Higher education is a linchpin of the economy and society: Teaching and research at colleges and universities contribute significantly to the nation's economic activity, both directly and through their impact on future growth; federal and state governments support teaching and research with billions of taxpayers' dollars; and individuals, communities, and the nation gain from the learning and innovation that occurs in higher education.
In the current environment of increasing tuition and shrinking public funds, a sense of urgency has emerged to better track the performance of colleges and universities in the hope that their costs can be contained while not compromising quality or accessibility. Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education presents an analytically well-defined concept of productivity in higher education and recommends empirically valid and operationally practical guidelines for measuring it. In addition to its obvious policy and research value, improved measures of productivity may generate insights that potentially lead to enhanced departmental, institutional, or system educational processes.
Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education constructs valid productivity measures to supplement the body of information used to guide resource allocation decisions at the system, state, and national levels and to assist policymakers who must assess investments in higher education against other compelling demands on scarce resources. By portraying the productive process in detail, this report will allow stakeholders to better understand the compexities of--and potential approaches to--measuring institution, system and national-level performance in higher education.
martes, 22 de mayo de 2012
martes, 15 de mayo de 2012
Examinando escuelas virtuales
The latest volley across the bow of virtual schools has been fired with the release of a new report by The Center for Public Education, a research arm of the National School Boards Association.
In "Searching for the Reality of Virtual Schools," the researchers expressed acceptance of the fact that the use of online courses is accelerating in America at the same time they bemoaned a lack of clarity around virtual school costs, outcomes, and accountability. However, at least two observers from the virtual school side of education wondered if the report isn't really just a chance for public school advocates to take potshots at alternatives to traditional education.
In "Searching for the Reality of Virtual Schools," the researchers expressed acceptance of the fact that the use of online courses is accelerating in America at the same time they bemoaned a lack of clarity around virtual school costs, outcomes, and accountability. However, at least two observers from the virtual school side of education wondered if the report isn't really just a chance for public school advocates to take potshots at alternatives to traditional education.
martes, 1 de mayo de 2012
Problemas con la adaptación de plataformas
The machines are rising. Soon they will be sophisticated enough to
fill certain faculty roles at traditional universities. But to make this
revolution work for students, academic leaders at those traditional
institutions will need to broker a peace between artificially
intelligent teaching programs and their human counterparts, according to a new report written by the former presidents of two prominent traditional universities on behalf of the nonprofit Ithaka S+R.
Online education has enabled many colleges to transition into the prevailing modern medium while adding new sources of revenue in times of scarcity, according to the Ithaka report. However, these innovative colleges have shown less interest in using the novel medium to curb tuition charges and measure learning outcomes.
The report, called "Barriers to Adoption of Online Learning Systems in U.S. Higher Education," was co-written by Lawrence S. Bacow and William G. Bowen, the former presidents of Tufts and Princeton Universities, respectively, along with several Ithaka analysts. It was bankrolled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The report contained little advocacy one way or another; rather, the authors appeared to strive for a dispassionate analysis driven by a general sense that the rise of machine learning is inevitable and universities should be prepared. Their findings were based on interviews with senior administrators at 25 public and private, four-year and two-year colleges, including “deep dive” analyses at five of them.
Para ver el informe, oprima aquí.
Online education has enabled many colleges to transition into the prevailing modern medium while adding new sources of revenue in times of scarcity, according to the Ithaka report. However, these innovative colleges have shown less interest in using the novel medium to curb tuition charges and measure learning outcomes.
The report, called "Barriers to Adoption of Online Learning Systems in U.S. Higher Education," was co-written by Lawrence S. Bacow and William G. Bowen, the former presidents of Tufts and Princeton Universities, respectively, along with several Ithaka analysts. It was bankrolled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The report contained little advocacy one way or another; rather, the authors appeared to strive for a dispassionate analysis driven by a general sense that the rise of machine learning is inevitable and universities should be prepared. Their findings were based on interviews with senior administrators at 25 public and private, four-year and two-year colleges, including “deep dive” analyses at five of them.
Para ver el informe, oprima aquí.
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