Hack (Higher) Education

There's been plenty of buzz lately about the ways in which online video is poised to "disrupt" education -- whether it's via the video library of Khan Academy or through the video-based lectures and lessons offered by the flurry of new MOOCs (including Coursera, Udacity, and edX). But the news today out of MIT -- one of the founding members of the edX initiative -- is a very different sort of usage of video. It's a reality TV show (of sorts) with 14 freshmen in its 5.301 Introductory Lab Techniques course.

There have been several news items this week about textbooks -- not surprising since we're well into the back-to-school season. And despite all the hype and promise for innovation that digital content was meant to bring about, the news is pretty ordinary: it's mostly about cost savings. As such, are we being limited by our preconceived notions of what textbooks are meant to be?

I am getting so tired of all this MOOC frenzy, and so I apologize in advance for penning yet another article on the topic. But I'm starting two new Coursera classes tonight and I'm already grumpy about the whole process.

A few thoughts (and lingering questions) about Coursera's news today.

Summer vacations, weekends, and the lack thereof -- in and out of academia.

Some thoughts about Fidelis, an education startup that -- unlike a lot of the other ones that seem to be getting all the buzz -- isn't focused on the content of college, but on the community.

The promise of "badges" and other new forms of credentialing is that they'll help give a boost to those who do not have college diplomas or other forms of official recognition for their skills or knowledge. But will badges and the like really be able to live up to that promise?

My response to Joshua Kim's story yesterday about the lack of education-related news at Google IO.