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psychology, American government and sociology, and more courses in science, economics and the humanities will be available this fall.

some materials that were previously under a Cengage copyright, will be registered under an open CC-BY license so that institutions can adapt and customize the content

But for those who want to use the OpenNow platform, fees start at $25 per student per course. “The $25 is for the delivery of content that’s aligned to assessment and learning objectives, the additional assessments and videos we either curated or created, and the outcomes-based platform with personalization and analytics

many problems faced by traditional publishers -- how to reduce prices, how to enable customers to customize content, how to ensure students have their materials on the first day of class -- were problems that OER can solve. “So why not use OER to solve them?

s OER has gained momentum, more and more companies want to attach themselves to the idea of being open. But for each product that’s launched, we need to keep asking questions. Is it really open, or is it just being branded as open? Open is not just a set of attributes, it’s a set of values and practices that make education better.”

release a notice inviting applications this week for a $1.5 million grant to study online education which will contribute to the growing body of evidence about what works in online education, especially for low-income and first-generation students.

The toughest nut to crack for competency-based education appears to be bachelor’s degrees aimed at traditional-age students.

hat’s what Purdue University is doing with a newly approved bachelor’s in transdisciplinary studies in technology

ombines technical disciplines with the humanities.

Customization is a big part of the degree’s novelty.

which will blend technology-focused disciplines such as computing, construction management, engineering, and aviation with social sciences, the humanities and business.

kills employers need for a “thinking economy.” That means complex problem solving, effective communication, critical thinking and ethical judgmen

igital badges and produce e-portfolios to display their work

In order to do that in a traditional sense, this student would have to get at least one major and three minors

urdue’s degree track is based on the credit-hour standard, in which the demonstration of competencies is linked to corresponding college credit

he U.S. Department of Education has taken some heat from its own Office of the Inspector General for approving direct-assessment degrees

an inspector general audit of Western Governors University over the faculty role in competency-based education (the results of which have yet to be made public), have had a chilling effect on how regional accreditors view proposals for new direct assessment and other competency-based degrees

mployer groups, such as the National Association of Manufacturers, praised the new degree in written statements.

To scale a program with this level of customization would be challenging,

key to succeeding is to incentivize faculty and senior staff.

sharing of tuition revenue generated from online courses and/or financial support for scholarly activities

same individuals must be engaged in defining and ensuring the highest level of quality of the online student experience

houghtful use of both internal and external resources, including independent marketing research

student-faculty engagement

measurable retention strategy

baseline for retention must be established

retention “dashboard” created to enable the provost to monitor all online programs

course development standards, teaching expectations, proper advisement and support services

careful use of third-party vendors and consultants to properly assess your institution’s market niche is typically a good expense.

more personalized, technologically advanced and affordable online degree program.

For institutions that, in response to this notice, submit letters of interest for the Competency-Based Education experiment, the Secretary's process for selecting participating institutions will remain the same as was described in the July 31, 2014, notice.

Under the Subscription Period Disbursement set of waivers, the institution may include in its determination of a student's enrollment status competencies that begin prior to the start of the subscription period, as long as it does not include those competencies in enrollment status for two different payment periods. Institutions will disburse title IV aid based on the student's anticipated enrollment for a subscription period (which is equivalent to a payment period) rather than requiring completion of a specific number of competencies prior to making subsequent disbursements of title IV aid. While an institution will determine a student's title IV aid amounts based on the student's anticipated enrollment status, the institution will be required to perform a satisfactory academic progress evaluation for the student at the end of each subscription period (payment period) to ensure that the student has completed the appropriate number of competencies in that payment period, given the student's enrollment status.

For each payment period, students will be assigned by the institution an enrollment status (full-time, half-time, three-quarter time, less than half-time) based on the student's expected enrollment in and completion of competencies for the payment period. After consulting with the student, the institution will determine the student's enrollment status based on a realistic assessment by the institution of the number of competencies that the student will complete during the payment period

an institution will not be permitted to count a unique competency or course toward a student's enrollment status for more than one payment period

to use this set of waivers, an institution must have a mechanism for determining that a student has been participating in a competency during a payment period.

Subscription Period Disbursement set of waivers will modify the statutory and regulatory requirements for monitoring satisfactory academic progress so that an institution will be required to evaluate a student's pace by using competencies completed over calendar time, rather than by dividing a student's completed credit hours by attempted credit hours

he institution must evaluate a student's satisfactory academic progress after every subscription period (payment period), rather than at least once annually, even if the program is more than one academic year in length

he institution must evaluate a student's pace using two separate measures:

The student's progress for the payment period immediately prior to the evaluation, calculated using the number of credit hours or equivalents completed over the number of credit hours or equivalents included in the student's enrollment status for that payment period

he student's cumulative rate of progress, calculated by dividing the aggregate number of credit hours or equivalents completed as of the end of the payment period by the total number of credit hours or equivalents expected to be completed as of the end of that payment period in order for the student to complete the program within the maximum timeframe

r its evaluation of a student's cumulative rate of progress, the institution could use different standards for students on different enrollment tracks—for example, there could be a different maximum timeframe for a student on a half-time enrollment track, for whom the normal time for completion of the program is longer than for a student on a full-time enrollment track.

If a student fails either of the two satisfactory academic progress evaluations, the student will have failed to make satisfactory academic progress and will, based on the institution's satisfactory academic progress policies, either be assigned to a financial aid warning period or immediately lose eligibility for title IV funds. Institutions will have the same flexibility to establish options for appeals, probation periods, and academic plans as they do under the current regulations.

privacy regulations are an obstacle

he material needs to be organized by degree of difficulty and learning objectives. It has to be grouped into modules and tagged to identify the information that is intended for experts, the material students are expected to learn, and the material that is primarily meant to provoke thought.

Students need to be able to rate content and view others’ ratings and reviews.

he system might determine early on that a given student will find it difficult to pass a test. It could then offer materials to enhance that student’s understanding.

How well the team works together is also assessed.

But if I have upwards of 5,000 students, a certain dynamism is created. Suddenly I have 100 or 200 people in the “first row of the lecture hall” who are very active and serve to motivate the rest of the group. It’s fascinating to see how that works in the online environment.