MMD: OutliersGood morning and happy Monday! This week we look at some recent outliers in education. Stepping outside of the box can be a challenge, especially in the realm of education. So this week, we are celebrate trailblazers big and small.

First up, we look at the realm of music education combined with accredited eLearning. Berklee College has launched the first two fully-online, accredited bachelor’s programs in music. Mike King, CMO for Berklee Online, remarked on the decade of innovations and pioneering that has led them to this point. “‘It’s something that people have been asking for … since we started offering single online courses. It’s taken us a while just to move in that direction,” King said. “Over all, our goal is to be able to provide a range of different options no matter how people want to experience Berklee’s curriculum.'” The Music Business and Music Production programs will begin their first cohorts next fall semester (2014). Read more about this awesome new opportunity for learning in the music industry at the link.

Berklee College of Music launches first accredited bachelor’s degree programs in music
(Inside Higher Ed)

Launching the OERu (Creative Common New Zealand)
The Open Educational Resource university — a consortium of higher-ed institutions from several countries, will allow students to use open courseware built from open educational resources to earn real college credit. The new program includes intriguing areas of study, including tourism, cultural understanding, and regional economics, with a strong focus in the Asia-Pacific part of the globe.

Student Turns Civil War Passion Into Powerful Learning Experience (Education Weekly)
“Save the Civil War Battlefields!” exclaims teenager Andrew Druart. This outlier has created a website specifically for kids to help them learn more about the Civil War, turning his passion into an opportunity to educate others while working on some serious communications skills, writing and designing for real-world audiences.

College admissions without the SAT/ACT (Wake Forest in the News | Wake Forest University) — Thanks to Jeff for the link.
This brief article brings up the question of the validity of standardized testing, pushing others to step out of the norm and take a second look at the ‘SAT Wars.’

Have a great week! In other news…
15 years ago, Congress kept Mickey Mouse out of the public domain. Will they do it again? (NY Times) -Thanks to Angelyn for the link.
The Finnish Paradox (Education Week)

Photo Credit: woodleywonderworks via photopin CC BY 2.0