The Higher Education Development Association (HEDDA) is designed to strengthen the relationship between higher education research and practice. The association is a coordinating body aiming at organizing and supporting the academic expertise and knowledge on higher education in Europe. The link address is: http://uv-net.uio.no/wpmu/hedda/

By Joshua Kim. The announcement that Steve Ballmer will be stepping aside as the CEO of Microsoft has got me thinking about what the software company means to higher education.
I've been using Microsoft's software since my first year at college, (Washington University - 1987),  to this very day. Microsoft is deeply embedded in many of our higher ed lives.
What Microsoft software did you use today?
The irony of Microsoft when it comes to higher ed is that the company is at once ubiquitous and unseen. In higher ed, Microsoft remains important (even essential) but not influential. Read more...

 Under the Congress of University Extension and Social Projection, the committee of the Peruvian Network for Social Commitment was formed, presiding the Senior University of Sipán and including the Cesar Vallejo University of Trujillo; the Andean University of Cuzco; the University of San Marcos, the University of Alas Peruanas; the private university of Tacna and the Alcides Carrión University of Cerro de Pasco. This initiative was driven by the Academic Vice President of the USS, Alcibíades Sime Marques, who proposed the creation of a Network of Peru in order to coordinate efforts with different higher education institutes in favor of society and strategic alliances for the development of social engagement in the region. Among these potential networks were the Latin American Network of Learning - Service, CLAYSS and the Talloires Network.

By Joshua Kim. As I type these words at 7:20pm EST on 8/27/13 two things are happening on other windows on my laptop.
1.  The NYTimes.com website is down.
2.  Students at my institution are learning in live online classes (on Adobe Connect) and asynchronously on our LMS (Blackboard).
According to a number of articles linked to Google News the cause of the NYTimes.com outage is hacking. 
"NY Times Suspects Hackers in Latest Website Crash"  USA Today
"New York Times Website Believed to be Hacked" the Chicago Tribune.
The NYTimes.com also went dark on August 14th. This was apparently an internal technical issue, not the result of an attack. Read more...

 The Institute for College Access & Success is an independent, nonprofit organization and works to make higher education more available and affordable for people of all backgrounds. By conducting and supporting nonpartisan research, analysis, and advocacy, TICAS aims to improve the processes and public policies that can pave the way to successful educational outcomes for students and for society. The link address is: http://ticas.org/index.php

By Joshua Kim. What synchronous online class meeting platform do you use?  
My days are spent in Adobe Connect, as we have a requirement for up to 30 simultaneous webcam feeds (we call it the Brady Bunch effect). 
From what I have been able to learn, Adobe Connect is still the only platform that can scale to 30 plus simultaneous webcams (am I wrong?). I am a believer in a class seeing all seeing each other during a live meeting - as seeing each face live adds to a sense of intimacy and connection. Read more...

 The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education conducts and disseminates research and policy analysis to encourage policymakers, educators, and the public to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for low-income, first-generation, and disabled college students. The Pell Institute is the first research institute to specifically address the issues impacting educational opportunity for this growing population. To examine these issues, the Pell Institute conducts independent research in three areas: access, success, and innovation. The link address is: http://www.pellinstitute.org/clearinghouses_opp.html

By Joshua Kim. Sometimes we are reminded about how small our edtech community really is. Ray Henderson's announcement that he is stepping way from is executive operational role as Blackboard's President of Learning Platforms and into a strategic role on the company's Board of Directors was much noticed in our little edtech universe.
To his credit, Ray wrote a really thoughtful post about this move in his blog, which was followed-up by some excellent analysisby the indomitable Michael Feldstein. Read more...

 LINK is a network of organisations, educational institutions, disability professionals, academics, students and interested individuals who all share the same ultimate goal, the full inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education. LINK is co-funded by the EU lifelong learning programme, works in the area of disability and higher education and was established in 2008. It is managed by six contracted partners, but has members from all over Europe & beyond. The link address is: http://www.thelinknetwork.eu/.

By Barbara Fister. Chris Bourg, Assistant University Librarian for Public Services at Stanford University Libraries,  recently wrote an interesting blog post about her agenda for libraries. It's a queer and feminist agenda, which might startle some librarians - but she points out that everyone has agendas. They just aren't always acknowledged. This is the kind of thing you rarely hear from librarians. We have strategic plans, visions, goals, and values, but we generally shy away from agendas and often try quite hard not to have opinions, or at least we keep our opinions to ourselves, quite separate from our professional lives. Read more...