Kadenze
 | |
Type of site | Online education |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Ajay Kapur, Perry R. Cook, Owen Vallis, and Jordan Hochenbaum |
| Website |
www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Required |
| Launched | June 2015 |
| Current status | Active |
Kadenze, operated by Kadenze Inc., is a for-profit massive open online course (MOOC) provider that offers courses geared toward art, music, and creative technology, fields which are falling behind other fields such as computer science in terms of number of courses offered in the MOOC space.[1][2] It was launched on June 16, 2015 with 18 academic partners including: Stanford University, Princeton University, UCLA, California Institute of the Arts, School of Art Institute of Chicago, Maryland Institute College of Art, Goldsmiths College, MassArt, Seoul Institute of the Arts, Paris College of Art, National University of Singapore, Cornish College of Art, and University of Texas at Austin.
Platform and technology
Kadenze was created with technology-enhanced active learning through media-rich interactions and engagement which are essential to any arts and creative technology based curriculum.[1] According to a recent study published in January 2016 by the Arts Management & Technology Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University, “to provide a better learning experience for arts learners, Kadenze incorporates some innovative features that satisfy the unique needs of arts education. By using interactive tools, it creates a connected, dynamic and personalized learning environment.”[1]
Like other MOOC platforms, the primary method of learning on Kadenze Inc. is through video-based lectures. Courses typically range from five to eight sessions long, with each session broken up into a group of short lessons.
A course can run in either Scheduled or Adaptive mode. A Scheduled course follows a set calendar, with a course start/end date, prescribed due dates for assignments, and new lecture content that is released on specific dates (e.g. once a week). Adaptive courses are more flexible in terms of scheduling, allowing learners to initiate sessions and progress through course material at their own pace. While all video are immediately accessible when running in Adaptive mode, assignments are “unlocked” upon completing the previous assignment. A suggested due date of 1-week is set to help learners stay on track, however, learners can go at their own pace.[3]
Core to the Kadenze platform is the ability to embed media (image, video, audio) nearly anywhere on the platform, such as a course’s forums and gallery. This enables learners and customers/purchasers of the Premium membership to engage with one another’s works without the need to leave the learning environment. This also greatly expands the possibilities of peer assessment based learning methods (which is a common form of assessment on MOOC platforms). For example, learners can receive grades based on interacting with one another on assignments posted to the course gallery, a public area each course gets to showcase assignments and student work.
Kadenze’s Research and Development and Web Engineering teams also works closely with instructors and instructional designers when developing new courses, often creating new technology to enable highly detailed machine-based grading or learner interactions. Examples include real-time rendering of code-based visual works (e.g. Javascript) in the course gallery, code analysis and grading of computer programming assignments, text-based and visual feedback for music production and mixing assignments, etc.
In addition to coursework assessment technology and peer interactions supported by the platform, Kadenze Premium members also benefit from a public online portfolio where they can showcase their projects and achievements (e.g. verified Certificate of Accomplishment).
Membership
Kadenze offers a tier-based membership model. The free tier enables learners to watch all lecture material, and to participate in the course forums. A fee-based Premium membership allows students to have full participation in courses, submit assignments, receive grades and feedback, collaborate with peers, build their online portfolio, and gain eligibility to receive a verified Certificate of Accomplishment if a course is completed satisfactorily. Additionally, many courses offer Premium Members access to exclusive student discounts from Kadenze’s industrial partners. Some courses sold by Kadenze are also offered as credit-eligible, meaning that learners can take the course for actual college credit from the partnering institution.
History
After being awarded a National Science Foundation grant in 2012 to study methods of teaching computer science to non-programmers, specifically art students, Kapur and Cook taught a music programming language course on another popular MOOC which platform. The course saw around 45,000 students enroll. However, it was clear that there were limited options for these art-tech courses online, and challenges emerged in trying to effectively measure students’ work.[4]
Kadenze was founded in 2013 and launched in June 2015. The Kadenze website is operated by the for-profit company Kadenze Inc. Kadenze opened with 18 international educational partners offering courses ranging from art history to computer programming for musicians and artists. At launch, Kadenze also offered credit-eligible courses from some of its partners including California Institute of the Arts and Otis College of Art and Design.
As of February 2016 Kadenze has expanded its partner list to 24 educational partners including two non-profit organizations, Processing Foundation and Real Industry. All together, Kadenze offers 33 courses in a number of art-related fields including business, music, music technology, visual arts, creative computing, computational graphics, design, history and culture, fashion, entertainment technology, math, game design, film, curation, and web development. Many of these courses mimic similar courses already taught at partner non-profit public and private institutions, and feature the staff and faculty from these partner institutions. The Kadenze website does not disclose the terms of agreement or the level of financial remuneration it offers the staff and faculty already holding positions at non-profit partner institutions. Additionally, Kadenze has established partnerships with 8 industrial for-profit partners including Ableton, Adobe, Cognella, Focusrite, Manning Publications, Native Instruments, Novation, and RME. Some of the industrial partners offer Kadenze premium members additional benefits such as discounts on software or hardware purchases. Similarly, the Kadenze website does not disclose the terms of agreement it has with industrial partners and whether the industrial partners also have pre-existing agreements with partner institution, which is likely due to commercial sensitivities.
On November 19, 2015, Kadenze, Inc. launched Kannu, a learning management system geared toward creative education, music, arts, and design. Early adopters of the customized platform on campus were California Institute of the Arts, Otis College of Art and Design Rhode Island School of Design, Goldsmiths College, Stanford University and more.
Leadership
Kadenze was founded by Ajay Kapur, Ph.D. (President & Chief Executive Officer), Perry R. Cook, Ph.D. (Executive Vice President, Algorithms and IP Strategy), Jordan Hochenbaum, Ph.D. (Chief Creative Officer & Vice President Engineering), Owen Vallis, Ph.D. (Vice President Research and Data Analysis), Ashok Ahuja (Executive Chairman & Chairman of the Board), and Meera Kapur (Vice President Finance and Resource Management).
References
- 1 2 3 "How Can MOOC Providers Create an Interactive Learning Experience in the Arts?". AMT Lab @ CMU. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
- ↑ Friedman, Jordan (2015-07-20). "Fine Arts Programs Slowly Move Online". US News & World Report. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
- ↑ "Scheduled vs. Adaptive Courses". Kadenze. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
- ↑ "Kadenze Brings High-Quality Creative Arts Education Platform Online". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2016-02-20.