Smart List: 26 HigherEd Innovators
There are a number of challenges facing higher education today—from rising tuition costs negatively affecting college access to curriculum not keeping up with the shifting demands of the new, technology-driven economy.
Today, we’re taking time to recognize organizations innovating higher education to instill it with renewed energy and more timely programs.
Platforms
- Coursera: 1600 courses from 145 top universities serving 22 million learners
- edX: 4 million students, 500 courses
- Udacity: 160,000 students in more than 190 countries
- Canvas by Instructure: LMS and open courses on Canvas.net (see our them)
- Echo360: Active learning through collaborative communities of learning
- Fidelis Education: Relationship management
- Significant Systems: Supporting innovative new degree programs (see our feature)
- Motivis: Competency-based spinout from SNHU (see our feature)
Innovators
- Minerva: Next-gen university for the world’s brightest students
- Olin College: A new kind of engineering education (see our feature and podcast on Olin College)
- Arizona State: The most innovative public university
Low-Cost & Competency-Based
- Western Governors University: Competency-based pioneers celebrating 20 years
- StraighterLine: Affordable gen-ed courses
- SNHU and College for America: Online and competency-based innovators (see how Match and Big Picture are partnering with CfA to expand access)
- Degreed: Credit for what you know and can do
- TEACH-NOW: Masters in teaching from Educatore School of Education (see our feature)
Program Management
- Guild Education: Customizing degree pathways for working adults
- Pearson Embanet: Pearson’s online and low-cost gen-ed solution
- 2U: Supporting innovative brand name graduate programs
- Bisk: Taking higher education online
- Noodle Partners: Helping universities create innovative programs
Support Orgs
- Educause: The higher-ed EdTech folks that host the Next-Gen Learning Challenges
- Lumina Foundation: Redesigning higher education
- Jack Kent Cooke Foundation: Supporting talented low-income students
- Entangled Solutions: Innovation agency that develops academic solutions
- Civitas Learning: Data and design (listen to our podcast with Mark Milliron)
We’re sure we missed a number of organizations doing great work–who would you add? Share in the comments section below, and don’t forget to check out our other recent Smart Lists at our Smart List Series Page.
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Shyam Pawar
I would add Amazon Web Services or AWS Cloud, they are helping many EdTechs like Coursera, EdX, Civitas transform Education and are helping Higher Education gain access to affordable computing thus accelerating innovation in research.