Boost for Udacity Project

By Carl Straumsheim. Two months after San Jose State University announced it would put its partnership with the online course provider Udacity on "pause," university officials on Wednesday touted results from the summer cohort as “significantly better” and said the project will not be disrupted by a hiatus lasting through the fall semester. The partnership, known as SJSU Plus, was unveiled with great fanfare in January, with many politicians -- including California Governor Jerry Brown -- saying it showed the way for providing inexpensive college education for a mass audience. The project then skidded to a halt in July as the first three for-credit courses -- college algebra, elementary statistics and entry-level math -- posted pass rates between 23.8 and 50.5 percent. The university announced it would spend the fall semester evaluating the project and its results, then reopen enrollment for the 2014 spring semester. Read more...