By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Massive Scandal Alleged in College Admissions
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 2019/03/12
To be clear, this isn't about the rich buying their way into university admissions. As the Chronicle makes clear, this is already well-established and legal: " Applicants could go in through the "front door," applying through the normal process, or the "back door," through large donations to the university." The scheme in question here is called a "side door" scheme, where somewhat less rich (and nouveau-riche) take the more affordable (but less legal) way of buying their way through the admissions process via such means as (for example) "helping non-athletes gain the benefits of being admitted as athletes." The NY Times reports that 50 people were charged. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. What Really Happened at SUNY
Michael Feldstein describes 'what really happened at SUNY' in response to a post suggesting that the university "they insisted that the 'future is now' and ultimately ran out of steam and 'lived in the present' and went with Angel." Felstein responds, "the real barriers to an LMOS approach are not technical but political." Me, I'd prefer to hear the "gory details". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Analysis — What If We Personalized Education Funding? How Routing Dollars to Students Instead of Schools Could Fund a More Nimble System
Travis Pillow, Paul Hill, The 74, 2019/02/27
The idea touted in the title is being floated by a publication created to support the charter school movement. It would also be supported by proponents of a voucher movement. I don't agree with it, but think it's important to look at the argument. As I read it, I consider the provision of other services - health care, say? From where I sit, it makes the most sense simply to fund the services directly and ensure that people can access them as needed, so we don't have the overhead of distrfibuting vouchers (or whatever), collecting payments, and all the rest. And it is moreover not clear what problem the use of vouchers solves. More...