Misappropriation
On Line in New York City
They are so prominently on line, in fact, that those of us in the hinterland know it’s a way to identify New Yorkers by the way they talk. Not by their pronunciation, but by their words.
If instead of waiting in line or standing in line, you wait or stand on line, you must be from New York—the city, that is, and neighboring New Jersey.That fact is confirmed by the recent Dictionary of American Regional English. The entry for on line in Volume 3 identifies New York City and northern New Jersey as the area where people say they’re waiting or standing on line. Read more...
Making Hey
In the United States, “hey” is gradually taking the place of “hi” in friendly greetings—whether in person or online.
I don’t mean the “hey” of “Hey, you! Yes, you!” that we use to attract someone’s attention. We’ve always had that. This is the “hey” or “hi” we say when we recognize a friend or acquaintance coming to meet us, or when we start an email.
“Hi, Sam, how’s it going?” That sort of thing.Now it happens that this “hey” is originally a Southernism. That was the situation in the late 1960s when the Dictionary of American Regional English sent interviewers to a thousand communities around the nation, asking (among 1,846 other questions) how locals would greet somebody they knew well. Read more...
What the Open-Data Movement Means for the Future of Colleges
By Jeff Selingo. During the partial shutdown of the federal government, which ended Wednesday night after 16 days, it was the barricades closing national parks and monuments that received a disproportionate share of media attention related to the budget standoff. Few seemed to care that useful online databases of statistics about higher education, such as the College Navigator and the College Scorecard, went dark (except a handful of reporters and perhaps those who didn’t want to take time off from the college search). More...
New Council to Develop Standards, Best Practices for Online Learning
By Megan O'Neil. Carnegie Mellon University is convening a high-powered consortium of educators, researchers, and technology-company executives that will spearhead efforts to develop standards and promote best practices in online education. The Global Learning Council—to be led by Carnegie Mellon’s president, Subra Suresh—will also look for ways to leverage education-technology resources and disseminate data in an education landscape that some think is being turned on its head. More...
International Reach of MOOCs Is Limited by Users’ Preferences
By Hannah Winston. Do massive open online courses offer countries around the world an affordable way to democratize higher education? Maybe, speakers said at an event on Monday here at the Embassy of Norway, but at best such a possibility is a long way off. The discussion was part of Transatlantic Science Week, an event sponsored by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research that looks for solutions to problems shared by Norway, Canada, and the United States. Torbjorn Roe Isaksen, Norway’s minister of education and research, said MOOCs have the potential to “give people all over the world access to education.” But he said he knew of no MOOCs reaching into developing countries in South America and Africa. More...
QuickWire: Facebook Supports Open-Source Movement With an Open Academy
By Lawrence Biemiller. Facebook—a high-profile user of open-source computer code—on Wednesday unveiled a project in which it’s collaborating with a Stanford University professor to match computer-science students with open-source mentors and tasks and let the students earn academic credit as they work. Called Open Academy, the effort has expanded to 22 institutions in the United States and elsewhere, including Carnegie Mellon University, Imperial College of London, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Helsinki. More...
2 Senators Offer Bill Promoting Open-Access Textbooks
By Lawrence Biemiller. A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday would encourage the creation of free online textbooks by offering grants for pilot projects that produce high-quality open-access textbooks, especially for courses with large enrollments. Grant money would also be available to help faculty members find and review such textbooks, as well as to conduct research on how well open-access textbooks meet students’ and faculty members’ needs. More...
Bill Would Require Instructional Technology to Be Accessible to All
By Megan O'Neil. Legislation introduced on Friday in the U.S. House of Representatives would require colleges either to make instructional technology accessible to disabled students or to provide them with equivalent, alternative resources. Rep. Tom Petri, a Wisconsin Republican and senior member of the House education committee, said his bill would ensure that disabled students were given equal treatment as technology plays a larger and larger role in instruction. The bill is called the Technology, Equality, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education (Teach) Act. More...