“An open letter to Daphne Koller, co-founder and co-president of Coursera and professor of computer science at Stanford. Dear Professor Koller: …” (more)
[Bob Meister, n+1, 17 May]
“‘Fly-in, fly-out’ academics are a source of frustration for Chinese students taking UK degrees in their own country, a new report says. Around 38,000 students in China were studying for qualifications taught by a total of 70 British higher education institutions last year …” (more)
[Jack Grove, Times Higher Education, 16 May]
“… As someone who has benefited in the past from the PBC rule, I’m not totally in favour of abolishing this option. In 1979 against all odds I somehow manage to pass my 1st year exams in Trinity …” (more)
[Careful With That Axe, Eugene, 16 May]
“They’re signing up as we speak for a two-year degree course in heavy metal music (believed to be the first of its kind), which begins in September in a college in Nottingham. Two years seems a bit excessive …” (more)
[Brian Boyd, Irish Times, 17 May]
“The introduction in the UK of a US-style grade point average will baffle employers and bog the sector down in ‘fruitless and divisive debates’, according to the vice-president for union development at the National Union of Students …” (more)
[David Matthews, Times Higher Education, 16 May]
“I found the study below fascinating and not just because it gives me an excuse to be less than fluent when I’m teaching …” (more)
[Kevin Denny: Economics more-or-less, 16 May]
“Children are spending more time reading on computers or other electronic devices than on books, magazines and comics for the first time, according to a study out today …” (more)
[Richard Garner, Belfast Telegraph, 16 May]
“Despite long haul flights, lack of sleep, back-to-back meetings – and a recent competitive foot race – Brook Colangelo is firing on all cylinders. The chief information officer of educational and trade publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) is in the company’s newish Dublin offices near Trinity College, standing in front of a glass wall with a view out over the rooftops …” (more)
[Karlin Lillington, Irish Times, 16 May]
“A napster moment; the end of boring lectures; a tipping point. These are all common responses to the emergence of MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses. Now, simply using a laptop or iPad, hundreds of thousands of students can tune in to lectures from anywhere around the globe …” (more)
[Stephen Caddick, The Conversation, 16 May]
“Today we are proud to welcome Yale University to Coursera’s network, bringing the total number of educational partners offering courses on our platform up to 70 …” (more)
[Coursera Blog, 15 May]
“A prominent Harvard University historian, Niall Ferguson, has been apologizing for statements he made that John Maynard Keynes didn’t care about future generations because he was gay and did not have children …” (more)
[Inside Higher Ed, 15 May]
“Mary Immaculate College has seen its first crop of students graduate from a programme designed to empower people with intellectual disabilities …” (more)
[Mike Dwane, Limerick Leader, 14 May]
“Parents, teachers and schools need a coherent voice on how education can improve and develop, with the experiences of all secondary students at heart …” (more)
[Jim Moore, Irish Times, 14 May]
“Science isn’t compulsory in Irish secondary schools because the Government couldn’t afford to build enough science laboratories, according to the Education Minister …” (more)
[Eoghan MacConnell, Independent, 14 May]
“Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week’s programme, Professor John Naughton, who is Vice-President of Wolfson College Cambridge, explains the difference between the internet and the world wide web and why the difference matters for educators …” (more, mp3)
[Inside Education on 103.2 Dublin City FM, 13 May]
“Gregory Nagy, a professor of classical Greek literature at Harvard, is a gentle academic of the sort who, asked about the future, will begin speaking of Homer and the battles of the distant past …” (more)
[Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 13 May]
“Until very recently, students in Britain who wanted to study more than one or two subjects at college received some blunt advice: ‘Go west’ — to the United States or Canada …” (more)
[DD Guttenplan, New York Times, 12 May]
“Socialist ministers accused of sabotaging French language by relaxing ban on English being used in French universities …” (more)
[Angelique Chrisafis, Guardian, 10 May]
“The Department of Education & Skills has hosted the first meeting of the European ePortfolio project consortium. The project is a trial of the use of ePortfolios in teaching, learning and assessment. An e-portfolio, or digital portfolio, is a collection of electronic material which can include texts, electronic files and images …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 10 May]
“The average completion rate for massive open online courses is less than 7%, according to data compiled by an Open University doctoral student as part of her own Mooc studies …” (more)
[Chris Parr, Times Higher Education, 9 May]
