionals, LinkedIn, has announced its new learning portal, LinkedIn Learning. The social network acquired Lynda.com, which has over 9,000 coursese online, for $1.5 billion a year and a half ago. Microsoft is in the process of acquiring LInkedIn for $26.2 billion. Personal disclosure – I nave competed dozens of courses at Lynda.com.
MIT and 13 other universities are launching “micro-master’s degrees. Students would complete up to one half the courses required for a master’s degree, taught via a MOOC, earn a credential, and then, decide if they wanted to complete the master’s program. MIT is charging $150 for each of its MOOC courses. Initially MIT is offering a master’s degree in supply chain management, which is endorsed by Walmart.
I agree with Joshua Kim. Colleges and universities do more important work than just transferring information to students. Information does not equal learning. The world suffers from information overload, not from a lack of information.
I agree with Travis Grandy. Students won’t watch a 45 minute lecture on video. Most of them should be no more than 5 to 10 minutes.
