The chronicle
COurSerA
www.dukechronicle.com from page 2
revenue. now, the company makes money from students only when they sign up to receive a certificate, for which they are charged $50 to $100, levin said. “only a small fraction are taking up certificates, but we think over time that fraction could grow,” he said, adding the company was considering other ways of making money. The goal is for the majority of people who complete courses to pay for certificates and be able to use the credentials to find jobs, ng said. “one change we’re starting to see is the broader acceptance of Mooc credentials,” he said. “We’re starting to see employers request Moocs in job descriptions.” For the universities and professors offering Moocs, “the jury is still out,” said David chernoff, an astronomy professor at cornell University who is teaching a Mooc called “relativity and Astrophysics” via the edX platform. “everyone is in a guessing game right now, trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t work,” chernoff said. one thing that’s clear is “it’s a huge amount of time,” he said. “it’s much more time consuming than developing a class for normal semester meetings.” Moocs have drawn criticism for
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their low completion rates, and their difficulty in reaching poor students. Professors also have concerns about how they are paid. “like any new thing, there’s a wave of hype then there’s a wave of reaction,” levin said. Many of the people who enroll in classes are sampling them without any intention of finishing them, levin said. “Signing up to take the class is like applying to college,” he said. “The completion question is like the number of people who graduate from Yale, compared to the applicant rate.” coursera shares the money it makes from certificates with the universities, levin said, who then can compensate professors. At Yale, the money was divided according to the formula the university used for patent revenue, he said. A survey last year, written up in the journal nature found that most people taking free online courses worldwide are among the best-educated and wealthiest of the population, casting doubt on the idea that the classes will benefit the disadvantaged. For cornell, one of the motivations in joining edX was simply not to be left behind on a new innovation, chernoff said. “This will be an experiment, like a lot of things on the internet,” chernoff said. “We’ll just have to see.”
Got a sweet pic? Post it on Instagram or tweet it with #chronsnap. Best photos will appear in the paper next week.
EMMA LOEWE/THE CHRONICLE
Muhammad Habib, an Arabic professor in the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies department at Duke, led a calligraphy lesson in the Divinity School Tuesday as part of the Duke Islam Awareness Month.
Spanish 311
(SP204 & SP303) (2 Credits)
Spanish 311 (SP204 SP303) (2 Carolina credits) Food Production and Consumption in&North Food Production and Consumption in North Summer Session I and Peru: A Comparative Approach Carolina and Peru: A Comparative Approach
you need to know: SummerWhat Session 1 Application deadline:
What you need to know: February 7, 2014 Apply now!
Equivalent to courses
and SP303 Equivalent SP204 to courses Ideal for students from SP204 and SP303 SP203 Active use and study of
Ideal for students Spanish from SP203 Cultural studies
Impact of globalization
Active useFood and studyand production consumption of Spanish
Environmental and labor
issues Cultural Studies
Culinary arts
Impact of Trips Globalization to farms, markets, and restaurants
Collaborative and Food production and individual research consumption projects
Environmental and labor issues If you would like to take SP311 this summer, please Culinary arts
If you would like to take SP311 this summer,
send an email by January 31st contact: to: please
Melissa Simmermeyer for a Melissa Simmermeyer (simmerme@duke.edu) or William J. (simmerme@duke.edu) Villalba (villalwj@duke.edu) Trips to farms, markets, permission number if you are currently enrolled in and restaurants or have already completed Spanish 203 at Duke, or The course includes: Additional information: Collaborative Students must have completed SP203 at Duke or have the equivalent level of Spanish and complete an interview to ensure to NC farms, markets, and andTrips individual Pat McPherson (919.684.8628) to schedule a appropriate placement. This course is the equivalent of Spanish 204 Peruvian restaurants, a cooking research projects and 303 combined in with one 6-‐week session J. (2 Villalba credits). It is an placement interview William intensive language and culture course for intermediate students class, and a capstone research who want to progress to the advanced level. The course meets daily (villalwj@duke.edu) project and presentation on food production and consumption.
Additional information:
during Summer Session I and fulfills the Duke language requirement.
Additional Information:
Students must have completed SP203 at Duke or have the equivalent level of Spanish and complete an interview to ensure appropriate placement. This course is the equivalent of Spanish 204 and 303 combined in one 6-week session (2 credits). It is an intensive language and culture course for intermediate students who want to progress to the advanced level. The course meets daily during Summer Session 1 and fulfills the Duke language requirement.