Online Learning

Kadenze Adds Accredited Tracks to Online Arts Ed

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 11/30/16

A company that launched an online learning service last year specifically to deliver arts-oriented instruction has begun offering specialized certifications in partnership with a number of institutes, colleges and universities.

Kadenze hosts courses delivered by faculty from 31 institutions of higher education, three arts organizations and 11 company partners. Kadenze runs on kannu, a proprietary cloud-based course system used in K–12, higher ed and organizations such as museums and education centers.

Originally, the course service was structured with two levels. A free tier allows the user to access many courses in the Kadenze catalog, where he or she can watch videos and participate in online forums. Premium membership ($10 per month) grants users access to all open courses, enables them to submit assignments, receive grades, collaborate with other students, build a portfolio and earn certificates of "accomplishment."

A third tier, just added, promotes specialization in specific subjects, allowing students to earn designated certificates and, in some cases, academic credit. These "programs," as they are called, vary in number of courses, sessions, amount of work expected in each session and price. They also include courses unavailable to other tiers of membership. Students who enroll in the programs must also maintain a premium membership and pay an additional $300 to $900.

After a student completes the courses in a specialization, he or she takes an assessment to receive a certificate. Where applicable, the transferable college credits are issued at no additional cost.

For example, a "Foundations of Music Technology" program delivered by the California Institute of the Arts features four courses, of which one is "exclusive," meaning that it's not available to other Kadenze members. It requires 30 sessions with six hours of work per session. The price is $600, and the course doesn't include college credit.

"Generative Art and Computational Creativity," from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, is available for three college credits. The program has two courses, one of which is exclusive, includes 12 sessions and costs $900.

Specialized programs are also being made available from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Ringling College of Art + Design and Paris College of Art. Additionally, the company has announced five new "partner" schools that will shortly be adding courses to its catalog: the Rhode Island School of Design; Columbus College of Art and Design; Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University; Pacific Northwest College of Art; and School of Visual Arts, an art and design college in New York City.

"Programs add a new component to Kadenze's business model, providing new revenue opportunities for its academic partners, and new options for students and lifelong learners," according to company website.

To view a catalog of programs, visit the Kadenze site..