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Well, except enrollments *are* down slightly at VCU...

FWIW, I think Mike Caulfield is one of the brightest and most thoughtful people in higher ed. I like this post very much.

Certainly an interesting debate unfolding in the comments. Sadly, I'm on the side of 40 years of history over 15. I'm not holding my breath for the pendulum to swing back at this point...

A distinctly different feel/tone than the VCU CT article...

"How many colleges and universities are integrating MOOC content into new and/or existing credit-bearing courses in academic programs? If so, what is the impact on the course, program and institution?"

Hmmm... "Discussions about the future of education should never undersell the social import of sitting side by side, of holding conversations with students vastly unlike oneself, and of students being able to see their peers respond to their newly acquired insights..."

""We do not face a choice between tradition and change, between the familiar and the new. We face an opportunity and an imperative both to embrace thoughtful change and to affirm our core values in ways that fulfill this extraordinary university's enduring promise to its students and to the world.""

Apparently, "confrontation" is the sole province of f-2-f teaching. I say, "hogwash!"

Certainly no one argues about or discusses difficult concepts online.

"It seems disruption is hard when poor people insist on existing. Thrun has the right to fail. That's just business. But he shouldn't have the right to fail students like those at San Jose State and the public universities that serve them for the sake of doing business."

""We were initially torn between collaborating with universities and working outside the world of college," Thrun tells me. The San Jose State pilot offered the answer. "These were students from difficult neighborhoods, without good access to computers, and with all kinds of challenges in their lives," he says. "It's a group for which this medium is not a good fit.""

Interesting to note that for the "views" element to change you have to access the link through this page. It doesn't tie into the notification email links which I had thought it might.

Purdue NExT online learning program set to debut: http://t.co/CpezXKRsKS #elearning #highered #onlinelearning #xlearning

"The online offerings will also save students money. Online tuition for in-state students is capped by state law at 75 percent of what students attending classes in person pay-which will come to $112 per credit hour-while students from other states will pay "market rates" in the vicinity of $450 to $500 per credit hour, the university says."

"Students appreciated the MOOC's ability to support structured, self-paced learning. Students often watched the short (10-to-15-minute) lecture videos at double speed with the captions turned on, at times that fit the students' schedules. Students described Andrew Ng as a highly effective lecturer, which added to the value of the lecture videos. Students did not actively participate in the discussion forums provided by the MOOC, choosing instead to use each other and Professor Fisher as resources when they needed help with the material. Occasionally, a student with a specific question would check to see if that question had already been asked and answered in the forums. It often was, and so the forums were a study resource for the students even if they didn't post to the forums themselves. Doug's students appreciated the in-class active learning facilitated by the "flipped" approach. By shifting explanatory lectures outside of class, class time was made available for more discussion, interaction, and application of that material. The students described Doug's role as "facilitator," guiding class discussions and making sure that every student understood the material. The biggest challenge identified by the students was a misalignment between the MOOC material and the additional readings Doug provided. These readings took the students beyond the introductory ideas presented in the MOOC, focusing on recent and seminar research in the field. The readings weren't designed for novices in the field, as Andrew Ng's lecture videos were, and they required "a different kind of learning," as one student put it. Nor did the readings always build on the week's MOOC content in clear ways."

"To repeat: I do not see the queen sacrifice as a desirable move for American higher education.  I do not relish the reduction of programs, nor the devastation inflicted on the lives of faculty.  But this seems to be a strategy colleges and universities can choose in our current climate, and we must discuss it openly."