Author: IBL News

IBL News | New York

The College Board announced that its CLEP exam created five decades ago, will be available remotely through a proctoring solution. To date, only CLEP-certified centers were authorized to take this exam.

The examination taken remotely at home by the student will have the same timing, content, format, and on-screen experience as any test delivered through a CLEP test center.

“Your at-home appointment will be monitored by a human proctor online through Proctortrack, CLEP’s remote proctoring partner,” stated The College Board through its official website.

With the chosen partner of Proctortrack, CLEP students will be monitored via video by a human proctor while they use their computers.

These computers will be only Windows PC, no Macs being allowed, said The College Board.

“To participate in remote proctoring, you must have a computer (PC only, no Macs), webcam, speaker, microphone, a whiteboard or one sheet of paper in a transparent sheet protector and a dry erase marker for note-taking, and a quiet, secure testing environment.”

In addition to this equipment and after scheduling the exam with Proctortrack, students would need to download and install an ETS-designed online test application.

The news of the CLEP remote modality was received cheerfully by the creators of ModernState.org‘s non-profit “Freshman Year for Free” program — which delivers online instructional materials for CLEP takes.

ModernStates.org has over a quarter-million registered users. It has become the online leader in this area. Its platform and course content is built on an Open edX-based ecosystem developed by IBL Education, the parent company of this news service.

IBL News | New York

Australian Moodle Pty Ltd — or Moodle HQ — is shaping itself as a more aggressive corporation jumping into the acquisition field, following in the footsteps of competing providers, and playing by the same capitalistic rules.

Last week, Moodle HQ announced that it will be acquiring three US-based Moodle Partner companies: My Learning Consultants, Moonami Learning Solutions, and Elearning Experts, and merging them into a single new services company called Moodle US. Due diligence is currently underway and the deals are expected to conclude by June 2021.

Moodle US means that Moodle HQ itself, creator of the software in 2005, will provide services, blowing up in a way the partnership model that was the foundation of its revenue stream.

Moodle Founder and CEO, Martin Dougiamas [in the picture], said: “It’s a great step forward for Moodle!”

Martin Dougiamas, Moodle’s Mastermind, highlighted its company’s technical strength by stating that “we are bringing the most experienced Moodle experts and technology together to create the best possible Moodle services for educators and organizations in the US.”

“Customers have been asking us for this for a long time, so we are very enthusiastic about what this will mean for existing customers in the US and new customers looking for an expert level of support and the latest technologies around Moodle solutions.”

The growth and acquisition strategy of Open LMS / Moodlerooms changed the Moodle competing ecosystem, prompting providers to react, according to experts.

IBL News | New York

ClassforZoom.com, now rebranded as Class.com, announced yesterday it raised an additional $12.25 million in funding.

This startup led by Blackboard co-founder and former CEO Michael Chasen has raised $58 million in the last 12 months ($30 million Series A in February 2021 and a $16 million seed round in September 2020), despite its limited number of clients: 125 paying clients, according to Techcrunch.

“In the seven months since Class has launched, over 7,500 K-12 and Higher-Ed institutions, as well as corporations, around the world have reached out interested in using Class,” said the company – now called Class Technologies Inc.

Investors in the last round included Salesforce Ventures and American quarterback and Super Bowl champion and entrepreneur Tom Brady. Also, this financing included Sound Ventures and entrepreneur Guy Oseary. Exact investment amounts were not disclosed.

Tom Brady — who debuts as a VC — praised Michael Chasen as “a proven education and technology pioneer and fellow father of three, to bring the promise, potential, and power of the digital classroom to people around the world.”

Class.com is built on the Zoom Meetings platform. Its software adds teaching and learning tools to Zoom. Features include:

• Present from the front of the class
• Take attendance
• Track participation
• Hand out assignments and quizzes
• Proctor exams
• Grade work
• Talk one-on-one with a learner

IBL News | New York

Coursera announced yesterday five new degrees from international universities as well as six new MasterTrack certificates.

The PR effort didn’t convince the market. Coursera’s (NYSE: COUR) stock experienced yesterday a huge drop of 8.48%, until $42 per share, below the successful opening of $45 on April 1st. Gains of its debut were wiped and valuation decreased half a billion dollars, until $5.48 billion.

These are the new degrees:

• Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of London (UoL).

• Master of Business Administration from Fundação Instituto de Administração in Brazil.

• Master of Business Administration in Business Analytics, Master of Arts in International Relations, Security, and Strategy, and Master of Arts in Public Policy from O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) in India.

In addition, the educational company announced it added 10 new university partners to its platform, including Dartmouth College, University of Notre Dame, Parsons School of Design at The New School, Queen Mary University of London, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, Sungkyunkwan University, Khalifa University, University of Naples Federico II, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, and Jordan University of Science & Technology.

“The lessons we have learned as a community over the last year are reshaping how education is delivered,” wrote Betty Vandenbosch, Chief Content Officer at Coursera. “As students prioritize flexibility and affordability, we are partnering with leading universities to meet the demand for online degrees; in 2020, 91% more degree students studied on Coursera than in 2019.”

IBL News | New York

At least a dozen universities are mandating students to be vaccinated by the Fall Semester, before coming back to campus. Given that students’ reactions have been mostly positive, without showing reservations, one university has taken a step further.

Hampton University is requiring faculty and staff mandatory COVID-19 full vaccination by May 31, according to a memo signed up by Chancellor and Provost, JoAnn W. Haysbert, and Vice President for Business Affairs and Treasurer, Doretha J. Spells.

To be fully vaccinated by then, employees will have to get their second shot of a two-dose vaccine or a one-shot vaccine at least two weeks before the deadline unless show documentation of a medical or religious exemption.

Unlike many other institutions in Virginia, Hampton University — a historically Black college in Virginia — has been all-virtual since last spring.

IBL News | New York

More high-profile universities joined the list of institutions requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for the fall semester.

Duke University and Boston University were the latest ones dismissing legal precedences for schools mandating immunizations.

On March 25, Rutgers University in New Jersey became one of the first larger public universities to mandate the vaccine.

Some voices expressed outrage, but student protests didn’t happen. Two Ivy League universities — Cornell in New York and Brown University — took also the risk of being criticized and went ahead with the mandate. Notre Dame was the first Christian Catholic university to move forward with the requirement.

The list is expected to grow until almost any institution adopts the mandate.

The waivers implemented on religious and medical exemptions have definitely opened the door.

The news on Duke University came after the institution issued a stay-in-place order in March to battle rising COVID-19 cases. Some local TV stations reported mixed reactions among students.

In the case of Boston University, its President, Robert Brown, stated that “our goal is to move to a “new normal” in the fall that includes only minimal social distancing, where all our facilities are open, students can move freely between residences, and guests are welcome.”