JANUARY—FEBRUARY 2021 – NEWSLETTER #34 | Breaking news at IBL News |  Noticias en Español edX • Former edX Executive Raises $7.5M to Build a Course Catalog Using AI Tools • edX.org Reaches 35 Million Registered Learners and 110 Million Enrollments edX Courses • An MITx Course on edX Explores Solutions for the Massive and Persistent World Poverty • SNHU Launches Two edX MicroBachelors in Business Analytics and Data Management Open edX • Develop.com Offers a Free Month Access to Career-Focused Courses Including Completion Certificates • Develop.com Adds an AI-Based Tool that Recommends Courses to Complement Skills MOOCs • MOOCs Skyrocket Due to the Pandemic: Over 180 Million Learners, and Counting • WordPress.com Issues Two Subscription-Based Courses on Blogging and Podcasting • The Top 40 Most Popular Courses at the Beginning of 2021 According to Class Central Coursera • Wesleyan University Launches Two Courses Focused on Taking Action for Social Change • Coursera Curates a Collection of Courses Inspired on Disney's and Pixar's Soul Movie Learning Platforms • The Top News Stories of the Year on edX, Coursera, and Learning at Scale Platforms • Docebo LMS, Valued at $2.23 Billion, Sells More Shares. Its Founder to Pocket $7.5M • Bitcoin SV Academy: A New Online Learning Platform, with a First Free Course Open to Enrollment • Udemy.com Hires a New President as Its Growth Continues • The College Board Will Allow Students to Take AP Exams at Home 2021 Events • Education Calendar – FEB — MARCH — APRIL — MAY — JUNE — JULY-DECEMBER | Conferences in Latin America & Spain This newsletter is created in collaboration with IBL Education, a New York City-based company specialized in AI and credential-driven learning platforms and communities. Read the latest IBL Newsletter  |  Archive of Open edX Newsletters
The 199 U.S. public research universities—which employ three million faculty and staff—lost $17.7 billion in revenues during the pandemic and employment fell 14%. In addition, they had to spend another $3.1 billion to take safety measures last fall. This is what the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) reported to Congress while requesting relief funding. So far, they have received $5.7 billion. "APLU urges Congress to provide $97 billion in the next Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund to address the emergency needs of colleges and universities and those we serve." "The $15.1 billion gap of funding number will, unfortunately, continue to grow significantly," announced APLU. On the other hand, the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus’ students will remain at home for two weeks to slow the spread of the virus, following the recommendation of health officials. The university has recently identified 175 COVID-19 cases among students, including 14 of the B.1.1.7 variant that was first detected in Britain.
Udemy.com announced this Wednesday the appointment of a new President, Greg Brown. Brown [in the picture] most recently served as CEO of Reflektive, an employee performance platform. Prior to this company, he was the Senior Vice President of International Business at Blackhawk Network and held the position of Chief Revenue Officer at Achievers. This key hire comes at a growth state for Udemy, which accelerated with the pandemic. In 2020, Udemy reached a $3.25 billion valuation and Udemy for Business surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, according to its data. Udemy, the largest global marketplace for online learning, claims to reach over 35 million learners with 57,000 instructors teaching 130,000 courses in more than 65 languages.
MITx launched on edX.org an 11-week, free course for learners interested in solving the massive and persistent economic poverty in the world. The Challenges of Global Poverty is taught by two Nobel Prize instructors: Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, and Esther Duflo, Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics, winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. The course–part of the MITx MicroMasters program in Data, Economics, and Development Policy—challenges economics to provide solutions. The authors pose the following questions: "Is extreme poverty a thing of the past? What is economic life like when living under a dollar per day? Are the poor always hungry? How do we make schools work for poor citizens? How do we deal with the disease burden? Is microfinance invaluable or overrated? Without property rights, is life destined to be "nasty, brutish, and short"? Should we leave economic development to the market? Should we leave economic development to non-governmental organizations (NGOs)? Does foreign aid help or hinder? Where is the best place to intervene?" In this free online course from MIT, explore the key questions and challenges posed by massive and persistent world poverty. “The Challenges of Global Poverty” starts on February 9th — enroll today! https://t.co/XAhgNfNPoI pic.twitter.com/Z9l5ejbfqm — MITx on edX (@MITxonedX) December 30, 2020
Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is launching this month in collaboration with edX its first MicroBachelors programs: Business Analytics Foundations and Data Management with Python and SQL. The edX's MicroBachelor standalone credential will allow learners to apply for transfer credit toward an SNHU associate or bachelor's degree program. Offered at $498 per course, the classes are worth up to six credits each. The two MicroBachelors courses are open for enrollment on edX and start on February 26. "Through the new SNHUx programs, learners will be able to study at their own pace, obtain workforce-relevant skills, and apply credits when they enroll at SNHU – creating an even more affordable pathway to an associate or bachelor’s degree," stated in a press-release Paul LeBlanc, President and CEO, SNHU. "With SNHU, we will further the edX mission to increase access to education worldwide," said Anant Agarwal, edX Founder, and CEO. With the launch, Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) becomes a partner in the edX Consortium. It will operate as SNHUx.
