Category: Top News

The edX Inc. nonprofit organization has appointed a former TripAdvisor as its new President and Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Adam Medros arrives to edX from TripAdvisor, where he was Senior Vice President of Global Product. He will assume the day-to-day management and oversight operations, contribute to edX’s strategy and growth and report to Anant Agarwal, CEO of the company.

“Medros brings experience in building strong teams and driving innovation. His appointment comes at an exciting time for edX, as the company continues to grow, expanding its global learner base to over 13 million students and offering new, innovative programs and credentials designed to help learners advance their careers,” edX explained on a press release.

The 2018 Open edX conference will take place May 29 to June 1 in Montreal, Canada.

The event will be hosted by Université de Montréal, HEC Montréal and Polytechnique Montréal, the three founding institutions behind EDUlib.

This will be the fifth Open edX Conference, after Harvard (2014), Wellesley (2015), Stanford University (2016) and Madrid (2017).

“You can expect all the great features of previous conferences: top-notch presentations, inspirational keynotes, hands-on activities, and plenty of face time with Open edX adopters and extenders from around the world,” explained Ned Batchelder, one of the very few edX engineers who has attended all of the events and remains working at edX Inc.

France Université Numerique (FUN), the French national MOOC platform, has launched two initiatives as an effort to generate new revenues: FUN Campus for SPOCs (Small Private Online Courses) and FUN Corporate for corporate training, has reported Letudiant.fr.

FUN has also begun designing platforms for businesses and adding proctoring services.

“Clients benefit from our expertise, educational advice, secure hosting and constant technical assistance”, noted Nelly Violette, head of FUN’s white label service.

With 3.4 million users, 330 MOOCs and 104 schools as partners, FUN, built on the Open edX platform, includes a staff of five developers and eight advisors who help schools run their MOOCs. The French government funds less than half of its €2.5 million ($2.7 million) annual budget.

If 2012 was “The Year of the MOOC”, 2017 is “The Year of the Microcredential”, says edSurge.

A growing number of elite colleges now offer short-form graduate and certificate programs that can be taken online for a fraction of the price of a traditional master’s.

These offerings expand access to graduate education, help workers update their skills and allow colleges to find new sources of revenue as well as save marketing money when advertising their in-person graduate programs.

• edX lists 40 MicroMasters programs from 24 colleges and universities. [The first course, created by MIT about Supply Chain brought in more than $4 million in revenue, according to Anant Agarwal, CEO of EdX.]
• Coursera added 50 new “specializations” (series of courses that grant noncredit certificates to students and can’t be transferred for college credit) in the past year.
• Udacity uses “nanodegrees” ($200 per month) to attract students. They also offer a premium service, for $299 a month, that includes some individualized help and mentorship. Udacity promises a money-back guarantee for those who successfully complete a nanodegree and don’t find a job within six months.

Google will commit $1 billion over the next five years to nonprofits in education and professional training through its charitable arm, Google.org.

CEO Sundar Pichai announced a new program at an event this week in Pittsburgh, PA, Grow with Google, aimed at training American workers for high-tech jobs and helping build businesses.

“At Google, our mission is to make sure that information serves everyone, not just a few,” Pichai explained in the address. “A child in a school here in Pittsburgh can access the same information on Google as a professor at Carnegie Mellon. In the end, the internet is a powerful equalizer, capable of propelling new ideas and people forward.”

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has launched Woz-U, an online, tech-focused education school. Today it offers just two online programs, an 8-month computer programming track and a 6-month computer support specialist track. The school promises to add programs in data science, mobile applications and cybersecurity, and add physical campuses in 30 cities.

Its goal is to help fill the employment gap for high-paying technology jobs across the U.S. “Our goal is to educate and train people in employable digital skills without putting them into years of debt,” said Wozniak.

Woz U’s parent company, Southern Careers Institute, offers similar computer programming and computer support specialist programs at its six for-profit schools in Texas, alongside programs in cosmetology, welding, medical billing and others.

It’s unclear how Woz U’s curriculum will differ from its far larger online competitors such as Coursera, edX, Udacity, Pluralsight and others.

Seven of the world’s top 10 innovative universities according to the Reuters ranking are edX partners.

Amongst the top 10 are Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, KU Leuven,  University of Washington, University of Michigan and the University of Texas System.

Reuters’ list is based on proprietary data and analyses of numerous indicators including patent filings and research paper citations, as well as which universities are doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies and power new markets and industries.

• edX post: edX Partners Top World’s Most Innovative Universities

The Linux Foundation will launch on October 24th at edx.org an introductory, eight-week online course about the blockchain technology, Blockchain for Business: An Introduction to Hyperledger.

This course will teach how to start building blockchain applications with Hyperledger frameworks, a skillset increasingly in demand.

“Software developers, product team, and business managers are desperately eager to figure out how this technology can solve real-world problems,” explained Executive Director of the Hyperledger Project, Brian Behlendorf.

This is the eight edX MOOC offered by The Linux Foundation. In total, over 850,000 students have enrolled across these free courses, which include Intro to Linux, Intro to Cloud Infrastructure Technologies, Introduction to OpenStack, Introduction to DevOps: Transforming and Improving Operations, Introduction to Cloud Foundry and Cloud Native Software Architecture, Introduction to Apache Hadoop, and Introduction to Kubernetes.

“The next phase of MOOCs is courses and programs that offer pathways to credit at a college or university by blending the best of online and in-person programs,” has explained Anant Agarwal, CEO at edX. “As more colleges and universities begin to accept MOOCs for credit, online learning options will create modularity and offer students more options.”

There are three ways in which innovative approaches can transform high-quality education, according to Mr. Agarwal.

FULLY ONLINE DELIVERY WITH BLENDED CREDENTIALS
An example is the groundbreaking Georgia Tech Online Master of Science in Analytics, in partnership with edX. It enables to earn a graduate degree for less than $10,000. In addition, accepted students can complete a MicroMasters credential, which is about 30 percent of the degree.

ONLINE-WHILE-ON-CAMPUS DELIVERY
MIT has offered a fully online version of its popular on-campus Circuits and Electronics course to on-campus students for credit. Students performed well and reported feeling less stress and having more flexibility. Many other universities have begun toying with this online-while-on-campus delivery.

ONLINE-TO-CAMPUS DELIVERY
The Global Freshman Academy and the MicroMasters program, both available on edX, are examples of this blend. Students are able to complete coursework at a low cost ($1,000 in fees in the case of MicroMasters) and no admission process, before committing time and money in a degree program.

In terms of the platform, the head of edX has no doubts: “To offer credit-grade MOOCs, online learning providers must have a platform with high academic integrity — one that maintains high standards and facilitates rigorous assessments. This could include integrating virtual proctoring, hand grading and peer grading, as well as innovative, rich assessments that go well beyond multiple choice.”

• Article at edX.org: Higher Education Needs a Re-Think to Train Tomorrow’s Workforce

Honing communication, collaboration, critical thinking, teamwork and other soft skills helps advance careers. Employers are increasingly demanding these kind of abilities. Not all is IT.

Professionals looking to master this actionable knowledge will find an online opportunity with Rochester Institute of Technology’s Soft Skills Professional Certificate program on edX, which will start on November 28. Enrollment is now open.

“Soft skills are power skills that require practice,” said Andrea Hickerson, director of RIT’s School of Communication and associate professor, who is teaching several of the Soft Skills offerings. “With this new program, professionals can hone the skills they need for promotions and management-level positions.”

The Professional Certificate program consists of six three-week (seven hours per week) offerings that can be taken any time after the start date:

• Business Communication (starts Nov. 28)
• Teamwork and Collaboration (starts Jan. 16, 2018)
• Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving (starts March 6, 2018)
• Storytelling in the Workplace (starts April 24, 2018)
• Public Speaking (starts June 12, 2018)
• Visual Presentation (starts July 31, 2018)

Within each offering, learners will have access to videos from the instructors, readings and discussion boards with other participants. Each module takes about seven hours per week to complete. Exclusive learning opportunities, including live events hosted by subject matter experts, will be available for verified learners who pursue the Professional Certificate.

“RIT has already been able to help more than a quarter million people through edX programs, and we’re excited to add our first Professional Certificate program,” said Thérèse Hannigan, director of RIT Online. “This is a great way for people to get connected to RIT and become aware of our terrific communication programs.”