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.
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.
martes, 24 de abril de 2012
Estudio sobre la creatividad
Is the American education system stifling creativity? That's the
attitude held by a majority of Americans, according to a new worldwide
survey focused on attitudes toward creativity in schools, the
workplace, and the home.
"The urge to create has never been stronger, and the ability to create is unprecedented, yet a new global study shows that most people feel they are not living up to their own creative potential," said Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO of Adobe, in a prepared statement. "We challenge the notion that creativity is reserved for an elite few, and believe that no matter what you do, everyone has the potential to be creative."
Globally, there's widespread agreement with that sentiment, according to the results of the research, published in a report.
It found that, worldwide, 73 percent of respondents agreed that, "as a country, we are not living up to our creative potential." That sentiment was a bit stronger in the United States in particular, at 82 percent. Similarly, worldwide, 59 percent of respondents said their educational systems are stifling creativity. In the United States, that figure was 62 percent.
"One of the myths of creativity is that very few people are really creative," said former education professor, author, and TED speaker Ken Robinson, in a statement released to coincide with the report. "The truth is that everyone has great capacities, but not everyone develops them. One of the problems is that too often our educational systems don't enable students to develop their natural creative powers. Instead, they promote uniformity and standardization. The result is that we're draining people of their creative possibilities and, as this study reveals, producing a workforce that's conditioned to prioritize conformity over creativity."
Other findings from the study include:
Para ver el estudio, oprima aquí.
"The urge to create has never been stronger, and the ability to create is unprecedented, yet a new global study shows that most people feel they are not living up to their own creative potential," said Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO of Adobe, in a prepared statement. "We challenge the notion that creativity is reserved for an elite few, and believe that no matter what you do, everyone has the potential to be creative."
Globally, there's widespread agreement with that sentiment, according to the results of the research, published in a report.
It found that, worldwide, 73 percent of respondents agreed that, "as a country, we are not living up to our creative potential." That sentiment was a bit stronger in the United States in particular, at 82 percent. Similarly, worldwide, 59 percent of respondents said their educational systems are stifling creativity. In the United States, that figure was 62 percent.
"One of the myths of creativity is that very few people are really creative," said former education professor, author, and TED speaker Ken Robinson, in a statement released to coincide with the report. "The truth is that everyone has great capacities, but not everyone develops them. One of the problems is that too often our educational systems don't enable students to develop their natural creative powers. Instead, they promote uniformity and standardization. The result is that we're draining people of their creative possibilities and, as this study reveals, producing a workforce that's conditioned to prioritize conformity over creativity."
Other findings from the study include:
- 70 percent of Americans agreed that, "as a culture, we take creativity for granted" (versus 52 percent worldwide);
- 72 percent of Americans said that "creating online is part of our culture: (versus 61 percent worldwide);
- 72 percent of Americans also said they believe that there is increasing competition to have what they create get noticed, versus 63 percent worldwide;
- Only half of Americans said they're being increasingly asked to think creatively at work (versus 55 percent worldwide), while 80 percent said there is increasing pressure to be productive rather than creative in the workplace (versus 75 percent worldwide).
Para ver el estudio, oprima aquí.
jueves, 19 de abril de 2012
9na Convención Anual de Aprendizaje Híbrido del Consorcio Sloan
La Oficina de la Rectoría de la Universidad de Puerto Rico en Río
Piedras, el Proyecto Título V/PPOHA, adscrito al Decanato de Estudios
Graduados e Investigación (DEGI), la Escuela Graduada de Ciencias y
Tecnologías de la Información (EGCTI) y el Centro para la Excelencia
Académica (CEA) le invitan cordialmente a la Retransmisión en vivo de la
9na Convención Anual de Aprendizaje Híbrido del Consorcio Sloan
(Blended Learning Conference & Workshop) durante los días 23 y 24 de
abril de 2012. La actividad es libre de costo.
Si desea registrarse puede acceder a http://cea-uprrp.weebly.com/
El Sloan Consortium es una organización líder que promueve la integración de la educación en línea a la educación superior. Este consorcio guía y ayuda a las instituciones, y a educadores a nivel individual, a mejorar la calidad, el alcance y la amplitud de la educación virtual.
El tema de la conferencia este año es Perfeccionando la Mezcla, reflejando el énfasis sobre los mejores métodos para integrar los componentes presenciales y en línea de los cursos híbridos.
Si desea registrarse puede acceder a http://cea-uprrp.weebly.com/
El Sloan Consortium es una organización líder que promueve la integración de la educación en línea a la educación superior. Este consorcio guía y ayuda a las instituciones, y a educadores a nivel individual, a mejorar la calidad, el alcance y la amplitud de la educación virtual.
El tema de la conferencia este año es Perfeccionando la Mezcla, reflejando el énfasis sobre los mejores métodos para integrar los componentes presenciales y en línea de los cursos híbridos.
Forging partnerships and networking learners through the HETS Consortium
Abstract:
Forging partnerships and collaboration within the consortium has been a continuouslearning process for Hispanic Educational Telecommunications System (HETS) consortium. This paper will examine the accomplishments, and lessons learned throughout the planning, coordination,and development of this consortium. The paper addresses several challenges and successful solutionsthat have been part of the HETS development process. Major challenges included the integration of technologies to widen interconnection opportunities, the language and cultural diversity among themembers of the constituency, the organizational structure of the consortium, the planning andcoordination of program offerings, faculty training and collaboration, and building a virtual leadershipthrough a distributed team of institutional representatives.
Para una copia, oprima aquí.
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