By Jennifer Kramer. It is probably not in my best interest if the higher education system in the United States collapses since I am the co-owner of a company that prepares students for higher education. Yet, I believe a crash is inevitable. Ironically, I also find myself hoping the bubble bursts sooner rather than later. Why? Because education in the United States is broken. We have lost sight of what should be the driving factor in education: fostering innate curiosity. Instead, we have become focused on outcomes and measuring the end results of our efforts. Students are driven to get A's, not to demonstrate learning, but to "get into college." Teachers are evaluated not on how many students they inspire, but on their class's standardized test results. And American education is not failing because students are less passionate about learning, but because it placed 17th in the developed world for education. Read more...

By Marcella Bombardieri. A Lexington dad tries out a new kind of education. Nothing is hotter in the education world right now than the massive open online course, or MOOC. Behind the goofy acronym is an idea that flips the old “online degree” on its head. Instead of Internet diplomas offered by sometimes dubious schools for a price, MOOCs make an elite education available to anyone, typically for free but without course credit. While online materials from MIT and a few other universities had been available for years, these courses first grabbed the public imagination in 2011, when an artificial intelligence class offered by Stanford University attracted 160,000 online students. Today, some of the world’s top educators are extolling MOOCs as a phenomenon that could transform the lives of people unable to attend top colleges in person, including young people in Third World villages, American working moms, and restless retirees. Read more...

By Joseph Bamat. The French government has started unveiling a series of reforms aimed at making its universities more attractive to foreigners, with a new emphasis on drawing in the brightest students from developing countries. France is set to adopt measures that will help draw the world’s brightest students to its universities, according to government ministers. The reforms are meant to improve the experience of foreign students in France and open possibilities for them in the country's job market.
“International students and researchers represent an asset for France. The way we welcome them in our country is very important for France’s academic and scientific influence, but also for our economic competitiveness,” Higher Education Minister Geneviève Fioraso (pictured main) told students during a visit to Cité U campus on Tuesday.
She was accompanied by Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who acknowledged that burdens placed on students, notably requirements to renew visas every year, were sometimes “degrading”.
Measures in the works included new two-to-three year student visas whose expiration would depend on the type of diploma students were working towards.
New centres dedicated to easing academic and administrative paperwork for international students, and loosening labour laws to permit an easier transition from the classroom to French-based jobs, were also planned as part of the charm offensive.
Finally, Fioraso highlighted French-language lessons for students from non-French speaking countries and a rapid build-up of affordable student housing in Paris. Read more...

The Solomon Islands government launched its first university after a land lease signing ceremony earlier today at Doma outside Honiara.
The University to be called the Solomon Islands National University was formerly known as the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education.
Dr Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka, a Solomon Islander and Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii's Center for Pacific Islands Studies, says the new University is a positive step for all Solomon Islanders.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo and other dignitaries attended this morning's gathering signalling the start of increasing education for Solomon Islanders.
Caroline Tiriman spoke with Dr Tara Kabutaulaka and asked him about the new University.

As the three-day trade visit by British universities drew to a close yesterday, both Libyan representatives and the UK delegates were unanimous in seeing higher education partnerships as the way forward.
“We are very glad to have these university representatives here in Libya,” Director of Universities Administration for the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Jamal Elfardag told the Libya Herald.
“We are very ambitious for partnerships with UK institutions,” he added.
The delegation, he said, had made visits to Tripoli University and the Libyan Academy and had met representatives from a number of Libyan universities to discuss how this could work. Read more...

Media and I, a publishing company in Dubai, has launched the first phase of a premiere portal for higher education solutions, www.uniandi.com.
The project in its first phase includes 675 out of the 1055 universities in the Middle East and North Africa, across 21 countries.
The portal has been officially launched in Going Global 2013, the international higher education exhibition held recently in Dubai. The event, organized by the Cultural British Council, and under the patronage of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, along with the British Minister of Public Universities David Willetts, was attended by more than 850 education leaders in the world. Read more...