349 Matching Annotations
  1. Aug 2019
    1. The tax burden would be enormous, roughly doubling the current tax obligations for today’s taxpayers. One funding option Sanders proposes is a 7.5 percent payroll tax, plus a 4 percent income tax on all Americans, as well as a wide variety of specialized taxes on investments and taxes targeted to higher-income Americans.

      According to the analysis above, it can be said that the "Single-payer" system aims to reduce costs for users but ultimately has a higher tax rate than the conventional healthcare system.

  2. Jul 2019
  3. Apr 2019
    1. stressful but fascinating

      It seems like these two words sum up this last week pretty well for a majority of the group. There has been a lot of information to take in, within a short amount of time. Although it has been a bit on the chaotic side here and there, most of the class can agree that the more we see, the more fascinating it becomes. I think everyone is looking forward to attaining more clarity for the program as a whole. The enthusiasm is contagious. It seems the whole process is new for everyone, and everyone is excited for the adventure.

    1. Elizabeth Evans Getzel is the Director for Transition Innovations at Virginia Commonwealth University and has a long history of working with students with disabilities in higher education. The article focuses on how the integration of support for students with disabilities is extremely important to their persistence and this includes technology integration and requires buy-in from the faculty.

    1. D. Christopher Brooks, Director of Research, and Mark McCormack, Senior Director of Analytics & Research, at EDUCAUSE bring together this comprehensive report that outlines Higher Education trends for 2019. This report does feel more technical in nature, but they bring it together in a way that is laid out to be reader friendly. The 20-year technology predictions are valuable and there is a focus on using the report to plan for the future.

      Rating: 10/10

    1. This article is authored by Farouk Dey, formerly of Stanford University and currently the Vice Provost for Integrative Learning and Life Design at Johns Hopkins. Dey offers an overview of the transformation that college career services have gone through over the past 100 years and showcases 10 areas where career services will continue to change in the future, including the scope of how technology will allow for a wider reach.

      Rating: 8/10

    1. This article brings together several higher education professional who all work for Georgia Tech. They are able to touch on different areas of how technology has shaped their work and the reach it has allowed their university.

      Rating: 6/10

    1. Ashley Norris is the Chief Academic Officer at ProctorU, an organization that provides online exam proctoring for schools. This article has an interesting overview of the negative side of technology advancements and what that has meant for student's ability to cheat. While the article does culminate as an ad, of sorts, for ProctorU, it is an interesting read and sparks thoughts on ProctorU's use of both human monitors for testing but also their integration of Artificial Intelligence into the process.

      Rating: 9/10.

    1. This report is a supplemental piece specifically for Higher Education in response to the National Education Technology plan. The report is a lengthy read but offers a combination of data, examples, case studies and additional resources. The report focuses on the changing landscape of higher education and the changing qualities of what a student in college looks like (i.e. not the traditionally known 18 year old, fresh out of high school). The report also acknowledges the history fo traditional learning (i.e. paper and pencil) and how higher educational not only needs to embrace technology for the classroom use but also for the analytics implications that can help with topics such as retention.

      Rating: 10/10. Very in depth article, packed with examples and recommendations.

    1. The author, Susan Grajek, formerly of Yale University is the Vice President for Communities and Research at EDUCAUSE. Grajek brings together 5 leaders in higher education and technology to discuss the future of technology in the higher education arena. The article addresses the progress that needs to be made, especially in the adult education portion of higher eduction and acknowledges that the traditional 18-22 college student population is very small and that there is so much more of the market that needs to be reached.

      Rating: 9/10.

  4. Mar 2019
    1. The Career Curriculum Continuum

      Discusses the place of universities in lifelong learning, especially with the advancement of technology in education in the workforce. The career curriculum continuum, includes free and self-paced options such as MOOCs, educational video on Youtube, and Wikis, but also suggests more structured learning placed in context. Universities can offer this as short courses that are cheaper and offer more options for pathways to a full degree program. It also suggests professional certificates for expanding the skills of those already working. Digital institutions will be the most widely used methods for consuming knew knowledge and advancing skills. Rating 10/10

    1. "In this fascinating book, Tony Wagner addresses one of our most urgent questions: How do we create the next generation of innovators? By telling the stories of young creators, and by taking us inside cutting-edge programs, Wagner shows that the answer isn't to double-down on outmoded, formulaic solutions--but to embrace the principles of play, passion, and purpose. Creating Innovators is important reading for anyone concerned about the future."--Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind

      Reference this in coursework provided in a liberal arts college.

    1. New Media Consortium Horizon Report This page provides a link to the annual Horizon Report. The report becomes available late in the year. The report identifies emerging technologies that are likely to be influential and describes the timeline and prospective impact for each. Unlike the link to top learning tools that anyone can use, the technologies listed here may be beyond the ability of the average trainer to implement. While it is informative and perhaps a good idea to stay abreast of these listings, it is not necessarily something that the average instructional designer can apply. Rating: 3/5

    1. 7 things you should know about This page offers two lists of technologies. One relates to learning technologies and the other to campus IT. In either case, one clicks "see all" and is shown a list of many up and coming technologies. One can click the links to get a discussion of seven things the user should know about these technologies. Reports are two pages and follow a set format that includes a brief story or illustration. These introduce the visitor to the use of the technology but do not provide extensive explanation; it is an introduction. Technologies listed on these pages are often but not always technologies that the average instructional designer may put to use. Rating: 3/5

    1. Campus Technology magazine This is the website for a magazine that is also published on paper. Articles are freely accessible (a subscription is not required). The design of the page is messy and as with any magazine, the content varies, but the site does give a description of the use of technology in higher education. The same technologies can sometimes be applied in adult learning in general. Rating 4/5

  5. Feb 2019
  6. Nov 2018
    1. Instructional Design Strategies for Intensive Online Courses: An Objectivist-Constructivist Blended Approach

      This was an excellent article Chen (2007) in defining and laying out how a blended learning approach of objectivist and constructivist instructional strategies work well in online instruction and the use of an actual online course as a study example.

      RATING: 4/5 (rating based upon a score system 1 to 5, 1= lowest 5=highest in terms of content, veracity, easiness of use etc.)

    1. Distance Education Trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration

      This article explores the interaction of student based learner-centered used of technology tools such as wikis, blogs and podcasts as new and emerging technology tools. With distance learning programs becoming more and more popular, software applications such as Writeboard, InstaCol and Imeem may become less of the software of choice. The article looks closely at the influence of technology and outcomes.

      RATING: 4/5 (rating based upon a score system 1 to 5, 1= lowest 5=highest in terms of content, veracity, easiness of use etc.)

  7. Oct 2018
    1. learning is not so much the opposite of play as it is zombie play, a jerky, lurching automatic response devoid of vision, passion, and awareness

      seems like an overstatement to me

    2. Learning in higher education is governed by rules though, however arbitrary and make-believe those rules may be.

      LOL make-believe rules of higher education.

  8. Sep 2018
    1. Like the art industry, art history has not done enough to diversify its student and faculty demography. Few students of colour earn the doctoral degrees now expected by most museums for entry-level curatorial positions.

      How do we create piplines to encourage POC students to enter this profession? Eliminate internship and hiring practices that prohibit individuals with limited incomes from pursuing this career path!

    1. As student numbers have increased, teaching has regressed for a variety of reasons to a greater focus on information transmission and less focus on questioning, exploration of ideas, presentation of alternative viewpoints, and the development of critical or original thinking. Yet these are the very skills needed by students in a knowledge-based society.

      Related to Vijay Kumar's iron triangle. You can't increase the number of students without sacrificing quality or increasing costs.

  9. Aug 2018
    1. developed on an evidence-based foundation that draws from the learning sciences and is implemented using effective strategies that focus on improving the quality of learning experiences and improving the outcomes for all students.
  10. May 2018
  11. Feb 2018
    1. Over the past two weeks I’ve read a book about the future of American higher ed, and want to recommend it very highly.  It might be the most important book on the subject published this year.
    1. They now stand out as the only one in the class (or, if they’re lucky, one of two) who gets to use a device while other students wonder just why they get to use one. I have seen a couple of students on social media say that as soon as they see a “no devices” policy on a syllabus they drop the class because of this concern.

      Good rationale for not enacting a blanket classroom tech ban

  12. Dec 2017
    1. So thought is always both collective and individual, both a manifestation of a wider network and something unique, both an emergent property of groups and a conscious choice by some individuals to devote their scarce time and resources. The interesting questions then center on how to understand the conditions for thought. How does any society or organization make it easier for individuals to be effective vehicles for thought, to reduce the costs and increase the benefits? Or to put it in noneconomic language, how can the collective sing through the individual, and vice versa?
    2. all ideas, information, and thoughts can be seen as expressions of a collective culture that finds vehicles—people or places that are ready to provide fertile soil for thoughts to ripen. This is why such similar ideas or inventions flower in many places at the same time. It is why, too, every genius who, seen from afar, appears wholly unique looks less exceptional when seen in the dense context of their time, surrounded by others with parallel ideas and methods. Viewed in this way, it is as odd to call the individual the sole author of their ideas as it is to credit the seed for the wonders of the flowers it produces.
    3. The more dimensional any choice is, the more work is needed to think it through. If it is cognitively multidimensional, we may need many people and more disciplines to help us toward a viable solution. If it is socially dimensional, then there is no avoiding a good deal of talk, debate, and argument on the way to a solution that will be supported. And if the choice involves long feedback loops, where results come long after actions have been taken, there is the hard labor of observing what actually happens and distilling conclusions. The more dimensional the choice in these senses, the greater the investment of time and cognitive energy needed to make successful decisions.

      Conexão entre complexidade e dimensões de maiores ordem

  13. Nov 2017
    1. the experimentation and possibility of the MOOC movement had become co-opted and rebranded by venture capitalists as a fully formed, disruptive solution to the broken model of higher education.11
    2. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which have become the poster child of innovation in higher education over the last two to three years
    3. social engagement, public knowledge, and the mission of promoting enlightenment and critical inquiry in society
    4. recent promise of Web 2.0

      A bit surprised by this “recent”. By that time, much of what has been lumped under the “Web 2.0” umbrella had already shifted a few times. In fact, the “Web 3.0” hype cycle was probably in the “Trough of Disillusionment” if not the Gartner-called “Slope of Enlightenment”.

    5. institutional demands for enterprise services such as e-mail, student information systems, and the branded website become mission-critical

      In context, these other dimensions of “online presence” in Higher Education take a special meaning. Reminds me of WPcampus. One might have thought that it was about using WordPress to enhance learning. While there are some presentations on leveraging WP as a kind of “Learning Management System”, much of it is about Higher Education as a sector for webwork (-development, -design, etc.).

    1. Embracing an Entrepreneurial Culture on Campus go.nmc.org/uni(Tom Corr, University Affairs, 4 May 2016.) The Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs is gaining global recognition for its efforts to bolster students’ business skills through investing in multiple campus events and programs. For example, the success of Ontario Centres of Excellence has led to the establishment of similar innovation hubs throughout North America, the UK, Australia, and Asia.

      What’s fascinating here is that the province might be cutting a major part of the funding for the Ontario Centres of Excellence, particularly the part which has to do with Entrepreneurship Programs. (My current work is associated with Lead To Win, a Campus-Linked Accelerator out of Carleton University.)

    1. Often our solutions must co-exist with existing systems. That’s why we also invest time and money in emerging standards, like xAPI or Open Badges, to help connect our platforms together into a single ecosystem for personal, social and data-driven learning.
    1. Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. is now an independent public company and the parent of Barnes & Noble College, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol, "BNED".
    1. Enhanced learning experience Graduate students now receive upgraded iPads, and all students access course materials with Canvas, a new learning management software. The School of Aeronautics is now the College of Aeronautics; and the College of Business and Management is hosting a business symposium Nov. 15.

      This from a university which had dropped Blackboard for iTunes U.

    1. Publishers can compete with free textbooks by making their more-restrictive-than-all-right-reserved offerings 70% more affordable.

      Sounds a bit like what Clay Shirky was trying to say about the Napster moment coming to Higher Education, five years ago. Skimmed the critique of Shirky’s piece and was mostly nodding in agreement with it. But there might be a discussion about industries having learnt from the Napster moment. After all, the recording industry has been able to withstand this pressure for close to twenty years. Also sounds like this could be a corollary to Chris Anderson’s (in)famous promotion of the “free” (as in profit) model for businesses, almost ten years ago. In other words, we might live another reshaping of “free” in the next 9-10 years.

  14. Oct 2017
    1. As an outcome of this Delphi Panel exercise, this study hasrevised Jane Knight’s commonlyaccepted working definition for internationalisation as'theintentionalprocess ofintegrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functionsand delivery of post-secondary education,in order to enhance the quality of educationand research for all students and staff, and to make a meaningful contribution tosociety'.This definition reflects the increased awareness that internationalisation has to becomemore inclusive and less elitistby not focusing predominantly on mobility but more on thecurriculum and learning outcomes. The ‘abroad’ component (mobility) needs to become anintegral part of the internationalised curriculum to ensure internationalisation for all, notonly the mobile minority. It re-emphasises that internationalisation is not a goal in itself,but a means to enhance quality, and that it should not focus solely on economic rationales.Most national strategies, including in Europe, are still predominantly focused on mobility,short-term and/or long-term economic gains, recruitment and/or training of talentedstudents and scholars, and international reputation and visibility. This implies that fargreater efforts are still needed to incorporate these approaches into more comprehensivestrategies, in which internationalisation of the curriculum and learning outcomes, as ameans to enhance the quality of education and research, receive more attention. Theinclusion of ‘internationalisation at home’ as a third pillar in the internationalisation strategyof the European Commission,European Higher Education in the World, as well as in severalnational strategies, is a good starting point, but it will require more concrete actions at theEuropean, national and,in particular, the institutional level for it to becomereality

      Using inclusive approaches to ensure all students have access to quality teaching and learning and why it shouldn't be limited to the mobile few. I find it interesting since a lot of research focuses on the gain for international students only.

  15. Jul 2017
    1. But the goal of the dealing was also, from York’s perspective, to keep enrolment up by keeping student costs down and to use whatever savings there may be in other parts of the university’s operation.

      What a crass analysis.

  16. Feb 2017
    1. we must put digital literacy at the core of the curriculum

      Librarian support will be key to spreading the word to instructors and students.

  17. Jan 2017
  18. Nov 2016
    1. The liberal arts teach us to act toward others with humility and respect because we recognize there are multiple ways to look at the world. 

      I could not agree more, but we also need to think about how precisely our curriculum is cultivating habits of respect, empathy, and humility. What specific courses facilitate these virtues, what sorts of assignments ensure they are practiced?

    2. the liberal arts build empathy and compassion, the very foundations of democracy

      This is exactly right. I've been thematizing it in terms of "ethical imagination."

  19. Oct 2016
  20. Sep 2016
    1. As many universities are being queried by the federal government on how they spend their endowment money, and enrollment decreases among all institutions nationally, traditional campuses will need to look at these partnerships as a sign of where education is likely going in the future, and what the federal government may be willing to finance with its student loan programs going ahead.

      To me, the most interesting about this program is that it sounds like it’s targeting post-secondary institutions. There are multiple programs to “teach kids to code”. Compulsory education (primary and secondary) can provide a great context for these, in part because the type of learning involved is so broad and pedagogical skills are so recognized. In post-secondary contexts, however, there’s a strong tendency to limit coding to very specific contexts, including Computer Science or individual programs. We probably take for granted that people who need broad coding skills can develop them outside of their college and university programs. In a way, this isn’t that surprising if we’re to compare coding to very basic skills, like typing. Though there are probably many universities and colleges where students can get trained in typing, it’s very separate from the curriculum. It might be “college prep”, but it’s not really a college prerequisite. And there isn’t that much support in post-secondary education. Of course, there are many programs, in any discipline, giving a lot of weight to coding skills. For instance, learners in Digital Humanities probably hone in their ability to code, at some point in their career. And it’s probably hard for most digital arts programs to avoid at least some training in programming languages. It’s just that these “general” programs in coding tend to focus almost exclusively on so-called “K–12 Education”. That this program focuses on diversity is also interesting. Not surprising, as many such initiatives have to do with inequalities, real or perceived. But it might be where something so general can have an impact in Higher Education. It’s also interesting to notice that there isn’t much in terms of branding or otherwise which explicitly connects this initiative with colleges and universities. Pictures on the site show (diverse) adults, presumably registered students at universities and colleges where “education partners” are to be found. But it sounds like the idea of a “school” is purposefully left quite broad or even ambiguous. Of course, these programs might also benefit adult learners who aren’t registered at a formal institution of higher learning. Which would make it closer to “para-educational” programs. In fact, there might something of a lesson for the future of universities and colleges.

    2. As many universities are being queried by the federal government on how they spend their endowment money, and enrollment decreases among all institutions nationally, traditional campuses will need to look at these partnerships as a sign of where education is likely going in the future, and what the federal government may be willing to finance with its student loan programs going ahead.

      To me, the most interesting about this program is that it sounds like it’s targeting post-secondary institutions. There are multiple programs to “teach kids to code”. Compulsory education (primary and secondary) can provide a great context for these, in part because the type of learning involved is so broad and pedagogical skills are so recognized. In post-secondary contexts, however, there’s a strong tendency to limit coding to very specific contexts, including Computer Science or individual programs. We probably take for granted that people who need broad coding skills can develop them outside of their college and university programs. In a way, this isn’t that surprising if we’re to compare coding to very basic skills, like typing. Though there are probably many universities and colleges where students can get trained in typing, it’s very separate from the curriculum. It might be “college prep”, but it’s not really a college prerequisite. And there isn’t that much support in post-secondary education. Of course, there are many programs, in any discipline, giving a lot of weight to coding skills. For instance, learners in Digital Humanities probably hone in their ability to code, at some point in their career. And it’s probably hard for most digital arts programs to avoid at least some training in programming languages. It’s just that these “general” programs in coding tend to focus almost exclusively on so-called “K–12 Education”. That this program focuses on diversity is also interesting. Not surprising, as many such initiatives have to do with inequalities, real or perceived. But it might be where something so general can have an impact in Higher Education. It’s also interesting to notice that there isn’t much in terms of branding or otherwise which explicitly connects this initiative with colleges and universities. Pictures on the site show (diverse) adults, presumably registered students at universities and colleges where “education partners” are to be found. But it sounds like the idea of a “school” is purposefully left quite broad or even ambiguous. Of course, these programs might also benefit adult learners who aren’t registered at a formal institution of higher learning. Which would make it closer to “para-educational” programs. In fact, there might something of a lesson for the future of universities and colleges.

    1. We commonly look at Ivy League institutions as the standard of higher education in America, but the truth is that the majority of the nation's workforce, innovation identity and manufacturing futures are tied to those institutions which graduate outside of the realm of high achievers from wealthy families. 
    1. frame the purposes and value of education in purely economic terms

      Sign of the times? One part is about economics as the discipline of decision-making. Economists often claim that their work is about any risk/benefit analysis and isn’t purely about money. But the whole thing is still about “resources” or “exchange value”, in one way or another. So, it could be undue influence from this way of thinking. A second part is that, as this piece made clear at the onset, “education is big business”. In some ways, “education” is mostly a term for a sector or market. Schooling, Higher Education, Teaching, and Learning are all related. Corporate training may not belong to the same sector even though many of the aforementioned EdTech players bet big on this. So there’s a logic to focus on the money involved in “education”. Has little to do with learning experiences, but it’s an entrenched system.

      Finally, there’s something about efficiency, regardless of effectiveness. It’s somewhat related to economics, but it’s often at a much shallower level. The kind of “your tax dollars at work” thinking which is so common in the United States. “It’s the economy, silly!”

    1. Research: Student data are used to conduct empirical studies designed primarily to advance knowledge in the field, though with the potential to influence institutional practices and interventions. Application: Student data are used to inform changes in institutional practices, programs, or policies, in order to improve student learning and support. Representation: Student data are used to report on the educational experiences and achievements of students to internal and external audiences, in ways that are more extensive and nuanced than the traditional transcript.

      Ha! The Chronicle’s summary framed these categories somewhat differently. Interesting. To me, the “application” part is really about student retention. But maybe that’s a bit of a cynical reading, based on an over-emphasis in the Learning Analytics sphere towards teleological, linear, and insular models of learning. Then, the “representation” part sounds closer to UDL than to learner-driven microcredentials. Both approaches are really interesting and chances are that the report brings them together. Finally, the Chronicle made it sound as though the research implied here were less directed. The mention that it has “the potential to influence institutional practices and interventions” may be strategic, as applied research meant to influence “decision-makers” is more likely to sway them than the type of exploratory research we so badly need.

    1. mis-read or failed to read the labor market for different degree types.

      Sounds fairly damning for a business based on helping diverse students with the labour market…

    2. The aggressive recruiting did not extend to aggressive retainment and debt management.
    3. If an organization works — and extracting billions of dollars in federal student aid money suggests ITT worked for a long time — then who it most frequently and efficiently works best for is one way to understand the organization.
  21. Aug 2016
    1. Turdus poliocephalus

      Higher taxon match, is actually Turdus poliocephalus löseri

      Original description in "Preliminary Report on the Birds of the George Vanderbilt Sumatran Expedition of 1939: Notulae Naturae of The Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila., No. 18" https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=d-nCni44OcoC

  22. Jul 2016
    1. I could have easily chosen a different prepositional phrase. "Convivial Tools in an Age of Big Data.” Or “Convivial Tools in an Age of DRM.” Or “Convivial Tools in an Age of Venture-Funded Education Technology Startups.” Or “Convivial Tools in an Age of Doxxing and Trolls."

      The Others.

    2. education technology has become about control, surveillance, and data extraction
    1. efforts to expand worldwide

      At the risk of sounding cynical (which is a very real thing with annotations), reaching a global market can be very imperialistic a move, regardless of who makes it.

    2. ironically while continuing to employ adjunct faculty

      Much hiding in this passing comment. As adjuncts, our contributions to the system are perceived through the exploitation lens.

    3. afford a university education
    1. The military’s contributions to education technology are often overlooked

      Though that may not really be the core argument of the piece, it’s more than a passing point. Watters’s raising awareness of this other type of “military-industrial complex” could have a deep impact on many a discussion, including the whole hype about VR (and AR). It’s not just Carnegie-Mellon and Paris’s Polytechnique («l’X») which have strong ties to the military. Or (D)ARPANET. Reminds me of IU’s Dorson getting money for the Folklore Institute during the Cold War by arguing that the Soviets were funding folklore. Even the head of the NEH in 2000 talked about Sputnik and used the language of “beating Europe at culture” when discussing plans for the agency. Not that it means the funding or “innovation” would come directly from the military but it’s all part of the Cold War-era “ideology”. In education, it’s about competing with India or Finland. In other words, the military is part of a much larger plan for “world domination”.

    1. For-profits typically take those funds and spend way more on advertising and profit distribution than on teaching.

      Don’t know what the stats are for “non-profit universities and colleges” but it does feel like an increasing portion of their budgets go to marketing, advertising, PR, and strategic positioning (at least in the United States and Canada).

    2. The phrase “diploma mills” came into popular usage during the era.
    3. A similar conclusion was reached by the medical (pdf) and legal professions of the late-19th and early-20th centuries.

      Somewhat surprising, in the current context.

    4. This model might make sense if our goal was to produce cars, clothing, and some other commodity more efficiently. But a university education doesn’t fit into this paradigm. It isn’t just a commodity.

      In education as in health, things get really complex when people have an incentive for people not to improve.

    5. The idea is that higher education is like any other industry.
    1. improving teaching, not amplifying learning.

      Though it’s not exactly the same thing, you could call this “instrumental” or “pragmatic”. Of course, you could have something very practical to amplify learning, and #EdTech is predicated on that idea. But when you do, you make learning so goal-oriented that it shifts its meaning. Very hard to have a “solution” for open-ended learning, though it’s very easy to have tools which can enhance open approaches to learning. Teachers have a tough time and it doesn’t feel so strange to make teachers’ lives easier. Teachers typically don’t make big purchasing decisions but there’s a level of influence from teachers when a “solution” imposes itself. At least, based on the insistence of #BigEdTech on trying to influence teachers (who then pressure administrators to make purchases), one might think that teachers have a say in the matter. If something makes a teaching-related task easier, administrators are likely to perceive the value. Comes down to figures, dollars, expense, expenditures, supplies, HR, budgets… Pedagogy may not even come into play.

  23. Jun 2016
    1. «On entend pourtant peu parler de la pédagogie postsecondaire, même s'il y a des initiatives qui naissent à gauche et à droite. Certains innovent, mais ça reste dans leur collège ou leur département universitaire»
    1. However, you may be required to pay fees to use certain features or content made available through the Site and Services.

      Wish they said more. No-cost solutions are neat for one-offs, but pedagogues should be wary of building their practice on services which may start requiring payment.

    1. educators and students alike have found themselves more and more flummoxed by a system that values assessment over engagement, learning management over discovery, content over community, outcomes over epiphanies

      This Systems or "factory farming" approach to education seems antithetical to (and virtually guaranteed to flummox) a community-based, engaged, serendipitous and spontaneous learning explosion in traditional Higher Ed. Where are some cracks and crevices where the System has failed to snuff out the accidental life of learning?

    1. many more people understand cost than understand pedagogy

      While this may be true, it sure is sad. Especially as the emphasis on cost is likely to have negative impacts in the long run.

  24. May 2016
  25. Apr 2016
  26. Mar 2016
  27. Feb 2016
    1. Grades are important. There is a ton of pressure for students to get those good grades, whether it’s from your parents, siblings, friends, or even yourself.

      Maybe this is one area that could be changed to alleviate some of the stress. The whole approach to the assessment process should be re-examined (pardon the pun).

    1. “ Whatever happened to Instructional Technology? ”. With this publication , he highlighted a nd attempted to explain the persistent failure of ICT to penetrate the world of higher education, despite several decades of effort and massive inve stment (Geoghegan, 1994)

      This may situate the problem quite deeply in the history of educational ict and support claims relating to the persistence of this problem in the face of numerous interventions.

  28. Jan 2016
  29. Dec 2015
    1. purchasable à la carte

      How many units of learning per dollar?

    2. no research

      In direct opposition with the model for most universities, these days. So that may be the fork in the road. But there are more than two paths.

    3. Universities bundle services like mad

      Who came up with such a scheme? A mad scientist? We’re far from Bologna.

    4. perfect storm of bundling
    5. only unbundling health clubs suffer

      There might be something about the connection between learning and “health & wellness”.

    6. Unbundling has played out in almost every media industry.

      And the shift away from “access to content” is still going on, a decade and a half after Napster. If education is a “content industry” and “content industries” are being disrupted, then education will be disrupted… by becoming even more “industrial”.

    7. consumer choice will inevitably force them to unbundle.

      The battle is raging on, but the issue is predetermined.

    1. Yes, my intention was to show the most easily replaced in dark and move it to the least easily replaced.

      One linear model, represented in something of a spiral… Agreed that the transformative experience is tough to “disrupt”, but the whole “content delivery” emphasis shows that the disruption isn’t so quick.

    1. customers become less willing to pay

      There are a few key cases, here. a) Public Education (much of the planet) b) Parent-Funded Higher Education (US-centric model) c) Corporate Training (emphasis for most learning platforms, these days) d) For-Profit Universities (Apollo Group and such) e) xMOOCs (learning as a startup idea, with freemium models) f) Ad-Supported Apps & Games (Hey! Some of them are “educational”!)

    2. In every industry, the early successful products and services often have an interdependent architecture—meaning that they tend to be proprietary and bundled.

      The idea that there’s a “Great Unbundling of (Higher) Education” needs not be restricted to the business side of things, but it’s partly driven by those who perceive education as an “industry”. Producing… graduates?

    1. course design is more important than the LMS

      In all the platform news, we can talk about “learning management” in view of instructional and course design. But maybe it even goes further than design into a variety of practices which aren´t through-designed.

    1. It is possible to achieve a more humane and personal education at scale

      Important claim, probably coming from the need for reports which answer the “But does it scale?” question.

    1. The goal of education is for the educator to become less and less needed for learners to learn.

      The reverse of the typical “goal displacement”. Instead of focusing on ensuring our continued employment as “instructors”, we want to make sure learning happens. Deep down, we know we’ll find ways to work, no matter what happens. The comparison with health can be interesting. If doctors had an incentive to keep people sick, society wouldn’t benefit much. Allegedly, Chinese healthcare provides incentives for doctors to help people stay healthy. Sounds like it’d make sense, somehow. Yet education and health are both treated like industries. We produce graduates, future employees, etc. Doctors produce people who fit a pattern of what it means to be healthy in a given social context. There’s even a factory-chain metaphor used when some people apply “lean management” to hospitals or colleges. Not that the problem is with the management philosophy itself. But focusing so much on resource allocation blinds us from a deep reality: as we are getting healthier and more “learned”, roles are shifting.

    1. Among the most useful summaries I have found for Linked Data, generally, and in relationship to libraries, specifically. After first reading it, got to hear of the acronym LODLAM: “Linked Open Data for Libraries, Archives, and Museums”. Been finding uses for this tag, in no small part because it gets people to think about the connections between diverse knowledge-focused institutions, places where knowledge is constructed. Somewhat surprised academia, universities, colleges, institutes, or educational organisations like schools aren’t explicitly tied to those others. In fact, it’s quite remarkable that education tends to drive much development in #OpenData, as opposed to municipal or federal governments, for instance. But it’s still very interesting to think about Libraries and Museums as moving from a focus on (a Web of) documents to a focus on (a Web of) data.

  30. Nov 2015
    1. How do you aid recent high school graduates while at the same time dealing with working adults who are coming back to school?

      Used to be the core model for Quebec’s Cegep system, a mix of high school graduates and “non-traditionals” (especially divorcées going “back to school”).

    2. Non-Traditional Students: The New Majority

      Education, she sure is changing.

  31. Oct 2015
    1. Still, it’s reasonably certain that in the late eleventh century a group of students in Bologna got together and decided to pool their resources—financial, intellectual, and spiritual—in order to learn.

      Student-driven beginning for universities.

  32. Apr 2015
    1. If you want to help low-income students succeed, it’s not enough to deal with their academic and financial obstacles. You also need to address their doubts and misconceptions and fears. To solve the problem of college completion, you first need to get inside the mind of a college student.

      How do you get inside the mind of a college student?

  33. Feb 2014
    1. Interdependence and Regeneration2c5c7 A very important feature to be noted from the discussion in this section bears upon the interdependence among the various types of structuring which are involved in the H-LAM/T system, where the capability for doing each type of structuring is dependent upon the capability for doing one or more of the other types of structuring. (Assuming that the physical structuring of the system remains basically unchanged during the system's operation, we exclude its dependence upon other factors in this discussion.) 2c5c7a This interdependence actually has a cyclic, regenerative nature to it which is very significant to us. We have seen how the capability for mental structuring is finally dependent, down the chain, upon the process structuring (human, artifact, composite) that enables symbol-structure manipulation. But it also is evident that the process structuring is dependent not only upon basic human and artifact process capabilities, but upon the ability of the human to learn how to execute processes--and no less important, upon the ability of the human to select, organize, and modify processes from his repertoire to structure a higher-order process that he can execute. Thus, a capability for structuring and executing processes is partially dependent upon the human's mental structuring, which in turn is partially dependent upon his process structuring (through concept and symbol structuring), which is partially dependent upon his mental structuring, etc. 2c5c7b All of this means that a significant improvement in symbol-structure manipulation through better process structuring (initially perhaps through much better artifacts) should enable us to develop improvements in concept and mental-structure manipulations that can in turn enable us to organize and execute symbol-manipulation processes of increased power. To most people who initially consider the possibilities for computer-like devices augmenting the human intellect, it is only the one-pass improvement that comes to mind, which presents a picture that is relatively barren compared to that which emerges when one considers this regenerative interaction. 2c5c7c We can confidently expect the development of much more powerful concepts pertaining to the manner in which symbol structures can be manipulated and portrayed, and correspondingly more complex manipulation processes that in the first pass would have been beyond the human's power to organize and execute without the better symbol, concept, and mental structuring which his augmented system provided him. These new concepts and processes, beyond our present capabilities to use and thus never developed, will provide a tremendous increased-capability payoff in the future development of our augmentation means.

      I think these notions of interdependence and regeneration are a very key observation.