December 29th, 2011 by Robin Green

Since this is the last blog entry for 2011, I thought it apropos to wax optimistic for the new year, in the hope that it will bring positive changes to the way we educate and train ourselves to make the most of our short time here on Earth.

A Personalized Approach is Key

Right now, things are not looking so rosy from an educational perspective in the United States. According to Stanford professor Daphne Koller’s essay, published earlier this month in the New York Times, the U.S. currently ranks 55th in quality when it comes to elementary math and science education, 20th in high school completion and 27th in the fraction of college students receiving undergraduate degrees in science and engineering. With numbers like those, we should be worried; very worried.

Prof. Koller is part of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Stanford, so naturally she’s a proponent of investing more in forms of education that are technologically advanced. She’s also a big believer in personalizing the educational experiences of students, rather than continuing on the tradition of the “standard lecture environment.” She cites the success of the Khan Academy, a site that offers short video lessons, many of them with graded exercises, along with her own institution’s offering of online computer science courses, which garnered an enrollment of 300,000 students. That was only in the first four weeks of their availability.

According to Koller, “First, we see that video content is engaging to students - many of whom grew up on YouTube - and easy for instructors to produce. Second, presenting content in short, bite-size chunks, rather than monolithic hour-long lectures is better suited to students’ attention spans, and provides the flexibility to tailor instruction to individual students. Those with less preparation can dwell longer on background material without feeling uncomfortable about how they might be perceived by classmates or the instructor. Conversely, students with an aptitude for the topic can move ahead rapidly, avoiding boredom and disengagement.” Boiled down, Koller is suggesting that education become more like an individualized tutoring session, rather than a one-size-fits-all proposition.

What Works in the Classroom Can Work in the Boardroom

Koller’s personalized approach can work equally as well when it comes to corporate training. What college students call “lectures,” employees refer to as “training seminars.” Both can be equally disengaging and difficult to manage. We know what the solution is: more online education and training to keep learners engaged and costs in line. Students can work at their own pace from anywhere, as can employees who need to upgrade or learn new skills. The important thing to remember is that the world is our classroom, and technology can help us make it a more effective, engaging one.

Here’s hoping 2012 will usher in a brighter future for online education and training. Happy New Year!

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Coggno.com is a leading provider of high quality Learning Management System platforms.

December 22nd, 2011 by Robin Green

You don’t often expect comedy to do anything other than make you laugh. But sometimes, there’s a lesson in laughter, and leave it to comedian Louis C.K. to teach all us LMS geeks a very valuable lesson.

Laugh and Listen

Stand-up comedy is a solitary endeavor - just the comedian and his or her microphone and a roomful of people who buy tickets, abide by the two drink minimum and expect to be compensated with side-splitting laughter. Louis C.K. has been providing that, and making a darn good living at it; and recently, he decided to cut out middleman distributors by selling his latest comedy special directly to his fans via a $5.00 download on his Web site. Fans of the comedian didn’t have to subscribe to a premium cable channel or shell out big bucks for pay-per-view to see his latest special, “Louis C.K. Live at the Beacon Theater.” All they had to do was fork over a fin via PayPal to download it and watch it as many times as they want.

As of last week, the show was downloaded 175,000 times with 200,000 anticipated, totaling $1 million. The show’s production ran $250,000.00, so that’s a cool $750,000 in profit. No middlemen or distributors got a chunk of that; Louis C.K. gets to keep it all.He proclaimed the venture a success, telling his fans on his Web site, “I’m really glad I put this out here this way, and I’ll certainly do it again. If the trend continues with sales on this video, my goal is that I can reach the point where when I sell anything, be it videos, CDs or tickets to my tours, I’ll do it here [his Web site] and I’ll continue to follow the model of keeping my prices as far down as possible, not over marketing to you, keeping as few people between you and me as possible in the transaction.” He may have ticked off many in the entertainment world, but Louis C.K. used himself as an incubator to teach us something we all needed to learn.

Distribute Thyself

Content creators, I hope you’ve been paying attention. What Louis C.K. did on his Web site is exactly what Coggno provides to creators of online learning and training. We give you the ability to upload and sell your content without all the hassles usually associated with doing so. Our Market Place gives you the ability to expose your course offerings on thousands of different Web sites, reaching millions of potential customers. You control pricing, accessibility and copyright; you can even create coupons and offer discounts on your content. Plus, you also get to keep track of how many times your content was purchased, and even how you get paid for it. You have complete and total autonomy to distribute at will. After all, it is your content. And that’s no joke.

Take a tour of our sales capabilities and we’re sure you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.

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Coggno.com is a leading provider of high quality Learning Management Systems

December 21st, 2011 by Robin Green

Prospective College Students Need to Watch Their Backs When Utilizing Social Media

Colleges and universities are getting hip to the overwhelming percentage of prospective students who use social media as their most common form of communication. The rising trend among admissions offices is to not only consider students based on their applications, SAT scores and extracurricular activities, but on what they post to the most popular social media sites.

Let’s face it: many of us have been burned by one thing or another we’ve tweeted about, posted to our Facebook pages or proudly displayed on YouTube. It can be something as innocuous as a comment on someone’s post, a blog entry we wrote and disseminated to as many sites as we could think to, or maybe it was that drunken photo we took when our parents let us indulge in a fruity cocktail or two at that tropical resort. Regardless of the topic or the situation, students must remember that admissions offices are keeping an eye on them now in more ways than one. So, play it safe and keep it clean when it comes to what you share with the electronic world.

Take a good look at this information graphic and make note of some interesting statistics.

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December 15th, 2011 by Robin Green

OK, I’d be lying if I said I never “cheated” in some capacity, but honestly, never in school. Education is too important, and these days, too hard to  come by with exorbitant tuition costs and shrinking government funding. Even so, I’m not at all surprised that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently uncovered some dubious activity at some of the most popular online and bricks-and-mortar for-profit schools.

It’s Just Me and My Computer. Who Cares?

Sure, the temptation to tap dance around a few rules and regulations is greater when there isn’t an actual teacher standing in front of you, but I’d love for some of these for-profit institutions to explain how 12 of 15 students managed to be granted enrollment to some of these schools (the report did not name names) with fictitious diplomas from home-school programs that did not exist, and from high schools that had been shuttered.

In addition to enrollment inconsistencies, instructors were found to be turning “blind” eyes to repeated acts of plagiarism as well as not adhering to grading policies. More than one instructor at four different schools was guilty of this, and still another allowed a failing student to take advantage of a glitch in testing software that allowed students to find the correct answers while taking quizzes.

Despite these embarrassments, instructors at six institutions did do the right thing by correctly following procedures and offering help to students outside the classroom.

Senate Education Committee Chair Requested Investigation

Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, requested the GOA investigation due to growing concern about the for-profit schools that have become so popular. The biggest ones, the University of Phoenix, Kaplan University and Education Management Corporation (EDMC) were not mentioned specifically, but all it takes is a few moments of online surfing to get deluged with ads for these schools.

“The findings of this report underscore the need for stronger oversight of the for-profit education industry in order to ensure that students and taxpayers are getting a good value for their investment in these schools,” Sen. Harkin said.

This report comes just one year after the GOA targeted 15 online schools for deceptive marketing practices. The agency used undercover “shoppers” posing as prospective applicants both online and in person.

The lesson we learn? Cheating is never worth it; eventually, you will get caught.

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Coggno.com is a premier LMS software platform for both publishers of educational content and learners

December 8th, 2011 by Robin Green

When an organization makes the decision to adopt an LMS platform, it can be a costly endeavor. While the investment is worthwhile, it can come with many unanticipated headaches.

In the spirit of starting fresh in the coming year, we’d like to give you a few reasons why you should consider going with an Learning Management System platform from Coggno, as opposed to one of our competitors. Pay close attention, because you’ll be seeing the words “no cost,” “free,” and “complimentary” much more than you will anywhere else.

Think of Coggno as Your LMS Alternative to TiVo

How did we manage to survive before the invention of the Digital Video Recorder (DVR)? Many of us remember the days of futzing with our VCRs to get them to record our favorite programs so we could watch them at our convenience. How many times did your VCR fail to record when you wanted it to, despite your best efforts to program it correctly? I know; don’t even go there. Now, most of us have DVRs that belong to the cable and satellite companies that provide the services we subscribe to. And, we know how much competition there is for our business; you’re most likely not paying for your DVR because it was provided by the cable or satellite company for free in order to obtain your business.

Think of Coggno’s LMS platform as your training DVR: you get to pick and choose the online courses you need to ensure your employees are learning what they need to know. Our Web site is your “program guide.” With the click of a mouse you download exactly what you want and nothing you don’t. We provide all the support you need to allow your employees to accomplish their training without the hassles and extra costs of additional software, support, administration or hosting. You get it all included in the cost of the coursework.

Coggno Provides the Ability to Create a Customized, Private LMS

Many other LMS providers are guilty of attempting to jam the square peg in the round hole. At Coggno, we give you the ability to create an LMS platform that will serve your organization’s unique agenda. We set up your complimentary platform which you are free to brand and even create a unique Web site for. With that comes the ability to create learning groups, obtain customized reporting and facilitate distribution of coursework. All this is provided at no extra charge beyond the fees for course content. The best part is, your employees can access the materials from wherever they are, whenever it is convenient for them - just like the shows you record on a DVR.

If you’re still on the fence about LMS, we invite you to take a tour of ours. It’s free!

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Coggno.com is a premier LMS software platform for both publishers of educational content and learners

December 1st, 2011 by Robin Green

We’d be kidding ourselves if we didn’t admit to raising our eyebrows at the notion of home-schooling children. But, what about the idea of an online high school? What if we said that high school was being run by Stanford University? Well, the eyebrows are going up anyway, but the clout carried by the school that regularly produces Nobel laureates and technological wizards isn’t just running any old online high school.

Last month, the New York Times reported on Stanford’s new venture, which has quietly been operating under the radar for the past five years.  Little did anyone know that the online program was turning out graduates who were themselves getting accepted to top-flight schools just like the one that issued their high school diplomas. Now, other universities are considering coming on board to educate high school students online.

A Significant Development

Although online education is not yet taken seriously by many, Bill Tucker, the director of Education Sector, a non-partisan policy institute, feels this development is “significant,” especially because it is associated with such a highly respected institution. “One of the country’s most prestigious universities feels comfortable putting its considerable prestige and brand behind it,” he said. Prestige and reputation have a lot to do with perception, especially when the program costs $15,000.00 per year.

Other universities are throwing their hats into the online high school ring, although none with as much caché as Stanford. The University of Nebraska, Lincoln and the University of Missouri have awarded a few hundred online high school diplomas over the past few years, and The George Washington University Online High School opened its “doors” in January. Middlebury College worked with a not-for-profit company to develop online language courses for 50,000 students, but the school is not ready to go the Stanford route just yet. “The risk is great and I’d be silly if I said otherwise,” Middlebury College president Ronald Liebowitz said.

Stanford Aiming to Be Online Destination for Elite Students

While the market for online education at the high school level is still in its infancy, Stanford is already angling to be the premier destination for students who are motivated to excel. Of the school’s 75 graduates, 69 of them have gone on to enroll at four year colleges. Eight of them went on to take courses at Stanford, and 25 others are at Ivy League schools and other elite institutions. John Etchemendy, Stanford’s provost said, “I don’t see this for a second competing with quality high schools, but for some people this could be an education they can’t get. I’m quite impressed with it, and they are clearly attracting capable students. It’s something that does make me comfortable making Stanford’s ownership of it more prominent.

An Early Start Can Influence the Future

The earlier our kids get comfortable with online education, the better prepared they’ll be when they enter the workforce. The problem is, how do us older folks increase our comfort level with the medium? When we think about all the technological advances we utilize now, we must remember that today’s high schoolers have have them all their lives. If we can tuck away our memories of what life was like before the Internet and the smart phone and the tablet computer, we can allow ourselves to embrace advances in online learning. Hey - we had to learn “new” math to help our kids with their homework; how would it look if would couldn’t cut it in an online classroom?

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Coggno.com is a leading provider of high quality Learning Management System platforms.