Good Morning and Happy Monday! Well here we are at the start of June. Summer weather has come here to our HQ in DC, and with change in the air, this week we look at innovations around the world.

We begin this week with the Land Down Under, Australia. An innovative Aussie MOOC platform, Open Universities Australia (aka: Open2Study), has soared to new heights, as completion rates are nearly triple that of its US counterparts. The courses themselves finished up two weeks ago, with a completion rate of 25.9% of its 12,000 student enrollment. If you factor in those who “didn’t study” but still completed courses, then the total is 50.8%, says the Financial Review. This is pretty substantial compared to others that often have a less than 10% completion rate. But what is the secret to such success? Is it the intuitive learning environment, course quality, social learning elements, or a combination of all three?

Local MOOCs record high completion rate (Financial Review)

Northern Arizona University Launches Innovative, Competency-Based Online Degree Program (BusinessWire, via SYS-CON Media)
Northern Arizona U. has just announced a new innovation in online learning-a $5,000 competency-based online degree! Coined as Personalized Learning, this curriculum gives credit to the student’s current knowledge and “tailoring coursework” to one’s “learning preferences.” This innovation could provide a cost-efficient solution to receiving a bachelor’s degree that better fits one’s needs.

Universities rise to efficiency challenge (The Guardian)
Pound per pound and buck per buck, June is the month of review of efficiency for universities. Experts claim that England will come out on top once again. Although this is nothing new, the Guardian states that innovations of all kinds have helped British universities to save almost £1.4bn!

The next great Internet revolution is coming, AOL founder says (Fox News)
Steve Case, the co-founder of AOL, claims that the recent MOOC-like innovations in technology have started a ‘Second Revolution’ in the world of the Internet. As opposed to the first revolution back in the era when AOL was founded, the internet is now “omnipresent,” and people are using the Web to find solutions to the world’s problems, both great and small.

Well? What do you think about these innovations in EdTech?

Have a great week! In other news…
Teaching Students Better Online Research Skills (Ed. Week)
Digital Video Transforms Teaching Practices (Ed. Week)
Publishers Challenge Quality Of Open Educational Resources (IP Watch)

 

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