Will Online Education Make Us Smarter?

Will Online Education Make Us Smarter? - Predictions are 1/2 of higher Ed will be online in the next 10 years. K-12 will follow by 2019.  How do we assess quality with all of the online education providers that are out there? Small start ups and giant MOOCS. Think a lot about how to get personalized support to individuals. Think about scaling content while not losing the focus on the individual.

Adult learning space, higher Ed, and K-12 all have different needs so they create different markets. All of the panelists are from companies that connect teachers directly to students. InstaEdu - even split between high school and college with about 10% adult learners. Students come at first for immediate need and then wind up staying because they build a relationship with the tutor. Teachers are students at high end universities.

Course Hero - 80% higher Ed students. Building learning content that students can access on their own. Building quality content from students and teachers takers time. Requires feedback from students.

Udemy - 80% male because focuses on tech space. Adult learners adding to skill sets or learning about hobbies. Students like the on demand aspects of the learning. Teachers are industry experts, half of whom have some sort of previous education experience. Motivated by reach they have and ability to share their passion. A few instructors have earned $100,000.

Important to get feedback from students through surveys to assess quality of teaching and content. Make sure reviews are available to future students. Can base revenue sharing on popularity/effectiveness of teacher.

Also important to support course developers/teachers with instructional design training since many may not come from education backgrounds.

Certification: In some cases, must have gone to a particular school (top colleges) and have prior experience in tutoring. See very few problems after getting through the initial screening process for tutors.

How do you know it is working? Re-engagement is huge. If students are willing to pay more for more tutoring, that's a good sign. Comments and reviews from students are also important. Survey students to see if they feel they have improved in their understanding or have gotten other benefits such as job advancement or career change.

What is the motivation for online learners? Often it's increasing a grade or obtaining a certification.

What is on the horizon for building the online learning space? We are still in the early days - 1st or 2nd inning. To get more mainstream: build quality content in multiple languages, bring down costs, provide more certificates/certifications. Mobile devices will help integrate online learning into people's busy lives. Need to watch for over-regulation and under-regulation.

Q From audience: How do you scale giving rich feedback to thousands of students with budget constraints for hiring staff?

A: Peer to peer tutors or peer grading can help. One to one teaching will never be free. It is a tough problem.

Q: Any unexpected gains from online tutoring?

A: Learning is on demand any time you need it. Can take courses in subjects not available locally. Badges make it fun for students to learn beyond basic requirements.

Q: How can online learning help students that traditional schooling fails?

A: More diverse set of teachers to choose from so more chance of connecting. Online learning in conjunction with in person can help support students. Finding niche content that engages students in ways that in-person only schools with more limited offerings can't. Offer practical, job-focused and passion focused content to students.

Q: Are any courses accepted by colleges?

A: Udemy has a few professors who use their online courses as part of blended learning. Not transferable to just any institution though. People are willing to pay for high quality content even without a degree plan.

Q: What about copyright?

A: Instructor is responsible for content copyright. If company receives a DMCA notice they remove the content. Course Hero runs a filter to detect content that might be a copyright violation and works with instructor to verify.

Q: How do you avoid mistakes in growing your company?

A: There will be mistakes. And it takes time to build success. You can't do everything overnight but you can do a lot over a longer period of time.

Q: How do you deal with communication problems from students?

A: Try having visual elements with text. And don't forget in person tutoring might be the best if there are communication/language barriers.

Best Distance Learning Mathematics Degree 2013

Best Distance Learning Mathematics Degree 2013 - The following universities are offering distance learning programs in the field of Mathematics/Statistics:

The Open University (UK)

• It offers a number of Maths degrees including the BA/BSc (Honours) Mathematics; BA/BSc (Honours) Mathematics and Statistics; BA/BSc (Honours) Computing and Mathematical Sciences; BA/BSc (Honours) Economics and Mathematical Sciences; etc.
• It also offers the MSc in Mathematics for mathematicians, scientists and engineers. Options include calculus of variations, functional analysis, number theory, fractal geometry, and coding and approximation theory.
• The University achieved the second largest climb in UK research rankings in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.

Sheffield Hallam University

• It offers the MSc/PgDip/PgCert in Applied Statistics for statisticians or those employed in related areas such as planning, operational research, business intelligence, marketing.
• The course is delivered by distance learning, with tutorial support.
• It is one of the UK's most progressive universities, ranked top among all new universities in the RAE 2001.

University of London

• The BSc in Mathematics and Economics degree programme has been developed by academics at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
• The programme is designed for those who want to pursue a career in economics and need a firm foundation in mathematics.

University of Southern Queensland (Australia)

• It offers the Graduate Diploma of Mathematics by distance education.
• This program gives graduates from a non-mathematical area the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills in areas of mathematics. Applicants whose degree or equivalent qualifications includes a major in mathematics or statistics will not normally be eligible for admission.

Texas A&M University (USA)

• It offers the Masters of Mathematics with a Teaching or Computational Math Option.
• The degree program is fully online. All courses will be taught over the Internet. M.S. students will be quired to complete a final examination after completing all program requirements.
• The University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Some of The Most Common Myths of Online Education

Some of The Most Common Myths of Education - Despite profound popularity, the concept of online education has not been able to gain complete acceptance. This is because of the myths regarding the concept education. 

Some of the most common myths of education are:

• courses are identical: It is generally assumed that the content and the results of all online courses is the same but this is not true. While some courses deliver only the crest of a particular concept, others provide an in-depth knowledge about the course. Some recognized courses offer a lot of dynamism and versatility.
• It doesn't require faculty: It is sometimes believed that online education will reduce the need for faculty and qualified instructors. But, this is not the truth. It has been observed that the greatest reason for a student's success is a motivating instructor. In an online class, the size of the class might be small or large, but there always faculty members to support all the students. Qualified faculty is also required for writing and creating new courses.
• Online courses are less worthy: Many a times it is believed that courses don't hold the same worth in the eyes of the employers as a regular course. But this is not so. The correct blend of online and offline education and appropriate professional experience can do wonders to your career.
• You have to be tech savvy: Many people think that an e-learning class requires one to be highly tech-savvy and requires you to possess high level of technical know-how. But in reality, online courses are designed in a very user friendly manner. They are especially designed to cater to the needs of the common man.

It takes lesser efforts: People believe that online learning takes less time and is an easy way to take a degree. If you are taking up an online course just because you want to take a short cut in your career, then online education isn't certainly the right option.

These are the most common myths that are associated with online learning. Students are sometimes skeptical about adopting online education because of these myths. There is a need to realize that online education is much more than what it is thought to be. It isn't a shortcut route but a catalytic factor which will help you to enhance your career.
One such measure to promote online mode of education has been taken by EduKart. EduKart provides certificate courses in Digital Marketing certified courses, Retail Management (certified by RAI), Financial Management (Wealth Management certified by AIWMI), Programming Language (certified by CSI), Project management and in Skill Development. It also provides some UGC-DEC-AICTE UG and PG degree courses like BBA, B.Sc.IT, MBA and M.Sc. IT.