MOOCs have made big headlines this year, but what have the biggest headlines been?
This year some real money poured into MOOCs. Big-name universities pledged to move courses online, and a few big names dropped out of online course arrangements. From the blossoming of a prominent partnership to its screeching halt, here are six of the biggest developments of the year so far in the world of MOOCs.
JAN. 15: SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY PARTNERS WITH UDACITY
The partnership between a California public university and online education company Udacity began on a note of hope: California Gov. Jerry Brown personally championed the partnership and said it was one solution to crowding in college classes. The idea was to provide remedial classes to students most at risk of dropping out. As part of the deal, a grant allowed the school to study how well the program worked. (Fast forward to July: There are, at a minimum, some bumps in the road.)
FEB. 20: UNIVERSITIES ABROAD JOIN ONLINE PARTNERSHIPS
Coursera and edX expanded their reach globally in announcing partnerships with universities in Canada, Mexico, Europe, China, Singapore, Japan and Australia. The deals brought Coursera’s university partners to a total of 62, while edX’s grew to 12 partners. Among the big-name universities signing up for MOOC partnerships: Rice University, McGill in Canada, École Polytechnique in France, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. With the additional deals, Coursera began offering courses in Spanish, Chinese, French and Italian.
MAY 1: DUKE UNIVERSITY, OTHERS WITHDRAW FROM ONLINE COURSE GROUP
Duke’s foray into online education was announced last summer and featured such marquee names as Stanford, the University of Michigan, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania also announcing that they would join Coursera in offering online courses. At the time, Duke’s provost was quoted as saying “It’s an experiment. Nobody knows how these things are actually going to work long term.” Less than a year later, the school announced that it was pulling its participation because of faculty objections. Duke wasn’t alone. The MOOC that announced the collaboration — 2U — initially listed 10 participants, including Vanderbilt and Wake Forest, but those two schools and two others won’t offer online classes through the partnership this year either.
MAY 15: GEORGIA TECH OFFERS ONLINE MASTER'S DEGREE AT A STEEP DISCOUNT
Udacity partnered with its first graduate program to offer not just classes, but an entire master’s degree program online and it did it at a relative bargain-basement price: The program is being offered for less than $7,000. How does that compare to regular out-of-state tuition? That would cost you $26,860. (The online program is being subsidized by AT&T.) For now, the program’s lofty ambitions are just that — ambitions. The first students are scheduled to begin in fall 2014.
JULY 10: COURSERA RAISES $43 MILLION IN VENTURE CAPITAL
With more than 4 million student signups under its belt, Coursera tripled its available cash when it raised $43 million in venture capital. While still allowing its free enrollments for the masses, the company’s Signature Track program has proven a growing source of revenue. The plan, which verifies student identity and achievements, recorded more than $600,000 in revenue in the quarter ending June 30, up from $220,000 the previous quarter. The sources of the latest funding hinted at greater global reach for the company; they included a Russian entrepreneur and the World Bank’s investment arm. What’s next? Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller said a public stock offering was almost certainly in the offing.
July 19: SAN JOSE STATE PUTS UDACITY PARTNERSHIP ON PAUSE
The headline-grabbing partnership that started off the year came to a screeching halt in July when San Jose State decided not to offer courses with Udacity in September. The school had been conducting joint classes as a trial. Some data suggested the classes were plagued with low pass rates, but both sides said that was not necessarily the reason for the pause and emphasized that the stoppage was temporary. San Jose State’s provost said that the university has not suspended its partnership with Udacity and will probably create courses with the company by next spring.
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