Online Education Space

Advances in technology over the past decade have propelled colleges and universities into the realm of online education, creating a crowded market for students considering an online degree.

But not all programs are a safe bet.

[Discover why online education may transform higher ed.]

Online colleges have been criticized for putting profits over students; some have even been the subject of lawsuits claiming misrepresentation or fraud. To avoid scams, students need to be savvy consumers and do their research before signing up for an online degree program, experts say.

These i…………… continues on U.S. News & World Report

Pulse brings iPhone and iPad together in iOS app

Pulse continues to strive to match the success to news aggregator rivals Flipboard and Zite, and so updated both its iOS and Android apps to Pulse 3.0 in the week.

The update sees the San Francisco-based firm (officially called Alphonso Labs) now promise a sleeker, more user-friendly UI, an enhanced category sidebar and perhaps most refreshingly a search feature which enables you to pull news from additional sources like Facebook, Google, YouTube, Tumblr or Flickr.

Additional changes see the app (free, iTunes) add infinite scrolling (so you can view stories up to three months old), and the ability to rename pages or reorder sources.

Furthermore, version 3.0 of the iOS app sees it run across both iPhone and iPad (Pulse previously had specific versions for the iPhone and iPad).

Udemy takes 5,000 online education courses to the iPad

Online educational videos have already made their way to the iPad via well-rated apps TED and Khan Academy, and the latest to join that list is two-year-old start-up…………… continues on TabTimes

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 31, 2012 – /PRNewswire/ – An increasing number of college students choose online education – and the flexibility it offers them for scheduling – as the method for earning degrees and certifications.

To better serve those interested in online learning, U.S. News University Directory now offers a Guide to Online Education that is available as a free download on the U.S. News University Directory website.

The need for a Guide to Online Education became clear as technological advances have improved online delivery platforms, making education possible for millions of students around the globe. In addition, more top-tier colleges and universities are offering online courses and degree programs, so students have greater access to high-quality education no matter where they live.

According to a study published by Babson Survey Research Group in 2010, nearly 30% of higher education students take at least one course online. An estimated 6 million students are enrolled in online courses.

However, as online education grows, the choices of programs and schools can be overwhelmin…………… continues on Sacramento Bee

Many U.S. states regulate who provides online education to their residents to ensure consumers aren’t getting stiffed — and now a group of states is brainstorming how to make the process of regulating these online universities smoother and more cost-effective.

Under Minnesota law, for instance, colleges that provide online courses must register with the state’s Office of Higher Education and pay a fee if they want to enroll students in the state. Currently 150 to 160 online schools are registered in the state.

This process ensures that the office can investigate student allegations that faculty members aren’t qualified. The office also can look at the schools’ financial structure to see if they’re likely to be around long enough for students to complete a quarter or semester. And it makes sure they’re a real school.

“We know they’re in the state, we know they’re operating in the state, and we have some control so to speak over them if they do something that upsets a student or that is wrong,” said George Roedler, manager of institutional registration and licensing in the Minnesota Office of Higher Education.

This law came up…………… continues on Government Technology

The US state of Minnesota has backed away from a policy that would have banned providers of free web-based higher education from offering courses to its residents.

Last week, El Reg reported that online education startup Coursera was forced to add a clause to its terms of service forbidding Minnesotans from taking its courses, after that state’s Office of Higher Education warned it that Coursera’s activities violated Minnesota’s consumer protection laws.

Far away from Johnson Hall, in a concrete box called McKenzie Hall, on the corner of the fourth floor, in a narrow corridor, is a little computer lab that is about to become a lot more important. Since 1991, Professor Cathleen Leue has been working in this lab, quietly running and developing the University of Oregon’s distance education courses and online testing.

It may not be quiet for much longer. Digital courses have gone from unorthodox to innovative, as Ivy league schools have broken new ground with free education from sources like Coursera and edX. Online education has permeated the UO already through programs like Blackboard. The classroom crunch has reignited interest in developing more online courses to reduce the stress on campus. Online education is hot right now, but the challenges that have haunted the model since it’s beginning have followed it into the 21st century.

“When we started in 1996, I thought we were going to be developing courses for the whole world,” Leue said. ”I think we were under the illusion that we could administer whole courses statewide. It’s a little silly when I look back on it now, I didn’t know then what I do now about the logistics involved.”

The logistics for running online classes in the 1990s were difficult, to put it mildly. Limited Internet access and doubts over the quality of online education ended mos…………… continues on Oregon Daily Emerald

After some initial resistance, more and more traditional textbook publishers are climbing on the online education bandwagon. Pearson Publishing just plunked down a cool $ 650 million in cash to acquire EmbanetCompass, a provider of strategy and support to post-secondary educational institutions that are developing online instructional programs. This latest move sends a solid signal that the publishing giant is not only embracing online education, but is positioning to become a major player in the world of e-learning.

“Pearson is deepening its bet on the digital future and has to be seen as a leader in that space,” observes a Wells Fargo financial analyst who specializes on education businesses.

Pearson is known as a leader in the world of academic texts, but it has a wide range of interests in the world of publishing, including the Financial Times and the Penguin Press. And this latest move is hardly the publisher’s first foray into the world of e-learning. Last year, Pearson made waves when it announced it has partnered with Google to launch OpenClass, a free, cloud-based learning system. And sh…………… continues on allvoices

Last week’s Dublin Web Summit brought financier Paschal Taggart’s new digital learning venture closer to raising the €2m it needs to expand.

Taggart is chief executive of Mobilearn, a new digital language business selling learning tools for use on smartphones and tablets. The English language e-learning market alone is worth €1bn a year, according to research by Ambient Insight. He owns 38 per cent of the company.

An early-stage start-up, Mobilearn is active in the German and Austrian markets selling English language-learning e-books for €49 each. It wants to enter the Chinese, Indian and Japanese markets, and has received approaches from two education providers in Asia.

“We’re looking for seed and early stage funding initially of €500,000 to get to the next development stage, but our total requirement is €2m, to do what we need to do in the next few years,” said development chief Sean Featherstone.

As an Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start-up, any funding raised by Mobilearn will be matched the development body.

Following the Web Summit, Mobilearn is talking to three investors, including Digital Education, the MacMillan publisher-owned fund, and former Delta executive Shay Garvey’s Frontline Ventures.

- Roisin Burke