Coursera makes top college courses free online

Academic institutions are increasingly turning to the Internet as an educational platform

Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng share a vision in which anyone, no matter how destitute, can expand their minds and prospects with lessons from the world’s top universities.
That dream was joined this week by a dozen vaunted academic institutions including Duke University, the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The schools will add online versions of classes to Coursera.org, a website launched by Stanford University professors Koller and Ng early this year with debut offerings from Princeton, Stanford and two other US universities. “We have a vision where students everywhere around the world, regardless of country, family circumstances or financial circle have access to top quality education whether to expand their minds or learn valuable skills,” Koller said. “Where education becomes a right, not a privilege.” Academic institutions are increasingly turning to the Internet as an educational platform. A Khan Academy website created by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate Salman Khan provides thousands of video lectures. The nonprofit behind prestigious TED gatherings recently launched a TED-Ed channel at YouTube that teams accomplished teachers with talented animators to make videos that captivate while they educate. In May, Harvard University and MIT announced that they were teaming up to expand their online education programs — and invited other institutions to jump on board. Called edX, the $60 million joint venture builds on MIT’s existing MITx platform that enables video lesson segments, embedded quizzes, immediate feedback, online laboratories and student-paced learning.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-coursera-college-courses-free-online.html#jCp 



Permalink

TED, the conference dedicated to “Ideas Worth Spreading,” took a step forward in its educational mission today by launching a TEDEd video channel on YouTube. Shorter than the 18-minute TED talks that have racked up 500 million views, these videos feature a combination of talking heads from TED stages and animation (artwork by Fast Company Most Creative Person Sunni Brown, among others) tackling topics like neuroscience and evolution for a high-school-aged audience. Learn more-> via fastcompany:

TED, the conference dedicated to “Ideas Worth Spreading,” took a step forward in its educational mission today by launching a TEDEd video channel on YouTube. Shorter than the 18-minute TED talks that have racked up 500 million views, these videos feature a combination of talking heads from TED stages and animation (artwork by Fast Company Most Creative Person Sunni Brown, among others) tackling topics like neuroscience and evolution for a high-school-aged audience.

Learn more->

via fastcompany:

Permalink

TED Prize 2012: Crowdsourcing "City 2.0"

Today, TED announced the winner of the 2012 TED Prize: the City 2.0. Breaking from their tradition of recognizing an individual global innovator, TED is embracing the concept of crowd-sourcing urbanism (an idea we obviously support at Open Source Cities). The organizers…

via opensourcecities:

(via opensourcecities)

Permalink

Alex Steffen gave a nifty TED talk about sustainable urban spaces. He touched on a lot of important notions such as the need for energy-efficient smart buildings, or that dense cities are more sustainable than sprawl because people walk or bike instead of drive (obviously). Favorite part:

“Studies say that people are surrounded by places that make them feel at home, often give up their cars altogether…People are saying that it’s moving from the idea of the ‘dream home’ to the ‘dream neighborhood.’”

Thankfully he stops short of promoting hyperdense skyscraper culture - this makes it seem like the ideal city would be made up of densely clustered neighborhoods, each carefully tailored to their demographic. (Whatup Jane Jacobs?) 

This comprehensive article on Treehugger seconds the notion:

Kaid Benfield:

 For our cities and towns to function as successful people habitat, they must be communities where people want to live, work and play. We must make them great, but always within a decidedly urban, nonsprawling form

James Kuntsler: 

I don’t think there’s any question that we have to return to traditional ways of occupying the landscape: walkable cities, towns, and villages, located on waterways and, if we are fortunate, connected by rail lines. These urban places will exist on a much smaller scale than what is familiar to us now, built on a much finer grain. They will have to be connected to farming and food-growing places. A return to human scale will surely lead to a restored regard for artistry in building, since the streetscape will be experienced at walking speed.

via ohtheplaceswewillknow:

Permalink

TEDTalks Sponsors | IBM Watson



Final Jeopardy! and the Future of Watson

The IBM team who designed Watson has achieved another milestone in the history of computer science. After the Jeopardy! challenge concludes, the team faces the task of developing real world solutions based on this technology.

The impact of a machine like Watson will be felt throughout business, government and society. Join the conversation to find out how the IBM team achieved this historic feat and chat live with IBM Watson Principal Investigator Dr. David Ferrucci, IBM Fellow and CTO of IBM’s SOA Center for Excellence Kerrie Holley and Columbia University Professor of Clinical Medicine Dr. Herbert Chase, hosted by “Man v. Machine” author Stephen Baker.

To submit questions to the panel, sign on or join Twitter and use the hashtags #ibmwatson and #askwatson.

Tune in here for the webcast on Feb. 17 at 11:30 AM EST.

Permalink

smarterleaders:

Nic Marks: The Happy Planet Index | Video on TED.com

Statistician Nic Marks asks why we measure a nation’s success by its productivity — instead of by the happiness and well-being of its people. He introduces the Happy Planet Index, which tracks national well-being against resource use (because a happy life doesn’t have to cost the earth).

Permalink