eLearning, EdTech, Talent Development

During the past two presidential administrations, internet trolls have manipulated images of George Bush and Barack Obama talking on the phone to make it appear the device was upside-down. These would be some of the lighter instances of what a group at Arizona State University (ASU) calls weaponized narratives, or fake stories created to undermine an opponent. The ASU Weaponized Narrative Initiative focuses on these malicious initiatives of fake news, and on Tuesday, they announced a new partnership with Truepic, an image verifying app and platform, in the run up to the 2018 mid terms.

Despite recent scandals and school closings, Ohio parents continue to choose virtual charters for their kids. Over the weekend, the Dayton Daily News reported that Great River Connections Academy, the first virtual charter to open in the state in five years, began the current school year with an enrollment of 100 students in grades K-12. That figure has since ballooned to 430.

Many professionals take the New Year as an opportunity to resolve to learn something new. January marks the most popular month for numerous online learning sites and platforms. But what to learn? And how can you leverage that education in the marketplace? LinkedIn might be a good place to start. On January 1, LinkedIn provided some guidance with a rundown of the most in-demand professional skills. Their premium LinkedIn Learning courses will also be available for free throughout the month of January.

On Tuesday, the State of the States Report, which tracks school connectivity issues, along with EducationSuperHighway, released their annual report. The bad news is that the digital divide still separates 2.3 million American students from access to broadband internet. The good news is that 1.9 million of these learners live in just 62 districts across the country.

On October 1, the Harvard Extension School (HES) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced a collaboration that will offer learners a chance to pursue a Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) degree at Harvard Extension School after completing a MITx MicroMasters credential. The new program will focus on students currently pursuing MicroMasters credentials in Management, Sustainability, or Development Practice.

The Open University, currently the U.K.’s largest institution of higher education, is making a play to capture a bigger slice of the online distance learning pie. As reported by the Financial Times, the public university has hired IBIS Capital with the goal of raising £40 million (with an additional £10 million committed by OU) to boost its MOOC platform, FutureLearn.

In 2013, a group of educators from around the state of Vermont gathered for a series of workshops and meetings. The work at these gatherings was used to create new guiding legislation for schools in the Green Mountain State centered around personalized learning. Act 77 includes language that many wouldn’t have heard as frequently five years ago. It called for enhanced access to online and blended learning, dual enrollment in other programs, and early college courses. In addition, from grades 7 to 12, it stipulated that schools assess using proficiencies and that every learner establish a personalized learning pathway.

In an age of online education, eLearning, mLearning, and virtual education, most people no longer used the term “distance education.” After all, when most people think about term, what comes to mind is a bulky stack of photocopied articles arriving in the mail. Nevertheless, the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), in collaboration with Pearson and Tyton Partners, continue to measure the prevalence of distance education nationwide, and their 2018 study reveals that, whatever you call it, distance education continues to grow.

On September 28, TechCrunch reported that Udacity has cut 5% of its staff globally since August. The startup, which was once best known for offering MOOCs but is now primarily known for offering its trademarked Nanodegrees, is worth an estimated $1 billion. What remains unclear is why Udacity is trimming staff at this time.

LAIX Inc, the company that developed the English learning app Liulishuo, is hoping to disrupt the English language teaching and tutoring market with AI software intended to replace human instructors. Traders and investors see a good deal of promise in that model. Last Thursday, the company raised $71.9 million with their IPO.