Friday, March 5, 2021

Pike National Forest (CO): the edX-WUaS partnership is developing! * Seeking to send out with the upcoming WUaS Minutes for the WUaS Monthly Business Meeting last Saturday a link from edX for undergraduate applications, and one for prospective PhD student applications * Glad also the edX Solutions Architect team is next to communicate with you at edX * Possible to get a single URL for WUaS Bachelor and PhD students to apply with (something like - https://courses.edx.org/register - but with information that a Bachelor's degree will take 4 years and a PhD will take 7 years average time to completion - re retention questions and high achieving students making commitment - and regarding also an honor code, and with student acknowledgement that matriculated students will observe the developing laws of their countries and US etc in the information age? * * I look forward to getting a registration link to send out to our prospective undergraduate and possibly PhD students for these programs too


the edX-WUaS partnership is developing!


February 23, 2021


Hi Matthew (and Larry), 


I hope this email finds you well. 

I would love to be able to send out with the upcoming WUaS Minutes for the WUaS Monthly Business Meeting last Saturday a link from edX for undergraduate applications, and one for prospective PhD student applications (to individuals MIT departments??? ... who might end up midstream only taking a Master's degree). in addition to my other questions in the 3-4 most recent emails. Thank you so much for your replies so far, Matthew! If possible, WUaS would seek to begin some of this in the May 1, 2021 WUaS term (especially for preparation for a degree program) and for the September 1, 2021 4 month term.  

Just filled out a MIT Tech Review Insights' Newsletter poll and found it a helpful focus, idea-wise, for development of WUaS. I've posted some of my responses below for your insight into their language in the poll. 

Please take this short poll and let us know what you think.

I responded that it's "Critically important" to this following question, and in relation to our upcoming matriculating WUaS students, - 
* 7. How important were achieving the following goals to your digital transformation strategy?

More efficient and responsive customer experience delivery

  Not at all important Less important Somewhat important Critically important

More efficient and responsive customer experience delivery - Critically important

Thank you much, 
Scott
Agenda & News for 2/20/21 open WUaS Monthly Business Meeting - 



February 16, 2021 - 

February 9, 2021
Dear Matthew,

I hope this finds you well.

Thank you for the clarification. HOW would the integration with Google's WUaS' G Suite for Education work with edX for grades etc., with our WUaS plans to build out in WUaS Opencura WikiBase/Wikidata's 300 languages, and for matriculating Universitian students and WUaS wiki editors in all 200 countries, conceptually here - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/You_at_World_University - (and in planning for WUaS wiki teachers and learners in all 7117 known living languages) ? 

And would you be able please to include Larry Viehland in our communications each time, since he's chair of the Board at World University and School? Viehland@chatham.edu is his email address. Thanks. 

WUaS is still seeking funding. So is WUaS and edX still talking about ~ $17,000 per 50 students per year? And what please would be the next steps and costs to sign the edX-WUaS partnership agreement? (And would you please lay all of these out in writing)? Also, from you edX perspective, could WUaS matriculate 150 undergraduate students (and potentially at least 4 PhD students working toward their Master's degrees) September 1, taking engaging edX courseware which helps with student retention, in 29 majors (licensable be BPPE and accredit-able by WASC), for a first year out of 4 years' college?

Thank you,
Scott


PS
Here are some ideas for where WUaS would like to head with a single science subject from our WUaS CC-4 MIT OCW-centricity (for reimbursement reasons from countries) to edX and beyond, first in English then in other languages with machine translation (some of which will happen in a realistic virtual earth in the Google ecosystem too) ...


Chemistry at OCW https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/chemistry/ >https://www.edx.org/course/subject/chemistry > 1 #RealisticVirtualEarth #RealisticVirtualEarthForSTEM ~#RealisticVirtualEarthForChemistry at #atomic, #molecular & #StreetView with #TimeSlider levels @WorldUnivAndSch (@WUaSPress) #ActualVirtual w #FilmTo3D App
AAA


Thank you, 
Scott



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March 3, 2021

Hi Scott,

I hope my note finds you well. I was on holiday when your email came in and happy to address your questions. Regarding a question about an interface with edX and your platform, it would not be my colleague Ned, but we have members of the edX Solutions Architect team that can work with you develop a custom integration with your platform. This integration leverages our tool-kit of integration options, which can include course discovery, SSO, and the metadata for grading and student progress. Ultimately, the extent of what is possible would occur when meeting with our technical team.

To address the questions about MIT application process and survey, while MIT is a founder of edX, edX is a separate entity and we do not oversee the admission aspects of MIT. Apologies if I misunderstood that question or missed any others.

Thank you,
Matthew




* 

March 5, 2021

Hi Matthew, (Larry),


I hope this email finds you well, and thanks so much for getting back to me again. I'm glad, too, the edX-WUaS partnership is making progress (toward signing the partnering documents). And I'm glad also the edX Solutions Architect team is next to communicate with you. As you know, WUaS is seeking to matriculate 150-500 Bachelor's degrees' students as early as potentially May 1, 2021, and WUaS has 4 prospective PhD students, who may seek to begin their WUaS-edX studies then too (and WUaS is seeking further PhD applicants, first in English). 

Regarding edX for business, licensing and accreditation will be invaluable: So California's Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE), whose Dianne A said in Feb 2019 that they could license WUaS for PhD as well as Bachelor degrees, is an accreditation agency, along with WASC, that WUaS seeks to engage, but the issues are complicated with students in all 200 countries and in so many ways - so this is something WUaS continues to have in mind re edX courses as well, but is currently on the back burner. And leaving aside the many issues involved with BPPE / WASC for now, eg students' identity verification, proctoring of tests - in addition to grades - and the list is long regarding BPPE / WASC (https://twitter.com/CaBPPE - https://twitter.com/wascsenior), WUaSs' focus is on students' reimbursement from all ~200 countries, first in English, and then in these ~200 countries and in their official and main languages. So WUaS is simply seeking to get off the ground and matriculate students beginning, if possible for preparatory courses, in May 2021, and for degree programs on September 1, 2021. 

As you may have read in my recent emails to you, WUaS would seek to let our prospective PhD and Bachelor degrees' students know, as soon as possible, about how they could apply to WUaS to matriculate as early as this May 1, 2021 (for preparatory course work, eg English as a second language, possibly learning a programming language, eg with Scratch etc), and perhaps with a single URL from edX, and for 29 WUaS Bachelor degree majors. And could edX now develop this for our prospective WUaS PhD students too? So, and to reiterate, and since you said in our last video conference that edX has Master's degree courses, and in your last email that WUaS PhD students won't be applying through MIT departments (thanks to your and Larry's communications), would it be possible please to inquire with the edX Solutions Architect team if WUaS could develop an initially edX-WUaS application process for both Bachelor and PhD degrees? I just reached out to prospective WUaS PhD candidates with the following: 

"Hi Prasanth, and prospective WUaS PhD candidates, ...
I just received these PhilPapers' philosophy items, and one synopsis mentioned cognitive science, which I thought might interest you.
Best wishes, Scott

( ... where Prasanth is interested in studying toward a PhD in cognitive science, and beyond developing WUaS in the Tamil language - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Tamil_language - in Tamil), 

Introduction to Philosophy of Science. Carlos Mariscal - forthcoming - In Benjamin D. Young & Carolyn Dicey Jennings (eds.), Mind, Cognition, and Neuroscience.
This chapter will be a brief survey of the concepts from general philosophy of science for those interested in cognitive science. It covers several major topics in the philosophy of science: scientific explanation and underdetermination, reductionism and levels of nature, and scientific realism. We will discuss the goals of science, the methods of science, and the most plausible interpretations of science. To demonstrate the importance of these topics, the chapter includes cases in which confusion over these issues has led scientists astray. These cases include instances in which cognitive neuroscience has failed to discover adequate explanations for phenomena, when previously established research did not withstand further scrutiny, and the increasingly complex and bewildering interrelationship between the study of the mind and the study of the brain and its parts. These issues are common to many areas of science, but they can be particularly fraught in a field like cognitive neuroscience, as researchers from a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds and research foci come together to develop a systematic understanding of the mind.

Thanks for your email, Prasanth. Cognitive science questions, and the English language, come together with precision and careful thought in other academic disciplines like philosophy (in the English language) - and will do so probably in Tamil too (if such questions, thinking, cognitive science, brain science, etc. aren't emerging in Tamil already). There's much both to read in English in cognitive science, as well as create digitally. Am a bit concerned that Tamil machine translation isn't far enough along science-wise to facilitate ease of learning from English ... but maybe it will develop rapidly in the future. 

Am hoping you can apply for a WUaS PhD program, beginning September 1, 2021, with preparatory edX courses beginning May 1, 2021 even. But it looks as if you may apply through edX rather than through MIT departments, per an email yesterday.

Waiting to hear back from edX about next steps and even something like an URL for prospective Bachelor (150-500?) and PhD degree (where WUaS currently has 4 possible applicants) students to apply to WUaS, for May 1, and September 1, 2021. 



Matthew, while WUaS has been in G Suite for Education since 2015 or so, I'm very glad to write that on March 23 - for the first time ever - WUaS will participate in a "Get Started with Google Workspace for Education." Would there be a way please to interoperate this with the edX Solutions Architect team - and with edX for Business goals especially (and even regarding a generative self-sovereign internet - https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2021/02/xoloitzcuintle-mexican-hairless-dog.html - which may be one of edX CEO Anant Agarwal's education goals too)? (As you may know, WUaS seeks to code for all 7.8 billion people on the planet - and potentially in G Suite for Education or similar - initially for students to apply, and matriculate, and for transcripts, etc., and especially for reimbursement from all 200 countries' governments (per Olympics), and even regarding their counties - for their 'Olympic students').

So, would it be possible please - in your communications with the edX Solutions Architect team - to inquire if it's possible to get a single URL for WUaS Bachelor and PhD students to apply with (something like - https://courses.edx.org/register - but with information that a Bachelor's degree will take 4 years and a PhD will take 7 years average time to completion - re retention questions and high achieving students making commitment - and regarding also an honor code, and with student acknowledgement that matriculated students will observe the developing laws of their countries and US etc in the information age), and for WUaS to announce or share this URL in our WUaS Agenda and News for Monthly Business Meeting, probably to send out on March 18th, and also in the our 3/20/21 WUaS Monthly Business Meeting Minutes following this? 

Thank you so much, Matthew. 

All the best, Scott



- Scott GK MacLeod  
Founder, President, CEO & Professor
1) non-profit World University and School - http://worlduniversityandschool.org -
2) for profit general stock company WUaS Corporation - http://worlduniversityandschool.org/AcademicPress.html - 

CC-4 MIT OCW-centric wiki WUaS is planned in all ~200 countries and in their official languages for free-to-students' Bachelor, PhD, Law, MD and IB high school degrees, accessible from here in due course - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Nation_States - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Languages ... for example (and see, too, the MIT OCW on some of the academic wiki subjects here - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Subjects).



* * 


Matthew Gusching

Fri, Mar 5, 3:47 PM (18 hours ago)
to me, Larry
Hello Scott,

Happy Friday, I hope my note finds you well. For your question about WUaS applications to edX Masters programs, I wanted to provide more context on the process for students to enroll currently. As of now, students interested in enrolling in a full Masters program on edX must first apply and be accepted by the university conducting the program. Requirements differ by university, but this includes sending transcripts and essays for admission criteria. Once accepted, courses are instructor-paced and typically follow a academic calendar. The application and administration of the full Masters programs are conducted by the university partner. For the reason that edX university partners control the application process, we would not be able to have a WUaS application for access into the full Masters programs.

MicroMasters and MicroBachelors programs are different as they do not have an application required to enroll, but they constitute 25%-50% of a Masters/Bachelors degree, not the full program.

I hope that helps answer that question.

Best,
Matthew


--
Matthew Gusching
Account Representative 
Phone: 617.253.2966



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Scott MacLeod sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org

Fri, Mar 5, 4:00 PM (18 hours ago)
to Matthew, Larry
Thanks, Matthew, 

I'll let our prospective PhD students know that WUaS PhD programs won't be available this autumn 2021 - and perhaps until WUaS gets this PhD program (with a Master's option along the way) going in 2022, if this might be possible with an edX-WUaS partnership. Perhaps WUaS can explore our prospective PhD students getting a 2nd Bachelor's degree in a last year of courses too, - as a way for them to prepare themselves even for a WUaS PhD program, and to learn how to study via edX potentially as well. What do you think of this possibility? Thank you. 

Best, 
Scott


*

Matthew Gusching

Fri, Mar 5, 4:34 PM (17 hours ago)
to Larry, me
Hi Scott,

The only caveat is that edX does not have full bachelors degrees on the platform currently. Of course, I believe our programs are robust enough and have skill acquisition to equal the credits of a bachelor's programs, but they are not credited this way. The second aspect is if a PhD level student will find bachelors levels courses appealing, but that is a matter of preference and time.

Thanks,
Matthew


* 


Scott MacLeod sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org

Mar 5, 2021, 5:17 PM (16 hours ago)
to Matthew, Larry
Hi Matthew, 

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly a second time today, and I hope this finds you well. Glad this edX-WUaS partnership is developing further and regarding our recent communications concerning the edX technical team..

Glad also to learn that edX has enough courses for WUaS to offer Bachelor's degree programs (in 29 majors?) beginning possibly as soon as in May, but on September 1, 2021 for the actual matriculation of undergraduate WUaS students taking edX courses for WUaS credit. I look forward to getting a registration link to send out to our prospective undergraduate and possibly PhD students for these programs too. Brainstorming-wise, could our WUaS PhD program prospective students take the equivalent of a last year of edX undergraduate courses (in a 4 year WUaS planned Bachelor's degree program)? And could WUaS offer these (Bachelor degree-level) edX courses for credit as the first year of a WUaS 7 PhD program (with a WUaS Master's degree exit option along the way)? This might be a way for our prospective English as a second language STEM students to become familiar with the program, with edX (from their homes in India, Morocco, Indonesia, etc.), and with studying online in English - and to begin their approximately 7-year WUaS PhD program, including regarding with reimbursement from ~200 nation states and even their counties as part of this. This is what WUaS is seeking to build out in WUaS G Suite for Education and in communication potentially with the edX technical team. Thank you so much. 

All the best, Scott






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