Global issues in teaching & learning
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- Ohio State Uni med school prescribes iPods for students
- An Apple Inc. portable media player will become standard equipment for Ohio State University med students; they'll use the devices to view videos of medical treatments and review images of the human body and organs.
(Associated Press, 4 December 2008) - British universities have early success with iTunes
- Since British universities started joining iTunes in the summer, they have leapt straight to the top of the charts. A snapshot of the site taken in the last week of October found Oxford holding the top two spots, with the Open University and Cambridge not far behind.
(The Guardian, 1 December 2008) - Report challenges assumptions about online learning
- Some critics of distance learning say face-to-face classes give students a better learning environment, but a recent Indiana University study found that online learners reported deeper approaches to learning than classroom-based learners.
(eSchool News, 19 November 2008) - College life in a wireless age
- Today's wired student, bud in ear, studies on an ever-evolving campus, one where administrators continually roll out services for the internet-immersed. Over the years, distance learning, podcasts, and high-tech classrooms have transformed academics and the way students learn. But the innovations also have had a wider reach, affecting aspects of everyday campus life.
(Miami Herald, 9 November 2008) - Bryant UNI takes on-demand approach to multimedia delivery
- Extending classroom walls through educational videos and other multimedia offerings has become common in higher education but often brings its own set of challenges; Bryant University (Smithfield, RI) is using on-demand software to manage a substantial and growing collection of educational videos and stream live events to its 3,700 undergraduate and graduate students.
(Campus Technology, 5 November 2008) - Using clickers in the classroom
- Large universities report that once they start using student response technology in class, popularity grows — as do policy issues.
(Inside Higher Education, 3 November 2008) - Outsourcing, open source and budget cuts
- Annual survey of campus IT departments finds more spending reductions and embrace of cloud-based e-mail — and mass adoption of emergency notification systems.
(Inside Higher Education, 29 October 2008) - Campus IT budgets are down, open source is looking up
- An annual survey of campus IT departments finds more spending reductions and embrace of cloud-based e-mail and mass adoption of emergency notification systems.
(Campus Technology, 29 October 2008) - Taking Facebook back to campus
- In what could be the next significant shift for social networking in higher education, an upcoming Facebook app will help colleges track students, alumni and potential applicants.
(Inside Higher Education, 24 October 2008) - High rate of faculty technology adoption at Genesee Community College
- Too often, institutions spend precious resources implementing a learning management system and associated collaboration, teaching and learning tools, only to find that few faculty use the tools. Gennesee Community College has achieved high faculty usage of online learning tools by focusing on institutional culture.
(Campus Technology, 8 October 2008) - Security software turns laptops into blue books
- Some colleges are experimenting with software that turns laptops into digital blue books, which could spell the end of the dreaded exam scribble.
(Inside Higher Education, 8 October 2008) - Study: college students find WiFi essential to education
- 90% of college students in the United States say WiFi access is as essential to education as classrooms and computers, and nearly 3 in 5 say they wouldn't go to a college that doesn't have free WiFi, according to a survey by the WiFi Alliance and Wakefield Research.
(Campus Technology, 7 October 2008) - UK: Oxford and Cambridge offer lectures on iTunes
- Following similar moves by University College London and the Open University, Oxford and Cambridge will allow students to download lectures directly onto their iPods.
(Telegraph, 6 October 2008) - Planet Earth 101: how schools have internalized a student movement
- As more educators agree that going green can help their schools reduce waste and cuts costs, this feature examines the way that higher education has internalized what began as largely a student movement.
(The Boston Globe, 5 October 2008)
- Bahrain: e-university to open in 2010
- Bahrain is to host an electronic university, which will offer online courses to students from all over the Middle East and Asia. The online campus is expected to open in 2010.
(Gulf Daily News, 3 October 2008) - Professors use new technologies to fight student cheating
- It may be getting at least a little harder for students to plagiarize from websites, text-message answers to friends during tests, or get others to do their homework, as professors are using new technologies to detect or prevent cheating.
(US News.com, 3 October 2008) - Understanding students who were ‘born digital’
- Authors of a new book from the Berkman Center at Harvard talk about technology in the classroom, digital literacy and changes in the library.
(Inside Higher Education, 2 October 2008) - I’ll take my lecture to go, please
- Comprehensive study finds that students overwhelmingly prefer having their lectures available online, either for remote access or for later viewing.
(Inside Higher Education, 23 September 2008) - Study shows blended learning as good as classroom learning
- A recent study comparing a blended learning course to a traditional course reports that blended learning is at least as effective as traditional learning.
(Campus Technology, 17 September 2008) - Reforming the requirement-free curriculum
- Brown Uni considers how to improve students’ educational experience — while not taking away their freedom. Among the strategies: e-portfolios and being overt about priorities.
(Inside Higher Education, 15 September 2008) - Freshmen at West Liberty State College get free laptops
- By distributing free laptops to all incoming freshmen, West Liberty State College (West Liberty, WV) hopes to create a mobile computer lab that follows students through school.
(The Boston Globe, 2 September 2008) - When instant messaging is the best way to reach students
- At Ivy Tech Community College, an Indiana system serving more than 115,000 students on 23 campuses, faculty members embrace instant messaging to maintain contact with their students.
(Inside Higher Education, 29 August 2008) - Bringing composers into classrooms through Skype
- Two Pennsylvania teaching colleagues with an interest in music and technology are bringing remote experts into classrooms at almost no cost, using free videoconferencing technology.
(Campus Technology, 27 August 2008) - Few lives left for Second Life
- The companies that rushed to set up bases within the cult virtual world of Second Life appear to have wasted their time as many have shut down and others are "ghost towns", an Australian researcher has found.
(The Age, 21 August 2008) - Universities turn to web to recruit students
-
Looking to gain an edge in the college admissions game, a growing number of universities are using interactive online social media in their quest for top applicants.
(The San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 August 2008) - Campuses use digital signage to deliver emergency information and more
- Billboards are getting a makeover, and not just at the mall or the local bank: on university campuses from coast to coast, administrators are realizing that digital signage can enhance communication and maybe help save lives.
(eSchool News, 8 August 2008) - Facebook profile meets Catholic values (and the campaign)
- U. of Dayton is considering disciplinary action against the son of a U.S. Senate candidate in Colorado whose Facebook profile was found to contain offensive material.
(Inside Higher Ed, 8 August 2008) - Faster wi-fi predicted for colleges
- Higher education may be the number one customer for fast Wi-Fi networks in the coming decade, according to a new business analysis.
(The Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 August 2008) - For leaders, colleges turn to business
- More universities are hiring experienced corporate managers to cope with the schools' growing size, complexity, and funding difficulties.
(Business Week, 3 August 2008) - Spatial change
- To facilitate more interactive teaching, one college considers a different type of classroom. The barriers to building it are instructive of sometimes conflicting trends in college planning.
(Inside Higher Ed, 24 July 2008) - At libraries, taking the (really) long view
- Storing digital data is becoming more essential to the work of librarians, who are trying to think in terms of the next 100 years - a virtual eternity in computer time.
(Inside Higher Ed, 23 July 2008) - Keeping clickers in the classroom
- Last day of Blackboard conference features educational bells and whistles galore. As for those handheld input devices: They
might be more than just hype.
(Inside Higher Ed, 18 July 2008) - Blackboard partners with Syracuse University to develop Sakai integration
- Blackboard announced that it has partnered with Syracuse University to develop software that will allow institutions to connect their Blackboard learning environment with the open source Sakai course management system.
(Market Watch, 15 July 2008) - UK: 1 in 5 graduates regret degree course choice
- More than 1 in 5 of today's university graduates regret their choice of degree course, according to the Guardian's Grad Facts 2008 survey.
(The Guardian, 2 July 2008) - US: Lyon College implements new laptop program
- This Autumn, Lyon College will implement a 1:1 laptop program, joining the ranks of universities that offer laptops to all entering freshmen, as part of a larger intiative to improve the student learning experience.
(Campus Technology, 26 June 2008)
- US: New technology could help educators know when students are frustrated
- Student comprehension is tough to judge for teachers at the helm of a packed classroom, so researchers at the University of Massachusetts are developing a program that can gauge whether students are bored, frustrated, or motivated during computer-based exercises.
(eSchool News, 26 June 2008) - US: Caught off guard - but why?
- Economic downturns are part of a painful and predictable
reality for universities, but - perhaps purposely - few have
long-term strategic plans to deal with budget cuts.
(Inside Higher Ed, 24 June 2008) - Universities face up to double threat
- An ageing university workforce and fierce global competition for top academics pose some of the biggest threats to the prosperity of Australia's higher-education sector, according to a national discussion paper.
(The Age, 23 June 2008) - Podcasting in instruction: moving beyond the obvious
- As experts consider how podcasting can be used in the context of student authorship and academic collaboration, this feature considers both the opportunities and the challenges in pushing forward the use of podcasting in instruction.
(Campus Technology, 25 June 2008) - University of Melbourne gets $100 million supercomputer
- A $100 million dollar supercomputer will be built at the University of Melbourne for biomedical research.
(ABC News, 18 June 2008) - Blackboard accuses Desire2learn of contempt
- Asserting the competitor made only "cosmetic" changes to learning software found to infringe on dozens of patents,
company says the new version violates court order.
(Inside Higher Ed, 17 June 2008)
- Research methods 'beyond Google'
- Modeled after program at Berkeley, Cornell U. initiative aims
to improve students' research competencies by bringing together faculty members, librarians and technicians.
(Inside Higher Ed, 17 June 2008) - Short and sweet: technology shrinks the lecture
- Professors venturing into online education are discovering that shorter lectures work better outside the lecture hall, and some professors are taking that lesson back and applying it to traditional classroom teaching.
(The Chronicle of Higher Education, 17 June 2008)
- US: Students are watching their privacy on social networks
- A new survey of more than 27,000 students nationwide indicates that most students are taking steps to limit access to their profiles on social networks.
(The Chronicle of Higher Education, 11 June 2008) - US: Graduate education is linked to social prosperity
- There is a strong link between US graduate education, the production of knowledge, and economic and social prosperity according to a new report by the Council on Graduate Schools' Advisory Committee on Graduate Education and the Public Good.
(National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, 6 June 2008) - UK: Universities tempt students with radical architecture
- This feature, which includes a photo gallery, considers new buildings at British universities that serve a dual function: both to accommodate the varied needs of students and staff and to project the right image for the university.
(The Guardian, 30 May 2008) - US: YouTube lawsuit tests copyright law
- Educators are watching a $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit challenging YouTube's ability to keep copyrighted material off its popular video-sharing website, a lawsuit that could have important implications for the future of Web 2.0 applications.
(eSchool News, 30 May 2008) - US: Post-Microsoft, libraries mull digitisation
- After software giant announces end to book-scanning program, partner institutions consider the landscape, now dominated by
Google and nonprofit efforts.
(Inside Higher Ed, 30 May 2008) - US: Microsoft shuts down book-digitizing project
- Microsoft has announced that it will shut down its Live Search Books and Live Search Academic programs, which have digitized 750,000 books and indexed 80 million journal articles.
(The Chronicle of Higher Education, 23 May 2008) - US: Research funds for technophiles
- Mark Bauerlein wonders if the new programs to study the impact of digital culture on students and learning are really
open-minded.
(Inside Higher Ed, 20 May 2008) - US: Crossing the (digital) line
- As technologies and generations change, academics must consider new ways of building bridges with their students.
(Inside Higher Ed, 16 May 2008) - US: Facebook, meet Blackboard
- Blackboard has just released a Facebook application, hoping that importing their services into a Facebook interface will help them reach students who regularly spend more time social networking than studying.
(Inside Higher Ed, 14 May 2008) - US: Hewlett-Packard labs seeks help with research from academia
- Hewlett-Packard has launched a new research program that invites colleges, universities, and research institutes to participate in joint research with HP Labs, the company's central research facility.
(Campus Technology, 9 May 2008) - US: Facebook and State Governments set online safeguards
- After signing agreements with Washington DC and 49 states, Facebook, the social networking website, has announced 40 new safeguards to protect students and other users from sexual predators and cyber bullies.
(eSchool News, 9 May 2008) - US: Using mobile phones in the classroom (constructively)
- Amid concerns that mobile phonesin class distract from the educational experience, this brief article offers a checklist of ways mobile phones can assist learning in the classroom, with links to the new technologies that make such assistance possible.
(The Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 May 2008) - US: Blogs and wikis and 3D, oh my!
- At Web 2.0 conference, participants delve into academic blogs
(are they worthwhile or a waste of time?) and Second Life (is it worthwhile or a waste of bandwidth?).
(Inside Higher Ed, 5 May 2008) - US: Buying its way onto the program?
- Turnitin.com wants to pay for instructors to apply to present
at scholarly meetings -- and talk about how successful its
services are.
(Inside Higher Ed, 2 May 2008) - US: Idaho State Uni simulates emergency response in Second Life
- Due to cost savings and the ability to involve more responders, Idaho State University (Pocatello, ID) is using Second Life and similar platforms for emergency response simulations.
(Campus Technology, 1 May 2008) - First university YouTube channel
- The University of New South Wales became the first Australian university to officially launch a channel on YouTube last week.
(University World News, 27 April 2008) - Chicago Uni law school blocks internet access in classrooms
- The University of Chicago's law school has blocked internet access in classrooms - and many students are outraged.
(Inside Higher Ed, 18 April 2008) - UK: Firms to fund university places
- Businesses are to contribute funds for 20,000 new university places in plans to promote stronger links between higher education and industry.
(BBC News, 14 April 2008) - US: Faculty members fight high cost of textbooks
- Hundreds of faculty members have signed a statement of intent to use free, online, open-source textbooks whenever academically appropriate.
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 14 April 2008)
- US: Winning hearts and minds in war on plagiarism
- To many writing instructors, going nuclear (expulsion threats)
or high tech (detection software) have failed to stop cheating.
So they aim for small victories, through new approaches to
teaching about academic integrity.
(Inside Higher Ed, 7 April 2008) - Students prefer intensive courses
- Study compares their views on the same courses, taught with regular semester schedule and longer sessions over shorter time
period. Students prefer latter.
(Inside Higher Ed, 28 March 2008) - Cloudy Vista ahead?
- Colleges across the country are slow to upgrade to new Windows
operating system for a variety of reasons, including
compatibility and value.
(Inside Higher Ed, 26 March 2008) - UK: Student numbers set to fall
- Numbers of UK undergraduates are expected to fall over the next decade, a study suggests.
(BBC News, 20 March 2008) - US: The professor as open book
- While many professors have rushed to meet the age of social networking, there are some who think it is symptomatic of an unfortunate trend, that a professor’s job today is not just to impart knowledge, but to be an entertainer.
(New York Times, 20 March 2008) - US: For many college students, stress hurts motivation, attention
- Most students in US colleges are just plain stressed out, from everyday worries about grades and relationships to darker thoughts of suicide, according to a poll of undergraduates from coast to coast.
(Signonsandiego.com, 18 March 2008) - Copy US system, says uni chief
- A confidant of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has urged the Federal Government to emulate America's higher education system if it wants Australian universities to flourish.
(The Age, 13 March 2008) - US: Fun and learning - Walter Lewin's approach to teaching
- This article interviews MIT professor Walter Lewin, whose unorthodox but successful instructional methods include swinging from a pendulum or facing down a wrecking ball in order to demonstrate the laws of physics to his class.
(Yahoo! News, 11 March 2008) - Harsh realities about virtual ones
- Colleges need to question their rush to the latest
technological wonders and focus more on students.
(Inside Higher Ed, 11 March 2008) - 'Academic freedom in the wired world'
- Author of new book discusses developments and strategies for an
era when threats to professors' rights can come from any
variety of sources.
(Inside Higher Ed, 6 March 2008) - Apples for all
- As several universities start new MacBook or iPhone giveaways
to students, educational and marketing strategies are both in
play.
(Inside Higher Ed, 5 March 2008) - Lyon College program to give new students laptop computers
- Lyon College of Batesville on Monday announced a new initiative called "The Lyon Experience" that will, among other things, provide all new students with a laptop computer.
(Arkansas Business.com, 3 March 2008) - Tomorrow's doctors: less empathetic tomorrow than today
- New study finds that emotional empathy declines during the
course of medical school.
(Inside Higher Ed, 29 February 2008) - Abandoning print, not peer review
- Editor of journal with traditional publishing model joins
forces with Indiana U. library to start free online
alternative, replicating quality control and seeing surge in
readers.
(Inside Higher Ed, 28 February 2008) - Abilene Christian Uni gives iPhones to incoming freshmen
- Abilene Christian University announced yesterday that they would be issuing iPhones or iPod Touches to incoming freshman for use in their college courses and day to day lives.
(MacRumours.com, 26 February 2008) - Fulfilling the promise of open content
- Higher education has progressed in making educational materials
freely available over the Internet, but technical challenges --
and, perhaps more stubbornly, cultural resistance -- must still
be overcome.
(Inside Higher Ed, 26 February 2008) - Jury sides with Blackboard in patent case
- Desire2Learn ordered to pay $3.1 million to learning software giant in infringement lawsuit that is hugely unpopular with
college technology officials.
(Inside Higher Ed, 25 February 2008) - New tool for online collections
- Open source software package allows libraries, museums and
collectors to more easily archive, display and manage their
online holdings.
(Inside Higher Ed, 20 February 2008) - U of Missouri expands laptop loan program
- The University of Missouri is expanding its laptop checkout program, making more than 50 laptops available at 5 campus locations.
(Columbia Tribune, 5 February 2008) - Keeping citations straight, and finding new ones
- CiteULike, a social bookmarking tool, gains ground among
scholars looking to share journal articles, trade citations and
collaborate online.
(Inside Higher Ed, 31 January 2008) - U of Calgary gets $97.1 million for digital library, infrastructure
- Alberta is investing $97.1 million to complete a digital library and upgrade buildings at the University of Calgary.
(CBC News, 22 January 2008) - International call for open resources
- Key educators and foundation officials issue manifesto calling
for more course material to be free and easily available
online.
(Inside Higher Ed, 22 January 2008) - IBM and Mac on the same machine?
- The possibility of running both Mac and PC software on a single Apple computer has inspired some IT managers to think about ways to save costs and avoid purchasing different types of computers for different software needs.
(Inside Higher Ed, 22 January 2008) - Ultrafast data link thrills researchers
- World-best collaborative research between Australian and United States universities has taken a giant leap forward with the successful launch today of a 1Gigabit per second data connection between the two countries.
(The Age, 16 January 2008) - Melbourne Uni hails move to US-style system
- Melbourne University has hailed its radical move to a US-style tertiary institution as a success, as students rush to study its new generalist arts degree.
(The Australian, 15 January 2008) - Is Blackboard on your Blackberry far behind?
- Higher ed's largest maker of course management systems acquires
NTI Group, one of the top mass messaging providers.
(Inside Higher Ed, 15 January 2008) - Blackboard to acquire text-messaging firm
- Blackboard Inc. has agreed to buy text-messaging company NTI Group Inc. for $182 million.
(Washington Business Journal, 14 January 2008) - Professors help students virtually
- A growing number of professors nationwide turning to internet technology to enhance course communication and connect with students.
(USA Today, 8 January 2008) - Attacking the GMAT monopoly
- The GMAT, which has been required for decades by MBA programs, is getting some competition at Stanford and MIT - raising questions about standardized testing and admissions.
(Inside Higher Ed, 8 January 2008) - Controversial reform in New Zealand
- New Zealand's leading research university and academic trend-setter has said it will move this year to restrict admissions to its undergraduate programs.
(Inside Higher Ed, 8 January 2008) - Saving money (& going green) by going virtual
- Colleges are starting to embrace "server virtualization," a
strategy that runs multiple systems on a single physical
machine, saving money and energy.
(Inside Higher Ed, 4 January 2008) - The pedagogy of place
- Historians discuss ways to teach students - and themselves -
more about the cities where they work and live.
(Inside Higher Ed, 4 January 2008) - Meditation room or mosque?
- Minnesota community college attracts controversy for tailoring
its meditation space to Muslim students' needs.
(Inside Higher Ed, 3 January 2008) - E-textbooks - for real this time?
- For years, some have predicted a shift -- and then not seen it
take place. But changes in technology, ventures by publishers
and worries over textbook prices might make this the time.
(Inside Higher Ed, 3 January 2008) - U of Wisconsin eyes outsourcing student email system
- The University of Wisconsin-Madison and a host of other colleges are considering saving money by switching student email service to free, professional services like Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo.
(The Capital Times, 1 January 2008) - Upgrading to philosophy 2.0
- Philosophers discuss how to adopt technologies that could
improve individualized instruction and upend the way scholars
publish their work.
(Inside Higher Ed, 31 December 2007) - How to cut Ph.D. time to degree
- The key may be changing faculty behavior, not just grad student behavior. An unusual policy at Harvard yields dramatic success.
(Inside Higher Ed, 17 December 2007) - Meditative spaces
- Colleges carve out sites for contemplation on their campuses.
(Inside Higher Ed, 3 December 2007) - Downloading cultures
- While new media can foster participatory ethnography, enhance access, and provide rich source material, it also raises new problems.
(Inside Higher Ed, 3 December 2007) - When email is outsourced
- As more colleges move to Google or Microsoft, institutions
start to consider the educational implications of the shift.
(Inside Higher Ed, 27 November 2007) - Are museums academic units?
- U. of Oregon faculty oppose the transfer of authority over art museum from the provost to the advancement office - raising questions about a university museum's mission.
(Inside Higher Ed, 19 November 2007) - Learning 2.0
- Authors of new book explain how "blended learning" can improve
traditional education, when online interactions can be better
than lectures and more.
(Inside Higher Ed, 13 November 2007) - Professors of the year
- In podcast interviews, winners of annual national contest describe their pedagogical approaches.
(Inside Higher Ed, 15 November 2007) - Scholarship in the digital age
- Author of new book explains her views on changes in research and dissemination in the Internet era.
(Inside Higher Ed, 14 November 2007) - Microsoft contracted to digitise Yale Library in 2008
- Yale announced last week that it has joined forces with Microsoft to digitize thousands of books from the school's library system.
(Yale Daily News, 9 November 2007) - Reaching students with chronic illness
- This feature explores how schools accommodate students with chronic illnesses or disabilities.
(Inside Higher Ed, 8 November 2007) - US: New study gives hovering college parents extra credit
- Despite the negative
reputation of "helicopter parents", moms and dads who hover over
children in college and swoop into their academic affairs appear to be doing
plenty of good.
(Washington Post, 7 November 2007) - US: A friendly reminder on peer-to-peer file sharing
- The University of Michigan
launched a service last week that automatically notifies students if they're
uploading material to peer-to-peer networks.
(Inside Higher Ed, 1 November 2007) - A skeptic's take on academic blogs
- Adam Kotsko has seen their benefits,
but also how difficult they are to sustain in productive ways.
(Inside Higher Ed, 1 November 2007) - An enthusiast's take on academic blogs
- Scott Eric Kaufman writes that blogging gives him
two invaluable things: community and an audience.
(Inside Higher Ed, 1 November 2007) - Online education: tailoring, measuring and 'bridging'
- An announcement from Blackboard, a collection of studies and
new techniques all attempt to improve, and assess, what students are learning
online.
(Inside Higher Ed, 26 October 2007) - College admissions websites found lacking
- A new report from the National Research Center for College and University Admissions finds the vast majority of college admissions web sites are lacking key features needed to attract prospective students of the internet generation.
(www.eschoolnews.com, 22 October 2007) - Carlyle & Apollo Group partner on $1 billion education joint venture
- The Carlyle Group has formed a $1 billion joint venture with education company Apollo Group Inc. The venture, called Apollo Global Inc., intends to make investments in international education services.
(www.mlive.com, 22 October 2007) - Change to student grading planned
- Students will no longer be awarded traditional university degrees divided into first, second, and third-class honours under newly published plans. Instead, universities will issue graduates with a detailed transcript, breaking down marks for each unit and listing the wider skills that students have mastered.
(BBC News, 16 October 2007) - R TXT MSGS THE BEST WAY 2 ALERT U?
- Students aren't signing up for text systems -- quickly installed by many campuses after the Virginia Tech killings -- as widely as some expected.
(Inside Higher Ed, 8 October 2007) - On YouTube, no enrollment caps
- University of California at Berkeley expands the public reach of its courses in a new video portal with complete lectures, ready to be streamed.
(Inside Higher Ed, 4 October 2007) - UK: riverside expansion for Bodleian Library approved
- Oxford University has been granted permission to build a £29 million extension to the world famous Bodleian Library on the banks of the Thames.
(The Guardian, 28 September 2007) - US: OpenCourseware goes statewide
- Utah's state-funded "OpenCourseWare Alliance" features free, online course materials from seven colleges.
(Inside Higher Ed, 27 September 2007) - Legal downloads expanded for NJ College students
- An agreement with an internet company making it possible for students to legally download recorded music without charge has been expanded to include nearly all colleges and universities across New Jersey.
(NJ.com, 27 September 2007) - UK and China sign e-learning deal
- An online education initiative between the UK and China is being launched - with plans to provide e-learning for 20 million Chinese students.
(BBC News, 24 September 2007) - Breathing life into the lecture theatre
- Once, professors spent entire classes talking nearly nonstop while students furiously scribbled notes. Today, a growing number of professors are abandoning that tradition, saying there are better ways to keep students focused and learning.
(Washington Post, 24 September 2007) - Online 'soapie' game to help troubled youth
- A youth welfare group has come up with a novel way to improve mental health in young people: an online video game.
The Age, 17 September 2007) - Students' 'evolving' use of technology
- "Digital natives"' technology habits have infiltrated the classroom. What does that mean for professors and their teaching methods?
(Inside Higher Ed, 17 September 2007) - Facelifts for the Facebook generation
- Universities are starting to boost their online presence with Web 2.0 approaches, from blogs to more video - and soon, maybe even social networking.
(Inside Higher Ed, 14 September 2007) - New York Times enters distance learning market
- The New York Times on Thursday announced new efforts to provide distance education, course content, and social networking. A number of colleges are already either committed to using the Times' technologies or are in negotiations to start.
(Inside Higher Ed, 7 September 2007) - Can Facebook and Bebo improve your job search?
- Now even when you’re catching up with friends you can turn virtual entertainment into a real world career boost.
(My Career, September 3 2007) - Forget Friending - roommate me
- For the first time, incoming students at San Francisco State University can select who they want to live with by searching online profiles.
(Inside Higher Ed, 24 August 2007) - Colleges outsource email to big players
- Maintaining internal email systems has long been the bane of the university information-technology director. For many schools, the solution has been to outsource email hosting to companies like Microsoft or Google.
(U.S. News, 22 August 2007) - Blackboard, competitor reach agreement to end court fight
- Paradigms LLC has agreed not to sue educational software company Blackboard Inc. to settle a lawsuit over new plagiarism detection software.
(Washington Business Journal, 20 August 2007) - In Second Life, there's no fallout
- Professors at the University of Denver score a federal grant to do nuclear experiments - in a virtual 3-D world on the Internet.
(Inside Higher Education, 20 August 2007) - Facebook labelled a $5b waste of time
- SurfControl, an internet filtering company, estimates the site may be costing Australian businesses $5 billion a year.
(The Age, 20 August 2007) - Business school applications rising
- Applications for graduate business programs around the world are rising fast, with higher rates among women and minorities, a new survey shows.
(Inc.com, 17 August 2007) - Berkeley threatens students who download illegally
- University of California, Berkeley students who download music illegally over campus computer networks will face the higher education version of a "time out" - a week or more with no in-room internet link.
(Inside Bay Area, 17 August 2007) - Art holds key to stress relief
- Taking a wander through a museum or art gallery not only expands cultural horizons - it could be beneficial to mental health.
(The Age, 16 August 2007) - Open library
- Imagine if world's most complete card catalog were just a mouse-click away. Scott McLemee chats with a young programmer who is making it happen.
(Inside Higher Education, 8 August 2007) - Wikiversity gains momentum
- The online collaboration that has made Wikipedia one of the most used sources of information on the internet is also being used to build a school and offer classes across the online world, and the project is taking off.
(PC World, 4 August 2007) - Small group learning for 14,000 undergrads
- Clemson program tries to involve students in the research process and link them with the same professor for several semesters.
(Inside Higher Education, 1 August 2007) - Teachers, college students lead a Second Life
- More than 300 universities, including Harvard and Duke, use Second Life as an educational tool. Some educators conduct entire distance-learning courses there; others supplement classes.
(USA Today, 1 August 2007) - India: government to digitise expensive higher education books
- The India government is planning to make expensive textbooks available to students in a free digital format. The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has indicated that it is willing to share the cost with publishers of digitizing study material for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
(IBN Live, 31 July 2007) - Uni of Illinois considers virtual campus
- The University of Illinois will take up a budget for a new online university at its board meeting this week The virtual university is called Global Campus. If trustees approves its $6.5 million budget, the online school could be up and running in January.
(Chicago Public Radio, 30 July 2007) - Off the quad
- Seeking more room for research and teaching, universities move some non-academic staff away from campus.
(Inside Higher Education, 27 July 2007) - Ideas to shake up publishing
- Unusual study leads to proposals for university presses to collaborate, to broaden definition of "academic publishing," and to build online capabilities.
(Inside Higher Education, 26 July 2007) - Kansas Uni increases penalty for illegal downloading on campus
- The University of Kansas is starting a zero-tolerance policy on illegal downloads of music or movies. Beginning this Fall, university officials will deactivate network access for students in residence halls if they are notified of a copyright violation and an appeal is denied.
(ABC News, 20 July 2007) - Is the iPhone too popular at Duke?
- The wireless network at the North Carolina university may have problems handling Apple's latest.
(Inside Higher Education, 18 July 2007) - More than coffee and wireless
- College planners discuss ways to bring other academic offices into library buildings.
(Inside Higher Education, 10 July 2007) - Competing to catch plagiarisers
- Blackboard incorporates a plagiarism detection service into its software, posing potential challenge to Turnitin.
(Inside Higher Education, 27 July 2007) - UK: worry over girls' dominance at university
- The shortage of male undergraduates and the growing dominance of female students in British universities is one of the biggest problems facing higher education, according to a new survey of academics involved in recruitment.
(The Telegraph, 7 July 2007) - Crumbling French universities look for help
- In response to university overcrowding, lack of funding and facilities, and losing their best staff to the United States or elsewhere, French President Sarcozy wants to push through a reform this summer that will give universities greater independence to make them more competitive.
(The Boston Globe, 4 July 2007) - Warning over UK university status
- The UK could lose its place at the top of world university rankings within 10 years, the vice-chancellor of Cambridge University has warned.
(BBC, 4 July 2007) - UK: government defends Bologna University initiative
- The government has admitted that it must do more to address confusion about the Bologna university initiative and to allay fears that the process is intended to "harmonize" European education systems.
(The Guardian, 3 July 2007) - A provost and librarian walk into a meeting...
- Panel of chief academic officers advises college library leaders how to present their case for funding and get what they want.
(Inside Higher Education, 26 June 2007) - When 'digital natives' go to the library
- Colleges urged to teach information literacy by embracing the learning styles of video games.
(Inside Higher Education, 25 June 2007) - Life on the web invites a walk on the wild side
- Growing options for expression in digital media have brought competing notions of identity.
(The University of Melbourne Voice, 25 June 2007) - An alternative to Google
- Coalition involving Amazon.com seeks university libraries looking for a different way to digitise collections.
(Inside Higher Education, 22 June 2007) - As Japan ages, universities struggle to fill classrooms
- Japan has one of the oldest and most established systems of higher education in Asia, but today its universities are scrambling to find new ways to attract students.
(New York Times, 22 June 2007) - Amazon to digitise books in rare book project
- Amazon.com's BookSurge subsidiary announced Thursday that it has partnered with a book digitisation company on a project to archive and distribute hard-to-find books. This new initiative involves collaboration with public and university libraries to provide their collections of "rare and inaccessible" books.
(CNet News, 21 June 2007) - Mass culture 2.0
- A prominent librarian utters dire warnings about new media.
(Inside Higher Education, 20 June 2007) - Schools to install digital whiteboards
- The State Government will install 200 high-tech digital whiteboards in NSW public schools over the next year.
(The Age, 18 June 2007) - Emerging technologies impact corporate training
- As well as having a significant impact on the delivery of classroom education, e-learning technologies are changing the way corporate learning is delivered in the workplace.
(Australian Flexible Learning Framework, 18 June 2007) - The perpetuation of privilege
- When enormously wealthy individuals give millions to enormously wealthy universities, it's time to stop calling it philanthropy.
(Inside Higher Education, 12 June 2007) - UK: Google's email for universities
- With its search engine already integrated into many internet browsers, Google is reaching out to integrate its services into university life. Entire campus email networks have switched over to using Google's email service.
(BBC, 11 June 2007) - Some shocking news about wireless electricity
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers said they have developed a wireless energy transfer technology that could ensure wireless devices are always charged up and ready to go.
(The Age, 8 June 2007) - Two models for digitising collections
- Google announces major expansion of its library project, bringing on 12 universities; Emory takes another approach.
(Inside Higher Education, 7 June 2007) - Economics education 101
- Robert Frank, a professor economics at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, discusses his esearch into a better way of introducing students to economics concepts like supply and demand and opportunity cost.
(Inside Higher Education, 1 June 2007) - Broader vision for languages
- Declaring the traditional model for undergraduate foreign language instruction to be "rigid and hierarchical," not to mention outdated and narrow, the Modern Language Association has issued a call for major reforms.
(Inside Higher Education, 24 May 2007) - Can we live without digital technology?
- Is it possible to exist without digital technology?
(The Age, 21 May 2007) - Africa's storied colleges, jammed and crumbling
- Africa's best universities are collapsing. It is partly a self-inflicted crisis of mismanagement and neglect, but it is also a result of international development policies that for decades have favored basic education over higher learning.
(NY Times, 19 May 2007) - U of Rochester library getting $5 million renovation
- Work started earlier this month on $5 million in renovations that will extensively revamp 20,000 square feet of space in the Rush Rhees Library University of Rochester's River Campus.
(Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 19 May 2007) - US: shaking up the market - competition for Blackboard?
- Pearson plans to buy eCollege, possibly upping competition for Blackboard and shifting direction of course management industry.
(Inside Higher Education, 15 May 2007) - It’s web take 2.0
- Australian companies are starting to twig that Web 2.0 isn't just the latest trend for designing web pages - it can be a vital business tool.
(The Age, 15 May 2007) - Europe: point of no return to Bologna
- With deadline approaching for unifying higher ed system, European universities are picking up the pace on aligning degrees.
(Inside Higher Education, 14 May 2007) - UK: online-only business foundation degree to launch at Essex Uni
- The University of Essex and education and training provider Kaplan are going to launch an entirely online business studies foundation degree this Summer.
(The Guardian, 9 May 2007) - UK: Europeans accuse British Members of Parliament of arrogance over higher education reform
- The UK has been branded "insolent and arrogant" over its stance towards plans to make degrees more comparable across Europe.
(The Guardian, 8 May 2007) - Australian unis win $5 billion in budget
- A $5 billion fund to secure the financial future of the nation's universities, bait to lure young people into areas of skills shortage, and measures to improve literacy and numeracy in schools are among the most significant education measures in this year's budget.
(The Age, 8 May 2007) - Elephant not in the room
- Be more interactive. Give pop quizzes. Make class mandatory. Don't bother. Professors respond to sluggish class attendance.
(Inside Higher Education, 1 May 2007) - Planning & designing technology-rich learning spaces
- JISC infoNet launches its newest infoKit, 'Planning and Designing Technology-Rich Learning Spaces', heralding a new style of infoKit, richly illustrated with case studies, images of buildings across the sector and a 'virtual tour' around an imaginary campus composed of inspiring spaces from a range of different institutions.
- Uni of Wisconsin-Madison launches new high-speed research network
- The University of Wisconsin has launched a new research network that has one million times the capacity of a typical home broadband connection. The network is the result of demands by federal granting agencies.
(Wisconsin Technology Network, 16 April 2007) - 40 years of changes in the student body
- UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute has released a report analyzing results of 40 years of data gleaned from its Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshmen Survey. The report highlights some striking changes in the makeup of college freshman classes.
(Inside Higher Education, 9 April 2007) - Cut costs of books at Harvard, Deans urge
- Two top deans have asked Harvard University professors to reduce student expenditures on textbooks and other course material by putting those items online or by deciding earlier if they plan to use the same textbook in subsequent semesters.
(The Boston Globe, 9 April 2007) - Research points the finger at PowerPoint
- Australian researchers may have pronounced the death of the PowerPoint presentation.
(The Age, 4 April 2007) - Libraries at the cutting edge
- Far from disappearing in the Age of Google, academic and research libraries remain an integral part of students college educations, says Pamela Snelson.
(Inside Higher Education, 29 March 2007) - US study: Are today's college students too self-centred?
- Today's college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society.
(CBS News, February 27, 2007) - Wilkes Uni drops PCs, goes all Mac
- Wilkes University (Wilkes-Barre, PA) recently became one of the first college campuses in the country to institute a university-wide switch from Windows-based PCs to Apple's new Intel-based Macs.
(Wilkes News, February 22 2007) - Old boy networked
- Alex Golub considers the transitions - some not so welcome - away from a graduate student identity, and holds on when he can.
(Inside Higher Education, February 19 2007) - Cambridge halfway to ₤1bn fundraising target
- Cambridge University announced today that it has raised half a billion pounds in a major fundraising drive to reduce its dependence on government grants. The elite institution aims to raise ₤1 billion from wealthy benefactors and former students by 2012 to help preserve its historic buildings and fund new research. The news that Cambridge is now halfway to its target came as Tony Blair unveiled a scheme to encourage more private individuals to donate to universities.
(Times Higher Education Supplement Daily News, February 16 2007) - Kansas Uni to spend $2.6 million to expand Wi-Fi access
- Kansas University will spend $2.6 million in the next two years to expand the areas covered by wireless internet access from 20 percent of KU classrooms, labs, and other academic spaces to 100 percent by December 2008.
(Lawrence Journal-World, February 15 2007) - The disappointment of portfolio-based teaching
- Some ideas are better in theory than practice, writes Shari Wilson, who found the much-praised approach gave students needless fears and the wrong motivations.
(Inside Higher Education, February 15 2007) - Harvard proposes curriculum overhaul
- After years of internal debate over what courses should be required of all of its students, Harvard University on Wednesday proposed a curriculum overhaul to emphasize sciences, religious beliefs, and world cultures.
(CBS News, February 8 2007) - Horizon Report 2007 [PDF 285kb 32 pages]
- Emerging technologies likely to have an impact on teaching, learning, and creative expression.
- A stand against Wikipedia
- Middlebury's history professors, as a department, tell students they can't cite the popular (and not always accurate) Web encyclopedia.
(Inside Higher Education, January 26 2007) - Penn State Trustees approve Harrisburg campus master plan
- A campus master plan for Penn State Harrisburg received approval from the
University's Board of Trustees on Friday.
(Academic Impressions, January 19 2007) - Harvard alters its approach to scientific study
- The Harvard University corporation will devote $50 million to begin an ambitious effort to encourage interdisciplinary science research.
(The Boston Globe, January 19 2007) - Toward integrative learning
- The Association of American Colleges and Universities argues that students need exposure to multidisciplinary approaches to learning that promote "integrative" education.
(Inside Higher Ed, January 19 2007) - Blackboard to offer assessment product line
- Blackboard on Tuesday announced officially that it was offering products in a new line - assessment - from individual courses to entire institutions, citing interest in assessment as evidence of increased pressure on colleges to document learning.
(Inside Higher Ed, January 17 2007) - The ECAR study of undergraduate students and information technology, 2006
- Findings from the EDUCAUSE Centre for Applied Research'slatest survey of undergraduates and IT.
(Educause) - How to go to MIT for free
- By the end of this year, the contents of all 1,800 courses taught at the Massachusetts Insititute of Technology will be available online for free.
(USA Today, January 4 2007)