Screen Test Amanda Gould says online education is a natural outgrowth of Bay Path’s efforts to serve non-traditional students. This year marks the 15th consecutive year of growth in what’s known as online, or distance, learning at U.S. colleges and universities. But a newer trend is seeing students fresh out of high school — not just the working adults that have dominated the online-learning world — logging on as well. At a time of changing demographics in higher education, area schools that have embraced the distance model simply say they’re meeting students where they want to be. Before online college courses were a thing — heck, before ‘online’ was a thing — attending college was tougher for some than others, and for many, finding a path to a degree while working and raising a family was too high a scheduling hurdle. Amanda Gould, chief administrative officer for the American Women’s College (TAWC) at Bay Path University, … [Read more...] about Why Is Online Learning Seeing a Surge in Popularity?
Accelerated online learning
Honk.com: Buying Cars Online With Social Networks — It’s Personal
Last Updated Aug 19, 2010 2:38 PM EDT Cars are the second most expensive purchase we make (after houses), so it's not a bad idea to get a second opinion before buying one. We've all had the experience of the pronouncement from the opinionated brother in law with a friend in the car business, and we've probably considered the source. A new car-buying service at Honk.com is aimed at actively soliciting opinions from your friends and neighbors, and using Facebook and other social networking sites in the process. Americans spend four to six hours on the Internet car shopping before they make a purchase, and auto sites are hot. Launched Wednesday, the Honk platform lets you search for a car model among 300 options. I checked out the Ford Fiesta, and found that three people liked it, giving it an overall grade of B, an A- for design and a rather sour D for value. The Toyota Prius got a B+, and an A green score, with 69 people liking it. The top reason was fuel economy, followed by "I want … [Read more...] about Honk.com: Buying Cars Online With Social Networks — It’s Personal
LinkedIn’s Ex-Marketing Chief: How to Build an “Online Sunshine” Network
Last Updated Mar 1, 2011 10:13 AM EST Sungevity, the four-year-old California-based solar company, wants to expand its footprint from a few Western states to the Northeast and beyond. It's turned to Patrick Crane, former marketing chief at professional networking site LinkedIn, to get the job done by spreading and investing in the company's social networks. BNET spoke to Crane recently about his shift to a renewable energy company and how he will create a "network effect" around solar panels. BNET: Why did you jump into the renewable energy industry? Crane: I have a four-year-old boy, and when you have kids you suddenly become a lot more concerned about the world you're going to leave behind. It wasn't just about an exploding industry, which cleantech is. It also was just wanting to have as much of a direct impact as possible in clean conduct. BNET: Why go to a solar start-up like Sungevity instead a larger cleantech company? Crane: A recruiter reached out to me and listed off a few … [Read more...] about LinkedIn’s Ex-Marketing Chief: How to Build an “Online Sunshine” Network
Are online travel sites providing biased information?
A cyber war has erupted in recent weeks between major online travel agencies such as Expedia (EXPE) and Priceline.com (PCLN) and hotel chains over how some discounts are being offered to consumers. Earlier this year, Marriott (MAR), Wyndham (WYN) and Hilton Worldwide (HLT) stepped up their efforts to lure consumers away from the online travel agencies, or OTAs, by directly offering discounts on room bookings. The discounts leave the OTAs out of the picture -- and out any fees or commissions on the bookings. Expedia and Priceline, the two largest OTAs, are fighting back against these direct-to-consumer offers by making the hotels harder to find on their sites, according to industry experts. Bellevue, Washington-based Expedia strips out descriptive details of some hotels -- such as pictures -- and buries listings deeper in its search results, an e-commerce practice known as "dimming," according to lodging sources. Priceline's Booking.com site has lowered the rankings of some hotels even … [Read more...] about Are online travel sites providing biased information?
7 things we just learned about Elon Musk
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors (TSLA), doesn't often sit down to answer random questions from the Internet. But this week, before the planned launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the entrepreneur gave members of the website Reddit a small peek into his brain. Musk had asked his Twitter followers to focus their questions on Tuesday's rocket launch, which his company ended up aborting after a malfunction. And many of the queries on Reddit's "Ask me Anything" forum were about the Falcon 9 and the mechanics of its launch and landing. But Musk talked about other aspects of his life as well, including his favorite video games and drinks. He even sent around a YouTube cat video. Here are seven things people learned about him this week: He likes to shower. Asked what daily habit has the largest positive impact on his life, Musk quipped, "Showering." How he learns. Musk is deeply involved in the development of electric cars and space exploration. He's also the chairman of solar … [Read more...] about 7 things we just learned about Elon Musk