“The number of students applying to start university this autumn has not bounced back to the level seen before the rise in tuition fees, according to Ucas figures, which show a 7% drop in applications from English students when compared with 2010 …” (more)
[Rebecca Ratcliffe, Guardian, 30 April]
“On April, 8, I was quoted in a New York Times article about questionable open-access publishers and questionable conferences. Since that day I’ve been happy to receive many emails, some with suggestions about possible publishers and standalone journals to add to my lists …” (more)
[Scholarly Open Access, 30 April]
“In 2011, of the $14 billion trade publishing industry, roughly $100 million of it was self-published books, according to data presented at Digital Book World 2012. Less than 1%. A drop in the bucket. In 2013, the numbers should look quite different …” (more)
[Jeremy Greenfield, Forbes, 30 April]
“Dazzled by the potential of free online college classes, educators are now turning to the gritty task of harnessing online materials to meet the toughest challenges in American higher education: giving more students access to college, and helping them graduate on time …” (more)
[Tamar Lewin, New York Times, 29 April]
“With a month to go to the Junior Certificate exams, the number of pupils planning to take higher level maths remains at a record high, although down on earlier projections …” (more)
[Independent, 30 April]
“Are politicians stealing our academic freedom? Is their fetish with open access publishing leading to a ‘pay to say’ system for the rich? Will the trendy goal of making publicly financed research freely available skew the world of scholarship even more in the direction of the natural sciences? I don’t think so …” (more)
[Curt Rice, Impact of Social Sciences, 30 April]
“It’s almost impossible to put out messages that aren’t seen to undermine academic values, says Andrew Derrington, but why not assume managers want to act in your best interests? …” (more)
[Guardian Professional, 30 April]
“A proposal to reform college admission says we have too many courses and too narrow a focus. Will academic councils be prepared to cut back? …” (more)
[Louise Holden, Irish Times, 30 April]
“I have to tell you that I was, at least at the beginning, a very eager student. I had been working for two years in a bank (yes, I know, these days that’s like saying I was a drug pusher), and then decided to go to university …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 30 April]
“Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn’s ability to improve secondary education will be constrained by parents’ desire for their children to go to university and by simple arithmetic …” (more)
[Brian Mooney, Irish Times, 30 April]
“A leading economist has called for a radical shake-up of Scotland’s traditional four-year university degree. Jeremy Peat, director of the Edinburgh-based David Hume Institute, said a more intensive three-year degree would save money and get graduates into the workforce more quickly …” (more)
[Andrew Denholm, Herald Scotland, 30 April]
“Obe of the great strengths of the Irish education system is the quality of entrants to the profession. Those starting on the traditional, primary teacher training course every year are drawn from the top 25% of Leaving Certificate performers …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 29 April]
“The first pan-European massive open online course initiative has been launched by the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities …” (more)
[Chris Parr, Times Higher Education, 29 April]
“With student fees trebling in the last year, universities all say they are focusing on the ‘student experience’. But academics at some universities warn that the race for research status is pushing good teachers into the shadows …” (more)
[Anna Fazackerley, Guardian, 29 April]
“In these days of increment freezes, pay freezes, pay cuts, pension payments suspensions – plus extra taxes and charges on everything, thoughts inevitably turn one’s opportunity to ‘earn a bit on the side’ …” (more)
[Careful With That Axe, Eugene, 29 April]
“Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week’s programme, Dr Fionnuala Waldron from St. Patrick’s College discusses the teaching of history.” (mp3)
[Inside Education on 103.2 Dublin City FM, 29 April]
“Ireland has the highest rate of third-level degree attainment in the EU, with just over half of all 30 to 34-year-olds in Ireland completing third-level education …” (more)
[Jason Kennedy, Irish Times, 29 April]
“Amherst College, known for its selectivity, is accustomed to sending rejection notices. But when the liberal-arts beacon this month turned down an invitation to join the exclusive partnership of colleges offering massive open online courses through edX, it nonetheless drew surprise from many corners of academe …” (more)
[Steve Kolowich, Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 April]
“Is the Government handing your photos to media giants? The Government’s Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act, which became law last week with the end of the 2012/2013 parliamentary session, has come under attack over its treatment of so-called ‘orphan works’ …” (more)
[Alex Hern, New Statesman, 29 April]
“… I realized that to MOOC or not to MOOC was not really the question. The real issue was how brick-and-mortar institutions could embrace MOOCs while continuing to build on the strengths of local, capital-intensive pedagogical practices—actual in-the-flesh pedagogy in a world of Coursera …” (more)
[T Hugh Crawford, Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 April]
