Online college courses, with and without the degree

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(21 items)">user interface</a>, <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/tag/video/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-118 tag-link-position-48" style="font-size: 21.791044776119px;" aria-label="video (7 items)">video</a>, <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/tag/visitors/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-97 tag-link-position-49" style="font-size: 25.522388059701px;" aria-label="visitors (13 items)">visitors</a>, <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/tag/visualization/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-199 tag-link-position-50" style="font-size: 21.044776119403px;" aria-label="visualization (6 items)">visualization</a> </div> </div> <div class="js-ajax-frame"> <section class="post-list"> <h3>Recent posts</h3> <article class="post"> <div class="article-footer"> <time datetime="2014">5 Mar 2014</time> <h4><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2014/03/05/gender-role-literacy-girls-in-science/">Gender role literacy: Girls in science?</a></h4> </div> <p>There are gender wars, and then there are casualties. It wasn’t until 2011 that the behemoth toymaker LEGO acknowledged girls’ desire to build with bricks, even though the company had long before made a seemingly effortless pivot to co-branding, video games, and major motion pictures. So it’s little wonder that girls face all-too-real obstacles when <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2014/03/05/gender-role-literacy-girls-in-science/">[…]</a></p> <a class="more" href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2014/03/05/gender-role-literacy-girls-in-science/">Read more</a> </article> <article class="post"> <div class="article-footer"> <time datetime="2013">9 Dec 2013</time> <h4><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/12/09/challenges-of-crowdsourcing-analysis-of-historypin/">Challenges of crowdsourcing: Analysis of Historypin</a></h4> </div> <p>Crowdsourcing can build virtual community, engage the public, and build large knowledge databases about science and culture. But what does it take, and how fast can you grow? For some insight, we look at a crowdsourced history site: Historypin is an appealing database of historical photos, with dates, locations, captions, and other metadata. It’s called History <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/12/09/challenges-of-crowdsourcing-analysis-of-historypin/">[…]</a></p> <a class="more" href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/12/09/challenges-of-crowdsourcing-analysis-of-historypin/">Read more</a> </article> <article class="post"> <div class="article-footer"> <time datetime="2013">18 Nov 2013</time> <h4><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/11/18/dinovember-creative-literacy-starts-young/">Dinovember: Creative literacy starts young</a></h4> </div> <p>“Uh-oh,” Refe Tuma heard his girls whisper. “Mom and Dad are not going to like this.” It’s Dinovember, and his family’s plastic dinosaurs have been getting into mischief all month. Every year, Tuma and his wife devote the month of November to “convincing our children that, while they sleep, their plastic dinosaur figures come to life. Related <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/11/18/dinovember-creative-literacy-starts-young/">[…]</a></p> <a class="more" href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/11/18/dinovember-creative-literacy-starts-young/">Read more</a> </article> </section> </div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <main role="main" id="main"><div id="twocolumns"> <div class="container"> <h1>Online college courses, with and without the degree</h1> <div class="twocolumns-holder"> <section id="content" class="about-holder img-posts"> <article class="post"> <p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-589" title="Inside Higher Ed" src="http://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Screen-shot-2011-02-04-at-7.21.48-PM.png" alt="" width="173" height="79" srcset="https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Screen-shot-2011-02-04-at-7.21.48-PM.png 173w, https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Screen-shot-2011-02-04-at-7.21.48-PM-150x68.png 150w" sizes="(max-width: 173px) 100vw, 173px" />Do we need yet another online version of Economics 101? Why are universities putting courseware online, and what’s in it for students and schools? Inside Higher Ed’s post by Steve Kolowich, “<a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/02/03/book_examines_free_online_course_giveaways_at_elite_american_colleges_and_universities">Online Courseware’s Existential Moment,</a>” discusses the world of open courseware, and what the next chapter may look like. He includes a short interview with Taylor Walsh, author of <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9386.html" target="_self"><em>Unlocking the Gate</em></a>, a new book about how universities are opening up access to courses. Here are some key points and excerpts from the article:</p> <p><span id="more-552"></span><strong>Enrolled students</strong></p> <p>Public universities use distance learning to expand their market and enroll more students. University of Massachusetts and Penn State University draw tens of millions from online programs. But the dark side of online access is poor quality. Blog post commenter, Harry Coverston, Philosophy instructor at University of Central Florida, uses online components in his courses and teaches 2 fully online courses. He notes that, “Online courses are just as prone to minimalism, reductionism and cheating as they ever were. It’s an intrinsic part of this approach to education…. Online courses remain best at what they were originally designed to provide: access to students at a distance who otherwise would have no access to class. But the current usage of this technology as means of unloading overcrowded classrooms and providing the means for hungover frat boy consumers to avoid having to attend class falls far from that originally respectable goal. And the fact that all students see online tests as open book—as they will readily tell you—suggests that the cheating problem is simply part and parcel of this approach.”</p> <p><strong>Cheap paid courses</strong></p> <p>Selling courses without degrees was a flop overall. Several top schools tried selling via websites such as Fathom and AllLearn, but few learners want to pay for online courses that do not lead to a diploma. That said, the allure of the paywall remains, and a few students like it. Commenter Sandy Thatcher is a student in a 6-week course sponsored by the Princeton Alumni Association, and she values the extra copyrighted print and video content she gets in exchange for paying a modest fee. She also likes the community, saying that although she can’t attend sessions in person, she and other students use a Google Group to discuss the lectures and reading materials. She says the course keeps her up to date, connected with other alumni, and fosters her ongoing commitment to her alma mater.</p> <p><strong>Free online courses</strong></p> <p>Walsh says that hundreds of millions of non-enrolled visitors from nearly every country have availed themselves of free online courseware from top American universities. These courses provide examples and building blocks for foreign professors and their universities. In her book, Walsh profiles current online courseware projects at MIT, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, the University of California at Berkeley, and India’s National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning. When these schools actively brand their free offerings, as the Open Yale Courses (OYC) do, they gain valuable publicity. It also helps maintain alumni relations, recruit prospective students, and can give enrolled students an extra study aid.</p> <p>But the question of assessment weighs heavy on free offerings. Does much learning happen? “If you take away [OpenCourseware] OCW completely,” said Ira Fuchs, former vice president at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, of MIT’s celebrated <a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm">OpenCourseWare</a> project, “I’m not sure that higher education would be noticeably different.”</p> <p>Over 350 colleges and universities from around the world are now participating in iTunes U, over 75 maintain their own dedicated channels on YouTube EDU — and these figures are continue to climb.</p> <p>And then there’s <a href="http://www.khanacademy.org/">Khan Academy</a>.</p> <p>>> <a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/02/03/book_examines_free_online_course_giveaways_at_elite_american_colleges_and_universities">See the article for more info</a> and more of Walsh’s comments.</p> <div class='yarpp-related'> <h3>Related posts:</h3><ol> <li><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2011/02/10/mobile-and-ebooks-big-deal-for-higher-ed-in-2011/" rel="bookmark" title="Mobile and eBooks big deal for higher ed in 2011">Mobile and eBooks big deal for higher ed in 2011 </a> <small>Mobiles and eBooks will be a big deal in higher education by the end of the year, predicts...</small></li> <li><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2012/01/11/what-is-an-online-course/" rel="bookmark" title="What is an online course?">What is an online course? </a> <small>“The debate about which is better, face-to-face learning or online learning is fast becoming obsolete,” says Jennifer Berghage, an instructional designer...</small></li> <li><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/04/22/lessons-to-be-learned-from-moocs-2-years-out/" rel="bookmark" title="Lessons to be learned from MOOCs, 2 years out">Lessons to be learned from MOOCs, 2 years out </a> <small>Online courses with very large enrollments have rapidly matured in the last two years, led largely by experiments...</small></li> <li><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2006/06/01/initial-thoughts-plans-for-going-online/" rel="bookmark" title="Initial thoughts & plans for going online">Initial thoughts & plans for going online </a> <small>Enhancing the learning experience by correctly using online tools. Problem: Although classroom teaching has its limitations, you are...</small></li> <li><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/07/29/online-courses-for-developing-the-developing-world/" rel="bookmark" title="Online courses for developing the developing world">Online courses for developing the developing world </a> <small>Online education can have a real impact in the developing world. Last week, we needed to hire a programmer for...</small></li> </ol> </div> </article> <section class="section comments" id="comments"> <h3>2 comments on <strong>Online college courses, with and without the degree</strong></h3> <div class="commentlist"> <div class="commentlist-item"> <div class="pingback even thread-even depth-1" id="comment-50"> <div class="commentlist-holder"> <a href='http://topsy.com/www.idea.org/blog/2011/02/05/online-college-courses-with-and-without-the-degree/?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2' rel='external nofollow' class='url'>Tweets that mention IDEA Blog » Online college courses, with and without the degree -- Topsy.com</a> <p class="meta"><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2011/02/05/online-college-courses-with-and-without-the-degree/#comment-50">07 Feb 2011, 1:56 pm</a></p> <p>[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Chris Follows and Roger C. Schonfeld, IDEA.org. IDEA.org said: New blog post: Online college courses, with and without the degree <a href="http://bit.ly/ebDtSf" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/ebDtSf</a> @IHEtech […]</p> <p><a rel='nofollow' class='comment-reply-link' href='https://www.idea.org/blog/2011/02/05/online-college-courses-with-and-without-the-degree/?replytocom=50#respond' onclick='return addComment.moveForm( "comment-50", "50", "respond", "552" )' aria-label='Reply to Tweets that mention IDEA Blog » Online college courses, with and without the degree -- Topsy.com'>Reply</a></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="commentlist-item"> <div class="comment odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1" id="comment-1556"> <div class="commentlist-holder"> <a href='http://www.onlinecollegesusa.org/game-design' rel='external nofollow' class='url'>jayceaden</a> <p class="meta"><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2011/02/05/online-college-courses-with-and-without-the-degree/#comment-1556">22 May 2012, 2:54 am</a></p> <p>Game Design Careers </p> <p>If you’re looking for the top online colleges offering degree programs in your field. <a href="http://www.onlinecollegesusa.org/game-design" rel="nofollow">http://www.onlinecollegesusa.org/game-design</a> </p> <p><a rel='nofollow' class='comment-reply-link' href='https://www.idea.org/blog/2011/02/05/online-college-courses-with-and-without-the-degree/?replytocom=1556#respond' onclick='return addComment.moveForm( "comment-1556", "1556", "respond", "552" )' aria-label='Reply to jayceaden'>Reply</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section class="comment-respond"> <div id="respond" class="comment-respond"> <h3 id="reply-title" class="comment-reply-title">Leave a Reply <small><a rel="nofollow" id="cancel-comment-reply-link" href="/blog/2011/02/05/online-college-courses-with-and-without-the-degree/#respond" style="display:none;">Cancel reply</a></small></h3> <form action="https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-comments-post.php" method="post" id="commentform" class="comment-form"> <p class="comment-notes"><span id="email-notes">Your email address will not be published.</span> Required fields are marked <span class="required">*</span></p><p class="comment-form-author"><label for="author">Name <span class="required">*</span></label> <input id="author" name="author" type="text" value="" size="30" maxlength="245" required='required' /></p> <p class="comment-form-email"><label for="email">Email <span class="required">*</span></label> <input id="email" name="email" type="text" value="" size="30" maxlength="100" aria-describedby="email-notes" required='required' /></p> <p class="comment-form-url"><label for="url">Website</label> <input id="url" name="url" type="text" value="" size="30" maxlength="200" /></p> <p class="comment-form-comment"><label for="comment">Comment</label> <textarea id="comment" name="comment" cols="45" rows="8" maxlength="65525" required="required"></textarea></p><p class="form-submit"><input name="submit" type="submit" id="submit" class="submit" value="Post Comment" /> <input type='hidden' name='comment_post_ID' value='552' id='comment_post_ID' /> <input type='hidden' name='comment_parent' id='comment_parent' value='0' /> </p><p style="display: none;"><input type="hidden" id="akismet_comment_nonce" name="akismet_comment_nonce" value="7383bfd2f5" /></p><p style="display: none;"><input type="hidden" id="ak_js" name="ak_js" value="184"/></p> </form> </div> </section> </section> <aside id="sidebar"> <section class="widget inner-text"> <h3>Related posts</h3> <article class="post"> <h2><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2011/02/10/mobile-and-ebooks-big-deal-for-higher-ed-in-2011/">Mobile and eBooks big deal for higher ed in 2011<i class="icon-arrow-right-alt1"></i></a></h2> <p>Mobiles and eBooks will be a big deal in higher education by the end of the year, predicts a panel of 42 experts in education, technology, and business in a new report jointly released by a consortium and association related to higher education. These predictions are gathered in the “2011 Horizon Report,” released today. Also, coming soon, <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2011/02/10/mobile-and-ebooks-big-deal-for-higher-ed-in-2011/">[…]</a></p> </article> <article class="post"> <h2><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2012/01/11/what-is-an-online-course/">What is an online course?<i class="icon-arrow-right-alt1"></i></a></h2> <p>“The debate about which is better, face-to-face learning or online learning is fast becoming obsolete,” says Jennifer Berghage, an instructional designer at Pennsylvania State University. The common goal is that “an online course should be, above all, engaging, so that the learner enjoys the learning and is able to not only assimilate it but retain it and apply it.” Online courses are <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2012/01/11/what-is-an-online-course/">[…]</a></p> </article> <article class="post"> <h2><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/04/22/lessons-to-be-learned-from-moocs-2-years-out/">Lessons to be learned from MOOCs, 2 years out<i class="icon-arrow-right-alt1"></i></a></h2> <div style="padding: 10px 0"><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/04/22/lessons-to-be-learned-from-moocs-2-years-out/"><img src="//img.youtube.com/vi/nsiQ6-JTOWM/0.jpg" height="125" width="150" /></a></div> <p>Online courses with very large enrollments have rapidly matured in the last two years, led largely by experiments outside mainstream academia by Coursera, Udacity and edX. Ambitious educators, technologists, and funders have created courses on diverse topics, and over five million students worldwide have registered for classes. And 3% have completed the courses. What can we learn? Related posts: What <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/04/22/lessons-to-be-learned-from-moocs-2-years-out/">[…]</a></p> <div style="clear:both"></div> </article> <article class="post"> <h2><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2006/06/01/initial-thoughts-plans-for-going-online/">Initial thoughts & plans for going online<i class="icon-arrow-right-alt1"></i></a></h2> <p>Enhancing the learning experience by correctly using online tools. Problem: Although classroom teaching has its limitations, you are concerned that online teaching sacrifices quality or that it provides refuge for underperformers. Solution: Tap into resources that allow educators to measure their current skills and competencies against those related to successful online teaching in order to <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2006/06/01/initial-thoughts-plans-for-going-online/">[…]</a></p> </article> <article class="post"> <h2><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/07/29/online-courses-for-developing-the-developing-world/">Online courses for developing the developing world<i class="icon-arrow-right-alt1"></i></a></h2> <p>Online education can have a real impact in the developing world. Last week, we needed to hire a programmer for a small freelance job. To my surprise, several candidates advertised they had completed programming MOOCs. These were young programmers in their 20’s, in countries like Pakistan and Thailand, who lacked college-level coursework, but are trying to launch <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/2013/07/29/online-courses-for-developing-the-developing-world/">[…]</a></p> </article> </section> </aside> </div> </div> </div> </main> <aside class="info-links"> <div class="container"> <div class="left-holder"> <p><time datetime="2011">05 Feb 2011</time> , post by <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/author/idea/" title="Posts by IDEA" rel="author">IDEA</a></p> </div> <div class="right-holder"> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/tag/distance-education/">distance education</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/tag/open-courseware/">open courseware</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/tag/online-access/">online access</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/tag/e-learning/">e-learning</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/tag/higher-education/">higher education</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </aside> <aside class="items-holder"> <div class="container"> <div class="list-items widget-apps-widget"><h3>Read more about <br class="separator"><strong>our language-related apps.</strong></h3> <ul> <li> <div class="item-holder"> <a href="http://www.idea.org/otherwordly"> <picture>  <source srcset="https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/otherwordly_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-35x36.png, https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/otherwordly_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-70x70.png 2x" media="(max-width: 767px)"> <source srcset="https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/otherwordly_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-70x70.png, https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/otherwordly_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-140x140.png 2x">  <img src="https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/otherwordly_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-70x70.png" alt=""> </picture> <span class="title" style="color:#c46e3c">OtherWordly</span> </a> </div> </li> <li> <div class="hr"></div> <div class="item-holder"> <a href="http://www.idea.org/inotherwords"> <picture>  <source srcset="https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/inotherwords_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-35x36.png, https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/inotherwords_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-70x70.png 2x" media="(max-width: 767px)"> <source srcset="https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/inotherwords_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-70x70.png, https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/inotherwords_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-140x140.png 2x">  <img src="https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/inotherwords_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-70x70.png" alt=""> </picture> <span class="title" style="color:#8b8be0">In Other Words</span> </a> </div> </li> <li> <div class="hr"></div> <div class="item-holder"> <a href="http://www.idea.org/linguabase"> <picture>  <source srcset="https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/linguabase_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-35x36.png, https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/linguabase_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-70x70.png 2x" media="(max-width: 767px)"> <source srcset="https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/linguabase_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-70x70.png, https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/linguabase_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-140x140.png 2x">  <img src="https://www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/linguabase_appicon_1024px_rounded_01-70x70.png" alt=""> </picture> <span class="title" style="color:#b859cc">Liguabase</span> </a> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </aside> <footer id="footer"> <div class="container"> <nav class="page-nav"> <ul> <li id="menu-item-4498" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-home menu-item-4498"><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/">Home</a></li> <li id="menu-item-4497" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-4497"><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/about/">Mission & history</a></li> <li id="menu-item-4499" class="popup menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-4499"><a title="popup" class="js-btn-show-popups" href="#wrapper">Browse topics</a></li> <li id="menu-item-4666" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-4666"><a href="https://www.idea.org/blog/contact/">Contact IDEA</a></li> <li>Copyright © 2024 <a href="https://www.idea.org/blog">IDEA</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </footer> </div> <link rel='stylesheet' id='yarppRelatedCss-css' href='//www.idea.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/yet-another-related-posts-plugin/style/related.css' type='text/css' media='all' /> <script type='text/javascript'> /* <![CDATA[ */ var wpcf7 = {"apiSettings":{"root":"https:\/\/www.idea.org\/blog\/wp-json\/contact-form-7\/v1","namespace":"contact-form-7\/v1"},"cached":"1"}; 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Online college courses, with and without the degree – IDEA