Distance Learning

Stanford University has appointed computer scientist John Mitchell its first vice provost for online learning. The appointment is part of a larger Stanford Online initiative that the university said would restructure learning and better position it as a worldwide learning institution.

On the plus side, MOOCs are free, open to anyone and taught by professors at prestigious universities. On the downside, they have low completion rates, and critics questions the utility of students being graded by their peers. TIME is enrolling in several of these classes to see what all the fuss is about

In Nevada, which last year saw a 14 percent decline in state funding for higher education, online classes have proliferated as demand has grown.

Naylea Omayra Villanueva Sanchez, 22, lives on the edge of the Amazon rain forest in Tarapoto, northern Peru.

The University of Texas is negotiating with two companies that offer free online courses and could announce an affiliation in the next few weeks.

The California State University, the nation’s largest four-year university system, has selected Pearson to launch Cal State Online, a fully online program designed to increase access to higher education. Cal State Online will launch in January 2013 with a selection of undergraduate degree completion and professional master’s programs, leveraging the multitude of programs currently available across the CSU.

The University of Texas at Austin is considering getting into the MOOC — massive open online course — game.

A group of online-learning ventures is collaborating on a new kind of free class to be offered this fall, known as a mechanical MOOC (for “massive open online course”), that will teach a computer-programming language by patching together existing resources from open-learning sites.

StraighterLine and Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) announced today a partnership to provide another pathway to an affordable college degree.

College courses have been offered online for more than a decade, but the past two years have seen the concept gain more attention as major colleges have signed up, creating paid and free coursework that some say could upend higher education.