Pogemiller's announcement about Coursera

Although I mentioned Friday that the state Office of Higher Education was not going to require schools offering free online courses (such as via Coursera) to register with the state, I thought I'd print its full Friday announcement here:

A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education has led to some confusion regarding the Minnesota Office of Higher Education’s (OHE) position on free online education.

“Obviously, our office encourages lifelong learning and wants Minnesotans to take advantage of educational materials available on the Internet, particularly if they’re free,” said Pogemiller. “No Minnesotan should hesitate to take advantage of free, online offerings from Coursera.”

Pogemiller said a current, 20-year old statute requiring institutional registration clearly did not envision free online, not-for-credit offerings.

“When the legislature convenes in January, my intent is to work with the Governor and Legislature to appropriately update the statute to meet modern-day circumstances,” said Pogemiller. “Until that time, I see no reason for our office to require registration of free, not-for-credit offerings.”

I've also spoken to a Andrew Ng, cofounder of Coursera, who is also scheduled to be on The Daily Circuit today just after 10 a.m.

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