CourseTalk
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If you hadn’t yet felt it yourself, the world’s education specialists have news for you: We’re in the midst of a revolution.
CourseTalk spent the past several days at SXSWedu — one of the premier education conferences in the U.S. — and expert after expert emphasized how technology, research and innovation are changing learning forever.
For example:
The College Board announced that over 1 million students have used Khan Academy to prep for the SAT (for free!). That’s more students than all commercial SAT preparation options can claim combined. Plus, the students came from financial backgrounds representative of the U.S. population — a real change for college entrance exam training, usually accessed primarily by students from wealthier families. There’s a welcome sign of revolution.
Christine Ortiz, a professor and dean at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke about the brand new kind of university she’s taken a leave of absence to launch — one with no majors and no classrooms. In fact, she said, it likely won’t even have “university” in its name. Ortiz thinks technology presents an opportunity to redesign higher education, focusing on student-designed projects and flexible methods of learning (often online). Now that’s revolution.
The University Innovation Alliance discussed how its 11 state universities are crowdsourcing ideas to make higher ed more accessible to diverse students. Each school puts innovations to test — such as an online system that helps students discover majors related to their interests — and shares results with the rest of the alliance. The speakers called for all universities to focus more on student outcomes and less on acceptance rates — measuring success “based on product, not input,” as ASU President Michael Crow put it. Revolution, indeed.
So what does all this change mean for MOOC students? They are ahead of the curve, preparing themselves for a world in which learning on the Internet and technological devices will be the rule. Experts we spoke to agreed that MOOCs and similar online content will play a major role in the education of the future — from elementary school through to college and professional development. MOOC credentials, they added, will be key to thrusting the world of online learning forward. As credentials like Udacity’s nanodegrees and edX’s MITx Micro-Master’s gain traction, employers and traditional education institutions will increasingly take notice and adapt.
At this rate of progress, who knows what we’ll be discussing at SXSWedu 2017? We can’t wait to find out.
Continue reading...
CourseTalk spent the past several days at SXSWedu — one of the premier education conferences in the U.S. — and expert after expert emphasized how technology, research and innovation are changing learning forever.
For example:
The College Board announced that over 1 million students have used Khan Academy to prep for the SAT (for free!). That’s more students than all commercial SAT preparation options can claim combined. Plus, the students came from financial backgrounds representative of the U.S. population — a real change for college entrance exam training, usually accessed primarily by students from wealthier families. There’s a welcome sign of revolution.
Christine Ortiz, a professor and dean at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke about the brand new kind of university she’s taken a leave of absence to launch — one with no majors and no classrooms. In fact, she said, it likely won’t even have “university” in its name. Ortiz thinks technology presents an opportunity to redesign higher education, focusing on student-designed projects and flexible methods of learning (often online). Now that’s revolution.
The University Innovation Alliance discussed how its 11 state universities are crowdsourcing ideas to make higher ed more accessible to diverse students. Each school puts innovations to test — such as an online system that helps students discover majors related to their interests — and shares results with the rest of the alliance. The speakers called for all universities to focus more on student outcomes and less on acceptance rates — measuring success “based on product, not input,” as ASU President Michael Crow put it. Revolution, indeed.
So what does all this change mean for MOOC students? They are ahead of the curve, preparing themselves for a world in which learning on the Internet and technological devices will be the rule. Experts we spoke to agreed that MOOCs and similar online content will play a major role in the education of the future — from elementary school through to college and professional development. MOOC credentials, they added, will be key to thrusting the world of online learning forward. As credentials like Udacity’s nanodegrees and edX’s MITx Micro-Master’s gain traction, employers and traditional education institutions will increasingly take notice and adapt.
At this rate of progress, who knows what we’ll be discussing at SXSWedu 2017? We can’t wait to find out.
Continue reading...
