Many Professors Are Skeptical of MOOCs

Did you know that Inside Higher Ed recently released the Faculty Attitudes on Technology report? The report is based on Gallup’s survey of 2,251 professors. Generally, results indicate high levels of skepticism about the merit of MOOCs. Only one in five faculty members agree with the statement: “Online courses can achieve learning outcomes equivalent to those of in-person courses.”

This summer, NCWIT launched a new pilot program, NCWIT AspireIT, that addresses the lack of women in technology by actively engaging middle school girls with computing. NCWIT AspireIT pairs female high school and college computing students with local colleges and K-12 education non-profits to create and run technology outreach programs for middle school girls. NCWIT AspireIT is supported by Intel, Northrop Grumman, and Google.

Today's guest post is from Savannah Loberger, a 2013 National Award Winner and 2011 Oregon/SW Washington Affiliate Award Winner of NCWIT's Award for Aspirations in Computing. This summer, Savannah ran a STEM and computer science camp for middle school girls as part of our pilot AspireIT program. She is a 2013 graduate of Hillsboro High School, and will attend Oregon State University in the fall of 2013.