Online Courses

Massive Open Online Courses, dubbed MOOCs by most educators, have become the buzzword for higher education. Providing free, online education on a global, rather than a campus, level has serious implications for the world of higher education overall. Despite the obvious benefits of MOOCs (free, readily available, etc.), many educators are skeptical of their actual value in the real college experience. How exactly did MOOCs make it on the scene and what does their future hold? The answers may depend on who you ask.

Anatomy of a MOOC

According to the Washington Post, a Massive Open Online Course is a college-level class offered for free online. The courses are available to anyone with an Internet connection, whether or not they are currently enrolled in a college or university. The classes allow students to study and learn on their own time, and at any location, unlike traditional courses that follow a set schedule in a classroom.

MOOCs have garnered interest from a number of institutions of higher education, particularly for-profit schools and newer startups in online education. Coursera, one of the best-known companies offering MOOCs at this time, has partnered with institutions like Harvard and Stanford to bring the MOOC model to those prestigious college campuses. Other MOOC companies, including Udacity and edX, are also busy signing up college partners for their online courses.

This video explains MOOC.

What’s

A Degree Program sans Textbooks? One Community College Says Yes

College is expensive, but at least one community college is looking for a way to help students cut the cost of a college education. Tidewater Community College in Virginia has announced plans to debut a textbook-free degree program next year. College officials estimate the pilot program could cut the cost of the degree by as much as a third by the time graduation rolls around.

Learning Business without Textbooks

The Richmond-Times Dispatch reports that Tidewater Community College will be offering an associate of science degree in business administration this fall that will require no textbook purchases throughout the program. Instead, students will use open-source educational materials, known as OER, which they will be able to access through the school’s learning management system on smartphones or tablets. The college will be the first to offer am an academic and finan complete degree program without any textbooks required.

The program was developed as a partnership between Tidewater Community College and Lumen Learning, an Oregon-based company that helps schools across the country incorporate OERs into their learning plans. The founder of Lumen, David Wiley, has advocated for open education for the past 15 years, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. However, no school has been open to the concept of a completely textbook-free degree program until now.

“It’s frustrating to watch these resources keep getting created, and then watch nobody use them and the students

Community colleges strive to operate as institutions of higher education that meet the needs of many today. Convenience and flexibility are the watchwords of these schools that host adult students with a wide range of family and professional responsibilities. To achieve those goals, many community colleges across the country are increasing their selection of online and hybrid courses, allowing many busy students to get in at least a portion of their study time from the comfort of home. As the demand for online coursework continues to grow, community colleges grapple with how to provide ultimate flexibility to students without sacrificing instructional quality or completion rates to give students the education options they are asking for.

A Look Back at The Growth of Online Options

Historically, online courses have been increasing at community colleges nationwide since 2005, according to a recent report at Santa Ynez Valley News. The publication cites a report, titled, “Going the Distance: Online Education in the United States, 2011,” which showed that 32 percent more students took an online course during the fall 2011 term. That means more than 6.7 million community college students took advantage of online opportunities during that semester alone.

The number marks a significant increase in online courses from the same semester in 2008 when just 4.6 million students at community colleges took an online course. The 2008 numbers were a 17-percent increase from 2007, suggesting an uptick in the demand for online courses overall. In fact,

Are you looking for a new career but don’t have time to re-train? Think again. Community colleges nationwide offer complete online degree and certification programs that allow you to hone your skills or train for a new profession right from home. These online programs are flexible without sacrificing the quality training you need to advance professionally. Whether your interests lean toward education, law enforcement, business, or manufacturing, check out these online degree programs that could launch you on a whole new career path.

Forensic Studies

Hudson Valley Community College offers an online degree program in forensic studies for those who want to learn the finer points of this area of criminal justice. The program is available fully online and is designed specifically for students interested in transferring to a four-year program after earning an associate degree. The school has arranged for a seamless transfer process with John Jay College of Criminal Justice, one of the country's top institutions for forensic science training. Coursework will include interesting subjects like biology, criminal investigation, and forensic evidence.

Teaching Assistant

Another online option at Hudson Valley is training toward certification as a teaching assistant in New York. The 18-hour course is available fully online, in the classroom, or as a hybrid program combining both online and classroom learning. The program is focused on training educators to manage a diverse body of students in the

Students wishing to pursue higher education will now have another, more convenient option, thanks to a new alliance announced by New York community colleges. The new distance learning alliance involves six New York community colleges offering 100 percent online degree programs in various fields. The coalition may be just the beginning of a more significant movement to make prospective students aware of their distance options available through local community colleges nationwide.

Online Alliance Expands Degree Choices

The Corning Leader reports that the State University of New York (SUNY) has announced an online learning alliance that will offer 34 associate degree programs through six state community colleges. The new coalition, dubbed the Online Western New York Learning Alliance (OWL), includes Corning, Erie, Finger Lakes, Genesee, Jamestown, and Monroe Community Colleges.

Students can complete the new degree programs online, eliminating time and location constraints they might have battled in the past. According to the Democrat and Chronicle, the movement is to better compete with for-profit schools that offer online programs for a higher price and often of lesser quality. The alliance provides a more significant presence for online education through community colleges in the area, hoping to attract more students and increase college completion rates overall.

“We have created this alliance so that [students] can be better informed about what we have,” Terry Keys, assistant vice president for educational technology services at Monroe Community College, told the Democrat