How MOOC Can Change Educational System In Near Future?

If you are going through this article then most probably you are interested in knowing the details of MOOC or massive open online courses, a new face of online learning which is changing the educational system rapidly. Although a massive number of articles with out-dated information will appear in any search engine if you hit search for massive open online courses, an updated description is needed for the students as the online learning mode is evolving in a pace.

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A massive open online course is an educational offering or an online course, to be precise, designed to help the students to participate over the internet. One can access the courses, the data and the study material in any time as long as an internet connection is available, and of course it is free. The idea of catering free academic education dates back in the beginning of twenty-first century when MIT started its OpenCourseWare, from where interested learners can get free entree to the lectures and research article pages. No doubt the idea was revolutionary. But the real evolution started right after that when several institutes started offering free full-time courses for the students who struggle to manage time and money for traditional face-to-face learning. And it was quite a sensation among the learners from the very first of its being. Let’s have a closer look into this relatively new approach of learning.

Productive & Career Oriented Learning

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Technology has transformed education in a productive way by not only learning by following the course-guide but also by going beyond it, which eventually makes the student more competent for further higher studies. The study materials, offered by MOOC, are way too rich as it is provided and reviewed by various professors and professionals all over the world. What adds MOOC’s acceptance, among the numerous students all over the world, is the value that the employers of multinational companies give to its course and degree obtained.

 As Professor Neil Morris, from the University of Leeds, puts it: “Whenever anyone accredits a course in a way that is meaningful to an employer or for further study, you reach completion rates of 70%.” Daphne Koller, Stanford professor and one of the co-founders of Coursera, also has the same thought, she says, “New Technology platforms and greater acceptance of online certificates by employers are allowing these people to transform their careers.”

Breaking The Laws Of Traditional Learning

Technology also transmutes the delivery mode of education; from traditional face-to-face it changes to online learning, which is immensely helpful to the students. Now they can switch between their learning time and job shift perfectly anytime they want, as online education provides the flexibility of time. Internet, being the sole media of this type learning, increases the availability of the course materials and by which students are always kept on the hop. “Learners may not have the option to structure their lives around their education,” continues Koller, “but rather need the flexibility to mould their education around the constraints of their life.”

Large Scale Of Course

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MOOC bridges the gap between several career-oriented courses and the appropriate educational infrastructure that is need for it. Many colleges and educational institutes lack the proper set-up or right environment for a specific course. The only option learners are left with is signing up a MOOC website and start digging into it. “For me online courses were the only option”, says Vivek Shangari, the founder of AceHacker, who, in spite of lacking any formal collage education, is certified with MOOC degrees in technology and management. Interestingly enough, the courses that MOOC offers are free and it holds the value of a traditional educational degree. Making the curriculum flexible is the best shot a traditional education system has if they can’t offer all the degree course to the students.

Digital Credential: A Stand-Alone Online Educational Degree

Flexibility of credential is something is that enticing the students as it is opening up vast educational and career possibilities. A digital credential obtained by a learner from a relatively less significant work for six months is worth of an online master level work.

Finally it can be said that this new form of learning has the power to change the ecosystem of education in a better way for future. Massive open online courses will be the guideline for the progressive students who aim for the big.

Want to share your own views on the Nigerian education sector?Then feel free to comment in the box below.

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Does Higher Education Mean Better Jobs For Africans?

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A recent study found that African youth with higher educational qualifications do not necessarily see proper job benefits from their education. According to the 2013 Gallup survey, African workers with any secondary education do only slightly better than African workers with only primary education regarding “positive employment outcome”. Gallup describes that a positive employment outcome is full time working opportunity for an employer, being employed part time but nor requiring full-time employment or being self-employed not by lack for job opportunities, but by choice.

Need For Pursuing Higher Education 

 

The high net education benefit (21 pct. pts according to the Gallup survey) of the Republic of Angola comes from the oil resources of the country which has resulted in fast urban growth, higher investments in education sector and more job creation for people with primary education. However, the overall scenario put forward an inconsistent and dismal picture for employment reward provided for higher education in Africa. This scenario is further motivated by the shortage of incentive for Africans to pursue higher education.

All over sub-Saharan Africa, it has been observed that basic needs tend to compete with the abilities of parents to send their kids to school. Although primary education is considered as facilitating specific professional activities in urban and rural communities, it is possible that many parents fail to see the advantages for continued education. In case families do realise its importance, the enrolment in higher education becomes infeasible due to the labour sacrifice. Most African families who send their kids to the school mainly do it because these parents think that education will lead to better employment opportunities.

Disparity In Educational Accomplishment

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Moreover, the difference in educational accomplishment throughout sub-Saharan Africa also depicts the challenges faced by the region in attaining global education standards. Nations like Burkina Faso and Niger, with only 10 per cent and 6 per cent respectively, have small percentage of populations pursuing some type of secondary education. However, Zimbabwe and South Africa have 74 per cent and 73 per cent of their population pursuing secondary education. It should be noted that although the intensity of secondary education and higher education considerably between Niger and Zimbabwe, the positive employment outcome is almost the same.

Another research conducted by the African Economic Outlook on education and skills disparity in the territory support the findings of the Gallup survey. This study offers an enhanced perspective by recognising that African individuals with higher education face higher unemployment levels in middle-income nations than nations with low-income.

Challenges Of Underemployment And Unemployment 

 

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The findings from the studies reveal that the underemployment and unemployment levels in most of the surveyed countries are almost same irrespective of the educational attainment of Africans. Hence, families in Africa might have to make lot of sacrifices for allowing their kids to pursue higher education, but see their children unemployed. At best, they will get underemployed at a similar level as Africans with only primary education.

What do you think about education and employment in Africa? Are you suffering from underemployment or unemployment? Share your opinions and experiences with us by commenting below. We would surely love to hear what you have to say.

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Teachers Following Education Through Popular Online Tools

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Distance education, practically, arrived to remove the geographical differences in between learner and institution witnessed a billowing surge in popularity as internet services added new dimension to the existing form. And now, the participation of the learners in the new age education system turns euphoric as social networking sites join the force to enhance the experience.Social media has the potential to facilitate communication, sharing, and collaboration; and therefore, amplify the endeavors to educate. So, the educators and employers find it useful for providing information, knowledge enhancement and execution of devised strategies to manage a larger workforce in a global arena. 

Education professionals think it’s effective    

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The rising popularity of social networking sites and universal interest in student-centered trainings have successfully attracted the attention toward applying popular online tools to enrich distance education. Today, it’s a hi-tech component of virtual classroom that contributing remarkably to higher education. According to a study regarding social media adoption conducted in 2011-12 by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth found that using social media was a common trend among for the four-year accredited institutions and all the colleges and universities were using it in the U.S. The study even confirmed that a lot of higher-education specialists using social networking sites for marketing and communication. More and more educators are intending to adopt it in the training and learning process.

Twitter tops the list of best destinations gaining huge attention   

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Twitter is definitely one of the important names that are gaining huge popularity among the academic professionals to make education even more exciting. The reason behind this popular tool getting attention from teachers could be varied like its simple interface, brief and quickly grabbing messages, trendy and easy to use platform for students and learners across the world. Moreover, it’s a common space for like-minded people who are able to meet, talk and discuss with each other in a very compact and straight-forward way. More precisely,

• The smartest way of informal learning is celebrating the freedom to teach and learn briefly in 120 characters through Twitter.
• A collaborative classroom is enhancing expertise of the employees around the world by updating the latest information regarding the technology and industry.
• It’s not anymore about teachers delivering lectures alone, learning through Twitter is about active participation of the students and educationalists in a discussion panel engaging reaction across the world.
• It’s more about developing a professional learning community where almost everybody can successfully contribute to the enlightenment.
• And most important this new way of receiving and providing knowledge is opening fresh avenues for developing countries to seize the educational opportunities the global industry is offering right now. Like educators in the Caribbean region, who have been trying hard to grapple with the new age learning system are engaging social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube for delivering more effective instructions to their students.
• Through making it available and accessible for everybody Twitter is promoting independent and critical thinking all over the world.

Educators, worldwide, are trying to bring the power of Twitter’s live communication into a learning space to make education more interactive and engaging. In addition to that, Twitter is even helping teachers to a great extent to enhance their mentoring skills and understand their pupils better. In fact, collaborating, sharing and discussing education through Twitter have made teaching profession sensational more than ever. 

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Online Education vs. Traditional Education: The Unresolved Debate

Recent surveys show that there are many people who support online education while some still think that they are not up to the mark or at level with traditional college education. Many believe that the quality of the courses taught in online colleges is not good.

Many people all around the world like the fact that online education provides many advantages to students who cannot attend traditional colleges, like affordability and flexibility. They think that it is the best way to receive higher education. This being said, many also believe that the value of online education is equal to that of traditional classroom education and some still think that online education is not a good option and the quality of education offered is not at par with traditional education.

Also, a few concerns about online education can be seen in the job market. Some employees said in a survey that few employers think that online degrees are valuable and some also believe that they are equal to a traditional degree but some employers still believe that online degrees are not good enough.

Despite all the support that online education gets, many think that the testing methods are not strict and grading is rather casual. They also believe that people who grade online test paper are less qualified than teachers in traditional schools and therefore don’t grade properly. According to some reports, the response is equal but is slightly inclined towards the negative side.

“If leaders in the field want online learning to have equal status with campus-based programs, they need to do more to demonstrate high standards for instruction, testing, and grading.” - A Gallup Survey Report

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A new survey at Gallup reveals a new statistic which suggests, in terms of quality, people consider internet based study programmes as ‘only fair’ in comparison with two years and four years college courses. Another survey conducted by Public Agenda suggests that many employers want to hire candidates who have a traditional degree from a mediocre college to candidates who have earned a college degree from top universities through the online mode. Employers even admit that online education requires greater discipline thus the quality of candidates might be better but they would still prefer students who have earned a traditional degree.

However, questions have also been raised on the quality of education in traditional colleges. The strategic initiatives manager of The Free Education Initiative at the Saylor Foundation says that people have this sort of mindset because they are not familiar with online education and lack awareness.

“I don’t think there’s any weight to the belief that quality suffers in online education any more so than with a lot of brick-and-mortars. We know brick-and-mortar degrees vary in quality, and that’s the same with online. Are there diploma mills online? Absolutely. But there are brick-and-mortars doing that as well.” - Jeff Davidson, strategic initiatives manager, The Free Education Initiative, Saylor Foundation (Source: goo.gl/raEfz0)

Therefore, the debate is still inconclusive as to whether or not online education is equal to traditional education if not better.

 

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Study for an HND as you Work for Progress in your Career

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It is a known fact that without good higher education and certification, no one will get a good job in the job market as the competition is cut-throat. In the rat race, it is very important to try and do everything in your capacity to get some sort of certification of higher studies, be it a degree or diploma. A certification saying that you have pursued your education after high school looks impressive on your CV.

In developing countries, like the Caribbean nations, people are not that financially well-off. Therefore, students start working as soon as they finish school as they have to start earning to support themselves and their families. As working and studying in a traditional college simultaneously, is not possible, most students end up giving up their dreams of receiving good education after completing high school. For such students, distance learning has opened new doors.

How has distance learning made education easy for people who want to pursue higher studies?

Through distance learning, good, accredited universities and colleges are providing eager students with a variety of education programmes and offer them Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates in a wide array of subjects. If the student does not have time to study a three year bachelor’s degree course, then he can study a Higher National Diploma or HND by distance learning.

A HND is equivalent to the first two years of a bachelor’s degree and on completion of the course, the students are bound to get better jobs than a high school graduate would get. An HND holds value in many countries and is actually held in high regard by many employers. An HND is provided in many subjects, out of which, the most common subject students opt for is business management. After completing an HND in business Management one could easily get a good job and later, they can study a top-up degree and convert the HND into a full-fledged bachelor’s degree.

An HND will give students deeper insight into the subject matter and better grasp over the subject, so that they can do well at work.

A Newfound career in Midlife is Highly Prospective with Intelligent Information Technology

If you have got January blues it’s time to think of career change. A job making you bore, burning out energy to never-ending and doing no good should be left midway. It is pretty clear that when something starts to rot, a new flicker of interest is found elsewhere. If no, then you might do some research of the job market to realise what can bring impetus in the direction you have your eyes on.

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What you can do as part of your research?

There are places you can visit on the internet. Undeniably, the online medium is one of the most productive platforms to feed you with ideas and concepts. While you might get loads of results on career change and new prospects, going by definite search will end you up with precise result. One of the advisable sites would be Linkedin, where the Group ‘Career Shift’ is highly informative. Here, you know and learn about what you can get if you want. Participate in the group and discuss with each other to share experiences, ideas and thoughts to come up with best result. But to be part of discussion forums you need to sign up and be a member of the group. Refer: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4813325&trk=hb_side_g.

While in the process of discussion and sharing thoughts, assess what you want to get at the next step for finding new career prospects.

Assess what you want?

Take the first step by doing some self-assessment of your desires and values. What you would love to do, how you would prefer to map out a newfound career, and which domain has maximum prospects. As most people desire to search for new opportunities, career prospects, more money and more heights they first think of a field, which can embrace all these four elements. In this context, the IT domain is one suggestive area that inculcates great scopes, money and intrigue for anyone on the lookout for better career prospects in life. Besides, nowadays everyone has little or extensive knowledge pertaining to computer. The IT is one of those realms where employers are hunting for computer experts.

The field concerns itself with development, design, improvement and implementation of computer technologies, so you will find application of IT in every aspect of life. But you need to have knowledge and skills in Information Technology to take the plunge whenever you feel it right. So, what you can do? 

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Seek an IT degree course?

Yes, this is the most viable option to start with. But from where you can get the course? There is no meaning to getting back to college with greys in hair. While it can be embarrassing, it can be a lot of pressure to evade criticism from students half your age. Obtaining an IT degree course from online is a fine choice at this complicated point.

·         You study at your flexibility and pace

·         You need not worry about criticism or adjustment with other students half your age

·         You do not have to take the endurance of travelling to colleges. While you study you handle any present job or other commitments

·         You learn about new skills and gain knowledge in Information technology with tutors and study materials to help you all the way

·         With no such constraints as felt in traditional learning, you go on improving skills into your old age with immense liberty

Apparently, accessing an online degree course in IT and Telecommunications from a well recognised UK University helps you grab prospective placements in the industry. With passion to strive ahead and desire to learn the intricacies of the field that focuses on different subject areas like IT networking, Data Analyses and Data base Design, Strategic planning, Human computer interface, etc., you are ready to carve out a career that you might be dreaming of now.

Leaving your past jobs and experiences at a fine point and bifurcating to a career you are desperately looking for, IT renders opportunities with no bounds.

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Getting Your Issues Regarding Online Learning Addressed

Online education is fast becoming a popular choice of student all over the world. Not only the students but also the professionals who are unable to leave their jobs to carry on their educational career are getting attracted to them. So, it is becoming more of a necessity to regulate the entire online distance learning providers to offer the student with the kind of security they get from on-campus courses.

E-learning short courses (Photo credit: London College of Fashion short courses)

Complaint lodging cell:

The recent changes and additions to the Higher Education Act of 1965 require the providers of online education to provide their students with the contact details of the relevant authority in the areas where the candidates reside with whim they can lodge their grievances. Even though most of the online education providers make sure that all the student complaints are listened to and necessary actions taken internally, there have been situations that could not be handled internally. It is for situations like this that the new regulations have been incorporated.

How to go about the process of filing a complaint?

The process requires you to take up the issue with the education providers by clearly stating the nature of the complaint. If it cannot be solved internally, then you will have to take it up with the concerned authority in your state or area of residence.

Earlier people thought that it was not safe to enroll in a course where everything would be conduct over the Internet. Any issues that arose would have to be only addressed to the internal authorities. But now, there is a way out. You can go to the local authorities listed in their prospectus to lodge a complaint in need be.

Seal of the United States Department of Education (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The US Department of Education has made sure that all the institutes who are offering online education abide by the rule and provide their prospective candidates with the necessary information for lodging complaint in their respective areas of residence. It is being hoped that this step is going to help remove the fear that people had about the online degrees. 

Education achieves Top Priority for Needs for Innovation in Business

Education deserves credit for all the innovation it brings into an individual’s life. The key to success lies in the hands of education. The business world plays a major role in the global economy and improving the economic scenario of the world. The business leader’s aim was to give a new dimension to education hence they are working on creating new policies that can be implemented in the academic podium.

Lately it was found out that the “GE’s annual Innovation Barometer” was targeting a change and newness in the academic surrounding. Some of the changes that they are working on are as follows:

• Schools and colleges should support industrial culture by tying up with business organisations. This way at the earliest students will get fair ideas about business tactics and will able to implement innovative ideas when working in business firm in the future.

• Another thing that the survey pointed out is the business sector did not have faith in the education system as its rank went down drastically over the last one year, though it was found that the US business professional’s belief in the education system had increased.

• Tech-friendly schools that were introduced recently are supported by the business oriented organisations and companies. For example the “Academy for Software engineering” was established by the support of “Union Square Venture’s Fred Wilson”. Even different other local industries helped in creating these tech schools.

• Schools which are sponsored by the corporate world have their own critic and they feel that students will be more mechanical in their learning and will not give any space to practical learning. They will not use their brain for critical analysis and academic learning will simply be a waste as they will not be able to implement any of it in their life.

• It has also been said that this kind of implementation is not always a success as in the early years this kind of attempt had failed to create any kind of impact in the business firm neither did any good to the educational zone.

GE survey has made all the effort to look into the pros and cons of the relation between business and education. It has indeed taken up all the responsibility to give a new dimension and innovation to the business sector.

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Future of Online Learning in 2013

The craze for studying through distance learning is desired by majority of the students who are high school graduates. They are looking forward to pursue their undergraduate courses through online distance mode. They know the superior benefits of these courses and how it will have a positive impact in their future. Every year the academic pedagogy tries to bring about a renovation in the system so that the students can benefit from the education they acquire.

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It has been estimated that soon online learning would budge into mainstream curriculum as the growth of fusion learning that will include innovative technologies becomes the important base of the education podium and later could lead it to a high ranking position. Some of the researchers believe that 2013 could be promising for the online learning education system. Some of the points that they would want to highlight are as follows:

• About 18 years back online learning had been introduced when it was hardly given much importance as traditional way of acquiring education was considered the best form of learning. But now it is on the way to become a priority for the interested aspirants.
  
  
• Hybrid learning is becoming central to education as it combines both campus and online learning. This enhances the education standard and quality and hence students become more enriched with skill and knowledge.
  
  
• The online learning system is going to follow a distinct strategy to implement new methods of learning for the students. The researchers are mainly targeting on making it the base for higher education so that people can study the flexible way.
  
  
• Some of the online learning resources basically target at technical support, marketing and course design so they are not really created in-house. Their basic aim is to contract out so that this system of learning is available for all kinds of students.
  
  
• This system of learning provides open text books to the learners as students get all learning materials with just a click of their button.
  
  
• Students can make use of all kinds of e learning tools which includes tablets, kindles, mobiles and iPads.
  
  
• The online course is highly flexible that reduces the long term course expenses yet look after the learner’s tasks which includes assignments and projects.
  
  
• Overseas students can obtain international degrees through this mode of learning.

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Free Online Course Providers in the US and UK

E-learning short courses (Photo credit: London College of Fashion short courses)

With time the educational domain has come up with new innovative ways of learning. Online mode of learning has become the modern trend in most of the countries. But the most reputed among them are the UK and US online learning providers. From the past one decade they are providing the best kind of education to the students from all over the world.

UK is mainly known for their Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) podium which has been credited for the excellent education it provides to the candidates worldwide. But you cannot look down upon the US online learning platforms that offer the same kind of high quality academic facility to the students. It therefore gets pretty difficult for the individuals to decide where it would be best for them to do their online degree courses.

education online (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Coursera the US online learning contributor is no less in power as millions of students enrol for their higher studies. The faculty of this online educational organization comes up with the most standard form of learning for the students that allows them to earn the best recognized degree. These days students are more relied on the online programs as it is the most convenient and feasible way of completing higher education.

Moreover it is evident that it has become very necessary that people are well qualified for good jobs but studying in good universities in colleges in the UK and US is very expensive. The creation of these online learning plinths has given education the form of simplicity and hence the aspirants can learn with ease from some of the most recognised universities and colleges in the UK and US.

Another British based online learning podium popular among the people of UK and Western Europe is Futurelearn. The people here prefer doing their online course from this arena as it provides one of the best kind of education to the students online. It has also been found that more than 2000,000 aspirants from all over the world have registered for the popular courses given by the institutions in Coursera. However the three most popular online learning providers in the US are

• edX
  
  
• Udacity
  
  
• Coursera

The online learning arenas are therefore rising in demand among the aspirants as it is the most feasible form of education for the students. Online education has now become an integral part of the academic platform.

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