Princeton U

Inside Higher Ed today points to an article in the Princeton University student newspaper in which it is reported that faculty there are interested in having their own MOOC rather than relying on Coursera (with which Princeton has an affiliation). Members of the faculty discussed the possibility of creating a University-specific alternative to Coursera, as well as the proposed creation of a new committee to oversee the continuation of online courses, on Monday at the December faculty meeting. Philosophy professor Gideon Rosen noted that the University is free to explore options outside of Coursera in order to avoid conflicts of…

William Bowen, the former president of Princeton, is generally a proponent of online education as a potential cost saver.  But in Inside Higher Ed today, there is a profile of Bowen and his views and it includes the following cautionary note: Bowen… takes the hype about MOOCs with a grain of salt. “Missionaries don’t particularly want their methods tested – they are missionaries after all,” he warned. The missionaries include MOOC providers, the media, administrators and business-minded higher education policymakers, Bowen writes. “There is a real danger that the media frenzy associated with MOOCs will lead some colleges and universities…

Many faculty have websites with access to recent papers they have written available for free – some published; some in working paper stage. The impression of yours truly is that journals seldom object, even if they hold copyrights and normally charge for access. Book publishers can be more resistant to free access, however, when it comes to chapters in books. In any case, as per below, there is a move in academe toward wider, free access. Princeton U. Adopts Open-Access Policy (except) September 29, 2011, Chronicle of Higher Ed (Wired Campus blog), Jennifer Howard The movement to make research freely…