La plateforme FUN délivre progressivement des "attestations de suivi avec succès" aux apprenants ayant satisfait aux exigences requises par les MOOCs qu’ils ont suivis.
Une étape importante dans l’aventure des MOOCs de la plateforme FUN vient d’être franchie. Certains cours donnent aujourd’hui lieu à une attestation de suivi avec succès pour tous les inscrits ayant obtenu les notes requises, définies préalablement par les équipes pédagogiques de chacun des MOOCs.
Les attestations sont délivrées quelques semaines après la fin du cours, des délais supplémentaires étant à prévoir selon le type d’activités évaluées de certains MOOCs. Libellé au nom que chaque apprenant a renseigné lors de son inscription, ce document est accessible depuis son tableau de bord sur la plateforme FUN.
Attention ! À l’heure actuelle, les formations suivies sur la plateforme FUN ne peuvent pas être valorisées en heures de formation auprès d’une entreprise, et ne donnent pas droit à des crédits ECTS. La délivrance de l’attestation de suivi n’a pas donné lieu à une vérification de l’identité de l’apprenant, et ne peut garantir que les tests ont bien été passés sans aide extérieure.
Dans le cadre des évolutions futures de la plateforme, l’équipe FUN travaille avec les établissements afin qu’ils puissent bientôt proposer des certificats, dont les modalités d’obtention restent à définir. Voir l'article...

By Beverley Head. University technology courses are caught in a vice with free online courses squeezing from the left and the government’s planned higher education changes from the right.  While the “demand driven” tertiary education model announced in the federal budget means universities can accept unlimited numbers of students and charge what they want, information and communication technology (ICT) courses are in a bind.  The budget’s extension of tuition subsidies to people studying with registered private providers, coupled with a growing range of free or inexpensive massive open online courses (MOOCs) by reputable providers, means that Australian universities are expecting unprecedented competition and don’t expect to be able to hike ICT course fees. More...

The conference aims to explore the relationship between MOOCs and the Humanities in order to better understand the idea of the digital University in the twenty-first century. Conference Website. Read more...

UK universities currently have 58 MOOCs on offer, with even more past courses under their belt. The Higher Education Academy reports on what those courses look like, how they’re taught, and how to move forward in improving MOOC pedagogy.
With the launch of FutureLearn, a UK-based MOOC platform owned by the Open University, many institutions are incorporating MOOCs into their online education portfolio (what is a MOOC?).
Website: Full Report.

By Denny Carter. The higher education kerfuffle caused by 2013 surveys showing yawning gender gaps in massive open online courses (MOOCs) may have been premature. An online visualization tool breaking down reams of MOOC data from the edX partnership between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) painted a much more equitable gender split in students taking the experimental courses around the world. More...

The key opportunity for institutions is to take the concepts developed by the MOOC experiment to date and use them to improve the quality of their face-to-face and online provision, and to open up access to higher education. Most importantly, the understanding gained should be used to inform diversification strategies including the development of new business models and pedagogic approaches that take full advantage of digital technologies.
The critical discourse emerging around MOOCs is providing an opportunity for institutions to develop a more strategic approach to online learning. This includes enhancing existing classroom teaching practices, promoting institutional reputation and developing new revenue models. There are indications that some MOOCs are becoming more focussed on corporate training, which suggests that they may not pose a immediate threat to the existing pedagogical, revenue or business models of higher education institutions (HEIs). The number of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) will continue to grow with the development of credit bearing courses likely to be a trend. More...
Link: Beyond MOOCs Sustainable Online Learning in Institutions (PDF)
Link: Beyond MOOCs Sustainable Online Learning in Institutions (MS Word .docx)

By Ahmed Al Omran. While technology has allowed us to do more things and do them better, a gap still remains between the potential of technology and its actual utilization to improve our lives.
This notion was very frustrating to Saudi entrepreneur Fouad Al-Farhan, who decided to do something about it. He reached out to his friend Sami Al-Hussayen and they started Rwaq – an online education platform to provide free academic courses in Arabic covering different fields and specializations. More...