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26 mai 2013

MOOC Professors Claim No Responsibility for How Courses Are Used

By Steve Kolowich. Robert Ghrist, a professor of mathematics and electrical and systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, knows that wielding vast networks on behalf of nonuniversity benefactors can be tricky business. Mr. Ghrist specializes in applied topology, an abstract math field. In practice, topological math can help someone harness huge collections of sensory inputs—like those collected by cellphones, for example—to model large environments and solve problems. The Department of Defense has enlisted Mr. Ghrist to do research along those lines. The Penn professor knows he has little power over how the Pentagon might use his insights. But he says that no longer bothers him. Read more...

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26 mai 2013

MOOC Provider edX More Than Doubles Its University Partners

By Jeffrey R. Young. Fifteen more universities have agreed to offer free massive open online courses through edX, a nonprofit provider of MOOCs founded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, more than doubling its membership, from 12 to 27. Tuesday’s announcement came as the group celebrated its first anniversary and as its leaders said it was bringing in revenue and was on track to financial sustainability. Read more...

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26 mai 2013

Harvard Professors Call for Greater Oversight of MOOCs

By Steve Kolowich. Several dozen professors in Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences have signed a letter to their dean asking for formal oversight of the massive open online courses offered by Harvard through edX, a MOOC provider co-founded by the university. While “some faculty are tremendously excited about HarvardX,” the professors wrote, referring to the university’s brand within the edX platform, “other are deeply concerned about the program’s cost and consequences.” The letter, published on Thursday in The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper, was signed by 58 professors in the university division, which is known as the FAS. Read more...

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26 mai 2013

Education Dept. Releases New Data on College Tuition Across Sectors

By Nick DeSantis. The National Center for Education Statistics, the Education Department’s statistical arm, on Tuesday released a “first look” report at new data on college pricing across sectors, finding that tuition and required fees for in-state students at four-year, public institutions rose by 6.7 percent from 2010-11 to 2012-13. That increase outpaced the rise in tuition for out-of-state students over the same period, which the report said was 4.1 percent. Four-year, private nonprofit institutions saw an increase of 3.1 percent. At four-year, private for-profit colleges, tuition and fees dropped by 2.2 percent. The report also includes data on 2011-12 enrollments as well as degrees conferred. Read more...

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26 mai 2013

Wilson College Details Unusual Loan-Buyback Program

By Lawrence Biemiller. Wilson College has released details of an unusual debt-buyback offer that is one of the keys to a plan its trustees adopted in January in an effort to attract more students and keep the tiny Pennsylvania liberal-arts institution in business. Under the offer, the college will pay back up to $10,000 of a student’s federal Stafford student-loan indebtedness if the student earns a degree at Wilson within four years, participates in new financial-literacy programs the college will offer, and takes part in “activities and community services that would benefit the Wilson College community.” Read more...

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26 mai 2013

Governor Cuomo Seeks to Turn SUNY Campuses Into Tax-Free Zones

By Don Troop. The 64 campuses of the State University of New York system would become tax-free zones under an economic-development plan announced on Wednesday by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. According to the governor’s office, the “Tax Free NY” program would seek to lure technology companies and other businesses that could make use of the intellectual capital produced by SUNY’s colleges and universities. In a statement released by Governor Cuomo’s office, Nancy L. Zimpher, chancellor of SUNY, said, “The governor has said many times that SUNY is the economic engine for New York, and these new tax-free zones will further our campuses’ ability to innovate, create jobs, and attract new companies through public-private partnerships.” Read more...

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26 mai 2013

What Professors Can Learn From 'Hard Core' MOOC Students

By Jeffrey R. Young . If people who sit at their computers for tens of hours each week zapping virtual monsters are hard-core gamers, then massive open online courses have led to a similarly obsessed breed of online student: the hard-core learner. Nearly 100 students using Coursera, the largest provider of MOOCs, have completed 20 or more courses. And more than 900 students have finished 10 or more courses, according to the company. That means taking several courses at a time, and racing through as many lecture videos and robot-graded assignments as possible to collect certificates that carry no official credit. The term "MOOCs" is meant to parallel the video-game acronym "MMOGs," or massively multiplayer online games—collaborative worlds, like World of Warcraft, that have attracted millions of devoted players around the world. So perhaps it is no surprise that some MOOC students are driven to win as many certificates as possible and treat online lectures as a consuming pastime that keeps them from going outside to hang out with friends. Read more...

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26 mai 2013

More Young Adults Hold Degrees, a Boost in the Job Market, U.S. Says

By Beckie Supiano. The educational attainment of young Americans has increased over the past two decades, and those who have completed more education earn more money, on average, and are more likely to be employed. That's just one corner of the picture painted by "The Condition of Education 2013," the annual treasure-trove of data from the U.S. Department of Education, released on Thursday. The report holds few surprises for close observers of American education, but rather offers a comprehensive overview of enrollment and attainment from early education through graduate school, as well as information on how students pay for higher education and how they fare later in the job market. Read more...

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26 mai 2013

House Passes Bill Tying Student-Loan Interest Rates to the Market

By Kelly Field. Defying a threatened presidential veto, Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that would tie student-loan interest rates to the free market. If enacted, the bill, HR 1911, would prevent interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans from doubling on July 1, and put an end to the temporary fix that has kept rates low over the past year. But the bill faces long odds in the U.S. Senate, where Democratic leaders are calling for another extension of the current rate, to give lawmakers more time to craft a new formula. Under current law, student-loan interest rates are set by Congress and are often out of sync with the broader market. Read more...

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26 mai 2013

Politiker ohne Studienabschluss: Ähm, ja, wir haben abgebrochen

Ein Studienabbruch macht sich nicht unbedingt gut im Lebenslauf, finden zahlreiche Bundestagsabgeordnete. Deswegen umschreiben sie ihn lieber. In der "Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung" geben einige jetzt zerknirscht zu: Ja, dieser Makel gehört zu mir.
Der eine verweigert die Aussage, der andere lässt hartnäckig seinen Eintrag bei Wikipedia säubern, der Dritte gesteht zerknirscht: Ja, er habe abgebrochen. Ein Studium ohne Abschluss versuchen viele Politiker lieber zu verbergen: "Es ist schon ein Makel, den man mit sich herumträgt", sagte Dietmar Nietan der "Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung" ("FAS"). Er sitzt für die SPD im Bundestag, ist 48 Jahre alt, hat zwölf Jahre Biologie studiert - und keinen Abschluss. Das Schicksal teilt er mit 35 weiteren Bundestagsabgeordneten, schreibt die Zeitung. Damit haben 5,6 Prozent aller Parlamentarier ihr Studium nicht beendet. Mehr...

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