We need to learn quickly to keep up with the massive change around us so we don't get run over. We need to outrun change.
Today, twelve articles on education, space, and technology (including Amazon thinking about how to use drones to deliver packages).
Education
12-3 – Via Meadia – Private Sector Warming to MOOCs – Mr. Mead points out that massive open on-line courses Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers in space, education, and technology – 12-7-13”
I’ve used the analogy of a newly opened frontier in the areas of :
This post starts a new “good stuff” series. Don’t have time to write a full post commenting on all the cool articles I see, so sometimes I’ll just link to articles and give a brief comment.
Here are some articles talking about the open frontier.
Education
Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 11-9-13”
The education frontier is open. This has odd implications.
In some academic fields, GPA is everything. This creates pressure to take easy courses and avoid difficult courses outside your major.
However, if you want to get knowledgeable (when that concept diverges from getting educated), you might need to learn a bit about the sciences, or computer programming, or philosophy but the drawback is it might hit your GPA. Or you might want an intro to an area before you go on-the-GPA-record.
If that is the case, think about taking a massive open online course.
Continue reading “Creative use of MOOCs: Keep intro or difficult courses *off* your GPA”
There is a revolution going on in education. Many writers are talking about the education bubble at the primary, secondary, and collegiate level. My preferred metaphor is an open frontier. You can see my posts here.
An article in Chronicle of Higher Education, The Gates Effect, gives good background on the role of the Gates Foundation in advocating education reform.
The long article attacks the Gates Foundation strongly and repeatedly. It is the latest is a series of critical articles. Seems to me most of the current article is focused on giving voice to those pushing back against the changes taking place in the education world.
What I hear as the primary theme of the above article is that only those inside the education establishment should speak to reform.
As to the substance of the criticism, that is the topic for widespread discussion for several years.
Gates Foundation is one of the movers behind the education revolution
Continue reading “The establishment pushes back against the education revolution”
Two articles in The Economist provide an overview of the major upheaval underway in education.
The lead article is E-ducation. The in-depth article is Catching on at last.
The articles cover much of what is going on the education world. I’ve tried to touch on those issues on this blog.
Check out the two articles for better explained, more in-depth descriptions.
Here is a recap of several of the major trends, from the lead article. I’ve split two very long sentences into key ideas: Continue reading “Education revolution is underway”
Professors at 10 more large university systems can access MOOC courses for use in their classes.
Coursera, which is one of the big providers of what are called Massive Open Online Courses, is expanding its reach.
The Wall Street Journal reports Web Courses Woo Professors.
Continue reading “Coursera makes online classes available to more colleges”
700 Free Online Courses from Top Universities
Your choice of video or audio in either iTunes or mp3 format. Tons of courses. Well, advertised at 700, but I didn’t try counting them.
Free.
If you want to learn it will cost your time.
Amazing.
The frontier is wide open in education.
A huge barrier for on-line education will be getting approval from the education regulators for financial assistance. Next hurdle will be accreditation for a stand-alone institution.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports in Competency-Based Education Advances With U.S. Approval of Program:
The Education Department has approved the eligibility of Southern New Hampshire University to receive federal financial aid for students enrolled in a new, self-paced online program called College for America, the private, nonprofit university has announced.
One study is quantifying the increased productivity of on-line classes for professors. The analysis didn’t consider the reduced space needs or savings from students not having to commute to class. Both of those factors would contribute to the productivity improvement.
Conclusion was a reduction in time of between 36% and 57%.
Continue reading “Indications of productivity improvement for on-line education starting to appear”
The frontier in higher education is wide open.
How ‘bout starting a college in your basement with $100k seed money?
That’s what Mr. Tim Cook has done with Saxifrage School. He wants to radically cut the cost of college education. His idea is to combine learning a trade or other productive skills along with traditional humanities classes that teach you to think.
Check out the status so far, according to Startup Takes Aim at Old-School Ways in the Wall Street Journal: Continue reading “Start a college in your basement”
There are rapid changes in the format of delivery of education. I’ve not had anywhere near enough time to comment on them in this blog.
One area I have pondered is taking a recorded lecture and turning it into a course. A while back I finished listening to The American Civil War, by Prof. Gary Gallagher from Great Courses. Had a lot of fun listening to the CDs. Learned a lot.
I commented on this idea here.
As I finished this series, I thought again how this and similar courses would be a great way to create a college-level course. Continue reading “The frontier is open in education – recorded lectures”
One territory in the open frontier of the education world is the idea of assessing knowledge acquired instead of counting time spent in chairs.
Two articles last week point to the possibilities, both from Via Meadia:
College Too Expensive? Try the $5,000 degree – Second sentence of the post:
Continue reading “The frontier is open, education department – stuff learned vs. time spent”
The Wall Street Journal describes a new study which suggests Gas Boom Projected to Grow for Decades.
The study starts with detailed look at actual production in the Barnett Shale field. It concludes that production in the US is going to increase for decades. The article’ lede:
The educational frontier is wide open. Want to start your own institution of higher education? With today’s technology, some time, and a few dollars, anyone can do it.
Continue reading “Want to start your own educational institution? Go for it.”
There is radical change taking place in the education world. Where will it go? How will we handle on-line cheating? What’s the credential going to look like?
Nobody knows. And that’s okay.
Huh? That’s okay?
Yeah. Continue reading ““Top of the first inning” in education reform”