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Where there’s a will

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Where there’s a will

When Taylah was in Year 12, tension was running high in the school hallways. Career dreams were at stake, and it was an ATAR score that could make or break a year (if not 12 years) of hard work. But Taylah wasn’t one to buckle under the pressure.

“Teachers always told us that exams were important… (that) you need to get a high ATAR score or you won’t have many options,” Taylah recalls, “but I never felt too much pressure because I knew that no matter what, I would always have an option to get into what I wanted”.

Taylah with dog

Taylah was focused on the field of law and justice, with her sights set on a degree in forensic science. While she knew she had options regardless of her ATAR, she was still disappointed to learn that she didn’t score high enough. But it didn’t get her down for long – while browsing online, she found Open Universities Australia (OUA), and was attracted to a Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice with Griffith University.

An OUA student advisor explained to Taylah that she could still qualify for entry despite her ATAR, if she passed a few of the degree’s core subjects first. Taylah did just that – proving herself capable, and getting accepted into a degree that she was excited about. The subjects she completed were even credited towards her degree, so it took her no extra time to progress to where she is today.

A career in the justice system is what Taylah is working towards. She intends to continue studying with Griffith University through OUA, moving onto the Graduate Certificate or Masters.

“At the moment, I’m really just enjoying criminology theory – learning why people do what they do, and working on preventing that” Taylah says. Her advice to high school students entering or finishing Year 12, is to understand that a lower ATAR score than desired isn’t a closed door.

“As much as I can say don’t stress about it – you’re always going to.” says Taylah with a grin. “Getting straight into the degree may be the easiest way, but it’s not the only way.”

Taylah studying on bed

Get into uni through Open Universities Australia

Getting into university to study a field you’re interested in? Open Universities Australia can help you achieve it, no matter your ATAR results. Many degrees available through OUA allow you to start studying by passing pre-requisite subjects. Better yet, you can enrol in these subjects today.

Not only can Open Universities Australia help you get into university, through OUA you can study online, in your own time and space.

To learn more about how to study through OUA – fill out the form on this page, and a friendly student advisor will get in contact. You can also chat to them on OUA’s website Messenger service, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or SMS. They’ll help you find the right course for your future.

Otherwise, head over to the website to browse hundreds of degrees and subjects from leading Australian universities right now.

Related courses through OUA:

Graduate Certificate of Security Studies and Criminology – Macquarie University

Bachelor of Criminal Justice – University of South Australia

Bachelor of Laws – University of New England

Bachelor of Security Studies – Macquarie University

Master of Forensic Mental Health – Griffith University

Coursera News: First Acquisition, Degrees from Russia and Colombia, New Campus Program, and More

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Coursera News: First Acquisition, Degrees from Russia and Colombia, New Campus Program, and More

Coursera news roundup

Over the last two months, Coursera, the world’s leading MOOC platform — with its over 44 million users, 3,700 online courses, and 16 online degrees — made five important announcements:

  • First Acquisition: Coursera acquired Rhyme, a startup dedicated to creating authoring tools for hands-on, online projects.
  • New Online Degrees: Coursera announced two MOOC-based degrees: Uniandes master’s degree in software engineering and HSE Moscow master’s degree in data science.
  • Professional Certificates: Coursera reintroduced Professional Certificates, signaling a renewed focus on career-oriented learners.
  • Coursera for Campus: Coursera announced a new program allowing universities to integrate online courses into their on-campus offering.
  • New MasterTrack Certificates: Coursera announced two new MasterTrack Certificates in partnership with IIM Calcutta.

Coursera acquired Rhyme, an edtech startup based in Sofia, Bulgaria. The startup is dedicated to creating software to support cloud-based, interactive projects.

More specifically, the company’s software allows learners to use their browser to access virtual environments. These environments can be preconfigured to include all the software and tools needed for a project. In addition, they can include embedded video instructions that students can follow along.

The acquisition aims to augment the capabilities of Coursera Labs, the platform’s broader initiative to put hands-on projects at the heart of the learning experience. Coursera Labs allows course creators to seamlessly integrate programming assignments into their courses.

For instance, the University of London leverages Coursera Labs in their Introduction to Computer Programming course. The course includes a game called Sleuth that invites learners to complete coding challenges in the context of a film noir, mystery game.

A couple of years ago, Udacity made a similar first acquisition when it bought CloudLabs, a startup dedicated to building self-contained programing environments.

Coursera announced a couple of MOOC-based degrees.

The first is an online master’s degree in software engineering, developed in partnership with the University of Los Andes, Colombia. The degree has the particularity of being the first MOOC-based degree offered by a Latin American institution and to be taught entirely in Spanish. The degree will launch in 2021 and its cost has still to be announced.

The second is an online master’s degree in data science, developed in partnership with the Higher School of Economics, Moscow. The degree is structured around different study paths, including machine learning and data science research. The degree will launch in Spring 2020 and cost between $8,000 and $17,000 depending on grant eligibility.

Coursera renewed its emphasis on Professional Certificates. This type of microcredential promises to help learners gain in-demand skills and prepare them for specific industry roles.

Professional Certificates comprise a series of related courses on a particular subject. Once a student completes all the courses in the series, he unlocks a certificate of completion. All certificate options can be found of the platform’s new dedicated page. These include:

Professional Certificates come in all shapes and sizes. They range in duration from 1 to 10 months and require between 5 and 18 hours of study per week. Some have prerequisites while others don’t. And some involve a monthly subscription (between $39 and $79) while others require a one-time payment (between $99 and $2,980).

In total, Coursera currently offers 13 Professional Certificates — a far cry from its closest competitor, edX, who currently offers 115 Professional Certificates. Coursera re-emphasis of Professional Certificates may denote the company’s desire to close the gap with its competitor in the race to attract career-oriented learners.

Coursera announced Coursera for Campus, a paid program that gives universities access to a large subset of Coursera’s catalog.

The program, akin to Coursera for Business, comprises 3,600 courses, roughly 94% of Coursera’s catalog. Universities may pick and choose from this pool of courses and integrate them into their on-campus offering in different ways — for instance:

  • Universities may create blended learning experiences by interleaving online and on-campus courses.
  • Universities may use online courses as supplemental material that students may use to fulfill prerequisites or go beyond the course requirements.
  • Universities may grant credit for completing specific online courses, effectively displacing part of their student body online, thereby freeing up space on campus.
  • Universities may offer online courses not only to students, but also to faculty, staff, and alumni wanting to get up to speed on certain subjects.
  • Universities may leverage Coursera’s analytics tools to identify learning trends and align their offering in consequence.

The program promises to be highly modular, allowing instructors to mix and match learning resources to reach specific learning outcomes. Furthermore, the program allows instructors to create their own learning material and make it available online to their students. In this sense, the program aim isn’t just to bring online courses to campus, but also to enrich the online experience by making authoring tools readily available to on-campus instructors.

Coursera for Campus has been tested on 20 campuses around the world, including Duke University in the US, and Manipal University in India.

Coursera has partnered with the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, to create two new MasterTrack Certificates:

  • Management Science MasterTrack
  • Supply Chain Analytics MasterTrack

MasterTracks correspond to a fraction of specific on-campus degree programs. If after completing a MasterTrack, a student applies and is accepted into the corresponding on-campus program, the Certificate will count toward his graduation requirements.

The new qualifications will explore specialized topics such as product manufacturing and distribution, but also broader topics such as agriculture, finance, and health.

Coursera’s catalog currently lists six MasterTracks, all offered by US institutions. So the announcement marks the first expansion of MasterTracks beyond the US border, but also, the first partnership between Coursera and an Indian Institute of National Importance.

The new qualifications are expected to launch in 2020.

Racing Pug

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onlinefreecourse
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Racing Pug

What story does this video inspire for you? Use your imagination to write the opening of a short story or poem from the perspective of the girl, the pug or one of the spectators.

Or, tell us about a memory from your own life that this picture makes you think of.

Post it in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.

Find many more ways to use our Picture Prompt feature in this lesson plan. You can find all our Picture Prompts in this column.

What Do You Think of the Field of Democratic Presidential Candidates?

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onlinefreecourse
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What Do You Think of the Field of Democratic Presidential Candidates?

Find all our Student Opinion questions here.

Updated: Oct. 16

Have you been paying much attention to the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign? If so, which candidates stand out to you? Why?

On Oct. 15, The New York Times co-hosted the biggest presidential primary debate in history that, according to The Times, “revealed new dynamics.” Did you watch?

In “Warren Draws Fire From All Sides, Reflecting a Shift in Fortunes in Race,” Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin analyze what happened:

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts faced a sustained barrage of criticism from her Democratic rivals at a presidential debate in Ohio on Tuesday, tangling with a group of underdog moderates who assailed her liberal economic proposals, while former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. appeared to fade from the fray after parrying President Trump’s attacks on his family.

The debate confirmed that the primary race had entered a new phase, defined by Ms. Warren’s apparent strength and the increasing willingness of other Democrats to challenge her. She has risen toward the top of the polls while confronting limited resistance from her opponents, and in past debates she attracted a fraction of the hostility that Democrats trained on Mr. Biden.

That changed in a dramatic fashion on Tuesday, when a group of her rivals voiced sharp skepticism of Ms. Warren’s agenda or accused her of taking impractical stances on issues like health care and taxation. Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., insistently charged Ms. Warren with evading a “yes-or-no” question on how she would pay for a “Medicare for all” health care system, while Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota cast parts of Ms. Warren’s platform as a “pipe dream.” Former Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas branded Ms. Warren’s worldview as overly “punitive.”

…The debate unfolded in a drastically altered political landscape, with Mr. Trump facing impeachment and Mr. Biden in the center of a firestorm over his son’s financial overseas financial dealings. The candidates were prompted to cover a wide range of issues, including a number that had featured little or not at all in past debates — not just the impeachment of Mr. Trump, but the Turkish invasion of Syria, and the details of gun control policy and the taxation of great wealth.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

  • Did you watch the debate? Do you agree with the analysis in this Times article? Which of the issues discussed on Oct. 15 — including health care, income inequality, the impeachment inquiry, Middle East foreign policy and the invasion of Syria, gun control, climate change and more — are most important to you?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Word + Quiz: lucre

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onlinefreecourse
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Word + Quiz: lucre

1. informal term for money

2. the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)

_________

The word lucre has appeared in six articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Feb. 6 in the Opinion essay “Abolish Billionaires” by Farhad Manjoo:

I cover technology, an industry that belches up a murder of new billionaires annually, and much of my career has required a deep anthropological inquiry into billionairedom. But I’m embarrassed to say I had never before considered Mr. Scocca’s idea — that if we aimed, through public and social policy, simply to discourage people from attaining and possessing more than a billion in lucre, just about everyone would be better off.

_________

Does the Future of Robots Get You Excited, or Fill You With Dread?

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Does the Future of Robots Get You Excited, or Fill You With Dread?

Find all our Student Opinion questions here.

Last week, a robotic hand successfully solved a Rubik’s Cube. While that feat might seem like a fun parlor trick, it’s a sign that robots are being programmed to learn and not just memorize.

Robots are already playing important roles inside retail giants like Amazon and manufacturing companies like Foxconn by completing very specific, repetitive tasks. But many believe that machine learning will ultimately allow robots to master a much wider array of more complex functions.

When you imagine the future of robots and artificial intelligence, do you get excited? Do you envision a world of benefits for humankind? Or does an automated future fill you with concern and fear?

In “If a Robotic Hand Solves a Rubik’s Cube, Does It Prove Something?” Cade Metz writes about how this five-fingered feat could show important progress in A.I. research:

Last week, on the third floor of a small building in San Francisco’s Mission District, a woman scrambled the tiles of a Rubik’s Cube and placed it in the palm of a robotic hand.

The hand began to move, gingerly spinning the tiles with its thumb and four long fingers. Each movement was small, slow and unsteady. But soon, the colors started to align. Four minutes later, with one more twist, it unscrambled the last few tiles, and a cheer went up from a long line of researchers watching nearby.

The researchers worked for a prominent artificial intelligence lab, OpenAI, and they had spent several months training their robotic hand for this task.

Though it could be dismissed as an attention-grabbing stunt, the feat was another step forward for robotics research. Many researchers believe it was an indication that they could train machines to perform far more complex tasks. That could lead to robots that can reliably sort through packages in a warehouse or to cars that can make decisions on their own.

The article continues:

A robot that can solve a Rubik’s Cube is not new. Researchers previously designed machines specifically for the task — devices that look nothing like a hand — and they can solve the puzzle in less than a second. But building devices that work like a human hand is a painstaking process in which engineers spend months laying down rules that define each tiny movement.

The OpenAI project was an achievement of sorts because its researchers did not program each movement into their robotic hand. That might take decades, if not centuries, considering the complexity of a mechanical device with a thumb and four fingers. The lab’s researchers built a computer system that learned to solve the Rubik’s Cube largely on its own.

“What is exciting about this work is that the system learns,” said Jeff Clune, a robotics professor at the University of Wyoming. “It doesn’t memorize one way to solve the problem. It learns.”

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

  • How do you feel about the future of robots, artificial intelligence and automation? Do you envision a world of progress? Or dystopian peril?

  • Do you fear countless professions becoming obsolete, the merging of humans and machines, an age of artificial intimacy or a potential robot uprising? Or are you excited about all the possibilities such a future could hold? Explain why you feel the way you do.

  • Researchers have already built machines to solve a Rubik’s Cube in under a second. And even though OpenAI’s hand can solve the puzzle in as little as four minutes, it drops the cube eight times out of 10. In your opinion, how big a deal is this robotic hand demonstration? Why do you think it made the news?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Lesson of the Day: ‘How a Prison Play Goes on Tour’

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Lesson of the Day: ‘How a Prison Play Goes on Tour’

Find all our Lessons of the Day here.

Featured Article: “How a Prison Play Goes on Tour”

Thirty Colorado inmates staged “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” for nearby prisons. For some, it was the first time in years they were outside 20-foot walls and razor fences.

In this lesson, students will explore the power of the arts for “transformation” and consider whether people who have committed terrible crimes should be provided with these artistic opportunities.

Today there are 2.2 million Americans in prison or jail. If the U.S. prison population were a city, it would be the country’s fifth largest, bigger than Austin, Philadelphia or San Francisco.

What should be the purpose of prison? Should jails and prisons punish people? Should they serve as a deterrent to crime? Or should they try to rehabilitate inmates?

Make three lists with arguments for why each purpose (punishment, rehabilitation and deterrence) might be important as a goal for incarceration. Then circle the arguments you find most compelling.

Next, share your lists with a partner and discuss which of the arguments you find most persuasive.

Read the article, then answer the following questions. As you read, add to or amend your list from the warm-up.

1. Scroll through the photos in the article: What do you notice? What do you wonder? Which image stands out to you and why? What story do these photos tell?

2. The article states that while prison plays have been around for decades, putting one on tour is new. What logistical challenges did the tour present for both the prison staff and the inmates?

3. What do advocates of prison arts believe are the benefits of providing artistic opportunities to inmates? What evidence does the article give to support their belief?

4. Why was Ashley Hamilton “astonished” that the Department of Corrections allowed her to direct an adaptation of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”? Do you think it was an appropriate choice to be performed in prisons by prisoners?

5. Why does Dean Williams, the executive director of Colorado’s Department of Corrections, believe that most prisons have the wrong approach to incarceration? Do you think his goal of “normalization” is a sound one?

6. How has being part of the cast and crew of the play positively affected the prisoners? Give three examples from the article.

7. The article explores some reasons corrections officers and families of victims are opposed to the production. Amy Mund, whose sister was killed by one of the performers in the play, said:

He brutally murdered two young vibrant ladies in the prime of their lives. I question why he is allowed to participate in plays and travel outside the confines of the prison. As a victim of a violent crime, that does not sound like justice to me.

Do you agree? Should people convicted of murder and other violent crimes be denied the privilege of performing with the troupe? How would you respond to the corrections officers who have questioned why anyone convicted of violent crimes “should have a spotlight and applause”?

The article states that there are nearly 350 arts programs — including creative writing, poetry, visual art, dance, drama and music — in prisons nationwide. In general, do you think these programs are an important part of the rehabilitation process? Or do you think they are problematic because they mitigate the punishment prisoners are supposed to be receiving?

Imagine you are lobbying your state or local jail or prison to create, renew or defund a prison arts program.

Make your case for or against a prison theater or arts program using evidence from the article to support your arguments. Whether you choose to argue for or against the programs, make sure to address the concerns of the friends and families of the victims of violent crimes.

Split Reflections

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Split Reflections

What do you think this image is saying? How does it relate to or comment on society or our world today? Can you relate to it personally? What is your opinion of its message?

Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn what this illustration is all about.

Find many more ways to use our Picture Prompt feature in this lesson plan. You can find all our Picture Prompts in this column.

Headless Horseman

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Headless Horseman

Does your family, school, neighborhood or town get really into Halloween? If so, what do they do to celebrate? If not, do you wish they did? Why or why not?

Tell us about a memorable Halloween you had in your community.

Then, read the related article about how the river towns outside of New York City, including the infamous Sleepy Hollow, honor the holiday.

Learn by day or night: Dark mode now available on the Coursera iOS app

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Learn by day or night: Dark mode now available on the Coursera iOS app

By Alex Sanchez, Senior Product Manager for Mobile Experiences and Emerging Technology, Coursera

For those who learn at night, in low-light settings, or just love dark mode, we’re happy to say it’s here for Coursera learners! Dark mode support for the Coursera app on iPhone and iPads running on iOS 13 is live. 

The Coursera app will look very similar in dark mode, but with a darker color scheme.

What does this mean for me? The new dark mode feature allows learners using a device that runs on iOS 13 (the latest iOS mobile operating system) to apply darker color schemes to their Coursera app. iPhones and iPads running iOS 11 or iOS 12 will continue to see the normal light mode. 

Why did we create this? Well, the simple answer is that many learners find dark mode to be more comfortable to view at night or in a dark room. Dark mode may also help save battery life. 

How do I set it up? You can start by going to Settings or the Control Center on your device to switch modes. Another option is to set your device to automatically turn dark mode on or off, depending on the time of day. It’s really up to you! 

Regardless of which mode you choose for set up, make sure you update your Coursera iOS app to the latest version to get access to this new feature.

 

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