As e-learning becomes more widespread, gaining in popularity and reaching levels equal to conventional university classes, magnificent developments are expected. Here are some 2013 e-learning developments:
1. More e-courses and languages available from Coursera.
Up until now, many people regarded the Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) as often being rather elitist, featuring specific disciplines and conspicuously emphasizing certain schools and colleges over others. As a result, distant learning students who wanted to learn through MOOC platforms were sometimes disappointed by being given very limited choices. Coursera, an online education portal featuring thousands of course from top-notch universities, is now expanding its list of courses and universities it collaborates with, in an effort to provide a more inclusive, representative, and realistic learning platform that has the potential to accommodate any student’s needs.
In fact, Coursera is said to have an agreement with about 29 educational institutions and universities across the world so far in order to provide its users with relevant courses, in their native language, while also expanding considerably the sheer number and variety of disciplines available for e-learning.
This development is expected to be copied by other major MOOC online platforms, as the competition in providing higher-education e-learning becomes more fierce.
2. Robot technology at the service of teachers.
If you ever felt that your 4th grade books where somewhat childish, but suddenly your 6th grade ones were more suited to be used at the college level, you’re not alone. A growing concern over how books and syllabi are chosen for each educational level is what spurred the introduction of a recommendations database which teachers and other education experts can consult for the most appropriate books, providing options that specific student groups at various age and learning levels can benefit from.
This idea by the Washington startup company Unbound Concepts has the potential of revolutionizing learning and e-learning, as it will allow interested education experts and learners themselves access to relevant educational content, be it books or an entire instructional syllabus.
3. Google helping you build your own course.
Google already has a reputation for being flexible when it comes to education and learning, and it’s now working towards allowing users to build their own courses with a new software called Course-Builder. Although still at an experimental stage, Course-Builder was the same software Google itself used to provide its own e-learning offering, a course called “Power Searching With Google.”
This new project by Google seeks to establish itself as the number one choice for educators who wish to create courses and enhance their online education presence. With e-learning moving into mainstream education even in universities, using technology like this to work towards “electronic tenure” is a growing trend in higher education.
4. E-learning getting credit equivalency and status.
You might say you’re taking an e-course for your own sake, but having it officially acknowledged as a proper credit-awarding course wouldn’t hurt, would it?
A California senator recently proposed that public universities ought to acknowledge credits gained from online courses as equivalent to conventional college credits. This proposal for certifying e-learning as being as good as on-site learning does worry some over the tendency to entirely forsake college attendance. However, academics suggest it can only help promote learning further. The rationale is that it will allow users otherwise not able to get involved with education (either in view of money or location), and give them free access to knowledge. This makes education truly democratic and widely available. Needless to say, committees and different assessment panels will need to take up the project of evaluating e-learning courses and deciding which ones deserve certification and credit equivalency and which don’t.
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