… [A]s higher education expands its reach, it’s increasingly hard to say what college is like and what college is for. In the United States, where I now teach, more than 17 million undergraduates will be enrolling in classes this fall. They will be passing through institutions small and large, public and private, two-year and … Continue reading
Filed under Adult Learning …
Want to Change The World? Start With Community Colleges
Community college is often perceived as the underdog in American higher education. Many are plagued by treacherous drop-out rates, poor teaching standards and dismal job prospects. And that’s if you’re lucky enough to graduate. But inside some of these institutions, revolution is stirring. A lack of opportunities for ordinary Americans is driving colleges to rebuild and … Continue reading
University-Run Boot Camps Offer Students Marketable Skills — but Not Course Credit
Level, a venture that offers students courses in data analytics, has a motto of sorts. It’s written in large letters across the program’s website: “Real skills. Real experience. Two months.” The motto sounds a lot like the boot-camp style of education offered by companies like General Assembly. But Level, a product of Northeastern University, is neither … Continue reading
A Boon to Boot Camps? U.S. Extends Aid to Campus Deals With Nontraditional Programs
The U.S. Education Department is cracking open the door to federal financial aid for students enrolled in nontraditional education programs — and trying out alternatives to accreditation in the process. On Wednesday the department will announce a pilot program that will allow federal grants and loans to flow to educational-technology companies that team up with … Continue reading
Overcoming Online Persistence Challenges With The Trojan Café (Part 2)
One of the first ideas that came out of the planning phase was to create student forums that would allow interaction between users. Students were already utilizing Blackboard discussion boards to meet course requirements, therefore the infrastructure was ideal for hosting casual student forums. Forums are moderated by staff and have been a significant attraction … Continue reading
State Gives Up On Public Schools, Turns To Community Colleges
Apparently teaching kids to read and do math is not being done very well by the North Carolina public schools system. And the state legislature is considering giving up on the public schools to educate children and turning over the responsibility to the community colleges, which, according to statistics, are doing a lot of it … Continue reading
6 Strategies to Reduce the Risk of Student Failures in Online Classes
The retention rate for online schools is low and there are many reasons why students discontinue their degree program, from the cost per credit hour to school policies and the quality of the courses offered. Instructors have little control over many of those factors but what they can help with is the classroom environment that … Continue reading
Going Online, Being Digital
It’s taken decades, but educational technology is finally beginning to change the way we think about education itself — not just the way we deliver it. Twenty-four years ago, I taught my first writing course in a classroom kitted out with 25 computers. A few years later, I team taught my first online and hybrid … Continue reading
College Access Seen as Key to Curbing Recidivism
As the Obama administration stands ready to announce plans to open up Pell Grant eligibility to inmates, one group in particular is working to funnel more former inmates and gang members into college. “Just because someone’s been locked up, just because they may be gang-involved doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have incredibly high expectations for … Continue reading
New Student Loans For A New For-Profit Education Sector
Coder boot camps. Accelerated learning programs. New economy skills training. Whatever you call them, these new players in higher education are multiplying. The intensive programs say they can teach job-ready skills in technology, design and related fields. In record time. In three or four months of really long days, students with little prior experience are … Continue reading
Professor Van Ry 