Bucking trend, college will cut price — from New York Times by Tamar Lewin
From DSC:
Smart move. I wish more institutions of higher education would go this way — it would certainly help in the PR department. Let’s not be proud of 2-5% increases; instead, let’s be proud of 2-5% decreases.
Overview:
The outlook remains mixed for the not-for-profit U.S. higher education sector in fiscal 2011, according to Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. We believe that operating results and demand will likely be uneven, and institutions with high debt and limited liquidity could experience severe stress. Still, we believe that the long-term credit profile of many rated institutions remains stable, and that many institutions will perform favorably over the next year.
As a whole, Standard & Poor’s does not expect public universities to underperform private universities despite likely cuts in state funding. However, we may see some public colleges and universities consider consolidation or consider mergers with their peers.
We believe that the credit performance of not-for-profit colleges and universities generally remains tied to an institution’s financial resources, demand, and management, rather than industry risk. Therefore, we expect overall credit trends to be mixed for the balance of 2011, with small pockets of distress and larger pockets of strength.
— originally saw this via Academic Impressions e-newsletter
Will higher education split? — from Stephen Downes
Excerpt:
Sir John Daniel and Stamenka Uvali-Trumbi asks provocative question: “Will higher education split over the next decade or two into a public sector focussed on research and a for-profit sector doing most of the teaching?” The evidence? The communique from UNESCO predicting “massification” of higher education, Wildavsky’s book on global universities, and Salmi’s commentary on world class universities, Tony Bates’s article on the future of higher education, and Archibald and Feldman’s book on the costs of higher education. He could have added many other sources (and especially digital sources), such as this week’s call for a $10,000 degree from Texas governor Rick Perry, or Paul Kiser wondering whether state-run higher education is doomed.
Also see:
Elementary, my dear Watson: Jeopardy computer offers insight into human cognition — from Sentient Developments by George Dvorsky
Also see:
- Massive parallelism:
Exploit massive parallelism in the consideration of multiple interpretations and hypotheses.- Many experts:
Facilitate the integration, application and con-textual evaluation of a wide range of loosely coupled probabilistic question and content analytics.- Pervasive confidence estimation:
No single component commits to an answer; all components produce features and associated confidences, scoring different question and contentinterpretations. An underlying confidence processing substratelearns how to stack and combine the scores.- Integrate shallow and deep knowledge:
Balance the use of strict semantics and shallow semantics, leveraging many loosely formed ontologies.
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WorldFuture 2011: Moving from Vision to Action
Also see:
The WFS Education Summit and Preconference Courses (below) are a terrific way to acquire futuring tools in a concentrated learning environment. Whether you are a seasoned futurist or just getting started in developing the art and skill of long-range vision, you will find a program to meet your needs.
The courses outlined below are extra-fee events that will be offered July 7-8, just prior to the WFS annual conference, WorldFuture 2011: Moving from Vision to Action, to be held July 8-10, in Vancouver.
Education Summit – Education and the New Norm
Presentations are now being solicited for “Education and the New Normal,” where educators and futurists will address the multiple challenges confronting the institutions dedicated to preparing tomorrow’s leaders for a dramatically changing world. The focus on the “new” embraces all the forces of change impacting learners and teachers, including new technologies, new demographic realities, new economic necessities, new environmental imperatives, and new political perspectives.
• Introduction to Futures Studies
• Six Thinking Hats: de Bono’s Tool for Creative and Critical Thinking
• Get a Life: Futures Simulation Tool for Career Planning
• Whole Systems Governance: The New Cognitive Work of Leadership
• Wiser Futures: Using Futures Tools to Better Understand and Create the Future
• Bridging the Great Divides: A Spiral Dynamics Workshop on Cultural Integration, Global Cohesion, and Our Multiple Futures
• Foresight Educators Boot Camp
• The Power of the Long-Term Perspective
Teetering between eras: higher education in a global, knowledge networked world — from emeraldinsight.com by Gail O. Mellow and Diana D. Woolis, (2010)
Findings – There are three fundamental and monumental changes that will profoundly alter the field of higher education in the next several decades: the globalization of higher education; the impact of technology on changing definitions of students, faculty and knowledge; and the impact of the marketplace on the basic “business model” of higher education. The paper describes how each of these three forces will reshape higher education, while identifying factors that may accelerate or inhibit the impact of these influences.
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Gail O. Mellow, Diana D. Woolis, (2010) “Teetering between eras: higher education in a global, knowledge networked world”, On the Horizon, Vol. 18 Iss: 4, pp.308 – 319
Example slides/excerpts:
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One example — of several great slides — regarding the old vs. the new paradigm:
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From DSC:
Re: one of the bullet points on the last slide — i.e. “Faculty work as part of instructional team” — here’s my take on what that team increasingly needs to look like in order to engage our students and to compete:
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Survey points to radical makeover of traditional education — from free press release center
Online education is booming according to longtime online higher education pioneer, Dr. Fred DiUlus.
Excerpt:
January 23, 2011 (FPRC) — Online education is booming according to longtime online higher education pioneer, Dr. Fred DiUlus. As the founder and CEO of online university builder, Global Academy Online, he has witnessed first-hand the exponential growth of the online education industry. Traditional educators are just now beginning to seriously pull back the layers of opportunity that exist within the virtual world for today’s technologically savvy students.
Many traditionalists have complained over the years about what they perceive as the inadequacy of virtual education. They believe that somehow online education would destroy rigor and academic accomplishment if universities even dared to adopt online protocols in a major way. The father of modern management, the late Peter Drucker, predicted that schools as we know them will cease to exist in a generation replaced by their virtual counterparts.
Skeptics in higher education have long questioned Drucker’s ominous prediction. Global Academy Online’s own statistical research over the past eight years appears to bear out Drucker’s forecast contrary to what others in the field think and perhaps sooner than even Drucker expected. In 2002, the Academy began collecting statistical data from students attending traditional colleges and universities. The results of the eight-year survey are so startling that it now appears proof positive of the inevitability of Drucker’s prophecy.
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Who wants a self-paced, free, world class education? — from OpenSesame.com
From DSC:
I work within higher education…so why am I posting this? For several reasons:
Unlocking the Gates:
How and Why Leading Universities Are Opening Up Access to Their Courses
Taylor Walsh
With a foreword by William G. Bowen
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Unlocking the Gates: Interview with Author, Taylor Walsh — from Higher Education Management Group
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Addendum on 1-20-11:
The future of the TV is online — from telegraph.co.uk
Your television’s going to get connected, says Matt Warman
