tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58909438743179485852024-03-13T07:50:55.281-06:00david blakeDavid Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-57723552078658159682010-01-27T08:27:00.001-07:002010-01-27T08:27:34.576-07:00rethink scholarship
<div class='posterous_autopost'> <p><object height="225" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8766811&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8766811&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="225" width="400"></embed></param></param></param></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/8766811">Rethink Scholarship at Langara 2010 Call for Entries</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2977800">Rory O'Sullivan and Simon Bruyn</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/rethink-scholarship-16">hacking edu</a> </p> </div> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-79023688975327556622010-01-16T12:15:00.001-07:002010-01-16T12:21:41.619-07:00Video from Peru TripDan, Justin, and I went to Peru in the spring of 2009 for Impact International. Justin and Dan just got done putting this video together for a project at BYU.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YNW06eb9iFk/S1IRvSiEsBI/AAAAAAAAAK4/R3SXjsQqC6k/s1600-h/Machu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YNW06eb9iFk/S1IRvSiEsBI/AAAAAAAAAK4/R3SXjsQqC6k/s320/Machu.jpg" /></a><br />
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While the trip spanned a total of three weeks for them (two for me) and included a medical mission and the filming of extreme poverty and people who live off of the trash heaps, this video comes from the middle part of the journey where we stayed with a tribe high in the Andes mountains. <br />
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<object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TysHSmEZTdw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TysHSmEZTdw&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-77299223085344940172010-01-15T00:25:00.002-07:002010-01-16T10:00:45.408-07:00More Aid ≠ More Graduates<div class="posterous_autopost">Regarding my Harvard App Essay #2 above it was interesting to see Peter Schiff come out against federal student loans using a similar thread of logic:<br />
</div><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AIcfMMVcYZg&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AIcfMMVcYZg&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-73750300009594269032010-01-14T23:27:00.001-07:002010-01-14T23:27:05.102-07:00Truth Hurts
<div class='posterous_autopost'> <p><a href="http://www.onlinecollegesanduniversities.com/college_america"><img src="http://www.onlinecollegesanduniversities.com/college_america/collegeamerica.jpg" border="0" height="2759" alt="College in America" width="600" /></a><br />via Online Colleges and Universities<br></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/truth-hurts-5">hacking edu</a> </p> </div> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-13568647837647072422010-01-14T23:25:00.001-07:002010-01-14T23:25:16.623-07:00Koofers
<div class='posterous_autopost'> <div> <p>When I first saw Koofers home page I was really excited by the possibilities, but in registering for the site with my byu.edu email, I found the only immediate functionality to be an affiliate textbook shopping engine and a bunch of flash games. It appears that they have a rate-your-professor & class scheduling functionality (nothing that hasn’t been done before) and the ability to share flashcards and previous tests from the same class. My initial hope of Koofers being a social platform to share real content and knowledge with students across diverse campuses was failed with the realization it is a pander to lazy students looking for quick and cheap tricks intent on finding the easiest teacher and the easy A. </p> <p></p> <p>Koofers, I will not even give you the pleasure of a link. Try again. </p> <p></p> <p></p> </div> <p><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/hackingedu/RZVgaAm3sjFavsFc4D5a0JBFWefDx5qCoFigTpVNivTRX0wtuHrItW3DteUQ/image002.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/hackingedu/Nxr2XhhJtzMK3WrodgoX9RugXUHx8j1qxfSvZQ5SXHUhYkLXDvZe8w1CDLsO/image002.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="394"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/hackingedu/AAOp9S3zMplHeb2UphtyXqqrtsP2auNFzhWnERwFZMU2To1j0qHZ3gredwnA/image004.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/hackingedu/yfbu9mfNEjWRZNuxCA9O5Wa824VzfJIlu2y4cWhUa03XKqGU6pAEKGCVWJas/image004.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="378"/></a> <div><a href='http://hackingedu.com/koofers'>See and download the full gallery on posterous</a></div></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/koofers">hacking edu</a> </p> </div> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-22246821623023550532009-12-28T22:38:00.007-07:002009-12-28T22:38:41.093-07:00degree inflation
<p>This <a href="http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1946088,00.html?xid=rss-topstories-polar">Time</a> article is worth repeating:</p> <p></p> <p><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/hackingedu/m6A5iNAQHbhbewavJElzGDBJuqeN1ADfeZi29cjZyeTs3IjYGCE2bhvrWsED/image001.png" width="307" height="200"/> </p> <p></p> <p>“Employers and career experts see a growing problem in American society — an abundance of college graduates, many burdened with tuition-loan debt, heading into the work world with a degree that doesn't mean much anymore.</p> <p></p> <p>“The problem isn't just a soft job market — it's an oversupply of graduates. In 1973, a bachelor's degree was more of a rarity, since just 47% of high school graduates went on to college. By October 2008, that number had risen to nearly 70%. For many Americans today, a trip through college is considered as much of a birthright as a driver's license.</p> <p></p> <p>“Marty Nemko, a career and education expert who has taught at U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Education, contends that the overflow in degree holders is the result of many weaker students attending colleges when other options may have served them better. "There is tremendous pressure to push kids through," he says, adding that as a result, too many students who aren't skilled become degree holders, promoting a perception among employers that higher education doesn't work. "That piece of paper no longer means very much, and employers know that," says Nemko. "Everybody's got it, so it's watered down."</p> <p></p> <p>“What's not watered down is the tab. The cost of average tuition rose 6.5% this fall, and a report released on Dec. 1 by the Project on Student Debt showed that the IOU is getting bigger. Two-thirds of all students now leave college with outstanding loans; the average amount of debt rose to $23,200 in 2008. In the last academic year, the total amount loaned to students increased about 18% from the previous year, to $81 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Education.</p> <p></p> <p>“Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for recent grads rose as well. It is now 10.6%, a record high.</p> <p></p> <p>“The devaluation of a college degree is no secret on campus. An annual survey by the Higher Education Research Institute has long asked freshmen what they think their highest academic degree will be. In 1972, 38% of respondents said a bachelor's degree, but in 2008 only 22% answered the same. The number of freshmen planning to get a master's degree rose from 31% in 1972 to 42% in 2008. Says John Pryor, the institute's director: "Years ago, the bachelor's degree was the key to getting better jobs. Now you really need more than that."”</p> <p></p> <p>Read the rest <a href="http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1946088,00.html?xid=rss-topstories-polar#ixzz0b10uNbcL">here</a>. </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/degree-inflation">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-7016192364418405982009-12-28T22:38:00.005-07:002009-12-28T22:38:32.275-07:00rate my professors' iPhone app
<p>College classroom iPhone apps are hitting the app store in growing numbers. </p> <p></p> <p><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/hackingedu/b8LrkoGoR46Uy1le3vRjdI6AEDcyrjEvoBEy7uf1eL2uCGtSLWvSdiE9wiAY/image001.png" width="270" height="456"/> </p> <p></p> <p>Article on the trend on <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10413590-260.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.1">cNet</a>.</p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/rate-my-professors-iphone-app">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-19521528909914224842009-12-28T22:38:00.003-07:002009-12-28T22:38:26.749-07:00accelerated tracks pays off
<p>“A new study of Massachusetts middle schools contends schools that don’t track students of the same grade into multiple course levels based on their achievement have fewer students scoring at the advanced level on state standardized tests in mathematics.”</p> <p></p> <p>Via <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/12/16/15report-b1.h29.html?tkn=VTRCPurZtlIAmLpvmcIUNsf2I%2B0Ma7d4dW1W">education week</a>. </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/accelerated-tracks-pays-off">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-52011797356234641252009-12-28T22:38:00.001-07:002009-12-28T22:38:20.722-07:00a free education
<p>I have been following the <a href="http://www.uopeople.org/">University of the People</a> since its inception. I was reminded of it again recently when I read an article on its progress. </p> <p></p> <p>From the article: “University of the People's inaugural class included 179 students who took web-based college courses free of charge, only paying between $10 and $100 to process exams taken at the end of the semester… nine out of 10 students who took classes in its first term said they would recommend the university to family and friends.”</p> <p></p> <p><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/hackingedu/t6acFneML30nR62LGLQorpfh9Vq4MhAeND4Y4wmo3lda42zggpe7AJMAGzZF/image003.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/hackingedu/jLiR1bJEns3ctb4yuCDVpK7cdrAnyJ6xtC3mdOMYoJiGqYrQqTe9TL8FQho5/image003.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="392"/></a> </p> <p></p> <p>Read more at <a href="http://www.ecampusnews.com/news/top-news/?i=62349;_hbguid=482ed931-8829-41d5-b6ed-742d386a580f&d=top-news">eCampusNews</a>. </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/a-free-education">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-61453574894475183892009-12-28T10:14:00.001-07:002009-12-28T10:14:20.408-07:00Opportunity knocks
<p><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” - Thomas Edison</span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://davidblake.info/opportunity-knocks-1">david blake</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-43428408328647421372009-12-21T11:52:00.001-07:002009-12-21T11:52:01.005-07:00Parallel Parking for MIT Types
<p><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/davidblake/npFnG2jpFJSJIP6E251Rck1QiUspdNLM3NYG7aEoVeDseQm6cVlVFIYiZ8Bs/image001.png" width="460" height="288"/> </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://davidblake.info/parallel-parking-for-mit-types">david blake</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-68193730598374097782009-12-12T10:53:00.001-07:002009-12-12T10:53:10.434-07:00Kindle's Newest Rival
<p>Five of the nation's largest publishers of newspapers and magazines plan to challenge Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle electronic-book reader with their own digital format that would display in color and work on a variety of devices.</p> <p></p> <p>Time Inc., News Corp., Conde Nast, Hearst Corp., and Meredith Corp., whose magazines include Time, Cosmopolitan, and Better Homes and Gardens, announced a joint venture on Dec. 8 to develop the format that rivals Kindle's gray "electronic ink." It promises to emphasize visuals, retaining the distinctive look of each publication, as compared to the text-oriented Kindle.</p> <p></p> <p>The format would incorporate videos, games, and social networking, along with a classic magazine layout that can be flipped through with the touch of a finger.</p> <p></p> <p>Via <a href="http://www.ecampusnews.com/news/top-news/?i=62152;_hbguid=cd0d40e6-438f-4969-b01d-08c5f4d7dac8">eCampusNews</a> </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/kindles-newest-rival">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-39777675429342399422009-12-04T08:51:00.001-07:002009-12-04T08:51:20.755-07:00No More Teachers? No More Books? Higher Education in the Networked Age
<p>Take away from the <a href="http://www.zinch.com/college/Harvard-University">Harvard</a> panel on technology in the classroom: when students keep laptops open in the classroom, they learn less.</p> <p></p> <p>My thoughts—the traditional role of teachers and the current role of technology don’t mesh—I concur. Looking into the future I believe that the role both play will drastically change to yield great efficiencies. I think the teacher will come to be more mentor and guide and less of a knowledge base. You just cannot compete with technology as a knowledge base. And I believe that technology will come to displace—not compete with—teaching more and more. Right now it is a distraction because the teacher is teaching, technology is a peripheral distraction. In the future, the technology will teach, and the teacher will be a peripheral guide.</p> <p></p> <p>You can read the highlights of the panel <a href="http://www.dailyfreepress.com/internet-helps-but-also-hinders-learning-professors-say-1.2091296">here</a>.</p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/no-more-teachers-no-more-books-higher-educati">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-75361130852273935572009-11-26T09:03:00.001-07:002009-11-26T09:03:50.556-07:00thanks giving
<p><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Tuwid8_O8dk&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" /></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Tuwid8_O8dk&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></object></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://davidblake.info/thanks-giving-26">david blake</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-53785869016549822832009-11-18T12:37:00.001-07:002009-11-18T12:37:46.315-07:00YouTube meets Wikipedia
<p><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/hackingedu/ZxFmzUa8emKTEFaFsCEjcAaDhHszc8VkrE9mnYbZrygzDISqFWIeCr70lFFc/image003.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/hackingedu/z0zItrM2juiBQfq5zOKMMIWVRRkyAesA66nGbqNN31hhaN9UY6ngShgWgT3M/image003.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="350"/></a> </p> <p></p> <p>Cool new site,<a href="http://www.watchknow.org/">WatchKnow.org</a>, launched by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_sanger">Larry Sanger</a>, the co-founder of Wikipedia, that aggregates educational videos for students ages 3-18. Its library currently includes 11,000 videos. </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/youtube-meets-wikipedia">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-44421414022606228502009-11-17T12:09:00.001-07:002009-11-17T12:09:26.880-07:00... but the lighting of a fire
<p>If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. - Margaret Fuller, Journalist<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;"></span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/-but-the-lighting-of-a-fire">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-23476283645261323862009-11-15T17:01:00.001-07:002009-11-15T17:01:33.751-07:00NYC's School of One makes Time magazine's Top 50 inventions
<p><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/hackingedu/Hsp8E9Ox5JwKCXB9Mg4hlwxhZ7u22rZmMZumkkNCgMswwYQhVLnIaXUA30uO/image001.png" width="307" height="200"/> </p> <p>“This past summer, in a sixth-grade math class, New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein piloted a small program in which individualized, technology-based learning takes the place of the old "let's all proceed together" approach. Each day, students in the School of One are given a unique lesson plan — a "daily playlist" — tailored to their learning style and rate of progress that includes a mix of virtual tutoring, in-class instruction and educational video games. It's learning for the Xbox generation.” </p> <p><span style="color: black;"><br /> Via <a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1934027_1934003_1933977,00.html#ixzz0WyYzXGQE">Time</a>. </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/nycs-school-of-one-makes-time-magazines-top-5">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-84973510087916545582009-11-09T11:48:00.001-07:002009-11-09T11:48:24.506-07:00Make higher ed more accessible
<p><span> <blockquote> <p>Colleges should consider accrediting web-based programs offered at free or low-cost online schools, making higher education more widely available to populations with little access to post-secondary classes, a former official from the United Kingdom's Open University told a gathering of technology advocates Nov. 6.</p> <p>Brenda Gourley, vice-chancellor of The Open University from 2002-2009 and a longtime advocate for education's role in social justice, spoke to hundreds of IT professionals at the annual EDUCAUSE conference in Denver, which ran from Nov. 3-6.</p> <p>Gourley, who became South Africa's first female vice-chancellor in 1994, stressed that colleges and universities that cannot afford to launch web-based classes should evaluate courses offered at ventures such as The Open University and allow students to take the class for school credit.</p> <p>"Especially in these economic times, we have to find a more optimum outcome to balance with financial necessities," she said, adding that the global economic slump should spur campuses to look for alternatives to expanding course offerings as college enrollment spikes. "It may well be more sensible to accredit particular courses offered elsewhere than to provide them in house."</p> <p>Gourley warned against trimming back college offerings as campus operating budgets shrink and endowments dwindle, reminding IT officials gathered at EDUCAUSE that this could be a chance to bolster online education that would keep campuses financially afloat and serve non-traditional students whose schedules don't allow for on-campus lectures.</p> <p>"I don't think these . . . times should be some kind of excuse for putting that on hold while we sort something else out," she said. "Exactly the opposite. … If your strategic thinking of technology isn't combined in your holistic strategic thinking, I think you're in trouble."</p> <p>Closely tracking informal web-based communities of researchers and potential students, Gourley said, should be a priority for online schools and brick-and-mortar institutions.</p> <p>"What we see on the web are all sorts of people creating communities of interest," she said. "We must not underestimate the sophistication of those learning communities. … What we need to do is [understand] how we harness that energy and recognize some of that learning."</p> <p>The Open University's history can serve as an example for expanding web-based learning, she said. The idea of a distance-learning program in the 1960s drew scorn and criticism from officials in higher education and government, Gourley said. But accessible education proved popular once it was introduced in Britain and eventually, to other European nations.</p> <p>The school now has 150,000 undergraduates and 30,000 graduate students, about 70 percent of whom have full-time jobs. Most Open University classes require no previous qualifications, and students must be 16 or older to begin a course.</p> <p>Gourley said the social and political tumult of the 1960s contributed to a desire for non-traditional forms of education -- an idea that gained acceptance in official circles in the 1980s and 1990s.</p> <p>Civil rights battles and the Vietnam War "fed a yearning for a different order," she said.</p> <p>Gourley said a wider embrace of education technology -- especially among the oldest, most well-established universities -- will require a dramatic shift in the traditional roles of professors and students.</p> <p>"We need to go from teacher-centric to student-centric," she said. "The teacher is no longer the sage on the stage but rather the guide on the side."</p> </blockquote> <p><span class="byline">Dennis Carter </span>via <a href="http://www.ecampusnews.com/news/top-news/?i=61697;_hbguid=42e53c8b-e636-4b22-aef7-f9dbcb61b659#" title="eCampusNews" target="_blank">eCampusNews</a></p> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/make-higher-ed-more-accessible">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-35973818838849652062009-10-20T22:25:00.001-06:002009-10-20T22:25:57.651-06:00I am Canadian
<p><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BRI-A3vakVg&hl=en&fs=1&" /></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BRI-A3vakVg&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></object></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://davidblake.info/i-am-canadian-1">david blake</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-58090836444316308102009-10-15T14:10:00.001-06:002009-10-15T14:10:42.486-06:00Did you know?
<p>This is from 2008… how quickly the world turns. </p> <p></p> <p><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jpEnFwiqdx8&hl=en&fs=1&" /></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jpEnFwiqdx8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></object></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/did-you-know-442">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-59793865524232203352009-09-14T09:20:00.003-06:002009-09-14T09:24:17.996-06:00A Canadian's Take on US Healthcare ReformI got this message from one of my Canadian friends this morning, unsolicited, commenting on the US healthcare "reforms". I thought I would share with everyone:<br /><br /><blockquote>So Dave you must be pissed. If the leftists get their way you are going to have another Canada on your hands. Tina tried to see a specialist about her feet. She has to wait 4 to 6 months. Last time that I was sick in the good ole state of Utah a Doctor actually came to where I was staying. It blew my mind. A house call. I'd never seen one before.<br /><br />What I do see is Canada's top doctors dealing with waiting rooms full of people who need a sick note because they missed work. When things are free everybody wants one. My other favorite is my 4 hour stay in an emergency room on the verge of my apendix exploding and screaming my lungs out for nurses who wouldn't come. I guess they were too busy taking care of all those coughs and colds.<br /><br />I would love private coverage and so would most of my family. Just imagine paying 46 cents on every dollar to the government of Canada. The same government that just gave public funding grants to Toronto's Gay Pride parade. As well, in most cases abortions are free without previous consultation, one of the only operations that you can get here without waiting 4 to 6 months.<br /><br />Fight it and fight hard because as soon as the leeches start sucking they won't stop till all the blood's gone. <br /><br />On a brighter note I talked to Craig Walker. He said he might move to Oklahoma. I told him not to wear his Cougars jersey for awhile. Their probably still sore about the loss.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/friends/?ref=tn#/profile.php?id=48903831&v=wall&viewas=17823281">Kevin</a> </blockquote>David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-38187775772845943872009-09-08T22:10:00.001-06:002009-09-08T22:10:34.576-06:00Education 2.0 vs Harvard 2.0
<p>As a freshman on campus in the Fall of 2002 I stayed awake at night dreaming about how different college could be. One B. Sc. degree, a two-year service mission, three internships, one corporate job, and two startups later I cannot say how excited it makes me to see headlines like this one: <a href="http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/diploma-mill/2009/09/08/welcome-yahoo-u" title="The university goes the way of the newspaper">"Yahoo! U"</a>.</p> <blockquote> <p>Students starting school this year may be part of the last generation for which “going to college” means packing up, getting a dorm room, and listening to tenured professors. Undergraduate education is on the verge of a radical reordering. Colleges, like newspapers, will be torn apart by new ways of sharing information enabled by the Internet. The business model that sustained private U.S. colleges can’t survive.</p> </blockquote> <p>This article did a good job at distilling down the forces behind this coming change in education, though I don't agree with everything said.</p> <blockquote> <p>In the future, a handful of Soc. 101 lectures will be videotaped and taught across the United States, and online faculty will administer classes with many students but relatively little individual contact...</p> <p>The typical 2030 faculty will likely be a collection of adjuncts alone in their apartments, using recycled syllabi and administering multiple-choice tests from afar.</p> </blockquote> <p>I believe hacking edu means hacking three things: the professor, the textbook, and the classroom. This is where this article falls shortsided.</p> <ul> <li><strong>The Textbook.</strong> The explosion of ebook readers and online textbooks was actually not even mentioned in this article--fine.</li> <li><strong>The Professor.</strong> "The typical 2030 faculty will... be a collection of adjuncts alone in their apartments" and "online faculty will administer classes with many students but relatively little individual contact." I think that many see things this way--that the emergence of the dominance of online education will bring the student-to-teacher ration into the tens of thousands and that videotape will kill the radio star.</li> <li><strong>The Classroom.</strong> Though it doesn't say it outright, this article, like all others, hint at social media being the new classroom. I think this will both happen and that it is a good thing, but I don't think that it will be the most successful classroom of the future. </li> </ul> <p>This article correctly identifies that education 2.0 will separate the "class from the college". It foresees the aggregation of online content that will bring education efficiently to the masses at low costs. It also correctly identifies that learning is not the only end goal of college and that the role of certification and degrees are at the core of the college's product offering.</p> <blockquote> <p>Not all colleges will be similarly affected. My bet would be that the more endowed a school and the more its name carries a cultural value independent of its ability to offer a degree, the less likely it is to change. Like the <em>New York Times</em>, the elite schools play a unique role in our society, and so can probably persist with elements of their old revenue model longer than their lesser-known competitors.</p> </blockquote> <p>This article even correctly identifies that the Harvards of the world play a special role and have a third core product offering--"a cultural value". But where this and other articles are short sided is that they assume students want to learn and that they want a degree and that education 2.0 will revolutionize those two things. This article states that because of the ivys special third product offering--the cultural value--that they will survive longer than most.</p> <p>Education 2.0 will bring revolution to both learning and certification, but what this article fails to foresee, is the revolution that will come to that third product offering--the cultural value. That intangible element of networking and social interaction amongst elite sets of peers under the tutelage of pipe-smoking, sweater-vested professors--these articles all seem to think that innovation and the future will come at the cost of that third element. </p> <p>But why should it. People don't really want degrees--they want what degrees yield and what they mean. They yield jobs and they mean status. They are, for now, a differentiator. Many entrepreneurs will profit in this revolution that will make a B.A. a commodity open to the masses and online learning the norm, but the real winner is he who can replace and innovate, not inundate, on what the Harvards of the world offer--that third product of higher education--the cultural value.</p> <p>And that will never happen with adjunct professors alone in their apartments, with little interaction amongst their students.</p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/education-20-vs-harvard-20">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-4020212624908713002009-08-21T00:19:00.001-06:002009-08-21T00:19:22.368-06:00digital rights management and edu
<p>What lessons edu needs to learn from the mistakes of big media:</p> <p></p> <p>There was a blog post a few days ago, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/170337-2/the_10_stupidest_tech_company_blunders.html">“The 10 Stupidest Tech Company Blunders”</a>. Sixth stupidest ever, the music industry fighting Napster instead of using Napster to change and innovate their own model. </p> <p></p> <p>“Today, of course, music-subscription businesses and streaming services such as Pandora dominate digital music. Had the record companies partnered with Napster, MP3.com, or any of the other file sharing networks instead of suing them, they might control digital music sales today--without nearly as many problems with piracy.”</p> <p></p> <p>Edu and music are not exactly the same. Institutional edu doesn’t seemed embittered by open education reform, such as <a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm">MIT’s open courseware</a>. There is however, a disdain and stigma for online education and the textbook industry’s growing threat of the ebook. There is tension between the traditions of the past and technologies potential innovations of the future. And in those tensions, there are some lessons to be learned from the mistakes of big media.</p> <p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style=""><span style="">(1)<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;"> </span></span><b>Napster vs. Labels.</b> Napster changed the world. It was a seed of innovation that had just began to sprout in a big way. And instead of adapting, adopting, partnering, mimicking, or in any way trying to learn from, embrace, or grow the innovation, the big labels felt threatened and just tried to crush the sapling that was Napster under its big boots. Largely it worked, killing what Napster might have become, but shoots spread and rose up in the hundreds, just delaying the march of progress and leaving the big labels outdated and now outmanned and out positioned to win the fight in the long run. <br /> I see this in the world of edu—one recent case is <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9UAdVT4nGfrS4rc0UzXyItAPwjwD9A4PAV80">the WA teacher unions fighting the Charter movement</a>. Edu needs to adapt and adopt not fight and delay. </p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style=""><span style="">(2)<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;"> </span></span><b>Hollywood, Blockbuster, Netflix, and Red Box.</b> In high school, every video I rented was from Blockbuster video. In college is was Blockbuster online. Two years ago it was RedBox and these days it is streaming from NetFlix on demand. There is an interesting story behind the evolution of the movie rental evolution that applies to edu. Hollywood Video is every university who still doesn’t offer online courses. Blockbuster is arguably those who do offer online courses as a bolted-on extension of their otherwise unchanged business model. In this analogy, I think edu is about where the movie rental business was while I was in college, so it is too early to say who is really the Netflix and the RedBox are here, but I will venture with this. RedBox is the online universities of today, Phoenix, Kaplan, DeVry. They are the 50% solution. I believe that RedBox is a 10 yr business model and then it will be forever gone. Streaming will mark its death. The online colleges bring great convenience, steal serious market share; they are the 50% solution. They brought convenience and arguably cost savings to the old business model. The NetFlix, and by NetFlix I really infer the NetFlix on demand (streaming is the future and they are the ones positioned for that market), is the real innovation. It is a change in distribution, technology, and business model. It is the disruptor. Whoever this is in the edu market, I think it’s too early to say. </p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style=""><span style="">(3)<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;"> </span></span><b>BluRay vs. HD DVD.</b> Akin to the Napster lesson. With Napster, it was a fight against innovation. With BluRay and HD DVD they fought for the rights to the future of innovation, not against it. The problem was, they spent more time and more money fighting each other, that they lost the market entirely. BluRay finally pulled ahead, but so late in the game, they have won little share over DVDs and the market is soon to go the way of streaming. Billions of dollars lost and half a decade wasted. If BluRay and HD DVD had partnered at the very beginning, the market would have gone high def years ago and money would have been plentiful on both sides of the fence. I see this being akin to the fight between the traditional and the for-profits. They both want to educate students, they just both want to do it in their format. If they fight each other long enough, they will waste time, energy and efforts that could be spent innovating and blazing ahead. </p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style=""><span style="">(4)<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;"> </span></span><b>Digital Rights Management.</b> I watched a interesting documentary on DRM in the music and film industry:<br /> <object height="289" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/iA7IPNHOUAY2PtwBMEDbfA/1923" /></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/iA7IPNHOUAY2PtwBMEDbfA/1923" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /> It was interesting to learn about how Disney ripped off works in the public domain and made them relevant to our day and age. “His work was a remix of the stuff that came before. He was a mashup artist”. For example, from the video (which is queued to the this portion of the movie) is about how Steamboat Willie was a direct ripoff of Steamboat Bill. But then towards the end of the 20<sup>th</sup> century, Disney had all of the public domain and copyright laws rewritten to protect their work for ~100 years rather than the previous 14 years as it was when Disney got his start.<br /> The simple point I was to make here, is that education is built upon the works of those who have gone before. I am an economist and I believe in giving people incentives to produce works. I believe in copyright laws. But, it is important that the author/creator is protected and given incentives—not the marketplace or distribution channel. <br /> A case from recent history that exposes what is wrong with music rights today is the Boston University student being sued for file sharing; he has been ordered to pay $675,000 for illegally downloading 30. That is because so many layers of labels and producers have rights to those songs. Protect the artist, but the way that iTunes and most recently, the Kindle, lock up their owners information is <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/defective_by_design_kindle_discourages_readers.php">bad for education</a>. </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://hackingedu.com/digital-rights-management-and-edu">hacking edu</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-37747871378202829502009-08-20T22:59:00.001-06:002009-08-20T22:59:04.300-06:00this is what MIT thinks of me
<p>This is what MIT’s <a href="http://personas.media.mit.edu/personasWeb">Personas</a> had to say about me:</p> <p></p><p><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/davidblake/Ogy8sNCcunxnxRgf50pJauVCC9TAqisFYF7cgbyQTNJ9rhQTWrMhqajONfA5/image004.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/davidblake/oUIyFqFy7RcudJRHS28toDwx1BmMsP8NeAwlijCwQh8WOdidQagSip9qlesY/image004.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="227"/></a> <img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/davidblake/iI7ilRPCXe890vG5GLAdFozyUiyuEDv14Ya271i8NLZ1sSfbhkHCU5mAougV/image005.jpg" width="367" height="308"/> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/davidblake/68bi8fx3VIrgoUlK8IcPSieN2HDR3nh7GgLBJ4xNSfxS0xz5HjoMtp4npXmv/image006.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/davidblake/qYPzSqe5M7RgNbB4Bsg9q0y8XkylftmYL0rmo1BBFIol9EJmy4DfaIwx1aD0/image006.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="87"/></a> <a href='http://davidblake.info/this-is-what-mit-thinks-of-me'>See and download the full gallery on posterous</a></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://davidblake.info/this-is-what-mit-thinks-of-me">david blake</a> </p> David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5890943874317948585.post-39674103895154207182009-08-11T22:13:00.012-06:002010-01-16T11:57:41.151-07:00The Stereotypical S. America Bus RideSo I brushed the dust off of my external hard drive and pulled it back out to finish posting a few picks from the Peru trip. Consider the lost archives.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YNW06eb9iFk/SoJHbbbbF1I/AAAAAAAAAKQ/hYNCb69p6Ps/s1600-h/IMG_1466.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368932242323871570" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YNW06eb9iFk/SoJHbbbbF1I/AAAAAAAAAKQ/hYNCb69p6Ps/s400/IMG_1466.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 300px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
This pic is dusk on Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake located on the boarder of Peru and Bolivia. Though the landscape looks serene the journey getting there was not. <br />
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We decided to catch a midnight bus from Cusco to Puno (the major Peruvian city on Lake Titicaca). The bus was surprisingly, but deceptively nice. Before pulling out of the bus station, they took a mug shot of everyone on the bus, so if we tried robbing the bus or something, we were already on the police files. <br />
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My seat was next to a native. She fell asleep as soon as she hit her seat. We got off to a nice start and I dozed off. What had to be about an hour later, I awoke to the sound of metal clanking metal. The bus was stopped and the driver was gone, apparently outside the bus wacking at the engine. Looking around, I saw no lights, and at 1:30 am in the middle of nowhere Peru, there were no other cars to be seen on the highway. For almost an hour, with no word or explanation the driver clanked around outside with the engine. Finally, he got back on the bus, and with some struggle, but no further explanation, he started the bus up and we were once again off. <br />
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I dozed again only to be awaken the second time. This time I awoke with more of a startle--about 7 Peruvian SWAT team members were on our bus. They started at the front, saying nothing, reaching above our heads to open and inspect our bags. They moved slowly, front to back; when almost to the very back they apparently found what they were looking for. They grabbed at a bag of a Peruvian lady, who grabbed back and clutched the bag with everything she had. She refused to give the bag up and more and more of the SWAT members started grabbing at it and at her. She started screaming and crying but wouldn't let go of the bag. Finally, they overpowered her and without a word, marched to the front of the bus and left. They took the bag, but left the woman unquestioned on the bus.<br />
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We fired back up, and this time it is harder to fall back asleep. And just when I thought we had to be through the weeds, about an hour post-SWAT, we arrive in a small city located on the highway, to find that the highway is blocked by a bus and a semi-truck that tried to pass on the narrow building-lined road, only to find that they didn't both fit and had wedged themselves between the two buildings. <br />
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This "highway" was not wide enough for two large cars to pass at once, and there were only about two options for side roads. But they were both dirt, skinny, and windy. Many buses, blockaded and less determined, had already given up for the evening and were sitting in park waiting for the morning to come. Our bus driver, I think flustered by the course of the night's events, decided to brave one of the side roads.<br />
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These side roads would have been rough on a 4x4 pickup, and I confidently say, no bus had ever driven on these roads. I had 0% confidence that there was even an outlet for our bus along this road, but determined, our bus driver went for it. It wasn't more than 20 feet that a turn in the road required, literally, a 20 point turn. Another 20 feet, and the same thing again. This road winded through this little city, turns at every block that required people to get out and to guide the bus through several point turns. At one point a car was parked on the road that blocked us from getting by. Without the faintest possibility of being able to retrace our path in reverse, our only option was to bounce the car off the road--so that we did. Several people got the car bouncing and tossed it far enough out of the way for the bus to get by. At one point, the street narrowed so much that one set of wheels had to descend a staircase, while the other set descended the road. <br />
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It was hairy.<br />
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Two hours of effort, and we finally did make it past the barricade. Those hours managed to get us an effective 100 yards closer to our destination. But... the story ends well enough, as we did make it in to Lake Titicaca, alive and well.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YNW06eb9iFk/SoJGqukDRTI/AAAAAAAAAKI/-CQcD-4lmsg/s1600-h/IMG_1401.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368931405646742834" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YNW06eb9iFk/SoJGqukDRTI/AAAAAAAAAKI/-CQcD-4lmsg/s400/IMG_1401.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 300px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
The famous floating islands of Lake Titicaca. Those are man-made floating islands that people live on. Very cool.<br />
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City center in Lima at night.<br />
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Machipichu as seen from the peak of Winachi Picchu. Amazing.<br />
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Myself, Justin, and Dan in front of Machipichu (the peak behind us is Winachi Picchu).David Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17609420650211068467noreply@blogger.com0