Coursera Course Catalog
Unattributed, Gas station without pumps, August 1, 2012.

This seems right: "Coursera, Udacity, and other MOOC providers are riding a wave of venture capital, but I’ve yet to hear a coherent business plan from any of them.  At some point the capital will run out, and unless some way of paying the developers and maintainers is found (Coursera has 20 people on their “team page”), the companies will collapse. I suggest that people who want to participate in one of the MOOCs do so in the next year, because it is not clear whether the idea will find a way to become self-sustaining or not.  Right now, the courses are free because they are heavily subsidized.  That subsidy is unlike to last long."

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Traditional and Online Courses]

The “My Mobile” Handbook
Katja Friedrich, et.al., European Union, Education and Culture DG, August 1, 2012.

Online book about mobile learning. "Through the mutual development of a shared understanding of “mobile learning”, assessment based on practical learning scenarios, and the dissemination of examples of best practice with the aid of this handbook, the project MyMobile supports the idea of lifelong learning as a key concept of the European information society.

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Books, Project Based Learning, European Union, Assessment, Online Learning]

Learning From Lyrics
Various Authors, Website, August 1, 2012.

I think of course that writing songs is a better learning experience than merely singing them, while singing them is better than merely listening to them. That said, the idea of linking music and learning is inherently a good one. This site, Learning from Lyrics, is an "arts integration program [that] helps young citizens to develop critical skills, essential for participation in a modern democratic society." Love the retro 1996 web site design. I definitely do not like the Bob Marley quote in idiomatic English on the front page, and the abortion-related song selections raised a red flag for me. Thanks Johnathan Chase who connected through LinkedIn.

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Linking and Deep Linking, Experience]

The Open Academy
Various Authors, Website, August 1, 2012.

I received an email from "Adoravelle Tay from the University of Cardiff" promoting the Open Academy. The website appears to collect videos from online learning projects such as Oxford, Yale and Khan Academy. The courses are presented sorted by academic subject. I must say, it has been a number of years since I've seen the 'picture-of-a-campus' motif used on a home page.

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Project Based Learning, Video, Online Learning, Academia]