Hatching Ideas, and Companies, by the Dozens at M.I.T.

“Over the last 30 years, many universities — including M.I.T. — have set up licensing offices that oversee the transfer of scientific discoveries to companies. These offices have become a major pathway for universities seeking to put their research to practical use, not to mention add to their revenue streams.” This article profiles Dr. Robert Langer, whose MIT lab has been the catalyst for various medical innovations and entrepreneurial ventures. Seligson, Hannah. “Hatching Ideas, and Companies, by the Dozens at M.I.T.” The New York Times, 24 Nov. 2012. Read article »

Napster, Udacity, and the Academy

Clay Shirky, a writer who studies the social and economic effects of Internet technologies, responds to critiques of online education in this lengthy blog post. He states: "The possibility MOOCs hold out isn’t replacement; anything that could replace the traditional college experience would have to work like one, and the institutions best at working like a college are already colleges. The possibility MOOCs hold out is that the educational parts of education can be unbundled. MOOCs expand the audience for education to people ill-served or completely shut out from the current system..." Shirky, Clay. “Napster, Udacity, and the Academy.” Weblog, 12 Nov. 2012. Read article »

A Business Report on Digital Education

MIT Technology Review explores how the trillion-dollar education business may be impacted by different online offerings in the coming years. MOOCs, online textbooks, language learning through crowdsourcing, and webcam proctoring of exams are highlighted as potentially disruptive technologies. Multiple authors. "Business Report on Digital Education." MIT Technology Review, Jan./Feb. 2013, Vol. 16, No. 1, 61-68. Read article »

Did MOOCs Just Make Landfall? 10 Questions to Consider

This blog entry raises questions about the licensing potential of MOOCs in the wake of the recent partnership between Coursera and Antioch University to license Coursera courses for Antioch degree programs. The entry states that this partnership marks "something big – the market just pivoted." Catropa, Dayna and Margaret Andrews. "Did MOOCs Just Make Landfall? 10 Questions to Consider." Inside Higher Ed, 31 Oct. 2012. Read article »

Need and Want

“In recent months, several colleges and universities have moved away from, or discussed moving away from, need-blind admissions (in which a student’s financial need isn’t considered in the admissions process) in favor of shoring up institutional finances, meeting students’ full demonstrated need, or limiting the debt load of graduates.” “Though the number of colleges that have publicly discussed such a policy change is small, many administrators in the sector say that such concerns are on the minds of more and more administrators, particularly as colleges face market and political pressure on the rate of tuition growth, as endowment returns fail to reach pre-recession levels, and as an uneasy stock market makes donors uneasy.” Kiley, Kevin. “Need and Want.” Inside Higher Ed, 30 Oct. 2012. Read article »

A True Elite Education at Half the Price

There may be no brand more venerable than the Ivy League. Individually and together, its eight members connote the pinnacle of scholarship. No university has emerged to challenge its intellectual supremacy in more than a century. On that timeline, Caltech, founded in 1891, is a start-up. But now there is the Minerva Project. Buchanan, Leigh. "A True Elite Education at Half the Price." Inc., 30 Oct. 2012. Read article »