I’m generally conflicted about year-end lists of top blog posts because there is no single way to order the list that is truly reflective of the conversations that we’ve been having together on the blog. But after finding Audrey Watters’ list for Hack Education so interesting I thought, “Oh, what the heck.” First, some general stats: We […]
Can Pearson Solve the Rubric’s Cube?
Love ’em or hate ’em, it’s hard to dispute that Pearson has an outsized impact on education in America. This huge company—they have a stock market valuation of $18 billion—touches all levels from kindergarten through career education, providing textbooks, homework platforms, high-stakes testing, and even helping to design entire online degree programs. So when they […]
Ruling expected this week on court challenge to CCSF loss of accreditation
Over the summer I covered the drama surrounding the impending shut down of the largest college in California – City College of San Francisco, or CCSF – due to termination of accreditation. The short version is that the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) voted to end accreditation for CCSF as of July 31, […]
Educational videos now outrank cat videos – my ticket onto NPR
From NPR this morning: With 1 billion unique visitors per month, YouTube offers a glimpse of the online world’s tastes and interests. And this year, one notable trend — for better or worse — is that people are spending more time watching videos about video games. [snip] In case this has you thinking, “Oh great, […]
Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina
While it is well hidden, wrapped in a very careful press release, Phil’s sharp eye has caught the details in SJSU’s press release about the next phase in the Udacity pilot that suggest the partnership between the school and the company is winding down. When Carl Straumsheim of Inside Higher Ed asked an SJSU spokesperson point-blank […]
Mind the Gaps: WCET survey adds valuable context
This week the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) released its Managing Online Education survey results that were previewed at the WCET13 conference in November. Despite all of the talk about the potential data-driven decision-making in higher education, it is remarkable how little we know. Course Completion Based on media coverage, the WCET survey results that are grabbing people’s attention: For […]
SJSU and Udacity End Game: 3 courses to be offered for-credit on Canvas LMS
After a great deal of publicity from their spring and summer pilots, San Jose State University has just announced that they will offer three of the courses again in Spring 2014 – but with a twist. On the surface, the announcement sounds like a continuation of the pilot. This spring, San Jose State will offer […]