There was once a time when K-12 students had a huge list of summer homework handed over to them on the last day of school, spawning much groaning. Today, parents get an exhaustive list of websites for their children to visit over summer to continue learning from.
The concepts of flipped classrooms and digitized lessons have brought Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) into the mainstream. Now, this relatively new way of learning is making its presence felt in children’s lives even when school over. MOOCs are increasingly replacing summer school and bridge programs through platforms that students can easily manage and parents can monitor simultaneously.
The leading names among these is EdX, the online learning nonprofit created by Harvard University and MIT. This service is particularly popular with high school students who can now access Advanced Placement-style classes and other related tools for their immediate future.
The intensive high school-level material available via this MOOC service helps students expand their knowledge in specific subject areas and be better prepared for AP exams. They now have over 3 million students enrolled, 150,000 of whom are high school students.
A study by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and the Southern Regional Education Board found that 60 percent of students are unprepared for their college curriculum. EdX aims to bridge this gap between college eligibility and college preparedness through its highly engaging and interactive courses.
Another popular site is the Khan Academy, which offers K-12 students and parents access to thousands of video tutorials. Created by Sal Khan and his team, Khan Academy has become the icon of extended learning, learning beyond classrooms and limited syllabus.
The easiest way to access these videos is to register on Khan Academy’s website, but they can also be accessed via YouTube and iTunesU. The subject list includes math, science, finance, economics, computing, art and humanities.
Rapidly growing in popularity is TED-Ed, launched by the organization famous for TED Talks. It has a range of MOOCs offering a wide range of courses and educational videos for students and teachers alike. Along with the aforementioned subjects by Khan, TED-Ed also offers lessons on health, engineering, philosophy and religion.
Khan Academy's math courses have been particularly popular, as have been the practice lessons offered by IXL. More focused on K-8 students, this site offers thousands of practice questions and exercises to help each student master math.
It also offers step-by-step explanations and easy-to-read progress reports that enable students to track their own progress independently. Obtaining awards and certificates motivates them to continue in the courses.
MIT-K12 and NeoK12 are likewise seeing healthy amounts of summer sign-ups. The former has short videos teaching basic science and engineering concepts to K-12 students, while the latter provides educational videos, lessons, quizzes in a less serious tone along with fun educational games.
While individual sign-ups still rule, institutions and states have also been quick to see the MOOC advantage. Delaware recently made news when it paid Amplify, a leading MOOC backed by media kingpin Rupert Murdoch, $17,500 to expand their high school AP courses.
This blended MOOC model will be available to any school statewide and will allow students to watch online videos and ask content questions via a Web forum. There are even special summer programs for teachers and educators who can use these MOOCs to expand and upgrade their knowledge for the new school year.
The generic e-learning courses market is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.64 percent through 2019 in the United States. The potential for growth is immense. These lessons could very well be a great support for students in the upcoming school year.
