Group items tagged

Saw it in H561's discussion! Interesting idea! 

Nothing is hotter in the education world right now than the massive open online course, or MOOC. MOOCs make an elite education available to anyone, typically for free but without course credit. But how completely can online courses reproduce the college experience? Lexington writer and entrepreneur Jonathan Haber wanted to find out.

A new Facebook game aims to motivate low-income high school students to apply to college and provide them with the necessary tools to gain admission.

An article for those of us interested in technology in higher education. According to the article, "The question is, what should leaders of today's colleges and universities know about technology in order to manage the inevitable change that disruptive technology will bring?"

This article lists some free online resources 8th gradel students can use to learn about college and careers

videogame could help with college admissions

Article on college students using "serious" video games as part of their instruction.

"When students transition to college, they're shocked to find that instructors don't spoon-feed them information. Instead, teachers ask them to motivate themselves as they grapple with concepts and problems, said Zach Widbin, physics teacher and engineering course instructor at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix." [not a] Surprise: rigorous hands-on project-based learning (supported by University of Arizona) engages kids. I wonder how many collaborative projects there are like this, with a local School of Ed actively working with neighboring schools beyond traditional student teaching and observation?

Continuing the discussion of how to make online learning count towards actual degree credits, the ACE accreditation service I described yesterday provides colleges and universities the means to judge whether a course taken by one institution (or taken online) is equivalent to a course taken locally.

Discusses the need for value-added assessment of learning effectiveness in college.

Discussion of productivity in university education, and Obama's comment on controlling tuition costs. Reference to Baumol's disease and the possible role of technology in modernizing the traditional approach.

edX using AI to grade student essays.

Rethinking MOOCs

Thanks for sharing, Xiaodi! Here's a related story about Duke University's participation in online learning. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/education/duke-university-leaves-semester-online.html?ref=education&_r=0

Since college recruiters know that only a small percentage of students open email, Ohio State is planning to let prospective students get in touch directly with current students via IM, email or phone.

"In his book, What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy, James Paul Gee derives a set of learning principles from his study of the complex, self-directed learning each game player undertakes as s/he encounters and masters a new game. He suggests that adherence to these principles could transform learning in schools, colleges and universities, both for teachers and faculty and, most importantly, for students."

Can engagement and motivation in Middle School/HS STEM areas sustain itself through college? "Undergraduates across the country are choosing to leave science, technology, engineering and math programs before they graduate with those degrees according to a 2010 University of California, Los Angeles, study."