Category: Platforms | Tech

IBL News | New York

The consequences of COVID-19 virus spread from China through the world, marked the edtech and higher education landscape. The 2020 year showed unbearable distress on face-to-face learning and increased the digital gap among developing nations. The implementation of online technology accelerated, and valuations of edtech companies skyrocketed.

Here are the most-read stories at IBL News on online learning:

Valuations | VC

• Training Company Pluralsight.com Acquired by Equity Firm Vista for $3.5 Billion

• Language Learning App Duolingo Gets a $2.4 Billion Valuation While It Prepares its IPO

• Udemy Reaches a $3.25 Billion Valuation After Raising Another $50 Million

• Online Learning Boom in India: Start-Ups Raising Huge Amounts of Capital

• Skillsoft and Global Knowledge in Talks to Merge and Go Public

Transactions

• Laureate Sells Walden University to Adtalem for $1.48 Billion in Cash

• Thoma Bravo Completes the Acquisition of Instructure

• Cornerstone OnDemand Acquires Saba for $1.4 Billion

Industry

• Facebook Returns to Its Roots by Launching a Campus-Only Social Network

• Microsoft Will Offer Free Learning Paths for Digital Jobs In-Demand to 25 Million Facing Unemployment

• Pearson Ends Its Search for a New CEO by Naming an Ex-Walt Disney Executive for the Role

Trends

• Educause Analyzes How Higher Education Institutions Will Emerge from the Pandemic

• A New Learning Platform During Pandemic Times? The Must-Have List of Features

• MOOCs Were Dead, but Now They Are Booming, According to The New York Times

• Eduventures Encourages to Re-Think Online Learning While Analyzing Scenarios

• The LMS Market Will Grow From $13.4 Billion in 2020 to $25.7 Billion by 2025

• NY’s Governor Hires the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for Reforming the School System

Higher Ed

• Harvard and Princeton Will Deliver Their Classes Online This Fall; Backlash for Keeping Full Tuition

• The Big Ten Universities Will Accumulate Over $1.7 Billion in Losses Due to the Pandemic

• U.S. Colleges Will Lose Over $3 Billion After International Student Enrollment Decline This Upcoming Fall

• Historic $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill Provides Funding for Higher Ed and Help for Students with Loans

Pandemic Effects

• The COVID Pandemic Causes Devastation to Children’s Learning Across the World

• 70% of College Students Are Falling Behind on Their Studies Due to COVID-19

• Students Find the Learning Experience Provided by Schools To Be Unengaging

• The Global Pandemic Accelerates the Inequalities in Education; 1.1 Billion Children Still Out of School

Conferences

• SXSW EDU Announces that Its 2021 Conference Will Continue to Be Virtual

• The City of Austin Cancels SXSW March Festival and Plans a Virtual Conference

• The ASU-GSV Summit Postponed to September 29th. AAC&U Conference Canceled

Resources

• How to Protect Yourself From Coronavirus’ Scammers Who Try to Steal Money or Personal Information

• Johns Hopkins University Updates the Coronavirus Map by Adding Local Data

• Don’t Let Education Fall in the Curve of Covid: An Extensive Resource Website with Tools and Services

 

IBL News | New York

edX.org is closing the year with over 35 million registered learners and 110 million enrollments, according to its own data.

“Everything edX and our partners have been building over the past eight years prepared us for this moment to support our students and the global education system,” wrote Anant Agarwal, edX Founder and CEO.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit our global community, 35 million of you (and counting) refused to let anything get in your way—and made a commitment to keep learning.

See what we accomplished together in our 2021 Impact Report: https://t.co/eL3jhz6lnQ pic.twitter.com/5n0RshqsHT

— edX (@edXOnline) December 20, 2020

IBL News | New York

TU Delft Professors Andy van den Dobbelsteen, Eric van den Ham, and Researcher Tess Bloom won the 2020 edX Prize for Exceptional Contributions in Online Teaching and Learning.

They teach the course Zero-Energy Design: an approach to make your building sustainable, with 16,000 enrollments to date.

The course was designed to provide an innovative learning experience. The creators produced a compelling short-film and three mini-documentaries to show how students at TU Delft dels with energy-efficient buildings. [Watch it below]

The course team also provided weekly video-feedback to students.

Additionally, the final project had the learners redesign a building they know (their home, school, workplace, a local familiar building) into a more energy-efficient structure.

TU Delft’s instructors were selected among an array of finalists.

This is the second time that TU Delft has been awarded the edX Prize; Professor Arno Smets took home the inaugural prize in 2016.

IBL News | New York

Coursera unveiled this week its new brand identity “to reflect its growth” and “be clearer about who we are and why we’re here—for our learners, our partners, our customers, and the world.”

That graphical change—which might be imperceptible to the user—is essentially based on removing the infinity symbol the company was using on its wordmark. Now Coursera starts with a C.

Stephanie Hale, Director of Brand at Coursera, explained in a blog post: “The C is an entry point into the full span of learning opportunities on Coursera—from projects and free courses to Professional Certificates and degrees.” She added: “The C spotlights a world of possibility and provides a path for learners from discovery to outcome.”

Selected typefaces are Source Sans Pro and Noto Sans Pro.“These typefaces support 582 languages and provide optimal upload and download speeds across devices and browsers for offline learning.”

 

 

IBL News | New York

edX Inc. introduced yesterday a new look for its brand, along with a redesigned website.

Stephanie Brocuum, Chief Marketing Officer at edX, explained that the goal was “making it easier to identify what edX course or program will help you get to the next step in your career, or maybe it means helping you figure out what coding language you should learn.”

The graphical change also affected Open edX—the software platform used by the edX.org portal and many institutions and companies all around the world.

“The new logo and the other updates to our look and feel are the culmination of a lengthy design process and a great deal of testing with edX users,” wrote Ed Zarecor, Head of Engineering at edX.

Mr. Zarecor encouraged hosting providers and development firms that use the Open edX code to use the new logo “by the end of January,” following the trademark guidelines.

Say hi to the new edX—a change inspired by our movement of #RestlessLearners. It’s still us, but with a new look that makes it easier for you to unlock your potential. Learn more here: https://t.co/5ixv1vmJqZ pic.twitter.com/Xbhbif2I6k

— edX (@edXOnline) December 15, 2020

IBL News | New York

edX announced on December 9th its eleventh release of the Open edX platform, Koa.

The Koa version has been released six months after Juniper, which was issued on June 9th, 2020. It includes several improvements, such as personalized learner schedules, progress milestones, LTI 1.3 grading, and installable micro-frontends.

The underlying operating system has been upgraded to Ubuntu 20.04 to ensure security fixes.

Ned Batchelder, edX Architect said, “with this release, the previous Open edX release (Juniper) is no longer supported. Operators are encouraged to upgrade to Koa to continue receiving security fixes.”

On December 17, another edX engineer, Marco Morales will walk through what’s new in Koa during an online community meetup.

On November 9th, the open-release/koa.master branch and the open-release/koa.alpha1 tag was created.

The next Open edX release will take place in 2021, and its name will be Lilac.

Resource:
• Installing and configuring Koa

IBL News | New York

Educators and IT professionals presented last month new approaches for using Zoom beyond its limitations as a way to increase engagement in the classroom. Companies such as Class for Zoom also shared their view.

The Zoomtopia 2020 conference hosted some of those innovations, along with new features available. A blog post on the Zoom website elaborated on those takeaways. This is a summary:

• Immersive scenes: Faces of students and other participants are embedded within a classroom, staff meeting, or social gathering.
• Meeting reactions can be livened up with animation and sound.
• Video of who’s in the Waiting Room before admitting them into the Zoom classroom or group session.
• High-fidelity audio for music classes, lessons, and performances, by eliminating audio compression and raising the codec quality.
• Breakout rooms for webinars, with attendees being able to connect in smaller groups.
  

David J. Malan, professor of Computer Science at Harvard University and leading instructor at the Cs50 MOOC, shared a multiple gallery view setup by using Zoom Rooms for enhanced remote and blended learning sessions.

Mr. Malan also showed how Harvard recreated the look, feel, and interactivity for 150 students at a time in a theater on campus. The institution used a setup with a series of TVs and cameras running two interconnected Zoom Rooms.