Dive Brief:
- On Monday, Instructure revealed a collaboration between Educause and the University of Central Florida for a MOOC focused on teaching educators how to incorporate the best blended learning practices into their classrooms.
- The course, "BlendKit2014 - Becoming a Blended Learning Designer," marks Educause's entry into the MOOC space and will expand the nonprofit's presence in micro-credentialing and digital badging, according to Julie Little, VP of teaching, learning, and professional development.
- UCF Center for Distributed Learning Associate Director Kelvin Thompson and Department Head Linda Futch will design and teach the latest BlendKit course — two have been offered previously — for Educause.
- The free, five-week course begins April 21 and those interested can register now via Canvas.
Dive Insight:
While UCF has offered two previous BlendKit MOOCs — funded by a Next Generation Learning Challenges grant and in partnership with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities — Educause's involvement will help to provide official credentialing for those completing the courses. The massive, free nature of MOOCs fits perfectly with the nonprofit's mission to move higher education forward with information technology, and its experience with digital badges and microcredentials has obvious benefits for UCF and Canvas as it pertains to future installments of the course.