RESOURCE: How Digital Technology Transforms the World of Online Education
Online education isn’t new, but due to the advancement of digital technology and increase in mobile penetration, online education platforms have transformed into unique experiences that not only provide easy access but also highly engaging real-time interaction. Realizing the opportunity of establishing thought leadership and pushing forward, more brands are starting to partner with online education platforms to drive perception and provide utility.
In 2006, Salman Khan — a graduate of both MIT and the Harvard Business School– started Khan Academy, a non-profit educational website – with a stated mission to “provide a high quality education for anyone, anywhere”. The website supplies a free online collection of more than 4,000 lecture video tutorials that cover a wide range of disciplines including mathematics, history, medicine, finance and more.
This initiative started the wave of Massive Open Online Courses MOOCs that disrupted the 200 years of conventional model of elite higher education, characterized by limited access and availability through the use of a variety of selective admission techniques. To the contrary, a MOOC is designed to enroll tens of thousands of students, and is open to anybody with Internet connection. In addition to traditional course materials such as videos, readings, and problem sets, MOOCs provide sophisticated interactive elements including real-time quiz and discussion to make sure students understand the material.
MOOCs are catching on. Khan Academy now has 10 million worldwide users with over 228 million lessons delivered online. edX, another online course platform founded by Harvard and MIT, have already enrolled a startling number of 370,000 students since its launch in the fall semester of 2012.
via How Digital Technology Transforms the World of Online Education | codeconstruct.
Written by Brian S McGowan, PhD
Brian is a research scientist and educational technologist. He helped transform Pfizer’s Medical Education Group and previously served in educational leadership roles at HealthAnswers, Inc.; Acumentis, LLC.; Cephalon; and Wyeth. He taught graduate medical education programs at Arcadia University for 10 years. Dr. McGowan recently authored the book "#socialQI: Simple Solutions for Improving Your Healthcare" and has been invited to speak internationally on the subject of information flow, technology, and learning in healthcare.
