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Why are universities 'ripe for disruption'? Their mission has been undercut by (1) political demands for reform, (2) pressures to cut costs, (3) "smothering student debt loads", and (4) "mistaken priorities". The result has been the abandonment of good methods, disconnection from the community which gave it life, and the loss of central purpose. Enter the MOOC.

A balanced search for a sustainable MOOC business model: "The reality is that online solutions are still underused by higher education, but we are left to wait for genuine innovation that is capable to provide alternatives in line with academic rigour, quality assurance and student needs in higher education. Students cannot be engaged by simple conversions of boring lectures into online videos that are even more boring, affected by clunky and poorly designed technological solutions and rigid platforms for discussions and 'forums'."

" Open Educational Resources (OER)"

Proposed (and likely to be accepted) session at the upcoming Global STEMx Education Conference (fully online)

"We are approaching a tipping point where education and educators can use technology to reach almost every person on the planet inexpensively. However, the result may not look like the conventional university experience we recognize today".

Ken, this could be a good thing, but difficult for traditional university educators to adjust to, perhaps more difficult for the educators than for the students. Just a thought.

Predictions for the Canadian higher education landscape

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Dr. Michael Power from Laval speaks to a group at Memorial about the need for a "major redirection" for online education that blends priorities of students (accessibility), faculty (quality), and admin. (cost effectiveness).

"… students ... are concerned with getting the courses they need in the formats that fit their lifestyles … . The Sloan Foundation has dubbed this concept "localness," meaning that student access to education is always local to them, even if they do so through online learning.

That's upping the ante! "Previously, Google tried online education with Course Builder, a free tool for building MOOCs; the company plans to fold that project into MOOC.org, which will live on Google servers. The company has pledged to devote its development expertise to MOOC.org's open-source platform, which will be called Open edX."

EdX seems to be using a more thoughtful and effective approach to MOOCs than is typical.

"Series authors were asked to consider the implications of the rise in online and blended learning on teaching, learning, the student experience and the physical infrastructure of campuses."

Interesting that this organization is planning to offer credits for these courses. That is one more step encroaching on the turf of established brick&mortar, as well as online universities.

Duke U. bailing out of an online program.

"A leading platform for the popular "massive open online courses" offered by elite universities is moving into a new realm: the expansive field of continuing education for teachers."

"Yet this most basic of efforts may offer more than simply adding an online twist to vocational training. It may finally offer a reasonable shot at harnessing the web to provide effective schooling to the many young Americans for whom college has become a distant, unaffordable dream. Intriguingly, it suggests that the best route to democratizing higher education may require taking it out of college."