What are MOOCs and why do we have them

MOOCs are the new and upcoming way to learn.


These are massive open online classes and are open to everyone that wants to take them. Anyone in the world can take them ranging from people in Europe and asia. This will start to help people learn because they want to learn not because they have to. This is because no on needs to take these courses because you do not need to pay for it and in some cases you may not even get credit for it. Therefore it will entirely be a place for learning without getting upset that you need to go to learn. This is for people who want to learn. "This course promotes developing great ideas into great companies." This creates many new opportunities that will positively affect you in the future.




A classmate of mine, Eric Bennett says that he really enjoys online classes and that he would most certainly take a MOOC if the opportunity presents itself. he continues to say that these kinds of classes will be very good for our world because it will allow a lot of different people to be in the same class. In some cases you might be able to communicate with people in other countries. This will allow you to see a lot of different view points from a wide assortment of people.


http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/Coursera/courses.cfm
http://alumni.umd.edu/s/1132/1col.aspx?sid=1132&gid=1&pgid=1791

Information Transformation: The Revolutionary Prevalence of iBooks Author and Ebooks

Almost anyone who has experienced a standard education in the United States can vouch for the claim that algebra is no walk in the park. To many, it is one of the trickier core subjects to confidently grasp during the school years. Naturally, there is a plethora of tactics that can be utilized in instructing such a topic. But what about collectively writing a book? Specifically, an iBook. Students at Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Florida recently undertook the process of creating an iBook about algebra using Apple’s iBooks Author software. Such a unique and technologically forward story can only prompt the question: how beneficial is it to society that the ability to create such eTexts and ebooks from home has become such a convenience, especially in an educational environment? More importantly, it is worth recognizing how industries other than that of education are utilizing these softwares and techniques.

For eBook publishers, the emergence of this software has created an accessibility that is incomparable to the convenience of paperback books.

While a prominent trend of paperback publishers has been to package their own books and ultimately cut the costs altogether, ebooks have proven to be worthy competitors. Not only are they just as cheap, but also they save the hassle of traveling to bookstores and replace that endeavor with finding adequate Wi-Fi to download the text itself.  Overall, it comes down to personal preference. Many still feel a stronger connection to the authenticity of physical books. On the other hand, the shear convenience of electronic availability is second to none. Schools across the nation are slowly making the switch towards electronic textbooks, garnering mixed reviews from students and others alike. Eric Bennett, a sophomore at the University of Maryland is an example of a student who prefers the feel of actual textbooks. His opinion is shared with countless other students of this generation of stimulated minds. The fact is, ebooks can prove to be a much more significant distraction than they intend to be.

The entertainment industry is one key aspect of modern culture that has embraced technological advancements.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has been a prominent publishing company for over a century. They have a vast spectrum of products ranging from textbooks to adult fiction books. The company is also responsible for the initial ebook transition made for Curious George. As if that had not already taken the childhood icon to the next level of digital media, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is now in the process of launching a website for the monkey himself, therefore maximizing his presence in the digital world. This highlights the necessity of embracing digital media in order to truly succeed in the exponentially evolving market.

Undoubtedly, the welcoming of software such as iBooks Author would lead industries to drift away from standard business methods.

This technology can prove to be excellent for marketing, as the creation and distribution of texts from companies can easily be enhanced with the use of iBooks Author. Even in schools, the resulting ebooks can be distributed amongst students far more efficiently. As evident in the example of the Christa McAuliffe Middle School algebra class, the actual production of ebooks can also prove to be a learning strategy in itself. Sophomore Adam Weiner’s perception of iBooks Author exceeds education, as he has begun to accept this technological transformation the business world is undergoing.

Clearly, the prevalence of ebooks and the software used to make them is growing every day. The embracing of this change is not entirely uniform, however, which will inevitably slow the process. In the end, it is about molding the most efficient society in all different aspects. Although predictions will come and go on the subject, one will not know for sure how these changes will play out in the long run. All we can do is wait and see.

Blended Learning is becoming our avenue to learning

The normal way of conducting a classroom with the teacher teaching in front of a certain number of students is normally how we expect a classroom to function. With so much technology making strides we are transitioning to something much different.  As we test the effectiveness of blended learning we contemplate how learning will be in this aspect alone. Learning continues to make strides to technology. We are not set on one style of learning anymore, with the emergence of blended learning.

What is blended learning?

 Tracey Baxter a psychology major at the University of Maryland College Park tells us what she believes blended learning is a combination of things

 This kind of learning enhances the aspect of broadening the teacher and the student horizon on what learning actually is. For example, a blended approach to a traditional, face to face course might mean that the class meets once per week instead of the coming everyday or a couple days a week. Learning activities that otherwise would have taken place during classroom time can be moved online.

Blended learning helps with students who learn in different ways

 The point is to be able to give students different avenues to learn the material being taught. For example, by doing lessons at home on your own computer and in the classroom. There is one great idea of a "flipped classrooms". This is when students learn through the environment,educational technology and learning through activity. This is great because everybody learns in different ways. Some kids don't just get it from the conventional classroom lecture.

Tom Moddy is a education major at the University of Maryland his perspective on blended learning is it helps kids who are better out the class learners.
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Blended courses provide much of the flexibility and convenience of an online course while retaining the benefits of the face to face classroom experience. A U.S. Department of Education analysis found that students in fully online courses outperformed those in face to face courses, and those in blended courses outperformed the fully online students.Think about it this way, the normal classroom sets a “speed limit” for the class for basically assessment purposes making it hard for some kids to catch up and holding others from moving ahead when they’re ready.  blended learning revs up students learning velocity, allowing them to go further and faster. Everybody can almost stay at the same pace.

Blended learning helps the connection between the student and teacher

The conclusion of smart blended learning is greater and deeper interactions between teachers and students. Also, amongst the students themselves than in traditional classrooms. Integrating technology and teaching allows students to fully master content and skills, and at the pace that’s right for them.

Tony Stuart a graduate student in the chemistry department at the University of Maryland believes that blended learning brings him closer to his peers and his teachers.

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Technology is Taking Over the Classrooms, for Better or Worse?

In today’s global competition with education, society has been looking for anything that would help improve the learning capabilities of students everywhere. Logically, due to the ever prevalent influence of human evolution, technology has become the most popular factor in everyday life. Technology makes everything that much easier, so it is only natural that it has found its way into the issue of educational improvement. Classrooms all around the country have traded white boards for projectors, pencils and paper for laptops, and sometimes even the teachers for online lectures. Some would argue that this integration is for the best and will help students learn, especially those who are disabled. Others would disagree and say technology could disengage students from the benefits of hands on work.

This whole notion of technology taking over almost every aspect of classroom or even social life draws an image of robots becoming self-aware and destroying all the humans. Yes maybe the terminator movies may have some influence on that idea but, but regardless the way technology has expanded in the recent decade can only leave the mind speculating. Ten years ago kids were using crayons and colored pencils to draw and bring forth their imagination onto a piece of paper. Now you see six year olds using I-Pads and even cell phones as a substitute to elicit their imagination. This of course is baffling to college students whose only means of entertainment at that age was called “outside.” Now of course college students, nearing the end of their academic life, are just being introduced to these new technologies. The only thing left to question is whether or not these advancements are beneficiary.

Many teachers love the idea of online lectures and virtual classrooms. One Calculus teacher in particular strongly believes that technology improves students over all understanding of the subject. Stacey Roshan who teaches these high level math courses, substituted her traditional methods for technology because she was afraid students were not very engaged with her mundane face to face lectures. Ryan Lytle who wrote an article on this teacher found this bit of information very interesting, “Taught with the video lectures, Roshan's students in the 2010-11 school year scored an average of 4.11 on the AP calculus test, compared to the 3.59 average among her students who took the test and were taught in the traditional classroom setting the year before.” Clearly in this case, technology has had a positive impact on student learning and education. 

Another positive impact technology has, is its ability to help with those who are disabled or more academically inclined. It is no mystery that text books are the driving force behind every university learning system. Some people have visual impairments and are unable to follow along with these text books. Some simply say they are just too boring and the chapters are too long. Fionnuala Duggan who writes for The Gaurdian, wrote an article where she mentions how e-books have solved some of these problems for disabled students. She says, “In the shift from print textbooks to e-textbooks, accessibility can be moved to another level. Suddenly text isn't an unchangeable object; it can be scaled up or down depending on the student's needs. Images can be read aloud through tagging tools. Access to print-fidelity page images means students can follow along in lectures page by page. Simultaneously, access to text representation (suited to screen readers and text-to-speech software) means students can adjust their e-textbook according to their needs.” A student’s ability to customize the way they learn so it becomes much easier for them to adapt to material is crucial.

 Technology in education has proven to be successful and it looks as if it may take over completely at some point in the future. The only downside to technology in a classroom environment would be that some people may be technologically challenged. To those who are older and prefer traditional methods may be able to push it away for now but the younger generations of children will most definitely be molded by means of technology in the classroom. Time will be the only thing that can determine if it will truly make a difference in the long run.

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Adaptive Technologies and their Contribution to Special Education

It has been general consensus that technology can help the education process insurmountably and even more so to an extent for special education. New adaptive technologies allow students with disabilities to overcome the educational barriers they face and obtain a meaningful and lasting education. In the past, students with disabilities were notoriously deprived of a quality education, with the help of new adaptive technologies, students with disabilities are making progress never before seen and we are seeing people with disabilities living more normal lives than ever.

Samantha Perugini, a senior Hearing and Speech Sciences major, recalls how she uses technology in her speech classes in order to help those with speech impediments better their speech skills and lead a more normal life. 

Assisted Technologies Enable the Visually Impaired in Ways Never Thought Possible.

In a 2012 research brief for the National Institute of Education Research Brief Series, Libby Cohen and Wong Meng Ee, describe assisted technologies as those which “enable individuals who are visually impaired to read and write, access information, and enhance communication.” One major problem that Cohen and Ee found was that while teachers realized the obvious benefits of assisted technologies, the teachers did not have the skills and knowledge to properly employ the new technologies to the fullest extent possible. While schools had made major steps to invest in the new technologies and make them available, the students were not receiving the benefits because the teachers had not been properly trained on how to use the equipment. This is not the teachers’ fault either; the study found that the teachers rarely had easy and affordable access to education on how to use the technologies.

Senior Government and Politics major Shane Hassin has first hand experience with teachers using adaptive technology, his mother is an special educator in New York City and uses adaptive technology every day in the classroom.

Do you think the government should subsidize training for assisted technology?

Teacher and Student Training in the Field of Assisted Technologies.

The education system need to reform in a way that not only invests in new technology, but also focuses on training teacher on the best way to employ these new technologies in order for the student to receive greater benefits.  Another large problem that was uncovered in Cohen and Ee’s research was that the older the students were, the harder time they had integrating the technology. This is adverse to initial thinking, which would be that the oldest students would have an easier time adapting to the new technologies, but in fact due to the increase prevalence of advance technology in youth years, the younger grades were able to easier assimilate to the new technologies and progress with them. So teachers are not the only ones who need prior training in order to reap the full rewards of this assistive technology, they must also begin technical instruction for the students in order to adapt them to the new technologies. 

As technology advances more gadgets are created for classroom learning

Technology gadgets can help students in the classroom.

Technology has been a huge part of student's life in this generation. Classrooms are now trying new ways to improve a students capability of learning. Throughout the years there has been a series of gadgets made to increase the way a student can access information in the classroom. For example, products such as a tablet, laptop, or smart phone have been a big success in abstaining information in the classroom. As long as we have people creating such great gadgets for school then we will continue to make the learning process a bit more easier and students will have fun using them.

Here is a helpful invention for student learning in classrooms.

There have been many cool gadgets that have been in the classroom to help enhance students learning capability. One of the recent gadgets created to help students is the Logitech io digital pen. This neat invention allows you to say goodbye to those leaky ink pens or avoiding yourself from bothering other students by asking for pencil. http://www.savecrazy.com/content/Articles/Technology/CoolTechnologyGadgetsForSchool.asp The 
Logitech io Pen digitally captures everything you write or draw including notes and drawings.
 This avoids students from searching through their notebooks to find out notes in a particular class. Instead this Device allows students to download their notes directly to your computer by using the USB interface. You can organize your notes from a class into a folder which makes it quicker to retrieve  so you have full search capabilities. The next time you need to look up notes from a class you should just get on your computer and find the notes you took instantaneously. The gadget also is very cheap so it is worth it. I interviewed Derrick Evanovich a student who plans on majoring in business, I asked Derrick if any, which technology helps him learn better in class and he said

    

Are there any technology sources students believe are useless?

Since there is a handful of technology that is used in the classroom, there happens to be some technology that may seem useless or has no effect on helping a student learn. Therefore, I asked student Chris Jezstresbki, who is a computer science major if he feels as though there was any technology that did not seem to help make a difference in his learning. To figure out which inventions are a good use the teacher should assign a survey to for the students to fill out explaining which technology is a help or if it is useless.

Teachers effect on student learning.

Teachers have a big responsibility on deciding which technology can stay in the classroom. Therefore, teachers are in charge of how well a student can learn. Mike Parise, a chemistry major at the University of Maryland has allowed me to interview him about what ways his teacher helps him learn in the class. He agrees that having a website for all your classes is a big help so students can check grades and complete assignments.

Professor's opinion on specific courses that would benefit from additional technologies.

I decided to do extra research and interview one of my professors to hear his opinion about which course would benefit from additional technologies.

Professor Golitsynskiy mentioned specifically that in some classes they use the clicker device which is creative and a good way to learn. However, he thinks they should expand the clicker's abilities and instead of only having the option of answering yes or no to questions in class it should have other abilities that gets the class more involved. He also mentioned the iPhone being useful because of all the apps you can use without the hassle of carrying around large devices.

In order to keep expanding technologies success in the classroom teachers should make a survey so the students respond about which technologies are useful. As long as we have people creating such great gadgets for school then we will continue to make the learning process a bit more easier and students will have fun using them. 

The UMD Blended Learning Initiative helps bring education into the age of technology

Technology constantly grows and changes, and society looks for more ways to implement technology into different areas of progress. Recently, a major focus of technology application has surfaced in the form of Blended Learning: fusing traditional means of education with the use of modern technology. The University of Maryland defines its Blended Learning Initiative as combining “face-to-face and online interactions,” favoring use of “multimedia data, social technologies,… and collaborative learning.” In this way, the UMD Blended Learning Initiative aims to minimize time spent within a classroom, while still broadening the scope of team-based learning activities.

Blended Learning is important because it takes the “next step” in education.

Anthony, a sophomore at University of Maryland discusses why he likes the Blended Learning Initiative at UMD.

As Anthony mentions, Blended Learning looks to experiment and advance the future of education. Keeping education modern as time progresses will keep students involved and interested in modern topics. It also lets teachers experiment with new ways and methods, which is very important in the field of education.

Blended Learning gives students more time to work on their own and study.

Another student at the University of Maryland, Haider, explains that he enjoys Blended Learning due to the bonus free time it provides.

Haider is talking about the ability to use class time that would traditionally be spent in class to instead work on class projects and homework. This is because Blended Learning allows for students to forgo face-to-face meetings in favor of class activities on the internet. Students are free to spend class time studying, working, or preparing for the next face-to-face meeting.

Blended Learning limits the amount of team assignments and discussion-based learning.

Here we see Dan, a student at University of Maryland that does not enjoy everything about Blended Learning.

Dan explains that Blended Learning really puts a damper on those who enjoy group assignments and discussion-based learning. Unfortunately, the Blended Learning Initiative sacrifices face-to-face meetings in order to experiment with technology, inherently limiting the amount of possible group activities. Thus, students who really enjoy peer-to-peer interactions do not enjoy the strategy of the Blended Learning Initiative. UMD tries to avoid this by explaining that their Blended Learning Initiative focuses on group activities and discussions during face-to-face meetings, but for some students that really is not enough to help them learn. And they are not the only ones that dislike Blended Learning. There can be many complaints made about the process of Blended Learning, but the lack of interpersonal communication is the most obvious at first glance.

What does the future hold for Blended Learning?

Right now, Blended Learning is fairly effective. Students still have in-class time to experience more traditional teaching methods, while their out-of-class time is spent enjoying education on the internet. There is potential for huge growth in education on the internet, but it will take much experimentation and development. Students need to be able to work within groups and hold discussions, which is very hard to accomplish on the internet. It is also very hard to execute straight-forward lectures that are more commonly delivered during in-class meetings. Finally, it can be an issue that students do not have direct contact with their instructors too often. These issues and many others can dissuade people from using Blended Learning Initiatives like the one at UMD, but I believe that with enough research and development, internet education will be the future of education.

Blended-Learning Classes Are Becoming Increasingly Popular Across College Campuses

Blended-learning classes are a new form of classes that involve both face-to-face interactions with online technologies to teach students. Blended-learning classes can be convenient for both students and professors, when there is less classroom time there is more time to work on assignments for other classes or just take a break from classes altogether during the day.

Blended-learning classes require increased responsibility for students.

Although a blended-learning class may seem to be easier because there is less classroom time, some students feel that makes the class a little harder. When explaining how she feels about blended-learning classes, freshman history major Elizabeth Honeywell mentions how blended-learning classes require more responsibility when it comes to assignments. You have to be sure to check online everyday to check if there are updates about an assignment that the professor did not mention in class or to check and make sure there is nothing due that day.

Some students like how easy it is to submit assignments online instead of in class.

Many blended-learning classes require students to submit assignments online through the course site and this is much easier than having to turn in the assignment in person to your teacher. Not only could you possibly have extra time to turn it in because it could be on a weekend day, but it also is nice because you can submit the assignment from any computer so you can be doing other assignments or activities and still get the assignment turned in on time. Sophomore education major, Lizzie Fatzinger, explains how professors in the past have made classes easier with online features such as timelines and online submissions.

While blended-learning classes make submitting assignments easier, there is still room for improvement.

Although submitting assignments and homework online is convenient it increases the responsibility of the students. Some students also feel that professors of blended-learning classes are less interactive with the students. Junior linguistics major, Catherine Gallerizzo, mentions that a professor of hers in the past was very impersonal and did not explain the assignments very well.

The increasing popularity of blended-learning classes on campuses allows professors and students to use technology in many different ways in their classes. Blended-learning classes, however, also increase the responsibility and stress of some students because of constantly having to check the course site and the professors tend to be less personable.

Blended Learning Courses Offer Interaction but Lack Specialization

The recent technological surge that our country has experienced has effected the education system enormously. New tools to help enhance learning are constantly being implemented and experimented. The most common of these advancements in the education system is the incorporation of blended learning courses.

Blending learning courses integrate online with traditional face-to-face class activities in a planned and valuable manner. 

This new form of education mixed with technology has been widespread among universities across the U.S. At the University of Maryland, blended learning courses are an exciting way to learn concepts and practice them in real-life situations. Teachers usually give their lessons and then make use of the online portion to practice what was taught. This form of teaching can be applied to almost any class that exists because it allows for the student to work independently and use the entire internet as a resource. Ryan Wells, a student in a blended learning economics class, talks about the effectiveness of experiencing a simulated economy on the market.

Without this blended learning course structure, the opportunity to simulate class concepts would not be available. This innovative type of learning helps students grasp what the teacher has lectured about by providing them with a unique, hands-on method. In addition to blended learning, schools have greatly improved technology to satisfy their class subject's needs. For instance, the journalism industry is moving swiftly from paper to online. In journalism classes at Maryland, iPads, laptops, online software, and social media are all crucial to enhance learning for students. In particular, social media is a huge outlet for news and these blended learning classes emphasize their importance. With the aid of these courses, students that receive jobs are well-prepared for what their employers need of them. Steward Beckham, a journalism major, reveals how his major's classes benefit greatly from the new technology that is being utilized.

While technology does make education more interactive, it is too often that the blended learning label is abused. 

According to a 2012 study, the U.S. has spent at least $60 billion on educational technology in the past two decades. It is evident that there have been learning advancements due to this new technology, but the full amount spent has certainly not been utilized properly. These blended learning courses are becoming too generalized and the need for interaction is apparent. Oftentimes, blending learning courses meet a few times face-to-face and then a conduct a meeting online once a week. However, this online meeting has turned into students simply reading off their teacher's presentation. In this scenario, blended learning has no benefit and a classroom meeting would be just as informative. With the technology that we have obtained, blended learning needs to be continually improved and analyzed. Teachers must monitor the effectiveness of their methods and then work to improve and diversify their lessons. Tommy Zattola, a student currently in a blended learning English class, discusses how the online portion of the course must be improved.

The online portion of blended learning will be meaningless unless new innovations are applied and personalization is apparent. 

With this advanced technology, a student should soon be able to learn at their individual pace and skill level. These blended learning courses are very promising for individualized progress. Teachers must realize the benefit that blended learning offers and begin to implement a more personalized approach to their teachings. Blended learning is a form of education that will be crucial to future students. Right now, we must work to perfect this method so future generations will reap the benefits. With promising new technology at our fingertips, the time is now to successfully improve blended learning to satisfy all students' needs.

Online Courses: Convenience over Competence?

Online courses in today's college education are more prevalent then ever

It's no secret that more and more colleges are offering online courses as substitutes to equivalent courses that would be taken in a face to face setting. Many college students prefer to takes courses online because it means they won't have to leave their bed, or because they think it's easier. While this is not usually the goal of the school in offering these classes, it is often the reason for students to register for online courses. One of the actual institutional goals of offering these classes is that they can be more interactive, and relatable to the students. In a world where everyone has an iPhone and knows their way around a web interface, an online class that meets 3 times a week where one can check assignments from their phone or laptop sounds perfect right? This is the case sometimes, in skilled and motivated students, but often the ones that are taking these classes do not fit that criteria.

"Haha that online class is a joke! Take it, easy A"

While this sub header often is not the case when it comes to most online classes, this quote or something along those lines can often be heard in discussions among students come registration time. There are always going to be students looking for the "easy A" or the class that won't make them work too hard. They think to themselves "Oh I don't have to leave my bed? Sign me up!" thinking that by not being required to go to class they will automatically succeed. This can lead to more unmotivated students registering for online classes and skewing the grading results that follow. The unmotivated students don't go to class, follow the online regimen, and end up performing poorly because of their own evaluation of an online class. Without the rigid structure of face-to-face meetings, they forget the importance of keeping up with their work, and in turn do not succeed in the online setting.

The positives of Online Courses

Being a student in JOUR150, a blended course that has both online and face-to-face meetings, I am fairly experienced with what it takes to succeed in an online course. Really the hardest, yet not-so-hard, is checking up on what is due every day. By going on Canvas, or whatever version of that online management system a school has, I can see what I have due, when it's due, an explanation of the assignment, etc. With everything right in front of me, paired with in class meetings where a Professor explains what to do with examples, it is not difficult to keep up with my work. In an full online class if you forget to do your work, then there is no in class meeting to remind you, resulting in failure. But for a student that is motivated to keep up with their work, online courses can be quite beneficial. Given the option to complete work and assignments on your own time, can often do wonders for the ever complicated schedule of a college student. Since you are doing things on your own schedule, there is never an excuse to missing an assignment.

What can we expect in the future?

Studies show that colleges such as the University of Maryland are offering more online courses every year. That being said, research done as schools such as NYU have shown that while more online courses are being offered as equivalents to face to face classes, grades have actually been lower overall in these online classes. Students will continue to choose the online class, but will they ever realize that it may not be as easy as they think? Often, it will be more difficult. I think the online course trend is going to continue to boom, but it will soon be viewed as a comparable learning experience as opposed to being looked at as an alternative, "easy way out".

The Transformation of Education Through Technology

Due to the advancement and growing love for technology, education has been transformed. 

Massive open online courses (MOOC) allow all people to access online learning content.  This transformation of technology and education has the ability revolutionize the lives of many.  Due to many obstacles and complications, there are people who are unable to receive the education that they want and need. With this new approach to education, those complications won’t get in the way of an opportunity to learn.

The best way to describe the digital presence in education within the United States is to look at Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States, an annual report about online learning in higher education.  Online enrollment of students is continuing to rise.  The amount of students who take at least one online class has reached 6.7 million.

Even though this number is so large and is still growing, the majority of that online presence is not within MOOC’s.  According to the survey, in 2012 only 2.6% say that they offer MOOC’s and 9.4% are considering them.  The survey also reveals that the reason why this number is so low is that many are unconvinced that this educational method is sustainable and effective, and with change comes some anxiety.

A slow yet effective adoption of MOOC's

Recently, the state of California took a big step toward change by implementing Senate Bill 520.  If there is no room for students in a required class, this bill allows them to take a MOOC for full credit.  Due to the failing economy and lack of funding, this advancement minimizes the dent in student’s wallets.  The availability of online courses will allow students to take required courses at a cheaper price to lessen their years spent in school.  Another helpful aspect of this bill is the free e-textbook that comes with online courses. MOOC’s provide an online platform that will help students achieve more at an efficient pace.

MOOC’s are making a rise outside of California.  One of the leading MOOC providers is called Coursea.  This platform was created by Stanford professors and offers free online courses.  Over the course of two years, this company has reached 3.2 million users while reaching an agreement with over 62 universities.  Despite many misconceptions, a wide array of informative courses is offered such as Principlaes of Macroeconomics, Computational Neuroscience, The Future of Humankind, and many more. The amount of users for this platform leads me to believe that the findings of the 2012 of MOOC have changed in the past year;  it seems that massive online courses are becoming more popular.

A future filled with educational innovations

Verizon has been working to use their networks for the betterment of society.  Through corporate social responsibility, the company is finding ways to transform education through technology in ways that are similar to the MOOC's.  One of the most interesting projects is the VGo robot which allows a student who is unable to attend school access to a classroom. This robot is four feet tall and has a screen, which shows the child’s face. Verizon discusses a fourth grade student, Paris Luckowski, who has a brain tumor and can’t physically go to school. By using the VGo, Paris is able to move through the hallways and contribute in class. The opportunities are endless for this robot.  Soon this innovation will penetrate many different businesses.

How the University of Maryland students view MOOC's

When I first heard of MOOC’s I was amazed.  The idea that someone in a different country can gain access to courses from the school of their choice is extraordinary. Education is something that all should have because it is optimal for their advancement.  On another note, I have no interest in taking an MOOC.  Due to my personal learning style, I do not think an online course would be good for me.

To get other’s insights I have reached out to 3 students at the University of Maryland.