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* Massive Open Online Courses
Massive Open Online Courses, better known as MOOCs, are online classes students can take for free. Courses range anywhere from quantum physics to the history of rock music. Although MOOCs are offered through several elite institutions, three platforms currently dominate university-level coursework: Coursera, Udacity, and edX. Students can not earn a degree from these free courses but that still doesn’t discourage thousands of students from enrolling in MOOCs worldwide. What makes MOOCs so attractive is that they shift the control to the student. Students can take courses at their own leisure and pace. MOOCs have really improved access of higher education to people around the world, but they still have their fair share of critics. Some worry it will give officials a reason to unnecessarily slash school budgets.
* Game-Based Learning
Experts say game-based learning can improve a student’s assessment, especially for those who aren’t “natural scholars.” Although the New Media Consortium doesn’t predict widespread adoption of game-based learning until a few more years it’s already starting to make its mark. Take the University of Texas-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College in the U.S. for example. In the 2010-11 academic school year Professor Soumya Mohany gathered inspiration from the videogames Laura Croft: Tomb Raider and Little Big Planet to design a custom-made videogame used to teach the fundamentals of physics for the inaugural course, "Elementary Physics Through Video Games.
* Learning Analytics
In a nutshell, learning analytics refers to the “analysis” of data collected by and for students. It’s specifically gathered so that administration can improve the overall functionality and performance of both traditional and online courses. There are various times when this data is collected, for example after a student completes an exam or participates in a group project, class discussion, or online forum. This data is then used to identify issues and make way for progress. While not all schools have jumped on the learning analytics bandwagon yet, some prestigious universities have already starting taking full advantage to improve performance.
That said, to learn more about the future of higher education checkout the infographic below created by Onlinedegrees.org.

As edX , Coursera, and Udacity continue to build and launch massive open online courses (MOOCs)—and other would-be contenders approach the field—evidence and opinions are accumulating about how best to use such courses, the experience of learning this way, and possible applications of the evolving technology. Herewith, a survey of some recent perspectives, and some news updates on the users of an early HarvardX course and Coursera’s expansion into professional education.
Where the Learners Are
MOOCs have been touted as opening avenues to education for huge audiences in developing countries, but a pressing U.S. application lies in providing remedial or entry-level required classes for students at community colleges and financially hard-pressed public colleges and universities. Following an experiment in which San Jose State University (SJSU) blended edX’s course on electronic circuits with its classroom teaching, enhancing student learning, the institution has extended that experiment to 11 California campuses and agreed with edX to adapt courses in sciences, humanities, business, and social sciences. Read more...

By David L. Boren. Especially in Norman, the home of a great university, we should pay attention to a trend that gravely threatens America's future. Step by step, public higher education is disappearing across our nation. Our dominance in higher education is our greatest asset as we compete with other nations. While the U.S. has less than 6 percent of the world's population, most surveys indicate that we have 85 percent to 90 percent of the world's greatest colleges and universities. Read more...