You won't have any excuse to skip class anymore. French startup Open Classrooms is offering the first state-recognized bachelor degree in France that uses only MOOCs(massive open online courses). The startup partnered with IESA Multimedia to create this program.
There are three learning paths in engineering, design and marketing. Students will have to complete all the courses and required projects in order to get their degree.
On average, it will take a year of hard work in order to complete all the classes. As always, it's hard to keep going when you sign up for a MOOC.
This kind of degree has many key advantages. For IESA, it gives the school more students. IESA is a private school, and its end goal is to make as much money as possible. So with these new Mooc students, IESA will be able to get more money per teacher on average.
For students, it's a cheaper way to get a degree. Maybe you can't afford to study for three years at IESA and pay €6,950 per year.
It's an interesting new direction for Open Classrooms, and I can't wait to see whether other schools will start working with the startup to provide online courses. It will be interesting to see whether the first students are satisfied with this kind of degree as well.
| A．For OpenClassrooms, the company will certainly make profits as a technology provider. |
| B．And it can explain why more and more people tend to apply for online courses. |
| C．It's the exact same degree that you would get at IESA, except that you won't see any teachers. |
| D．That’s why every week, you will get to video chat with a teacher. |
| E．For Open Classrooms, the company will surely enjoy a reputation for its technology. |
| F．Open Classrooms lets you work and study at the same time, and pay a lot less. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Choosing a major is a very important thing in our life. However, it can be extremely challenging. So it’s necessary to learn some simple tips that much easier.
Your major is your primary field of study in your undergraduate (大学的）program. It is the subject in which you earn your bachelor’s degree. After completing a list of general education courses, you spend the rest of the time studying one subject of your choice.
For many students, it's best to try out different classes to figure out a major you’ll like, but you need to have a couple of solid choices.
For more career-specific majors like nursing and engineering, the majority of your studies will include skills that can be used in a future job.
| A．You have to think of ways to choose a major |
| B．Be sure that you choose a major that suits your interests |
| C．Once you have a better idea of which major you like best |
| D．While your major may or may not lead directly to a career |
| E．Do some research to find out which majors can help you get that job |
| F．Roughly one-third to one-half of your courses will be related to your major |
| G．However, you should still consider doing activities outside of the classroom to better prepare you |
【推荐2】Imagine you are floating in space on a huge NASA spacecraft. A satellite is on a collision course with your spaceship. You have just been told by your commanders on Earth to evacuate. You and your teammates have to make rapid decisions for your escape and survival.
Engaging children in a NASA mission (任务) is a lesson that 23 pre-service teachers (职前教师)were taught to carry out at a recent Pre-Service Teacher Institute (PSTI) summer workshop (讲习班)at NASA’s Ames Research Center.
At this two-week workshop, these college students were given hands-on activities designed to increase their skills in teaching STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) . They were shown how to include NASA missions and research into their lesson plans. They met with NASA engineers and were given tours of NASA facilities (设施)by the latter to help them develop and teach a problem-based lesson to children.
“NASA is pleased to support college students who want to teach STEM to young children,” said Lewis Braxton, director of the research center. “It was exciting to see PSII students fully engaged in developing new skills in STEM to meet the challenges of a space-related teaching task,” said Steve Price, the principal investigator of PSTI at California State University, Fresno.
“PSTI has provided me with the necessary tools and techniques to fully develop my skills as a teacher. I’ll use what I’ve learned to help my students succeed in their studies,” said Elijah Carnillo, one of the pre-service teachers.
1. What does the underlined word “evacuate” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Withdraw. |
| B．Wait. |
| C．Follow. |
| D．Resist. |
| A．To invite students to engage in NASA missions. |
| B．To encourage graduates to work at NASA. |
| C．To introduce the latest space technology. |
| D．To help with space-related STEM teaching. |
| A．They graded their homework. |
| B．They adjusted their work schedules. |
| C．They built them a spacecraft model. |
| D．They showed them some space equipment. |
| A．PSTI: Getting You Ready for Your Class |
| B．STEM: The Key to a Successful Career |
| C．Space: The Final Homework Frontier |
| D．NASA: The Home of Astronauts |
【推荐3】Student photographer Madeline Morales has had experiences most 15 year-olds have not. At the age of 15, she developed cancer and had to go through chemotherapy(化疗). But today will be a unique kind of experience—something most people will never have. “It makes me feel excited, a little bit nervous,” said Morales, whose photos were on display at a gallery show in Los Angeles. These images reflect her journey while battling cancer.
She tried to look at things with a lot of light, a lot of what draws her to positivity and something that means love or happiness. “I think photography has really helped me a lot to stay positive and be motivated to keep fighting this disease.”
Morales is one of 23 students sharing their experiences with cancer through photos at this gallery. They are graduates of the PABLOVE foundation’s SHUTTERBUGS advanced photography class. The foundation aims to improve the lives of children living with the disease through its photography program. It also provides money for underfunded cancer research. Incomes from sales of these prints will go toward cancer research programs.
The PABLOVE program offers classes in eight cities across the United States. “Being in these classes with other people who understand their experience has been really beneficial, and it has really made them feel a lot more comfortable in what they’ve been through,” said Ashley Blakeney, program manager of PABLOVE SHUTTERBUBS. She said the photography classes give students living with cancer a sense of community at a time when they often feel isolated in their experience.
With photography many young students gain an identity that is not controlled by cancer. “There’s more to us than just having cancer. We want people to see what we see even if it’s through the lens(镜头).” says Luckman who was diagnosed with cancer when he was 10 years old. “Photography has given me a small chance to actually assist in the world a bit. I’d love to express my story and allow it to hopefully reach other kids so they can understand how to deal with it hopefully.
1. Which of the following is true of Madeline Morals?| A．She has suffered from cancer for 15 years. |
| B．She has had a full recovery from cancer. |
| C．She has a positive attitude towards life. |
| D．She uses her photos to record her suffering. |
| A．homeless people | B．photography-lovers |
| C．researcher on cancer | D．children with cancer |
| A．The popularity of the program. |
| B．The great significance of this program. |
| C．The contributions of Ashley. |
| D．The future plan of the program. |
| A．lonely | B．painful |
| C．grateful | D．positive |
| A．By giving them an identity card. |
| B．By offering a chance to help others. |
| C．By getting their cancer cured. |
| D．By offering a way to make money. |
【推荐1】JENNIFER SALLS — A high school math teacher in Sparks, Nevada
It is possible to construct good online courses that would support mathematics learning with middle and high school students. However, these courses would not look like most current online courses.
When we imagine an online course, we think of a solitary (孤立的)process in which a student is holed up with his or her computer, watching PowerPoints, paging through screens of text and solving a whole bunch of problems. While learning may be occurring, I suspect that it's short-term with little real understanding of mathematics. There are some students who learn well under these circumstances, but this is not true for the majority of students.
A good online course would take advantage of the many interactive resources. For example, if students were learning to solve equations, they would be directed to solve a carefully arranged set of problems using an interactive program. They would reflect on the interaction and share their observations with others taking the course.
Eventually, the lesson would move students toward solving equations, using their experiences with the interactive program as the jumping-off point. Students could experience real-world problems through video and simulations and use a variety of computer-based tools to solve these problems. Notice that a course like this is not solitary, but highly interactive, and it builds both problem-solving skills and conceptual knowledge.
BRIGID BARRON — A psychologist at Stanford University's School of Education
Whether or not any computing tool used in the classroom will interfere with or energize learning depends on how the teacher organizes its use.
When online courses are well designed, they offer learners and teachers wonderful opportunities. Hybrid models that combine classroom interaction with tools like blogs, podcasts, social networks and discussion forums can engage students in ways that traditional environments do not. When students are given challenging material, asked to carry out research and to create ways to share what they are learning with students from all over the world, engagement goes up.
There are other benefits. Assessment of student learning can be partly automated and designed to provide continuous feedback. When students need assistance, they can be directed to activities that will help them learn. Perhaps most importantly, online courses can help bridge gaps in course offerings within a school district. Many economically challenged schools don't have the resources to provide specialized or advanced courses, but those courses could be offered online.
Many students are already using technology in their own time to learn and create, for their own purposes or for school assignments (作业).If they know where to look, they can access online communities that foster their imagination and offer informal mentorship.
Instead of wondering whether teenagers are too easily distracted by computers, we should be figuring out how we can use digital media to sustain teenagers' interest and their desire to learn.
1. According to Jennifer Salls, in most current online classes, .| A．students hardly learn anything |
| B．students are made to learn all on their own |
| C．students are led to improve their self-study abilities |
| D．students focus more on theories than on problem-solving skills |
| A．Online courses should try to make the most of interactive resources. |
| B．Schools today pay more attention to students, conceptual knowledge. |
| C．Students cannot learn mathematics effectively through online courses. |
| D．Thanks to online classes, teachers' work load can be greatly decreased. |
| A．narrowing the gap between rich and poor |
| B．providing students with real-time feedback |
| C．teaching students how to exploit online resources |
| D．maintaining students' interest throughout the course |
| A．help ... to recover | B．help ... to grow |
| C．help ... to relax | D．help ... to display |
| A．good courses should combine advanced technology and online resources |
| B．teachers play an important role in ensuring the effectiveness of online classes |
| C．students should be able to learn effectively through well-designed online classes |
| D．online courses are more effective only when students are assigned challenging tasks |
【推荐2】Education officials and industry experts are debating the future of online learning. The discussion is important because hundreds of universities in the United States have recently moved classes online because of the spread of COVID-19.
For Asha Choksi, the rise of Internet-based or online study programs has led to major improvements in higher education. “It’s actually given a lot more power to students in terms of how, when and where they learn,” the head of research for Pearson Education said.
Classes meet online through video conferencing. In this way, students are able to communicate with each other and their professors even when they are far away from school. However, recent research suggests the majority of college students and professors prefer in-person instruction, because they are concerned that companies supervising online learning programs are not clear about the policies they have with the schools they serve.
“Students see in-class lectures as opportunities to engage with instructors, peers, and content.” the researchers wrote. In-person learning is especially important in fields like healthcare and teaching. Online education can never really take its place, said Stephanie Hall, a fellow with the independent policy research group The Century Foundation. “Students need to experience...what they’re learning about, reading about or hearing about in the classroom. And I don’t know yet the degree to which technology can facilitate that.”
“When schools make agreements with online program managers to run their online programs, they often do not make important information available to students,” Hall said. This includes how much control the company has over the design of the program or whether the faculty leading the classes was involved in their design. In addition, many colleges and universities advertise online programs as a low cost opportunity for students. But in some cases, students attending in-person classes get financial aid and online students do not.
1. What does Choksi think of the online study programs?| A．They promote the development of technology. |
| B．They reform the country’s education system. |
| C．They provide advanced scientific knowledge. |
| D．They offer students more choices in study. |
| A．It is convenient. | B．It costs less to study. |
| C．It can better meet school policies. | D．It can improve students’ communication skills. |
| A．Achieve. | B．Apply. | C．Change. | D．Control. |
| A．Negative. | B．Skeptical. | C．Supportive. | D．Objective. |
【推荐3】Online education is one of the many advances that technology has brought to us.
The main advantage of online learning is that it offers an alternative to traditional classes.
The disadvantage of online learning is that it ignores the communication between students and the teacher and their classmates. Besides, its role in some areas is also limited.
Only by making full use of its strengths and avoiding its weaknesses can we achieve the biggest benefit.
| A．The difference lies in the learning experience. |
| B．In recent years, there is a big growth in online learning. |
| C．Some skills like nursing work must be learned face to face. |
| D．It means we no longer have to be physically present in the classroom. |
| E．Combining online education with traditional education is the best choice. |
| F．The traditional education will be replaced by online learning in the future. |
| G．It’s good for students with busy schedules and for those who are working at the same time. |
