Drop ins: MOOCs and the price of learning

As an undergraduate in the US in the early 1970s, it was not uncommon for there to be people in our classes "auditing" the course. (Auditing in the sense, "listening", i.e. attending but not enrolled.) While auditing was supposed to be governed by regulations there were a range of practices from entirely informal dropping in, … Continue reading Drop ins: MOOCs and the price of learning

Facing the Avalanche

The change or die message can be read as a warning - or a threat: a reply to the recent report published by the IPPR: Barber, M., Donnelly, K., & Rizvi, S. (2013). An avalanche is coming: Higher education and the revolution ahead. IPPR. Without a "home ground" the inter institutional disciplinary practitioner could no … Continue reading Facing the Avalanche

quality in higher education

Another item - a classic of the literature on quality (quick interview question: what is "quality"?) - is Robert Pirsig's (1974) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (also interesting for its account of a father and son and its account of an adjunct lecturer trying to make it in academia). For Pirsig, quality is … Continue reading quality in higher education

Open Courseware History

Alistair Creelman draws our attention to this chart from onlinecollegecourses.com. He says: What is amazing is that although the present OCW movement dates back to 2001 so few university teachers and leaders I meet have even heard of it. This is not a future vision or a possible scenario, this is happening now. Most of … Continue reading Open Courseware History

Not sure why posterous, or the phone, sends 2 pics

Posted via email from George's posterous

Big ribollito on the go #winterwarmer

See the full gallery on Posterous I love cavolo nero Posted via email from George's posterous

Test video

20120202_181222.mp4 Watch on Posterous 20120202_181222.mp4 Watch on Posterous Posted via email from George's posterous

Family friendly work-life balance may mean working odd hours

I often wonder about what a family-friendly work-life balance is. I perceive it through certain practices and policies as well as through tacit and explicit assertions and exhortations. Does it mean never sending a work-related e-mail outside the Monday-Friday, nine to five envelope? I have colleagues who adhere strictly to this practice. Others who don't. … Continue reading Family friendly work-life balance may mean working odd hours

OECD asserts the purpose of higher education is to serve labour market demands

Higher education institutions are expected to provide education and training relevant to labour market demands, conduct research activities that will build a knowledge-based economy, as well as contribute to social cohesion, regional development and global well-being. They must also strive constantly to fulfil their multiple missions, improve the quality of the education provided, increase their … Continue reading OECD asserts the purpose of higher education is to serve labour market demands

Social networks starting to bubble on my horizon again

Just to apologise if I do not do too much connecting through Mandeley (http://www.mendeley.com/). I am wedded to Zotero (http://www.zotero.org/) for citation management and Bibsonomy (http://www.bibsonomy.org/) for folksonomic tagging and bookmarking. academia.edu (http://www.academia.edu/) is starting to bubble a bit with social networking activity. And, of course Twitter. I wonder if Tweetdeck can read the Mendeley … Continue reading Social networks starting to bubble on my horizon again