Mooc test agreement between FutureLearn and Pearson
Chris Parr, Times Higher Education, 2015/05/11

There was a time long ago when I said "learning, and the assessment of learning, will diverge." The move toward independent standards based testing may distress instructors, whop feel testing and learning must be joined at the hip. But it won't persist. Today we see the rise of the independent testing agencies I predicted in 1998 (who says you can't predict the future?). I've mentioned before how pervasive Pearson has become in the testing space, and this agreement reinforces it. I have no doubt the good people at the Open University are looking with some concern at the direction their vaunted FutureLearn project has taken.

[Link] [Comment]

More for-profit colleges to resign the game
Bryan Alexander, 2015/05/11

The for-profit college market continues to slump with reports of additional closures this week. Bryan Alexander summarizes the reaction: "PBS wonders if we’re seeing a massive for-profit post-secondary “slump“.  ThinkProgress sees this as a bubble in mid-burst.  Mainstreet thinks of it as a collapsing house of cards." But hey, they're being run like businesses. Image: Consumerist.

[Link] [Comment]