By Maina Waruru. The Pan African University Institute for Space Sciences to be hosted by South Africa is on course to enrol its first students in January 2016, completing the creation of research and PhD training nodes for Africa’s five regions and ending years of politicking. A decision has also been made to base the continental university’s headquarters in Cameroon. Read more...
By Brendan O’Malley. European governments and higher education institutions are failing to develop coherent policy approaches to improve access, retention and employability, a Eurydice report has found.
“While many countries acknowledge that there are different challenges regarding disadvantaged student groups, few have developed concrete policy priorities, strategies, targets and measures,” the report says. Read more...
By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In this week’s issue, in our Q&A, Mary Beth Marklein asks expert Ellen Hazelkorn if the US universities that dominate international rankings are driving higher education policy in the rest of the world.
In Features Karen MacGregor reports on the death knell of a controversial former World Bank policy that has been widely blamed for decimating higher education across Africa.
In Commentary, Marina Warner says the current trend towards treating universities like businesses is undermining the very purpose of universities. Roger Y Chao Jr says there is a lack of engagement from development partners with Myanmar’s process of education reform just when it is most needed. And Marcelo Knobel says Latin American countries are struggling to tackle social inequality and must find ways to not only widen access to universities but also ensure that the potential success of every student is realised.
In our World Blog, Margaret Andrews says business schools are being forced to innovate under pressure from rising costs, technology advances and employer dissatisfaction. Read more...
By Dianne Therese Sencil. Chinese Ministry of Education recent statistics show that China reigns as the third top choice of foreign students worldwide, with 370,000 students from 203 countries, of which 60 percent are from Asia.
According to statistics, there are 225,490 students from neighboring Asian countries who chose to study in China in 2014. Read more...
By Bedah Mengo. An increasing number of colleges in Kenya are turning to the internet to offer their courses as they seek to reach more students. The switch to on-line platforms is being prompted by the rise in number of internet users in the East African nation.
APTECH is the latest institution to roll out its programs on the internet. The information and communication technology institution has started an on-line university to reach tens of students that cannot be able to physically access its courses. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. GNU social: Federation against the social model of Twitter
Manuel Ortega, Las Indias in English, 2015/04/10
I haven't seen GNU Social but it might be worth looking it, as it offers a networking model more akin to the one I favour. "The Facebook and Twitter socialization model, the FbT model, is like a large plaza where everyone can shout their slogans, while barely listening to each other," says this article. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Integrating Social Learning in the Workplace
Sahana Chattopadhyay, ID & Other Reflections, 2015/04/10
Important advice: "The catch is that “social learning” cannot just be implemented or enforced. One cannot inset social learning in the training calendar and feel happy about it." It's not the sort of thing that can be imposed from the top down, writes Sahana Chattopadhyayg. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Innovation and the Novelty Factory
Tim Klapdor, Heart | Soul | Machine, 2015/04/10
À propos of my recent talk on innovation, "Horace Dediu posits a taxonomy which I think is extremely useful to help discern innovation and reduces some confusion:
Novelty: Something new
Creation: Something new and valuable
Invention: Something new, having potential value through utility
Innovation: Something new and uniquely useful. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How to Criticize with Kindness: Philosopher Daniel Dennett on the Four Steps to Arguing Intelligently
Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, 2015/04/10
Now let me put this in context: Dennett (author of Consciousness Explained and The Intentional Stance) is one of the world's most respected philosophers today. He, probably more than anyone else in the world, knows how a good argument works. Here is his method (and, I might add, my method):"
What do you think the point of OLDaily is. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Online Test-Takers Feel Anti-Cheating Software’s Uneasy Glare
Natasha Singer, New York Times, 2015/04/09
More on ProctorTrack, the service that stares at you through your camera while you take an online exam. Not surprisingly, students don't like it. According to the article, "Even for an undergraduate raised in a culture of selfies and Skype, Ms. Chao found the system intrusive. More...
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