Miverva - intense, small, on-line seminars

THE MINERVA MODEL: In its September education issue, The Atlantic takes an in-depth, exclusive look at the Minerva Project. The for-profit university startup just launched its inaugural class of 33 students, who reside in a San Francisco building while taking online classes using Apple laptops they provide themselves. Lectures are banned. And don’t associate Minerva with MOOCs — the startup is selective and the classes are small, not massive and open. Each class is a seminar with little respite or time for doodling. Students are expected to remain engaged for a full 45 minutes, answering questions and taking pop quizzes at any given moment. It’s kind of intense. And while there were some glitches (laggy video and the system crashed once) during a demo class, Minerva works well overall. Founder and CEO Ben Nelson thinks it has the potential to replace the modern liberal-arts college. Read more: http://theatln.tc/1uQQIEO.