Gates, MOOCs and
Remediation
September 14, 2012 - 3:00am
By
Paul Fain
Early returns show that massive open online courses (MOOCs) work best for
motivated and academically prepared students. But could high-quality MOOCs
benefit a broader range of learners, like those who get tripped up by remedial
classes?
That’s the question the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation wants to answer with a newly announced round of 10 grants for
the creation of MOOCs for remedial coursework.
“We’re trying to seed the conversation and seed the experimentation,” said
Josh Jarrett, the foundation's deputy director for education and postsecondary
education.
MOOCs tend to provoke strong feelings in the academy, and in the wake of
Gates's announcement this week, some observers questioned whether free, widely
available online courses could be tailored to students with remedial needs. But
others, including experts on developmental learning, welcomed the attempt to
tackle one of higher education’s most vexing problems.
“This has the potential for raising the quality of instruction in
developmental education, if used properly,” said Hunter R. Boylan, director of
the National Center for Developmental
Education.
The development of OER in China - 3 views
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The Development of China's OER - Chinese Course of Excellence Project and Case Study Talk by Jia Yimin.
Live Stream Open Content Licensing Workshop - OpenCourseWare Europe - 2 views
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Openness from this side of the Atlantic
TLT-SWG: Real Revolution Not MOOCs. Real Revolution Big Open Mostly-Online Things with ... - 2 views
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summery: MOOCs have bad and good impact discribed well. As faculty I agree that iMOOCs is revelaing knowledge from best universities in the world but initially a loss in tuition fees.
OER Myths - 2 views
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Perspective/studies from JISC on the sharing myth and an OER metaphor to explore the roles in the production, use/reuse.
English 2.0 - 3 views
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the benefits of technology for educators [Page 1]
Why Open Education Matters - 1 views
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Short videos that explain the benefits and promise of Open Educational Resources for teachers, students and schools everywhere.
Our (Work) Education Crisis: Send In the MOOCs - 1 views
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MOOCs going corporate to save workplace learning? Predictions/perspective from Bloomberg/Businessweek: "Less appreciated is how the MOOCs could also change employee skill development and lifelong learning at work. "It will be transformational," says Josh Bersin, chief executive officer of his eponymous consulting firm." "I wouldn't be surprised if we see 10 companies or so in a year, offering MOOC -like courses to corporations," says Bersin."
Gates foundation solicits remedial MOOCs | Inside Higher Ed - 1 views
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Application for low-level courses - $5,000
Turning a Resource into an Open Educational Resource (OER) - YouTube - 1 views
Cached
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An animation illustrating the steps involved in embedding open licenses in educational resources, and some of the associated IPR issues.
Find Open Online Courses ~ MOOC - 1 views
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"If you are looking for open online courses, please consult one of the sources below. If you are offering a MOOC (that is not from one of the sources listed) please send email to stephen@downes.ca and I will included it in the MOOC Course List."
Education in Finland: smart, continuous development (a bit like agile software developm... - 1 views
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Here's a perspective on the Finnish education system from someone who also has a view towards open and free software in education. Suggests we all take a cue from agile software development to improve our own educational culture/system.
Peer review essential for faculty participation in OER - 1 views
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from @yayin_ko on tiwtter
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good plug for a shift in focus from quantity to quality and move from principle to practice.
Open Access Week :: Athabasca University - 4 views
Wikipedia:Canada Education Program - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 1 views
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Canadian uiversities post open courses under (CC) Licenses. Widki Ambasador watch for the material that it must have the Encyclopedia tone writing and fair. Students can edit their work group members work in the posted courses.
Extending the Territory: From Open Educational Resources to Open Educational Practices - 1 views
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On the theme of moving from access to practice...and ways to measure degree of implementation ... Article by Ulf-Daniel Ehlers in the Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning... "examines the findings of the recent OPAL report Beyond OER: Shifting Focus from Resources to Practices. In doing so, it defines current understanding of open educational resources and open educational practices, and highlights the shift from open content to open practice. The article includes a framework for supporting open educational practices. The conclusions emphasise that open access is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the opening of education, and foreshadows ongoing moves toward changes in educational architectures that promote increased uptake of open educational resources and wider application of open education."
What the Supreme Court's copyright rulings mean for you - Canada - CBC News - 1 views
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A brief and readable overview of the Supreme Court's copyright rulings in July, 2012.
Wikipedia Education Program - Outreach Wiki - 1 views
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Professors around the world assign their students to contribute to Wikipedia for class assignment. It is used in Brazil, Canada, Egypt and USA. Interesting: students share in the Wikipedia in multiple languages.
National Symposium on Open Education - WikiEducator - 0 views
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From the Antipodes
