New site tracks billions in stimulus spending on education — eSchoolNews.com
.Also see:
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On 08/24/2010,
in budgets, business side of he, dangers of the status quo, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, new business models, perfect storm,
by Daniel Christian
“While I still haven’t given up on state government’s role in supporting public higher education,” [Boise State University President Bob Kustra] said, “with each passing year I see more clearly that the funding of higher education as we experienced it in the past will not be replicated in future years.” Boise State needs to re-examine the business model universities use and construct a new one, according to Kustra.
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On 08/23/2010,
in Walmart of Education, adding value/not a commodity, budgets, business side of he, change, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, perfect storm,
by Daniel Christian
BlackBerry crumble: Why RIM is in trouble — from cnn.com
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BlackBerry’s biggest problem: The app gap (From DSC: RIM didn’t build the infrastructure / ecosystem necessary to compete)
With that in mind, some worry that there are eerie similarities between Research in Motion and Palm, the once-hot smartphone maker that failed to keep up with Apple, Research in Motion and others.
With that in mind, some worry that there are eerie similarities between Research in Motion and Palm, the once-hot smartphone maker that failed to keep up with Apple, Research in Motion and others.
After Palm’s Pre phone flopped, the company’s stock took a nasty dive and some feared that it may not have enough cash to make it for the long-term. Hewlett-Packard finally stepped in and agreed to buy the company earlier this year, however.
Chris Bulkey, an analyst with Technology Research Group in Narberth, Pa., said Research in Motion could suffer the same fate. For now, the company’s sales and profits are still growing, but the pace is slowing.
And without a hot product on the horizon, Bulkey, who has a “sell” rating on the stock, said it’s hard to envision a bright future for Research in Motion.
“Research in Motion sells a commoditized product. There is margin pressure and the revenue growth is weak,” Bulkey said. “Over the long-term, they may need someone to bail them out like HP did with Palm if they see value in the technology.”
From DSC:
Along these lines…I recently received a call from a colleague who mentioned that Novell has recently been pushing their new videoconferencing product…hmmm…WAAAAAYYY too late to the game in my opinion. Here is a company who could have dominated the web-based videoconferencing and collaboration space — had they been able to innovate better and to think just a tad outside their normal LAN box.
If what we are offering in higher ed is a commodity…we had better look out! Times ahead will be very rough indeed. That’s why I have been preaching innovation, change, the dangers of the status quo, planning for the “Forthcoming Walmart of Education” and trying to create a strategy whereby we are not a commodity — as we all must bring something unique and compelling to the table.
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On 08/18/2010,
in UK, budgets, business side of he, game-changing environment, higher education,
by Daniel Christian
New private university signals drive to privatise higher education in Britain – from sott.net by Zach Reed
BPP, a private company that possesses 14 sites around the UK providing law and business degrees, was granted “university college” status in July, creating the first private university in the UK for 30 years. The decision signals the coalition government’s drive to privatise higher education.
Massive spending cuts brought forward by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government, combined with rising youth unemployment, has seen 200,000 students denied a university place this year. It is in this context that calls have been made to privatise higher education.
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On 08/13/2010,
in K-12 related, Learning Agents, Mobile learning, Walmart of Education, budgets, business, business side of he, disruption, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, innovation, internet, leadership, learning ecosystem, learning objects, legislation / legislatures, multimedia, new business models, online learning, open courseware and systems, strategy,
by Daniel Christian
Buffett, Gates persuade 40 billionaires to donate half of wealth — from OregonLive.com
SEATTLE — Forty wealthy families and individuals have joined Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffett in a pledge to give at least half their wealth to charity.
Those who have joined the Giving Pledge, as listed on its website, are: Paul G. Allen, Laura and John Arnold, Michael R. Bloomberg, Eli and Edythe Broad, Warren Buffett, Michele Chan and Patrick Soon-Shiong, Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg, Ann and John Doerr, Larry Ellison, Bill and Melinda Gates, Barron Hilton, Jon and Karen Huntsman, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, George B. Kaiser, Elaine and Ken Langone, Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest, Lorry I. Lokey, George Lucas, Alfred E. Mann, Bernie and Billi Marcus, Thomas S. Monaghan, Tashia and John Morgridge, Pierre and Pam Omidyar, Bernard and Barbro Osher, Ronald O. Perelman, Peter G. Peterson, T. Boone Pickens, Julian H. Robertson Jr., David Rockefeller, David M. Rubenstein, Herb and Marion Sandler, Vicki and Roger Sant, Walter Scott Jr., Jim and Marilyn Simons, Jeff Skoll, Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor, Jim and Virginia Stowers, Ted Turner, Sanford and Joan Weill and Shelby White.
From DSC:
This is fantastic news! Excellent. I’m a big supporter of various charities myself — albeit with far fewer O’s ($$) behind the amounts of my checks than what these folks are able to provide! 
But it got me to thinking…
If the United States government — or the government from another interested nation — could even get 1-2 billion of this enormous accumulation of wealth, think what could be done to create interactive, multimedia-based, engaging, customized/personalized, online learning-based materials that could be offered FREE of charge to various age groups/cognitive levels. Creative simulations and animations could be built and offered — free of charge — to students throughout the world. The materials would be available on a variety of devices for maximum flexibility (laptops, notebooks, iPads, iPhones, tablet PCs, workstations, etc.)
An amazing amount of digital scaffolding could be provided on a variety of disciplines. THIS could represent the Walmart of Education that I’ve been talking about…wow!
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150 nonprofit colleges fail Education Department’s test of financial strength — from The Chronicle by Goldie Blumenstyk and Alex Richards
A total of 150 private nonprofit colleges failed the U.S. Department of Education’s “financial-responsibility test” based on their condition in the 2009 fiscal year, data released on Thursday show. That’s 23 more than the 127 that failed the test in the 2008 fiscal year, and an increase of about 70 percent over the number of degree-granting institutions that failed two years ago.
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On 08/11/2010,
in Michigan, Walmart of Education, budgets, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, future of higher education, higher education,
by Daniel Christian
Report: Higher education in Michigan hurting — from The Detroit News by Kim Kozlowski
Michigan’s declining investment in higher education is among the worst in the nation — making it difficult for students to get degrees and the state to recover from the poor economy, according to a report released Monday.
The first report of its kind by the Michigan League for Human Services found state aid and financial aid programs to Michigan’s 15 public universities declined by nearly 17 percent from 2002 to 2010. Meanwhile, undergraduate tuition for in-state residents during that same time period jumped 88 percent.
Funding for the state’s 28 community colleges, meanwhile, decreased 7 percent between 2002 and 2010 as tuition increased 40 percent — from an average of $54 to $76 a credit hour, the report showed.
The trends occurred as Michigan’s job market is moving away from manufacturing to a knowledge-based sector, and must be reversed, officials said.
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Inexperienced companies chase U.S. school funds — from the NY Times by Sam Dillon [via GetIdeas.org blog]
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On 08/10/2010,
in budgets, colleges, community colleges, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, student-related, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Gates’s millions: Can big bucks turn students into graduates? – from The Chronicle by Elyse Ashburn
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On 08/10/2010,
in Walmart of Education, budgets, cost of getting a degree, future of higher education, game-changing environment, online learning, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Saving public universities — from convergemag.com by Jessica B. Mulholland
As university budgets shrink, governors are searching for ways to make the remaining education money more effective, Thomasian said. “One of those ways to make it effective is for higher education to start using a lot more online learning.”
Debates about the rigor of online versus traditional degrees abound, but the truth is that the recession is straining traditional public universities, tuitions are continuously rising and students are being turned away from already-overcrowded classrooms. So does online education offer a viable alternative for delivering higher education, career retraining and lifelong learning?
Ray Scheppach, executive director of the National Governors Association, thinks so. “I really believe that higher education has to move online,” he said at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers midyear meeting in Baltimore. “Private universities have done it; government will have to follow along.”
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A Broken Model?
Ultimately the higher education system as we know it is in jeopardy, and many contend that the model is already broken.
“Particularly for the public institutions,” Breneman said, “if you think their role and purpose is to serve the public in a broad way and to be affordable and accessible, I think we are running a risk of closing out opportunities to a substantial part of the youth population if we aren’t careful. We’re shifting the cost from the general taxpayer, which is what it has historically been, over to the families.”
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