What will validate the knowledge learners gain from MOOCs? It's a question the New America Foundation's Kevin Carey tackled in a New York Times piece this week, in which he posited that credible credentials will ultimately be more revolutionary than the free online courses themselves. Also still in question was the fate of shuttering Sweet Briar's $80 million endowment, though it's expected that the money will be spent in ways consistent with its original intent or returned to donors.

Meanwhile, Instructure announced at SXSWedu a deal with Pearson that will see the PowerSchool student information system, currently up for sale, integrated into its Canvas LMS. Education Dive was on-hand for the conference, so keep an eye out for more coverage rolling out over the next few days.

Finally, the Gates Foundation announced a more streamlined approach to higher ed policy, divided into four focus areas, while Apple revealed it is taking measures to revamp its iPad deployment strategy for schools.

Be sure to check out our feature looking at whether the days of large lecture classes are numbered and more in this week's most-read Education Dive posts!

• Free online credentials, not MOOCs, will transform higher ed: Kevin Carey argues in a new book that verifiable skills earned through online certification could say more than college degrees.
• Questions arise over Sweet Briar's $80M endowment: Once Sweet Briar College closes in August, it will have to find appropriate uses for its rather large endowment.
• Instructure integrates PowerSchool in new Pearson partnership [SXSWedu 2015]: Could the impending sale of Pearson's widely-used student information system impact the deal?
• Gates Foundation identifies four focus areas for higher ed policy: The foundation outlined its strategy in a paper about post-secondary advocacy priorities.
• Apple to streamline iPad resource sharing in schools: According to an email obtained by MacRumors, individual Apple IDs will no longer be necessary to push apps to multiple devices.
• The days of giant lecture hall courses may be numbered: Disruptions including the Obama administration's proposal for free community college stand to change the higher ed business model.

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