edX offers a CS1 MOOC via Massachusetts community colleges
November 23, 2012 at 8:05 am 6 comments
Definitely the most interesting MOOC experiment I’ve seen in the latest batches — an edX CS1 aimed at community college students, and offered in a blended format. I very much hope that they do good assessment here. If MOOCs are going to serve as an alternative to face-to-face classes for the majority of students, they have to work at the community college level and have better than face-to-face retention rates. Retention (and completion) rates are too low already in community colleges. If MOOCs are going to be part of a solution, part of making education better, then they need to have high completion rates.
The fast-moving world of online education, where anyone can take classes at a world-famous university, is making a new foray into the community college system, with a personal twist.
In a partnership billed as the first of its kind, the online education provider edX plans to announce Monday that it has teamed up with two Massachusetts community colleges to offer computer science classes that will combine virtual and classroom instruction.
Beginning next term, Bunker Hill and MassBay community colleges will offer versions of an online MIT course that will be supplemented with on-campus classes. Those classes, to be taught by instructors at the two-year schools, will give students a chance to review the online material and receive personal help.
“This allows for more one-to-one faculty mentoring” than exclusively online courses, said John O’Donnell, president of MassBay Community College in Wellesley. O’Donnell added that the schools’ involvement allows edX “to test its course content on a broader range of students.”
Students will pay the same amount they would for a standard class.
via edX expands offerings to Mass. community colleges – Metro – The Boston Globe.
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: community college, CS1, edX, MOOCs.
Computing Ed Research - Guzdial's Take 
1.
mgozaydin | November 23, 2012 at 9:59 am
Thatv shows one can get credits and degrees from MOOCs.
I wish all colleges do the same ..
Since MOOC fees are so small, every course taken from MOOCs save 10 % of the cost at the college.
5 online courses means 50 % reduction .
When 50 % courses are online then there is more classrooms available, that means more students can be registered for offline . That means they will get onlines as well. Ten capacity increases by 100% without any investment
Plus quality at the colege increases .
Tuition halved + better quality + 100 % space increase
see my blog http://www.savecolleges.blogspot.com
2.
Mark Urban-Lurain | November 23, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Here’s a fun game to play with everything you read about MOOCs to help sort out the signal-to-noise ratio.
Substitute TEXTBOOK for ONLINE/MOOC COURSE to see how transformative the discussion of MOOCs is in that context.
Below are the results for above breakthrough announcement. I’ve yet to see an example that is any more exciting. Anyone have one?
————–
The fast-moving world of TEXTBOOKS, where anyone can READ TEXTBOOKS from a world-famous university, is making new foray into the community college system, with a personal twist.
In a partnership billed as the first of its kind, the PUBLISHER edX plans to announce Monday that it has teamed up with two Massachusetts community colleges to offer computer science classes that will combine TEXTBOOKS and classroom instruction.
Beginning next term, Bunker Hill and MassBay community colleges will offer versions of a MIT TEXTBOOK that will be supplemented with on-campus classes. Those classes, to be taught by instructors at the two-year schools, will give students a chance to review the TEXTBOOK and receive personal help.
“This allows for more one-to-one faculty mentoring” than exclusively READING TEXTBOOKS, said John O’Donnell, president of MassBay Community College in Wellesley. O’Donnell added that the schools’ involvement allows edX “to test its TEXTBOOK content on a broader range of students.”
Students will pay the same amount they would for a standard class.
3.
Bruce | November 24, 2012 at 4:12 pm
Now you can see which MOOC = MOOC no matter what the provider. http://www.coursebuffet.com
4.
MOOC game « Gas station without pumps | November 27, 2012 at 6:48 pm
[…] via edX offers a CS1 MOOC via Massachusetts community colleges « Computing Education Blog. […]
5.
Comparing MOOCs and books « Computing Education Blog | December 7, 2012 at 8:26 am
[…] and discussed in the comments to the recent blog post about Larry Cuban and described pointedly in a recent comment by Mark Urban-Lurain on this blog. A recent Chronicle of Higher Education commentary makes a similar […]
6.
Hannah | December 10, 2012 at 1:21 pm
In January Leuphana Digital School will start a new online course. People from all over the world will work in teams, connected via social media platforms, and design their ideal city of the 21st century. The architect Daniel Libeskind and other scholars will support the groups. Sounds great! Find more information on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LeuphanaDigitalSchool