Online learning

The Economist reports on an MIT study on the effectiveness of massive open online courses or MOOCs. Researchers found that MOOC participants “learned slightly more than they typically would in lectures.”

Barney Thompson writes for the Financial Times about how massive open online courses (MOOCs), such as those offered by edX, are changing higher education. “We offer 220 subjects in everything from law to medicine, humanities, arts, music, computer science and engineering,” says edX CEO and MIT Professor Anant Agarwal. 

Raghu Dhara of The Harvard Crimson writes that a new study by researchers from MIT, Harvard and Tsinghua University found that online courses are just as effective as traditional university courses. The study found that “the ‘learning gain’ of a group of MOOC students was comparable to that achieved by students enrolled in the same course at MIT,” explains Dhara. 

Issie Lapowsky writes for Wired about an MIT study that demonstrated that students who completed a physics class online learned as effectively as those who took it in person. “What’s more, the results were the same, regardless of how well the online students scored on a pre-test before taking the class,” Lapowsky writes.

Keith Wagstaff of NBC News reports on a new MIT study, which found that students who complete online courses end up with the same learning gains as those who attend class in person. “That goes for people of all education levels, from those with a high school diploma to those with a Ph.D.,” writes Wagstaff. 

Nick Anderson of The Washington Post writes about a new study showing that online courses can be an effective way to teach. “Students in a free online physics course from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrated roughly equal learning gains if they stuck with the class,” writes Anderson.

Amy Robinson of Scientific American presents the first installment of a new series on emerging neurotechnologies, which will feature lectures and lab tours from MIT’s Center for Neurobiological Engineering. “The more we know about the brain, the better we are equipped to prevent dysfunctions and fix it when things go wrong,” writes Robinson.

MIT researchers found that students who spent significant time doing coursework in massive open online courses (MOOCs) showed evidence of learning regardless of educational background, writes Steve Kolowich for The Chronicle of Higher Education. “This certainly should allay concerns that less-well-prepared students cannot learn in MOOCs,” the researchers wrote.

Brooke Borel profiles edX CEO Professor Anant Agarwal for Popular Science. Agarwal recalls what the experience of failing his physics midterm as a college freshman taught him about how the quality of education varies throughout the world.

In a piece for Forbes, George Anders writes about how edX, the online-education initiative run by MIT and Harvard, is expanding its curriculum to offer, “26 new classes aimed at high-school students who are hoping to master some advanced-placement subjects before heading off to college.”

“The online-learning collaborative edX, a partnership between Harvard University and MIT, is expanding its reach beyond higher education and will begin offering courses geared toward high school students,” reports Matt Rocheleau for The Boston Globe. “EdX plans to unveil its first free classes for younger students Wednesday.” 

Jeffrey R. Young writes for The Chronicle of Higher Education about the final report released by the Institute-wide Task Force on the Future of MIT Education. Speaking of the Task Force’s recommendation to make education more modular, co-chair Sanjay Sarma says, “we see modularity becoming a key part of on-campus experiences as well.”

“[A]s an educational researcher, I believe that MIT has captured, perhaps uniquely, both the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for colleges and universities,” writes Dan Butin for The Huffington Post about a new report released by the MIT Task Force on the Future of MIT Education.

Bloomberg News reporter Kelly Blessing writes about the final report produced by the Institute-wide Task Force on the Future of MIT Education. “The Task Force encourages MIT to evaluate possibilities to achieve increases in undergraduate class size so that more students can experience the rich magic of an MIT residential education,” the Task Force wrote in their report. 

Katie Couric speaks with Prof. Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX, about the growing influence of online education and the opportunities edX has created for people around the world. EdX is a not-for-profit venture in online learning launched jointly by MIT and Harvard in May 2012.