Anthology, which emerged a year ago from the combination of three higher education administrative software firms, will merge with Blackboard, long the most visible company in learning technology, the two companies announced today. The deal will result in the end of Blackboard as a freestanding company, and could bring the end of its well-known, and sometimes … Continue reading
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Virtual Learning Can Be a Gateway to Increasing Equity in Higher Education
While many are eager to return to campuses this fall, it became increasingly obvious that virtual course delivery would need to be an integral and lasting part of our curriculum moving forward, even prior to the uncertainty surrounding the surges of the delta variant. It’s undeniable that many of our students have greatly benefited from the … Continue reading
Three Reasons for Those Hefty College Tuition Bills
What should we do about the high cost of higher education? As we pick the next president, that question should feature prominently in the public debate. The economic prosperity of our children and grandchildren hinges on finding the right answer. Today’s economy leaves little doubt about the value of college. According to the Bureau of … Continue reading
What Exactly is Personalized Learning?
It remains to be seen exactly how and where Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, will spend the estimated $45 billion they’ve declared they will donate to charitable ventures, including education. But their announcement this week made one thing clear: in education, the two are focused on the potential of “personalized learning.” For … Continue reading
Understanding Plagiarism in a Digital Age
Do your students have a hard time defining — and thus, perhaps, avoiding — plagiarism? They’re not alone. In a cut-and-paste world, examples of both intentional and unintentional plagiarism are everywhere. Here, for instance, are just a handful of cases that have made headlines in the last few years: Journalists, scientists, novelists and politicians have … 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
3 Tips for Handling Discussions in Online Courses
I’ve been teaching a large online class for the first time this semester, and as the course involves looking at a number of challenge interactive works and games I put a lot of emphasis on discussion forums and critical debate. However, discussion forums of this kind present a lot of potential problems in an online … 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
Overcoming Online Persistence Challenges With The Trojan Café (Part 1)
Vincent Tinto’s conceptual “Schema for Dropout from College” correlated academic and social engagement with student success and learning. However, several factors make social engagement more difficult for non-traditional, online students. They don’t have the opportunity to participate in social engagement and institutional extracurricular activities that are afforded to traditional, on-campus students. Consequently, online students often … Continue reading
Professor Van Ry 