New Online Courses from Stanford

Stanford University launched 16 new online courses and two new home-grown platforms for interactive learning this fall. Stanford's new online courses cover topics in computer science, mathematics, linguistics, science writing, sociology, and education. The two platforms each have distinct features and capabilities, such as video lectures, discussion forums, peer assessment, problem sets, quizzes, and team projects. Class2Go is a new open source platform developed by Stanford engineers that will host "An Introduction to Computer Networks" and a course on solar cells. The other new platform, called Venture Lab, will host "Technology Entrepreneurship," which attracted 37,000 students when it was first offered last spring, as well as other courses. Venture Lab, developed by Stanford's Amin Saberi, was designed for use by students working in teams. Meanwhile, the Coursera online learning platform will host nine Stanford courses this fall, including "Writing in the Sciences" and "Human-Computer Interaction." Other online courses include those on machine learning, cryptography, probabilistic graphical models, organizational analysis, and finance.

(From Stanford University News, September 7, 2012)

Is Massive Open Online Courses, the Future of Education?

Elon University researchers recently launched the Imagining the Internet project, which presented two scenarios describing higher education in 2020 and asked Internet experts, researchers, observers, and users which of the two they most agreed with and why. Once scenario suggested that it would be similar to the way it is now, and the other suggested it would be very different. Sixty percent of the 1,021 respondents agreed with the statement that by 2020 "there will be mass adoption of teleconferencing and distance learning to leverage expert resources [and] a transition to 'hybrid' classes that combine online learning components with less-frequent on-campus, in-person class meetings." About 39 percent of respondents thought that the change would be more modest, and most universities would still require in-person, on-campus attendance of students and would still feature many traditional lectures. Although most respondents expect greater change and greater dependence on technology in higher education, many also are unenthusiastic about the transition. "They are worried over the adoption of technology-mediated approaches that they fear will lack the personal, face-to-face touch they feel is necessary for effective education," says Pew Internet Project director Lee Rainie. (From Campus Technology, August 20, 2012)

Coursera Hits 1 Million Students, With Udacity Close Behind

Coursera has signed up 1 million students for free online courses and rival Udacity has registered more than 739,000 students. However, Coursera co-founder Andrew Ng says the number of active students is significantly lower since many classes have yet to start and many students register but fail to keep up with the coursework. Students participating in these massive open online courses typically watch short video lectures, complete automatically graded tests or assignments, and participate in online communities to work through concepts, but do not receive official university credit in most cases. Coursera works with some of the world's best-known universities, such as Princeton University and the University of Virginia, while Udacity works with individual professors rather than institutions. The companies initially focused on courses for computer science and related fields, but Coursera is expanding into other disciplines. Udacity founder Sebastian Thrun says his company will continue to focus on computer science and related fields. “We are not doing humanities,” he says. Coursera has users in 196 countries with the United States accounting for 38 percent of students, while Udacity has users in 203 countries with the United States accounting for 42 percent. (From: Chronicle of Higher Education. August 10, 2012)

Coders Get Instant Gratification With Khan Academy Programming

The Khan Academy, which has provided free video lectures on subjects such as mathematics, biology, and history since 2006, recently launched a computer science section. Instead of a video, each computer science lesson contains a pane on the left side for students to enter code and a pane on the right that displays the output. The first lesson involves writing code that will draw a face in the right hand pane. After learning to create graphics, students learn animation and eventually game development. The results of coding changes are immediately displayed in the right pane, offering instant feedback. The lessons also include tips for solving common beginner problems. The tutorials use Processing.js, which is based on the visual arts-centric programming language Processing, but can run inside a Web browser without the need for any plugins. The nonprofit academy, which has received financial backing from the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation, was founded by Salman Khan, who has a master's degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School. (From WIRED Magazine. August 14, 2012)

CyberSecurity Plan X of the US Military

Boosting U.S. cyberwarfare capabilities as well the country's ability to launch effective cyberstrikes and survive the probable retaliation is the goal of Plan X, a five-year, $110 million U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency research effort that seeks assistance from the private sector, academia, and computer game companies. "If they can do it, it's a really big deal," says the National Research Council's Expert Herbert S. Lin. "If they achieve it, they're talking about being able to dominate the digital battlefield just like they do the traditional battlefield." Items on the Plan X agenda including plotting out the whole of cyberspace on a self-updating map so commanders can identify and disable targets using computer code delivered through the Internet or other means. Experts say a massive amount of upfront intelligence work is needed to realize the digital map. Also part of Plan X is the development of a robust operating system that can launch attacks and withstand counter strikes. “Other countries are preparing for a cyberwar," says former U.S. National Security Agency official Richard M. George. "If we’re not pushing the envelope in cyber, somebody else will.”

Do You Really Need to be Smart to be Successful?

Albert Einstein’s was estimated at 160, Madonna’s is 140, and John F. Kennedy’s was only 119, but as it turns out, your IQ score pales in comparison with your EQ, MQ, and BQ scores when it comes to predicting your success and professional achievement.

IQ tests are used as an indicator of logical reasoning ability and technical intelligence. A high IQ is often a prerequisite for rising to the top ranks of business today. It is necessary, but it is not adequate to predict executive competence and corporate success. By itself, a high IQ does not guarantee that you will stand out and rise above everyone else.

Research carried out by the Carnegie Institute of Technology shows that 85 percent of your financial success is due to skills in "human engineering," your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. Shockingly, only 15 percent is due to technical knowledge. Additionally, Nobel Prize winning Israeli-American psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, found that people would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than someone they don’t, even if the likeable person is offering a lower quality product or service at a higher price.

With this in mind, instead of exclusively focusing on your conventional intelligence quotient, you should make an investment in strengthening your EQ (Emotional Intelligence), MQ (Moral Intelligence), and BQ (Body Intelligence). These concepts may be elusive and difficult to measure, but their significance is far greater than IQ.

Emotional Intelligence

EQ is the most well known of the three, and in brief it is about: being aware of your own feelings and those of others, regulating these feelings in yourself and others, using emotions that are appropriate to the situation, self-motivation, and building relationships.

Top Tip for Improvement: First, become aware of your inner dialogue. It helps to keep a journal of what thoughts fill your mind during the day. Stress can be a huge killer of emotional intelligence, so you also need to develop healthy coping techniques that can effectively and quickly reduce stress in a volatile situation.

Moral Intelligence

MQ directly follows EQ as it deals with your integrity, responsibility, sympathy, and forgiveness. The way you treat yourself is the way other people will treat you. Keeping commitments, maintaining your integrity, and being honest are crucial to moral intelligence.

Top Tip for Improvement: Make fewer excuses and take responsibility for your actions. Avoid little white lies. Show sympathy and communicate respect to others. Practice acceptance and show tolerance of other people’s shortcomings. Forgiveness is not just about how we relate to others; it’s also how you relate to and feel about yourself.

Body Intelligence

Lastly, there is your BQ, or body intelligence, which reflects what you know about your body, how you feel about it, and take care of it. Your body is constantly telling you things; are you listening to the signals or ignoring them? Are you eating energy-giving or energy-draining foods on a daily basis? Are you getting enough rest? Do you exercise and take care of your body? It may seem like these matters are unrelated to business performance, but your body intelligence absolutely affects your work because it largely determines your feelings, thoughts, self-confidence, state of mind, and energy level.

Top Tip For Improvement: At least once a day, listen to the messages your body is sending you about your health. Actively monitor these signals instead of going on autopilot. Good nutrition, regular exercise, and adequate rest are all key aspects of having a high BQ. Monitoring your weight, practising moderation with alcohol, and making sure you have down time can dramatically benefit the functioning of your brain and the way you perform at work.

What You Really Need To Succeed

It doesn’t matter if you did not receive the best academic training from a top university. A person with less education who has fully developed their EQ, MQ, and BQ can be far more successful than a person with an impressive education who falls short in these other categories.

Yes, it is certainly good to be an intelligent, rational thinker and have a high IQ; this is an important asset. But you must realise that it is not enough. Your IQ will help you personally, but EQ, MQ, and BQ will benefit everyone around you as well. If you can master the complexities of these unique and often under-rated forms of intelligence, research tells us you will achieve greater success and be regarded as more professionally competent and capable.

The Robot Revolution Is Just Beginning

Former Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Rodney Brooks recently spoke to MIT students about the robotics technologies that he helped develop and how they will look primitive compared to future robots. Brooks' first major contribution to the field came with the idea of building swarms of tiny, inexpensive robots with autonomous control systems. Brooks also helped develop Sojourner, the first mobile robotic device on Mars. In addition, Brooks worked with other MIT researchers to develop robots that watch people's facial expressions and gestures and make inferences about their meaning and emotional state. In the future, Brooks thinks that robots could revolutionize manufacturing. He says smaller, nimbler, more responsive robots could work alongside people, helping them with tasks. Brooks predicts that future robots will compare to today's industrial robots in much the same way that an iPhone compares to an earlier, room-sized mainframe computer. However, he says they are not likely to closely resemble humans. “If you make them too human like, people’s expectations go up, and they’re easily disappointed,” Brooks says. “You don’t want to make it look like Einstein!”