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The potential for MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, to fundamentally change the realm of higher education is clear: students worldwide can take courses and earn certificates from top-tier universities for free.

The spring of 2012 saw the launch of EdX, a joint program between MIT,  Harvard and UC Berkeley. Coursera, a collaboration between Stanford, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan, began offering MOOCs at this time as well, and many universities have joined the network. The two platforms joined with Udacity,  also from Stanford, in offering top-tier MOOCs to students across the globe.

As more institutions join the MOOC movement, employers are increasingly accepting the certificates earned through an MOOC course. A student can now select a series of courses that directly align with his or her career goals, saving money and acquiring a high-caliber education at the same time.  For example, a student interested in artificial intelligence could start with an introduction to computer programming course from MIT, followed by an introduction to artificial intelligence course from UC Berkeley and even add on a course in Neural Networks for Machine Learning from the University of Toronto.

In spite of the rise in popularity , MOOCs still face challenges in student engagement and assessment.

The average enrollment in MOOCs is 100,000 students and completion rates range between 5%-10%. In a recent EdX course, in which 120,000 students enrolled initially, 10,000 students completed the midterm exam (New York Times, May 2012).

Computer science and mathematics courses tend to dominate MOOC catalogues: homework and test answers are easy to correct using computer algorithms. Courses in the humanities pose an assessment challenge: essays must be graded either by peer-review, crowdsourcing or natural-language programs.

If these challenges are overcome, MOOCs will likely became a mainstay of global higher education.

However, the power of MOOCs to offer basic education to global populations remains untapped. As top-tier universities alter the way higher education is achieved, the next steps should be to figure out how to scale MOOCs to underserved communities.

Today, tens of thousands of students across the globe can enroll in courses to enrich their career prospects. Will there be a day when hundreds of thousands can learn skills such as basic literacy, early numeracy and rural health through an MOOC?

Thinking cap is on.

- Mary

Mary is the educational programs manager for Bon Education (Facebook, Twitter) and an author for Global Books for Kids (Facebook, Twitter)

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Kiran Bir Sethi the founder of Riverside School in Ahmedabad, India has made moves to make cities more “child-friendly.”

In this TED talk with a focus on social responsibility, Sethi reveals how Riverside School in India has got students saying “I can” as they hit the streets. Students are now taking charge to resolve their communities’ most daunting issues.

From educating their parents to fighting child labor, tune in to find out moreabout one of the world’s foremost compassion-inducing schools.

What are you doing to get kids learning outside the textbook? How can technology be used to enhance student community engagement? Share with the Bon team in the comment section below!

Keep Calm and Learn On,

Nora

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I recently had the honor of participating in a conference with Sal Khan, the founder of the Khan Academy, a free education service providing over 2,700 videos on topics ranging from calculus to sentence structure and used by over 3.5 million students across the globe.

Walking away from my morning session with Sal, I could not help but reflect on the web platform I was working on for the Peer to Peer University (P2PU).  In much the same way that Sal is impacting the world of education by speaking directly to the students, P2PU hopes to impact the world of education by supporting and connecting teachers and administrators.

With over 1,300 posts on its platform, P2PU is on a trajectory to deliver as many open educational materials to professional-level students as the Khan Academy now provides to school-age children. Bon Education has been a part of P2PU’s expansion, offering new courses aimed at providing high quality training to teachers across the globe. (more…)

Today we hear from Lindsey Wright, a frequent writer for Online College Classes. Wright often explores electronic and mobile learning and the possible future of education, but is particularly fascinated with the potential of emerging educational technologies, such as online schools that can transform the landscape of learning. As our latest guest blogger, Lindsey explores the top 7 online resources that any student can benefit from!

Prior to the advent of the Internet, students in developing nations faced great difficulties in finding educational resources outside of their schools. Luckily, thanks to the proliferation of broadband connections and the growing abundance of devices equipped to connect to the Internet, students in developing countries have access to a number of sites dedicated to education. Here are seven  online resources for students in emerging markets who wish to augment their learning:

1) Voice of America Special English

English is becoming a truly international communication tool, and it is the lingua franca of the Internet. Many students in emerging markets learn English as a second language, but tutoring sessions can be expensive. The Special English section of the Voice of America utilizes a base vocabulary of just 1,500 words to report world events on different subjects. Broadcasters speak at a slow pace and with clear accents. Idioms are sparingly used with proper explanations and background.

2) ARKive.org – Images of Life on Earth

Sir Richard Attenborough is a strong supporter of ARKive, an amazing online database of wildlife images and information carefully cataloged by species, eco-regions, geography and conservation status. Students of the biology and zoology fields in developing countries can greatly augment their knowledge of the planet’s species with ARKive. (more…)

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Known For:

38 plays, including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth; the classiest fart jokes in Western literature.

Would Totally Rock:

Style, ACT English. Has any other Western author managed to slip so much sex humor under the radar? Seriously. We’d like to know.

Analogies, SAT English. THEE : A SUMMER’S DAY :: THY ETERNAL SUMMER : THE EYE OF HEAVEN. Nailed it!

Not So Much:

Natural Science, ACT Reading. To put it into perspective, Shakespeare died fifty years before humans discovered microorganisms. (You don’t even want to know how long it was before we stopped calling them “wee beasties.”)

What He Would Have to Say About the Edtech Realm:

To tech or not to tech: that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the bounds of pen and paper, or seize a laptop against and click, click away.

(more…)

Today we hear from Josephine Man-Ying Ho, a graduate student at The Harvard Graduate School of Education. After spending a year working in the realm of social media with Participant Media, Josephine found her interest in international education policy. In an effort to fuse the issues of education in emerging markets with the bright future of technology, Josephine explores some of the latest edtech developments how to bring Internet to students around the world.

Think of a school in a rural village in Ghana and what do you see? For many, images of broken-down schools and cramped classrooms come to mind.

Education in most developing countries faces a droughtof resources. The lack of trained teachers leadsover-stuffed classrooms,where teacher-student ratios can run up to 1:58 in places like Ethiopia. The multitude of problems that education systems face in emerging markets seem overwhelming, but what if there’s something that can be done? Taking into consideration thelimited resources, one thing comes to mind…Technology!

What technology has done for education

Technology plays a large role in education in emerging markets. Instead of spending thousands of dollars to put more teachers in every classroom, teachers can record their lessons and reach a hundred more kids through the computer screen. The emergence of “distance education” has opened up a world of potential, as resources shrink and learning requirements increase. It has expanded access to students who cannot meet the demands of traditional education due to distance and time-constraints. Because distance learning can be conducted off-site, learning can take place in areas with little infrastructure for education.In a world with limited resources, this is a big jump towards increasing educational access to children. UNESCO highlights the role of technology in shrinking gaps in education access by stating in a report that, “such technology can complement teacher-student contact by being available at times when children cannot make it to school (whether in the evening or during seasons when they are needed to work).” (more…)

In today’s post, we hand the digital pen to Tim Hydari, Practitioner of Developmental and Therapeutic Play. Tim is a recognized expert in the field of play. In this post, he discusses the physiological and neurological motives for play, including addictive play. He then outlines the relationships between play and learning. We have excerpted his concluding statements on video games. You may read the entire article by checking out Tim Hydari on Play Therapy.

But what benefits can video games bring to its users?

It is well documented that video games improve skills such as spatial visualization ability, reaction times and hand-eye coordination. Young gamers that I have come across attest to an element of empowerment that arises from achieving success and eventual mastery of video games, where a high level of challenge is met with a high level of skill. The gamer finds himself so focused and immersed in this challenge that all energy is being channeled toward and aligned with the activity. Suddenly, in a culmination of electronics, human skill and determination, success! The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this state ‘flow’, with components including focused concentration and motivation in an activity that has a clear goal and that is intrinsically rewarding. Being in a state of flow has been linked to overall well-being and individuation.

It is in this state that gamers appear to find the right balance between joy, success and self-esteem. For a game to be challenging the problems must be complex and encourage the gamer into exploratory action. Too easy and the player loses interest. Too difficult and the player becomes frustrated. When we link this to the Laws of Learning, we find that gaming in a state of flow has qualities similar to that of effective learning.

Flow in gaming is intrinsically motivating, which is part of the Law of Readiness (motivated students learn more). The immediate feedback received by the gamer (linking actions to outcomes) is also found in the Law of Exercise along with the importance of practice to promote mastery. Positive emotions that arise in the state of flow from the enjoyment of playing video games are also found in the Law of Effect (increased learning through positive feelings). Finally the intensity is linked to the Law of Intensity (intense experiences increase interest and learning). So gaming, under the right circumstances, is potentially an avenue towards tapping into people’s full potential as learners and can act as a facilitator to education. How can games with educational value be created to entertain whilst maintaining flow and what can we do to encourage gaming companies to produce these types of games?

Parents and educators should remember that however intense the stimulation is in children after a gaming experience, the arousal can be normalized by exposing them to physical activity, preferably outdoors.

- Tim Hydari

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Technology has done wonders for the world of medicine in both developed and emerging markets. In an effort to fuse the teachings of the health-conscious with the world of academia, I have compiled three undoubtedly game-changing health initiatives and shown how they can be tailored to enhance education systems.

HealthMap: As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, the pace at which disease and information travels has become expedited. With international jet travel no longer being seen as a luxury, an infectious disease or new virus has the ability to bounce between Thailand, the UAE and the USA within the span of twenty-four hours. Even more so, Facebook and Twitter have helped make communication instantaneous. HealthMap merges these concepts as it automatically monitors news sites, government data sites and eyewitness reports to pinpoint on an interactive map, new patterns of outbreaks. With a few clicks, one can find out about the most recent death rates in Chad or the rate of occurrence of a virus in Mexico, all while engaging users in what the site describes as “participatory epidemiology.”

Teching out the teachers: Imagine if school systems across the world were engaged in an online platform where educators and education officials could sync up their most recent developments, setbacks or ideas regarding schooling? Through automated fine-tuning, one would discover the most relevant and recent advancements, from their Twitter account to their Global Education Collaborative homepage, in one live and interactive interface.

Cell Phones as a Lifesaver: In a partnership with the United Nations Foundation, The Vodafone Foundation has invested almost $28 million in order to revamp health clinics throughout emerging markets. Doctors and nurses no longer have to succumb to using out-dated administrative and research facilities. Doctors can now access data regarding immunization rates, vaccine supplies and the likelihood of an outbreak by pushing a few buttons on their cell phone. Doctors can also use EpiSurveyor, the software used to download the health surveys, to make a verdict regarding childbirth. The EpiSurveyor helps provide doctors and hospital administrators with important documentation that assists in making crucial, life-saving decisions.

What the Minister of Education has to say about this: Pulling up a student’s academic history with a few swipes and clicks on my cell phone? I’m in. What could be more adequate in gauging the academic level of a student or dodging the bureaucracy of paperwork and mismanagement of paper files? Wireless Generation has caught on to the idea – creating mobile technologies that help teachers track reading and math levels of their students.

Digital Villages: The telecom giants of Kenya are changing the health landscape of the country. Safricom and Telkom Kenya have recently unleashed an electronic infrastructure that looks to connect Kenyans living in rural areas to doctors in urban cities. The 800 digital villages, which they hope will soon become 5,000, sync up patients with e-health services and small medical clinics through video conferencing equipment.

Eduvillages: So by using ICT to make the world, or in this case, the country a smaller place, digital villages help combat many of the common problems faced in emerging markets. By creating a digital videoconference network, students can attend school from the comfort of their home, leaving ample time to perform familial obligations. Take a look at  P2PU’s efforts!

So there you have it. The world of edutech merges with e-health; just what the doctor called for.

Know of any other health initiatives that could inspire education systems? Shoot us a comment!

Keep Calm and Learn On,

Nora

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Using Web 2.0 and Social Media to Encourage Deeper Learning from Bon Education on Vimeo.

This fall Bon Education co-founders, Anna and Chris Batchelder, will be creating and facilitating a course for Peer 2 Peer University’s newest initiative – The School of Education (pilot). Funded by the Hewlett and Shuttleworth foundations, P2PU is an open education project that knocks down the walls of the university by providing students and their peers with an open platform where they can teach courses and learn from one another for free. As the P2PU mission statement points out:

The Peer 2 Peer University is a grassroots open education project that organizes learning outside of institutional walls and gives learners recognition for their achievements. P2PU creates a model for lifelong learning alongside traditional formal higher education. Leveraging the Internet and educational materials openly available online, P2PU enables high-quality low-cost education opportunities. P2PU – learning for everyone, by everyone about almost everything.

To learn more about the founding of P2PU read Fast Company’s, “How Web-Savvy Edupunks Are Transforming American Higher Education.”

The P2PU School of Education will bring the model of open, community-based peer learning to professional development for K-12 teachers and administrators. Seven courses will be offered between September and November 2011, with a focus on innovative teaching methods. Anna and Chris were invited to create and facilitate “Using Web 2.0 and Social Media to Promote Deeper Learning.” The course is for K-12 teachers and administrators that wish to utilize web 2.0 and social media tools to promote student core content knowledge, critical thinking, collaboration skills, communication, self-directed learning and global outlook (components of what the Hewlett Foundation calls deeper learning). Teachers and administrators interested in participating can register here.

“Learning for everyone, by everyone about almost anything!” That is a motto we like!

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