edX has just launched the 2016 Open edX conference website at con.openedx.org.
This event, scheduled for June 14-17 at Stanford University, is focused on the development and use of the Open edX platform. Last year it attracted over 200 developers, system administrators and education specialists.
The new conference website includes 25 confirmed talks and several lighting talks.
MIT Professional Education, which maintains its own Open edX platform, has announced two new paid courses:
Some experts have questioned MOOCs’ effectiveness given their low student completion rates.
However, in edX MOOCs, the average completion rate among learners who sign up for a verified certificate is about 60 percent – 10 times higher than students taking the class for free, says Anant Agarwar, CEO at edX.
In other words, students have a greater incentive to learn and complete a MOOC when they sign up for a certificate and pay about $30 to $150 to verify their identity.
These types of credentials, along with digital badges, are mostly posted on learners’ LinkedIn profiles and used in job search processes, as a way to highlight specific skills and competencies gained from online classes.
Unlike the free certificates that the companies offered in the past, verification ensures the authenticity and value of the credential, Coursera and edX officials say. Coursera and edX have turned away from the concept of free certificates.
After reaching more than 500,000 students on its first course, “Intro to Linux“, the Linux Foundation has announced the “Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure Technologies” MOOC for June 1, which will be also offered through edX.org. Registration is now open. Students may take the complete course at no cost, or add a verified certificate of completion for $99.
Understanding cloud technologies tops the list of most important skills for any developer, sysadmin or emerging DevOps professional.
“With with course anyone can begin learning the fundamentals of building and managing some of today’s most pervasive software, giving professionals a strong position in the IT talent market,” said Jim Zemlin, executive at The Linux Foundation.
“Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure Technologies” will cover next-generation technologies like Docker, CoreOS, Kubernetes and OpenStack.
The MIT Professional Education unit is designing along with Boeing and NASA a certificate-based program on architecture and systems engineering, which will be delivered through the edX platform this summer. Registration will open within few weeks.
This four-course program will be focused on modern complex systems from hybrid cars to aircraft. It will be oriented to professionals working in automotive, medical devices, system integration, aerospace, and a other industries.
The “Architecture and Systems Engineering: Models and Methods to Manage Complex Systems” program will marry the research and knowledge of MIT’s faculty with lessons and case studies in industry and government from Boeing and NASA professionals.
“This educational partnership enables a digital environment for learning and networking and allows us to offer professional growth to our employees, ” says Marc Nance, Boeing director for competitiveness and integration. “The certificate blends industry and academic expertise and represent a scalable solution for employers,” adds Michael Richey, associate technical fellow and principal investigator at Boeing.
Professionals enrolled in the courses will be exposed to the latest practices in model-based system engineering, including how models can enhance system engineering functions, and how system engineering task can be augmented with quantitative analysis.
Courses will include guest lectures and examples contributed by industrial partners Boeing and NASA. Each course will provide continuing education credits (CEUs), and professionals that finish all four courses in the series will earn a professional certificate from MIT.
“The edX platform will provide an interactive, flexible learning experience for engineers around the world to gain technical expertise from leaders at MIT, Boeing, and NASA,” says Anant Agarwal, edX CEO and MIT professor.
The third edition of Learning with MOOCs conference will be held on October 6-7 at Penn in Philadelphia.
“Being and Learning in a Digital Age” will be the theme of the event. Registration is now open.
“MOOCs and online learning now face two substantial trends and opportunities: increasing integration with on-campus teaching and learning, and the growing interest in social, affective learning and personal wellbeing of learners,” said Program Chair George Siemens.
• Website
The most successful online courses are related to technology or other Computer Science-based skills, followed by career advancement (“Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills”, for example) and personal enrichment subjects. Missing are Liberal Arts classes (History, Art, Literature…).
These tendencies are also reflected in the world of paid online degrees, as shown by US News and World Report’s ranking.
Quartz.com has put together a list of the most popular courses right now on Coursera.org and edX.org.
| Coursera | |
|---|---|
| 1. Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects | University of California, San Diego |
| 2. Mastering Data Analysis in Excel | Duke University |
| 3. Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python) | University of Michigan |
| 4. Machine Learning | Stanford University |
| 5. R Programming | Johns Hopkins University |
| 6. The Data Scientist’s Toolbox | Johns Hopkins University |
| 7. Tibetan Buddhist Meditation and the Modern World | University of Virginia |
| 8. An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python (Part 1) | Rice University |
| 9. Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and ‘Skills | University of Michigan |
| 10. Introduction to Financial Accounting | University of Pennsylvania |
| 11. Introduction to Public Speaking | University of Washington |
| 12. Programming Mobile Applications for Android Handheld Systems: Part 1 | University of Maryland, College Park |
| 13. Introduction to Marketing | University of Pennsylvania |
| 14. Grammar and Punctuation | University of California, Irvine |
| 15. Introduction to Corporate Finance | University of Pennsylvania |
| 16. Principles of Valuation: Time Value of Money | University of Michigan |
| 17. Chinese for Beginners | Peking University |
| 18. Introduction to Programming with MATLAB | Vanderbilt University |
| 19. Project Management: The Basics for Success | University of California, Irvine |
| 20. Introduction to Big Data | University of California, San Diego |
| edX | |
|---|---|
| 1. CS50 | Harvard University |
| 2. Introduction to Programming With Python | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 3. Introduction to Linux | Jerry Cooperstein |
| 4. HTML5 | World Wide Web Consortium |
| 5. The Science of Happiness | University of California, Berkeley |
Candace M. Thille, a known researcher at Stanford University, has issued a warning about the use of big data and learning analytics by education companies, specially since adaptive learning is becoming an increasingly important tool in teaching.
“Letting the market alone shape the future of learning analytics would be a mistake. Colleges should be investing in learning analytics in the same way that they invest in maintaining their buildings,” she said in an interview in The Chronicle.
Candace M. Thille argues that colleges should have more control as a way to use data to predict students needs and deliver the right material at the right time. “You don’t outsource your core business process,” she noted. “When companies lead the development of learning software, the decisions those systems make are hidden from professors and colleges.”
Dr. Lorena A Barba, a professor at George Washington University, has invited data scientists to work with learning scientists to contribute to the field of data-driven education.
The fourth Open edX meetup in New York will take place on April 7th at McKinsey Academy. The theme of the event will be “Engaging Content, Successful Marketing”.
Top presenters from Microsoft, Columbia University, Knewton, Fordham University, edX, McKinsey and Free Learning Channel will share their insights through 8-minute talks and a final round table.
This is the line-up of presenters:
– Rhonda Nicholson, Microsoft
– Michael Cennamo, Columbia University
– Kristen Weeks, Knewton
– William Fenton, Fordham University
– Joel Barciauskas, edX
– Sylvia Ko, McKinsey Academy
– Derrick Lewis, Free Learning Channel X
Registration is open to anyone and access is free.
Talks will be recorded, distributed throughout the Open edX community and added to our iOS app to be available offline.
This event will be live broadcasted and open to outside participation.
McKinsey Academy, WeWork and IBL will sponsor this initiative.
The Open edX Conference 2016 (June 14-15th at Stanford University in Palo Alto) is on track. Registration, with tickets at $200 to $450, is open to developers, system administrators, education specialists and anyone who wants to learn more about the Open edX platform.
Organizers have called for proposals to speak in 40-minute sessions, 5-minute lighting talks and 90-minute workshops.
The conference, which will take place at Lathrop Library, will be focused on the development and use of the Open edX platform. A team of four edX employees (Erin Brown, Joel Barciauskas, Molly de Blanc, and Roberta Wilson) is organizing the conference.
A sponsorship package is also in place.
