Only four percent complete massive open online courses: setback or growing pains?
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have relatively few active users, and user engagement falls off dramatically, especially after the first one to two weeks weeks of a course. Ultimately, only a handful of users persist to the course end.
That's the gist of a recent study from a University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE) study. The study's authors, Laura Perna and Alan Ruby, analyzed the movement of a million users through sixteen Coursera courses offered by the University of Pennsylvania from June 2012 to June 2013.
I was struck yesterday, as I presented my themes around Digital Bank at a conference, that there’s one area I’ve discussed for a long time, but not blogged about much in-depth.
That is the collision of community with commerce via the sharing economy.
The most common reason why people don’t bike is the amount of energy needed to do it.
Developed by researchers at MIT, this device snaps onto your bike and helps you conserve energy. And it does it in an ingenuous, remarkable way.
It’s called the Copenhagen Wheel, and it stores the energy that you already use, and saves it for when you need it most. Hills become flat, and you no longer have to expel loads of energy to get around. Curious? Watch the video for more information.
What tech companies does the financial sector think are on top right now? TechCrunch discussed invitees ahead of the recent Goldman Sachs Private Internet Company Conference in Las Vegas in, “Here Are the Hottest Companies in Tech Right Now, According to Goldman Sachs.” Reporter Colleen Taylor reproduces for us the conference schedule, which apparently should have been kept on the down-low, but TechCrunch got a hold of somehow. She writes:
“The Goldman Sachs conference for private web firms is one of the most high-end and hush-hush events in the tech world. It’s essentially like the Hackers Conference or dinners at Sheryl Sandberg’s house or Fight Club, except for tech executives who are likely to soon go through an IPO or big M&A deal. If you’re on the invite list, you’re in pretty good company — and the first rule is that you don’t talk about it to others.
“[…] It bears mention that companies attending this conference have not necessarily engaged in an exclusive relationship with Goldman to manage their potential upcoming IPOs or M&A deals. In fact, most of them are free agents, fielding offers from any number of firms.”
Taylor points out a few notable absences, like Square, Dropbox, and Box. We, however, noticed something different: not a single search company is represented. Well, humph.
This is the latest in a trend that I have been writing about for almost 20 years: the over-medication of children. The treatment of children in the United States in so many ways is one of the most depressing things about our culture.
This is the latest in a string of reports concerning an international trend that holds profound implications for our future. Once again we are being told that the way we order the world is out of balance. We place profit ahead of wellness.
There seems little doubt that 9/11 was maneuvered to achieve some things while suppressing others. But, as usual, over time the truth leaks out. This is a conservative site, but the claims made in this report are documented.
We believe that America is a level playing field where hard work assures advancement, and that upward mobility is a fundamental American cultural trait. It is a lie as this report spells out. If you can't tell yourself the truth, you can't do much.
Only four percent complete massive open online courses: setback or growing pains?
