With each new school year, technology becomes more central in modern education. That trend took another step forward with the recent pairing of one of America’s leading textbook publishers and a popular web learning platform. Google Play for Education Just last week, publishing house Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) announced they’ve teamed up with Google Play for Education, a popular program ... Read More »
Thanks to a poll by Gallup and insight from Inside Higher Ed, we learned this week that a significant number of American college and university presidents are doubtful that President Barack Obama’s plan to lower the cost of higher education while increasing quality will accomplish its goals. The basis of the President’s plan is to tie federal grant dollars to a new rating system for ... Read More »
Could competency-based education reduce U.S. student loan debt? That’s what the Obama administration wants to know. In August, President Obama began encouraging U.S. universities and colleges to innovate around higher education, including challenging colleges to offer a greater range of affordable options, giving consumers clear and transparent information on college performance, and stripping away unnecessary regulations. Now, according to Insider ... Read More »
Have you ever thought about what portion of your job you learned “informally” versus “formally”? You’ll probably be impressed (with yourself) when you realize that most of what you learned at your job was self-taught. You might even think, “my employer is lucky I’m so resourceful and smart and can figure out what I am doing on my own. In ... Read More »
The romantic notion that adults come back to higher education for personal enrichment and self-directed intellectual pursuits does not hold water. After nearly 25 years working with adult students, I have met only a very small number who are pursuing a degree for the pure satisfaction of it. Instead, the vast majority are in it for a better life, which ... Read More »
In my experience in higher ed, I’ve learned this rule: Governance is impervious to being fixed. Somehow it works, and no degree of AAU guidance will make it uniform, or even rational. And a university’s governance works only at that university; whereas one school takes 12 minutes to approve a new concept, another may take 12 years. In general, though, ... Read More »
The Hudson Institute is “a nonpartisan policy research organization dedicated to innovative research and analysis that promotes global security, prosperity, and freedom.” The Institute has just released a report that focuses on the ways in which modern advances in technology can, in themselves, support educational innovation—and the ways in which current technology is merely a platform that needs the skilled and informed implementation of ... Read More »
Peter Stokes, Vice President for Global Strategy and Business Development for Northeastern University, broaches an intriguing question in his recent post at Inside Higher Ed: Is innovation just another word for anxiety? Stokes sets this premise in the context of visits to numerous conferences, gatherings and keynote lectures, all of which, he recounts, “have featured liberal use of the word ‘innovation.’ ... Read More »