Rather than a standard rating system that assumes an institution will be relevant for all prospective students, regardless of what area of study they want to pursue, an Ohio State University official proposes the federal government explore adopting a business model that helps people find successful partnerships, such as Match.com and eHarmony.com.

A one-hour program for new students that is called a "difference-education intervention." In the program, college juniors and seniors from a range of backgrounds talk about how they adjusted to college, and how they sought out resources and people to help them with decisions, issues they didn't understand and so forth.

With the scrambled classroom model, we are challenged to learn new possibilities, but also to design instruction based on principles we have known about for some time. In the scrambled classroom model, the innovation is not so much "online learning," but "human learning" supported by all that the 21st century brings to the table.

The proficiency-based approach university officials described shares much in common with competency-based programs offered by institutions like Western Governors University, Southern New Hampshire's College for America and the new "Flexible Option" from the University of Wisconsin System.

"As LTI acceptance grows, "the LMS may actually have less functionality than it has today, but that's OK," said Instructure co-founder and Chief Learning Officer Brian Whitmer, a big LTI supporter whose Canvas LMS is leading the LTI charge. "It's not about which tool has the most features, it's about a seamless learning experience.""

"Seeing Moodle's increased usage prompted us to investigate Moodle further. An interesting thing happens below 2500 FTE; Moodle actually exceeds Blackboard's market  share.  Only after this point do the demographic segments diverge."

New ways to provide identity.

What I have observed, though, first from initial research and now from seeing it in action in #FutureEd, is that for all the concerns I or others might have about potentially larger consequences of consenting to the level of verification and tracking-for example, making typing-pattern recognition a standard identifier-MOOCs offer something many people would not be able to get if they did not have access to those platforms.

"One of the most fun and useful things I've been doing lately is automating small processes I do all the time. It took me a while to work up the courage to dive into automation, as it always seemed like a really difficult, technical thing to do, which should be left to programmers."

Proctortrack is completely automated. Using facial recognition, we can continuously verify the identity of any test taker throughout the full length of an exam.

"The hype for MOOC and Open educational resources cannot be ignored today. Although there is still much to be explored, the progress of open education at present era attracts a great deal of attention. It often throws a question if Corporate MOOC is for profit-making platform rather than it could reach many more learners, leading to a networked social and economic benefit, and could give great instructors an authoritative position."

Amid continued debate over whether or not Sochi is prepared to host the 2014 Olympics, which begins Thursday, reporters from around the world are starting to check into local hotels - to their apparent grief. Some journalists arriving in Sochi are describing appalling conditions in the housing there, where only six of nine media hotels are ready for guests. Hotels are still under construction. Water, if it's running, isn't drinkable. One German photographer told the AP over the weekend that his hotel still had stray dogs and construction workers wandering in and out of rooms.

The Republican governor proposed setting aside $300 million from the Tennessee Education Lottery to fund an endowment that would cover all tuition and fees to two-year institutions for all graduating high school seniors. The plan also calls for reducing Hope scholarships for incoming students at four-year universities by $1,000 for the first two years.

"Publishers should encourage adoption of gold open access by reducing individual universities' subscription charges as they pay more in article fees."

"The Virtuix Omni™ is the first virtual reality interface for moving freely and naturally in your favorite game. The Virtuix Omni™ takes virtual reality to the next level- allowing anyone to stand up and traverse virtual worlds with the natural use of their own feet. Moving naturally in virtual reality creates an unprecedented sense of immersion that cannot be experienced sitting down. Applications of natural movement in virtual reality stretch far beyond gaming: training and simulation, fitness, virtual tourism, virtual tradeshows and events, meet-ups and multi-person adventures, virtual workplaces, museums, VR architecture, VR concerts… The possibilities are limitless."

"My prediction? Hold fast, millennials. This current wave of punditry will peak and then start declining six years from now. In 2020, about half of you will have turned 30. You'll no longer be young-and therefore no longer scary-and today's rhetoric about your entitlement and narcissism will evaporate. You'll be in charge. I can't imagine what you're going to say about the kids being born today."

Open badges for lifelong learning