News from e-Learning companies
Channel:
Learning Solutions Magazine: Designing mLearning UIs with Blueprint by Mayra Aixa Villar
One of the challenges in mobile learning application development is breaking away from the default interfaces that we have used for years in desktop eLearning. Prototyping tools can assist designers in figuring out what really works on a mobile device. Read in this article about one such tool and the way the author uses it!
: Studying Native People: Considering Stereotypes
The home-school cooperative that I run (www.s-h-i-n-e.org) uses what is called “Blended Learning.” How is that for a new term? Dr. Nellie Deutsch’s November 9 post on the WizIQ blog defined Blended Learning as “the combination of online learning and face-to-face meetings.” Right now, it is working for my students and for me.… Read the rest…
: Creating a Scale Model of Your Utopian Community
So, how far is a mile, really? How long does it take to walk it? How far or how close do you really want your neighbors to be? How big do you actually want your house? These were some of the questions that we explored on the third live meeting of The SHINE Middle Grades Collaborative (www.s-h-i-n-e.org).… Read the rest…
: Instructors of Blended Learning in Higher Education
Blended Learning There are various definitions for blended learning. I chose the following for research study on instructor experiences with implementing technology in blended learning courses in higher education around the globe. Blended learning combines online learning and face-to-face meetings. In such blended learning courses, the online meetings would take place through a form of course or learning management system such as Moodle, Canvas Instructure, Blackboard or a program that allows for e-learning to take place asynchronously (not dependent on time and place) and live online classes such as WizIQ, Collaborate, Adobe Connect, WebEx, or a virtual learning environment that allow for live online synchronous meetings (time dependent).… Read the rest…
Udacity: Increasing Access: Download Option for our Videos Now Available
Udacity is on a mission to make great education accessible to everybody. Not only that - we aim to change and improve the teaching and learning process, to use modern technology in a field that hasn't really changed for centuries. But sometimes technology is not really helpful and instead gets in the way of our mission. Our videos are available for free on YouTube, but not everyone is able to watch YouTube videos. Internet connections can be slow. Schools often block Youtube because of laws surrounding ads and to prevent student distractions. Sometimes, Youtube is banned throughout an entire country. People in these situations should still have access to free, high-quality education.We have made the first step in helping all these people by providing our videos for download, bundled up by unit, with a playlist to go along, as well as (optionally) subtitles. You can find the links to the downloads in your course wiki. Just click on the wiki link from the course viewer page and you will…
Coursera: How online courses can form a basis for on-campus teaching
Editor’s note: this article was originally published in Forbes on November 7th. Last week, Antioch University announced its intention to allow students to take credit-bearing classes based on some of the courses offered on Coursera. Until now, online courses have been used primarily in one of two ways: as MOOCs (non-credit-bearing classes open to anyone), and within the academic institutions producing these classes, to support a “flipped classroom” model for their own registered students. The Antioch model reflects a third paradigm, in which one institution uses courses produced by another as the basis for a credit-bearing class. In this model, the online content is generally “ wrapped” with some face-to-face class time by a local instructor, who can facilitate discussion, answer questions, ensure that students are making progress, and possibly augment the course with additional content and/or assessments. This blended learning format is not an entirel…
Learning Solutions Magazine: EMEA Reporter: The European Training Foundation's Role in Policy Development by Nic Laycock
Much innovative and effective work carried out in the emerging world, especially in using mobile technology to deliver learning, is unknown in Europe and North America. The European Training Foundation (ETF) in Turin, Italy, is becoming a clearinghouse for this information. Here’s a report on what they are doing.
ALISON: Free course on Fractional Reserve Banking launched by ALISON
Ever wondered why it's such a problem if there's a 'run' on a bank?
ALISON: Free course on Social English Language Skills launched by ALISON
If you want to improve your basic conversational skills in English, then this is the course for you! …
Udacity: Join the Udacity Translation Project!
At the beginning of April, when the first run of our classes just finished, numerous students volunteered to translate our courses into their languages in hopes of making them more accessible. What started with a single post on our CS373 forum-- "can we do this?",-- launched a tremendous effort, quickly becoming a project with more than 100 people contributing in many languages. Our CS101 introduction video, for example, has now been translated into 25 languages! The most popular languages have several people collaborating, checking each others’ work and discussing the best translation of technical terminology. To date, volunteers have translated more than 1,200 videos, all through a grassroots movement started by students for students.We’re happy to announce that we have officially joined the effort with the launch of our partnership with Amara, the crowd-sourced translation platform. In less than a week, more than 50 volunteers joined and used the platform to translate vi…
Coursera: Guerilla marketing with my mom
My name is Leith and I am an Ascii-Architect at Coursera. My job is to help build a product for everyone to use. But of all of our users, one of my favorite is my mom. My mom always supports me in everything I do, but when I told her I was joining Coursera, her support reached new levels. She started by devouring every lecture and assignment on our Health Policy course. Handling daily bug reports and feature requests from my mom wasn’t something I ever envisioned, but I was happy to see her enjoy something I was helping build. But when the class stopped, she didn’t. I started getting emails with attachments of her own self-made Coursera posters. She was hanging them up in libraries, public spaces, the kitchen at her work and even in her own office. These were generic posters advertising all the universities that partner with Coursera to offer courses to a world that is clearly hungry for their content. But she didn’t stop there. According to her latest em…
Learning Solutions Magazine: Nuts and Bolts: Metaphors by Jane Bozarth
What are your metaphors about teaching and learning? How do they affect your practice?
Udacity: Congratulations High School Challenge Winners!
Over the summer, Udacity students around the world competed to see which team could complete the most Udacity content. Last Saturday, the team leaders of the seven winning High School Challenge teams came to Palo Alto from around the world to celebrate their accomplishments and meet each other and the Udacity team. Students and parents flew from the U.K. and Dominican Republic, and several were able to make it from New York and New Jersey, despite Hurricane Sandy. And we had an action packed day! We visited Stanford and Google to take a look at their self-driving cars. At Google, the 13 team leaders even got a chance to take a ride. Udacity CEO Sebastian Thrun (and his son) talk to the challenge winners at Stanford. We toured the Udacity office, where we discussed some company lore (for example, did you know that Udacity was almost named “Knowly?”), ate lunch (and in true Udacity fashion, most people sat on the floor), and had some conversations about t…
Learning Solutions Magazine: DevLearn Conference and Expo 2012: Recap by Bill Brandon and Jennifer Neibert
DevLearn 2012 was an incredible event. It capped a remarkable year of change with more professionals registered and attending (just short of 2000) than at any previous eLearning Guild conference. In this brief recap, we’ll try to give you a better sense of the excitement at the Aria last week. In this case, it’s important that what happened in Vegas, does NOT stay in Vegas!
Udemy: How to Partner Up with other Instructors and Find New Students
We have a never-before-shared or tested (we’re walkin’ on the wild side today) cross promotion strategy for our instructors. We’re calling it Partner Up! What do I mean by that? This month, we suggest you partner with a fellow instructor and cross promote each other’s courses. For example, Cathy Erway’s Healthy Cooking course would interest some of the students in Kino MacGregor’s Intro to Ashtanga Yoga course and vice versa. Healthy eating and fitness—it makes sense, right? Take a moment and... Continue reading »…
Khan Academy: Pressure in the heart
Rishi Desai, M.D. has released the first videos in a new series looking at how the pressure created by your heartbeat moves blood through your heart. Pressure in the Left Heart - Part 1 Pressure in the Left Heart - Part 2 Pressure in the Left Heart - Part 3…
Udemy: The November Challenge: We
Udemy is giving back to our instructors this month. We’re holding a November Challenge to recognize the instructors who hustle month after month to find new students for their courses. Here are the terms: For any instructor who earns $200 or more in the month of November from coupon code-driven course sales will receive a free Udemy hoodie! Trust me—you want one of these hoodies. They look great, and they’re comfortable! For our top selling instructor this month, we’ll fly... Continue reading »…
Udacity: Follow-up: Unanswered Questions From Our App Engine | Google Developer's Live Appearance
I enjoyed the opportunity to participate in a live Google Developer Live hangout on the topic of how Udacity uses App Engine. Unfortunately there was not enough time to respond to all the great questions on air. What follows is my best attempt to respond to the remaining questions.krmboya: "In your opinion, how low-level should the average modern programmer go? Is it still worth learning assembly language and various pointer-manipulation tricks?"I recommend you should always learn as much about computing as you can. You can be a productive software engineer without knowing Assembly or C. However, I do think it is necessary to eventually become familiar with Assembly or C if you want to be a really great software engineer.Kenny: "What are the disadvantages of using Google App Engine and how does it compare to a service like Amazon's AWS?" Shahriar: "What makes Google app engine a better choice over using the AWS stack?"Comparing Google App Engine and AWS is like…
ALISON: Free Aggregate Supply and Demand course launched by ALISON
Confused about these key concepts in economics?
Udacity: Udacity Flips over Entrepreneurship! 30,000 entrepreneurs from 10,000 early-stage startups in over 350 cities worldwide
We're excited to announce our partnership with the folks over at Startup Weekend that is going into super drive! Together with Steve Blank, Startup America Partnership, and Techstars, we'll be supporting a new model in entrepreneurship training that will blend online and face-to-face education. The innovative program aims to inspire, educate, and empower some 30,000 entrepreneurs from 10,000 early-stage startups in over 350 cities worldwide. In a four-week class, founders will learn “how to build a successful startup,” using the basics of Business Model Design from Alexander Osterwalder and Customer Development from Steve Blank, delivered via Udacity’s online classes and coached in live sessions by seasoned startup veterans. Udacity’s online course will be delivered in a flipped classroom model by Startup Weekend, the global non-profit that’s hosted more than 800 such events worldwide. Steve Blank provided the course content; his Lean LaunchPa…