Dive Brief:

• The Tech Entrepreneur Nanodegree from Udacity represents a Google-designed curriculum that focuses on creation, development, implementation and marketing apps.
• Academia Apps reports the program is designed for a non-technical user, which could open the door for educators to take the MOOC and develop apps for their courses.
• Like Udacity's other nanodegree offerings, the MOOC content is free but completing the program for a certificate costs $199 per month, and a 50% rebate goes to any student who can do so in one year.

Dive Insight:

While the image of a university classroom, professor lecturing, students taking notes, has remained unchanged in many people's minds, the reality in many classrooms is much different.

Collaborative classrooms have sprung up for students in a range of fields, giving them research and teamwork experience. Faculty have used new tools to curate their open-source textbooks. Others have piloted in-class communication tools that let students answer each other's question in real time, participate in classes digitally, and continue conversations with their peers and instructors after the period ends. There is still value in a traditional lecture, in some contexts, but many instructors have embraced new pedagogies that are transforming campuses across the country.