Saylor.org

This week’s digest is a little lean on the number of articles but is still full of interesting musings and information on how online education is continuing to change the landscape of higher education. For one: a MOOC is attempting a revolutionary peer-grading system. As expected, there were some interesting results – and a number of kinks that need to be worked out – but, regardless, an exciting development for those that are hoping to provide graded online, humanities courses. In another article, Kevin Carey explored how MOOCs can begin to integrate with traditional institutions to provide alternative (and less expensive) means to higher education credits. And last, but certainly not least, late last week, my favorite state passed a set of bills that allow for a free and open library of digital textbooks for 50 core undergrad courses. Woo!

Have an excellent week, all!

Weekly Digest – September 4th

Learning From One Another
For sciences and mathematics, testing within a MOOC or other online environment is a relatively straightforward multiple choice exam? But, when MOOCs are offered in humanities, how can the professors assess student learning? To answer this question, Coursera is venturing into peer-graded essays and assignments. Check out this article to know how the first round of peer-grading system fared.

Survey of California Community Colleges Reveals Drastic Effects of Budget Cuts
You may have heard whispers of how poorly the California state higher educational system is faring, but did you know that nearly 20% of the students in the Golden State’s Community Colleges system were put on class waiting lists for the fall while 87% of the colleges have reduced their faculty? Even more shocking statistics were found in a survey released by the school system’s chancellor, Jack Scott – the Chronicle of Higher Ed sums up the finding of the survey in this post.

Cheating Scandal at Harvard
I thought this news blip was timely in light of the recent accusations of cheating and plagiarism in MOOCs: last week, a ring of 125 Harvard University students were busted for cheating. Seems that cheating can surface no matter where learning takes place, no?

Into the Future with MOOCs
In a traditional brick-and-mortar institution, a student can sit in a large lecture hall for 14 weeks, take a final exam, and, upon receiving a passing grade, receive credits towards a degree. In a not-so-traditional online environment, say, a MOOC, a student can go through the same motions, receive the same materials, and, ultimately, the same experience – yet walk away with a non-recognized certificate. What gives? Kevin Carey explores how the future of education is evolving thanks to MOOCs – and he even recognizes a certain Foundation that has begun creating pathways to low-cost college credit using freely available online courses.

Open-source textbook bills head to Gov. Jerry Brown
Over the past 9 months, we’ve been following the status of California Senate Bills 1052 and 1053 on our blog. In short, these bills allow for the introduction of digital textbooks into the California State higher education system, with a proposal to give students free access to texts for 50 core undergraduate classes in California’s three-tier public higher education system. Early Saturday morning, I was excited to read that these bills had passed the needed Senate vote late last Friday and are now awaiting the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown. Way to go, California!

So you’ve just signed up for a Saylor ePortfolio. Now what? Most of our ePortfolio users register to track their progress through an area of study and to have access to the transcript of their completed courses. But, there’s so much more to our ePortfolio that can give you a rich user experience – even for a self-learner, like yourself! Here are our tips to maximize your ePortfolio and gain access to thousands of other Saylor.org students.

1. Make your profile public

Sure, having your information public on the Interwebs is a little scary. But, here’s the thing: this isn’t Facebook – a place to post pictures of yourself and give life updates – things that you may not want public to the world. Saylor.org is a place to enhance your knowledge base and open doors to educational experiences, and, hopefully, new employment opportunities. So, open up your profile so that the world can see how much you know. (Plus, it will allow other Saylor students to find you. How cool is that?)

To change your privacy settings, go to: Settings > Privacy. We suggest one of the following privacy settings: public or open to logged in ePortfolio users.

2. Add a fun picture of yourself and a description of who you are, where you’re studying, and what inspires you.

Ok, you’ve made your profile public. Now, have a little fun and tell the world about YOU. If other Saylor students find you, what do you want them to know? If you’re having writer’s block or are unsure of what to say, take a look at what other students have put. One of my favorite profiles is Sean Connor, the Archivist at the Saylor Foundation.

3. Reach out to other Saylor students.

Did you know that you can actively search for other Saylor students through the ePortfolio? Our Student Directory allows you to search for students by name or by Area of Study. Only students with a profile that has been made public or open to logged in ePortfolio users will show up in results, so if you’re open to interacting with other students, make sure your profile isn’t set to private! If you want to meet students that are taking the same courses as you, do a search for your area of study, click on “view portfolio” for any student of interest, and click “email user”. Set up a study group, ask questions, or simply share your own experience! Meeting a Saylor student is that easy!

4. Become active in the forums.

Have course questions, feedback, or insightful thoughts on what the experience of being a Saylor student was able to teach you? Share them in the forums! We’ve had some wonderful interactions in the forums so far, and we’d love to hear from YOU. Getting to the forums is easy – simply click on “Forums” in the upper right-hand corner of the ePortfolio or on “Discuss the ePortfolio with Saylor Staff and Students here” from the lower left-hand corner of your ePortfolio. Plus, as you reach out to other Saylor students, you can see their activity in the forums by clicking on “activity feed > forum” in their ePortfolio profile.

5. Complete self-graded written assignments and upload them!

Want to get feedback on your written assignments or show off your hard work to other Saylor students? Then complete self-graded written assignments and upload them to the Work Samples section of your ePortfolio, and then alert your friends and fellow Saylor students! Ask for feedback, use them as examples, or send them to potential employers along with your transcript as proof of your hard work!

What tips do you have for Saylor students to maximize their ePortfolio experience? Leave any suggestions in the comments section below!

If you’re looking for the most up-to-date information on participating in the Saylor Discussion Forums, setting up your optional ePortfolio account, or any of the how-to’s behind any of our 200+ free online courses, you’re in luck! Last week, we put the finishing touches on the latest edition of the Saylor.org Student Handbook, which is available to you here.

Ok, so we realize this isn’t quite as exciting as, say, a new course or discipline, but if you haven’t read through our student handbook, take a gander. It’s 14 pages of easy reading, informative goodness! Questions, concerns, comments? Let us know by sending us an email or dropping a line at the discussion forums.

A number of articles last week reported on the progress of all the online outfits that we all keep hearing about: Coursera and Udacity reporting on their enrollment numbers; students coping with these new online environments; and an update on the folks who Peter Thiel encouraged to drop out of college to pursue entrepreneurial interests. Also, an interesting TEDx presentation by Mark Horner of Siyavula. If you’re unaware of what this organization has been up to, take 15 minutes to watch this video and learn about the progress they’re making for open textbooks in South Africa.

Monday Morning Digest – August 20, 2012