22 juin 2013
British MOOC Provider Becomes Less British
FutureLearn was created this year as a MOOC platform for British universities, to counter the main American MOOC providers, which have plenty of non-American universities involved, but which are based in the United States. On Monday, FutureLearn announced it was admitting two non-British universities and embracing the idea of international MOOCs. Read more...Groups Ask for More College Oversight on Private Loans
In a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday, consumer advocacy groups, higher education associations and others asked the bureau to require that colleges give prior approval before students borrow private loans, saying that the bureau has the power to require full certification by institutions. Read more...Report Urges European Nations to Certify Professors' Ability to Teach
Europe's universities need to focus on teaching, and to assure that all professors and instructors know how to teach, says a new report from the European Union's High-Level Group on the Modernization of Higher Education. The report calls for "certified teacher training" for all instructors by 2020. A statement from the co-chairs of the working group said. Read more...Senate Said to Work on Student Loan Compromise
With 10 days remaining until the interest rate doubles on new, federally subsidized student loans July 1, a bipartisan group of senators is said to be working out a compromise -- but whether a bill that can pass both houses of Congress is achievable before the rates increase is still unclear. The compromise would base interest rates on the 10-year Treasury note (as would plans from Senate and House Republicans and from President Obama). Rates would vary from year to year for new loans, but would be fixed over the life of the loan -- as was the case in Obama's plan, and in the Senate Republican proposal. The plan would cap interest rates at 8.5 percent. Read more...MOOCs for Credit, Aussie-Style
By Andrew Trounson for The Australian. Two Australian universities announced this week that they would offer assessment and credit of specific otherwise free, open online courses for a fee. On Monday, Deakin University launched its first massive open online course on humanitarian emergencies, offering students the option of taking it for free, or for a fee of $495 they can be assessed and awarded credit towards a postgraduate qualification. Tuesday, La Trobe University said it would capitalize on its phenomenally successful free iTunes course on ancient Rome by similarly offering students the option of completing assignments and being assessed for credit for the equivalent of a first-year subject at a cost of $816. Read more...MOOC-Skeptical Provosts
By Ry Rivard. The provosts of Big 10 universities and the University of Chicago are in high-level talks to create an online education network across their campuses, which collectively enroll more than 500,000 students a year. And these provosts from some of America’s top research universities have concluded that they – not corporate entrepreneurs and investors -- must drive online education efforts. The plans and concerns are outlined in a position paper that comes just as education technology companies, including Coursera and 2U, are working to expand or deepen their ties to universities, including universities in the Big 10-related group of provosts known as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. Read more...THE 100 Under 50 - 2013 world university rankings
By Jack Grove. UK loses some gloss in second global table of institutions shy of middle age. South Korea’s Pohang University of Science and Technology heads a list of the world’s top 100 universities under 50 years old for the second consecutive year, while the UK’s “plate-glass” universities have lost some ground. Founded in 1986, Pohang – better known as Postech – retains its top spot in Times Higher Education’s second annual 100 Under 50 rankings, comfortably ahead of Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in second place.Postech’s national rival, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Kaist), rises from fifth to third, while the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology drops one place to fourth. Only one UK institution – the University of York, in seventh place – makes the top 10, compared with three last year. After York, the highest-placed UK institutions are the University of Warwick (13th), Lancaster University (14th) and the University of East Anglia (16th). Overall, however, the UK still has the most representatives in THE’s list, with 18 in the top 100 institutions. This is down from 20 last year, although one of 2012’s entrants – Keele University – is now too old to be included in the ranking. Other strong national systems include Australia (13 institutions), the US (eight), France (seven), Spain (six) and Taiwan (five). But South Korea’s first and third place spots make it the “star” of this year’s list, said Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education Rankings.
“South Korea’s experience shows that it is possible for nations with sufficient political will to build in a relatively short time world-class universities that can compete with the traditional elites in the US and the UK,” he said.
A league of nations
Overall, 28 countries make the list, eight of them in the top 10. Several French institutions established after the University of Paris was broken up in the wake of 1968’s social unrest feature in the top 100, including Pierre et Marie Curie (ninth), Paris-Sud (10th) and Paris Diderot-Paris 7 (17th). Read more...
Moocs are a ‘distraction’, warns sector expert
By . Massive open online courses could prove a distraction to universities and cost them money, according to a consultancy that advises governments, investors and institutions on higher education issues. Ashwin Assomull, a partner at the Parthenon Group, told a conference yesterday that the firm was going to “sit on the fence” over whether they could be beneficial to the sector or not. A Mooc can be a cheaper way to provide education but “on the flip side it does reduce the revenues that are associated with introductory courses” he told the Gulf Education Conference and Exhibition in London. Read more...Mooc credit to apply even to students who fail to complete
By Chris Parr. Futurelearn boss says talk of drop outs ‘very annoying’. Courses offered through the UK’s first massive open online course platform, Futurelearn, will be designed to reward even those students who fail to finish them. Martin Bean, vice-chancellor of the Open University, which owns Futurelearn, said it was “sad” that Mooc students who did not complete their course were often branded “failures and dropouts” by the media. Read more...Report: Humanities, social science education needed for innovation along with STEM
“The Heart of the Matter” aims to highlight the importance of humanities and social sciences to the country’s economic future and urges Americans to value a well-rounded education. The findings are the social science community’s answer to a 2007 report that pushed the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education into the national spotlight. Read more...
