While edX shares the common theme of scaling the online experience to very large groups, it adds an important component lacking from the various Stanford spin-offs, namely research.
EdX partners will be doing more than putting content online, they will be studying how people learn in these environments in an effort to improve both classroom and online learning.
According to this article, the most significant factor is not the scaling of online instruction (which isn't a new thing already) _but_ the ability for educators to study how people learn in various environments. Timely and accurate feedback is an essential component, not only for students, but also for educators, in improving the quality and relevancy of education for smaller groups.
Personally, I think that the rise of massively open online courses (MOOCs) will ironically lead to a huge increase in the number of customized and localized courses tailored for niche sub-groups. Instead of seeing a huge dissemination of one-size-fits-all education, we will see an increasing diversity of different educational strategies, similiar to how the diversity of an ecosystem increases when its geographic size increases.
It's a very exciting time for educators out there indeed...
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One quick glance and OMG ! For once, Apple iTune U is behind CeL NIE in this initiative. mVideo is all what Apple is talking about now. Anyway, not about to get dizzy in cloud nine, will dig deeper into Apple's New Education Initiative (iTune U) to see any ideas better than mVideo.
“The PC era is over. Think of mobile design points.”
Low-cost video recorders are everywhere. Companies will need video content management systems and better design skills, and they’ll need to address privacy issues and policy concerns
In terms of technology, the report predicts greater use of open source technologies, mobile and smart devices, e-books, Cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS).
"Open source is making a real impact in the public sector with many universities, schools and colleges moving their LMS to an open source one. They don't see the point in being tied to a costly bespoke platform supported by one supplier.
hopes to see greater collaboration amongst the eLearning industry after attending the launch of the report at the European eLearning Summit in Sheffield.
WeVideo is a collaborative online video creation tool. In the video editor you can upload your own media clips or use stock media clips to produce your video. The video editor provides tools for trimming the length of display and or sound of each element you add to your video project. What makes WeVideo collaborative is that you can invite other people to create and edit with you.
How can we integrate ePortfolios with what we know about social learning and interactivity? The boundaries are blurring between eportfolios and social networks. As we consider the potential of lifelong e-portfolios, will they resemble the structured accountability systems that are currently being implemented in many educational institutions? Or are we beginning to see lifelong interactive portfolios emerging as "mash-ups" in the Web 2.0 cloud, using blogs or wikis or Twitter, Facebook or Ning, Flickr or Picasa or YouTube, etc.?