The MicroMasters model MIT launched as a pilot last year to provide students a new path to a master’s degree is being adopted by 13 universities, reports Peter Coy for Bloomberg. President L. Rafael Reif explained that the MicroMasters concept is "an important project for me. I believe in the model of empowering people."
Carl Straumshein writes for Inside Higher Ed that 13 universities are adopting the MicroMasters model pioneered by MIT that provides the opportunity to obtain a master’s degree through a combination of online and on-campus courses. “We believe that a MicroMasters will start a new trend in academia,” explains edX President Anant Agarwal.
Carl Straumsheim writes for Inside Higher Ed that instructor grading will be offered in an MITx philosophy MOOC this fall. “You can still achieve scale through partially automating courses, but keeping some bits of human interaction that are really important, like the interaction between you and the person you are writing a paper to,” explains Prof. Caspar Hare.
Dan Butin writes for Inside Higher Ed that MITx will begin offering students taking a popular philosophy MOOC the chance to have their work evaluated by professional philosophers. “MITx has solved a real problem in the MOOC world – of quality feedback and engagement – and has done so in a way that sustains the ability to scale,” Butin writes.
Prof. Neil Gershenfeld speaks with Adam Shaw of BBC Horizons about how the fabrication labs he started at the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms have spread around the world. Gershenfeld explains that Fab Labs “are places where ordinary people can go and they can turn data into things and things into data,” adding that they are part of the maker revolution.
Boston.com reporter Sanjay Salomon writes about how “Duckietown,” a model city developed by MIT researchers, could help make self-driving cars a reality. “We realized if you scale down autonomous driving to something very small there’s lots of research to do on a smaller scale with none of the logistical challenges of real autonomous vehicle research,” explains postdoc Liam Paull.
Popular Science reporter Mary Beth Griggs writes that in an MIT course students developed a fleet of duckie-adorned self-driving taxis for a village called “Duckietown.” “Each of the robot taxis is equipped with only a single camera, and makes its way around the roads without any preprogrammed maps."
In an article for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Corinne Ruff highlights MIT’s new “MicroMaster’s” credential. Prof. Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX, noted that the pilot program offers a new path for admissions into MIT’s Supply Chain Management program.
Fortune reporter Claire Zillman writes that MIT is starting an “‘inverted admissions’ program in which students who excel in a series of free online courses—and a subsequent examination—will have better chances of being accepted into the school’s full master’s program.”
“That makes MIT’s approach seem pretty noble: finally, a more affordable way to get the same high-caliber degree, no matter your academic record, so long as you can prove your mettle,’” writes Christian Science Monitor reporter Molly Jackson of MIT’s new path to a master’s degree.
Drew Bent writes for The Tech about MIT’s new pilot program, through which students will be selected to enter the Supply Chain Management master’s program based on their performance in online courses. “The hybrid model allows for both types of learning to take place while also letting more students receive an MIT education,” writes Bent.
AP reporter Collin Binkley writes about MIT’s “MicroMaster’s” credential and the new path to an MIT master’s degree in Supply Chain Management. "Anyone who wants to be here now has a shot to be here," explains MIT President L. Rafael Reif.
Wall Street Journal reporter Loretta Chao writes that MIT will begin offering a “MicroMaster’s” credential and a new admissions path into MIT’s Supply Chain Management master’s program. Chao writes that the announcement, “comes as many companies say they are having greater difficulty finding people with the right skills to manage increasingly complex global and technology-driven supply chains.”
WBUR’s Fred Thys reports that MIT will introduce a new credential for online learning, as well as a new pathway for the pursuit of an MIT professional master’s degree in Supply Chain Management. “Imagine a graduate program that includes talented students who might never have been admitted to MIT in the old system, but who have now a new pathway to success today,” says President L. Rafael Reif.
President Reif speaks with Washington Post reporter Nick Anderson about MIT’s new “MicroMaster” credential. “Students are going to work hard to get one semester of graduate level courses online,” explains President Reif, “and they have to get something to reward them for that hard work.”