FREE DISTANCE EDUCATION SITES TO HELP INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS PREPARE FOR AN AMERICAN STYLE EDUCATION  Steve Perry, *IRO *Information Resource Officer  U.S. EMBASSY, ACCRA GHANA  NOVEMBER 2012

MIT COURSES ONLINE:

MIT [ MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ] courses often have an Audio or Video Component

Example of an advanced search in the MIT SITE for courses with lecture notes

MIT Chemistry courses with lecture notes

Detailed Lecture Notes for a Physical Chemistry Class

Course on Sustainable Development at MIT

MIT Lecture Notes on Sustainability

ACTUAL SYLLABI FOR COURSE

ANOTHER COURSE ON THE U.S. CONGRESS IN THE POLITICAL SCIENCE SECTION: LECTURE NOTES FOR THE U.S. CONGRESS

RELATED RESOURCES FOR THE U.S. CONGRESS

NEW DEVELOPMENT AT MIT: MITx allows for increased interactivity with students: mitx.mit.edumitx.mit.edu

The first MITx course will be offered on Circuits and Electronics; participants completing course successfully will receive certificate  Spring 2012 Course offering Circuits and Electronics, 6.002x  More information & Enroll ‣ More information & Enroll ‣  Circuits and Electronics is on-line and MIT’s first undergraduate analog design course. This prototype course will run, free of charge, for students worldwide from March 5, 2012 through June 8, Students will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of the material and earn a certificate from MITx.

Academic Room (Harvard University’s entry into Distance Education, August 2012)

Stanford University is launching a brand new Open Education platform, as of 2012:

TUFTS:

TUFTS HAS A SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY, MEDICINE AND VETERINARY SCIENCE

TUFTS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: ONLINE COURSES

NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY: OCW.ND.EDUOCW.ND.EDU

OTHER OCW PARTNERS: MORE UNIVERSITIES OFFERING FREE COURSE MATERIAL as noted in ocwconsortium.org/members ocwconsortium.org/members

More on the OCW CONSORTIUM

YALE UNIVERSITY:

YALE UNIVERSITY: (Yale not a member of the OCW concept)

Example of a class at YALE UNIVERSITY

FREE LECTURE NOTES

Actual Class Lecture

OPEN CULTURE: (“Get free online courses from the world’s leading universities. This collection includes over 250 free courses in the liberal arts and sciences. Download these audio & video courses straight to your computer or mp3 player.”)

Courses on Open Culture:

COURSES ON POLITICAL SCIENCE AND LAW FROM OPEN CULTURE: Many of these courses are from Stanford University in the U.S.

U CALIFORNIA BERKELEY courses on VIDEO via YOUTUBE: many courses now offered: videos of actual courses can be played over and over again and show interaction of Professors with students

ACADEMIC EARTH:

More on Academic Earth:

Subjects offered in ACADEMIC EARTH

A Brand New web site offering free courses from leading Universities is Udemy: one has to register for Udemy, but Udemy is freehttp://udemy.com

Example of free courses in udemy.comudemy.com

COURSERA now also offers free courses from a variety of top- flight Universities:

More Coursera Offerings:

The KHAN ACADEMY also offers free courses: / /

UDACITY is the new Kid on the Block, specializing in courses such as Computer Programming and Science Courses:

Example of UDACITY’s How to Build a Start Up

Here are some of the courses provided by edX

edX:

New course on Development Economics from MRUNIVERSITY:

Actual Course in Developmental Economics:

For those of you with iTUNES, there is this fantastic possibility

MORE ABOUT MOOCs  An article in the NEW YORK TIMES: “The Year of the MOOC”: Massive Open Online Courses, Nov  “The Need for Open Education for a Global Economy” education-for-a-global-economy/ “The Need for Open Education for a Global Economy” education-for-a-global-economy/  Article discussing OER Resources in College and Research Libraries:

More Articles:  “ MOOCS: INTO THE FUTURE”, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 3, Future-With-MOOCs/134080/ Future-With-MOOCs/134080/  MOOC MANIA, Chronicle of Higher Education:  7 Free Education Websites: (June 2012)

Study Skills Every One Needs to Know (Emory University) consultations/tips.html

What to expect of an IRC or Educational Advising Center at a U.S. EMBASSY or Consulate?  Look to them for advice. They have many useful print materials, and collections of books and valuable resources.  IRCs/Educational Advising Centers can teach you the correct way to research, to cite materials, and the most time-efficient way to use databases and to find information about U.S. Colleges and any scholarship information.

International Students need to know how to research so they won’t fail when in US Colleges  IRCs have many free databases you can access with just an Internet connection.  This are listed on the next few slides: most important is DOAJ: and SSRN: SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH NETWORK:

There are a number of free, research level databases IROs and IRCs know about: these are in all fields.  Here are a few:  MEDLINE and MEDICAL/HEALTH related research  SSRN:  DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals now covering 8400 journals in all fields.  Free Full-Text Dissertation/Thesis Sites (full text) as noted in web site:

SSRN: Social Sciences Research Network:

DOAJ:

These are merely a few of the free databases that Embassies use.  These databases will allow students to practice and refine their research skills that they will truly need at a U.S. College.  I will conclude with a few hints for you on how to look for the college most suitable for you.

CONSIDERATIONS IN APPLYING TO U.S. COLLEGES I’ve taught INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS for many years and this is what we’ve learned together:

CHECK THE COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY WEB SITE  LOOK FOR STUDENT PROFILE ON THE UNIVERSITY WEB SITE: HOW MANY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ARE THERE?  THE HIGHER THE PERCENTAGE MEANS THE GREATER LIKELIHOOD THAT INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS CAN FIND SOMEONE OF A SIMILAR BACKGROUND

COLLEGE WEB SITES  CHECK COURSE OFFERINGS: SUCH AS HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE: DOES THE UNIV CONSISTENTLY TAKE A MULTINATIONAL OR A MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE IN ITS COURSES? If so, a good sign.  LOOK FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS: A UNIVERSITY THAT HAS IS MORE LIKELY TO TAKE A BROADER WORLD VIEW –SAYS WE VALUE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE. Study Abroad Programs?

WEB SITES  KNOW WHAT YOU (AS A STUDENT) WANT AND WHAT YOU VALUE - -DO YOU SEE THAT REFLECTED IN THE COLLEGE WEB SITE?  LOOK AT INTERNATIONAL CLUBS (MESA, MSA) AND ASK STUDENTS FOR INFORMATION – the clubs will often have an address. NETWORK WITH THEM FOR INFORMATION.

ADVICE  START THE PROCESS EARLY and DO YOUR RESEARCH. CONSULT WITH EDUCATIONAL ADVISING.  EMPHASIS IS ON GRADES, TRANSCRIPTS, GRE SCORES, or SIMILAR TESTS, PERSONAL ESSAYS, TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS  A WELL-WRITTEN REFLECTIVE PERSONAL ESSAY THAT REALLY TELLS ADMISSIONS OFFICERS WHAT YOU ARE ALL ABOUT WILL MAKE YOU STAND OUT.

GOOGLE CUSTOM SEARCH ENGINE  Here is a Google Customized Search Engine that searches all these Distance Education sites at once: A Google Customized Search Engine for locating Dissertations, Theses and specialized research studies:

ALL THE BEST!  GOOD LUCK!  IRC ACCRA:  IRO STEVE PERRY:  2012 NOVEMBER latest revision