Formation Continue du Supérieur

By Darya Lyubinskaya. Under a new set of academic guidelines international students will have to complete a foundation course comprising of Russian language and literature as well as mathematics.
By the end of 2014, the Russian Education and Science Ministry is due to adopt a new list of academic requirements for foreigners who want to get a higher education in Russia. Now international applicants will have to spend a year learning Russian, mathematics and the key subjects in their chosen field in order to take entrance exams to their university of choice. More...

By Matthew Allen. The rising influx of foreign students to Swiss universities is bringing more international talent to the country. But the debate on who foots the bill for welcoming such bright young minds is tying academics and legislators in knots.
Switzerland prides itself on having some of the lowest tuition fees in the world, subsidised by the federal and cantonal authorities. This gives students access to higher education regardless of income, but taxpayers are also shelling out for foreigners.
Top universities are now bulging at the seams with new students and frequently cry out for more cash to help them cope. At the same time, the proportion of overseas students is constantly rising -  from 23% in 1990 to 38% in 2011. More...

By Claire Lundberg. Are you a planner or a dreamer? Professionally speaking, which would you value more: job security or the freedom to change careers? And which of these would you find more stressful: taking a test or being in debt?
If you’re a planner, if you’re comfortable with compromise, and if you’re uncomfortable with debt, then the French system of higher education may be for you. But if you believe it’s never too late to start over, stick with American universities.
If you can afford them, that is. Rising tuition rates in the U.S. have outpaced inflation for the past 30 years. The average annual tuition cost at a private university in 2013 was $30,094, and $8,893 at public four-year institutions. Inflation-adjusted rates from 1971 are about a third of those costs: $10,515 and $2,456, respectively. As a result, seven in 10 college seniors in America now graduate with student loan debt, at an average that’s close to $30,000. More...

The EU has suspended talks with Switzerland over its participation in EU research and education programmes because of the Swiss vote last week to curb immigration.
Switzerland's access to millions of euros of EU funding is now at risk. A European Commission spokesman said the Horizon 2020 research programme and Erasmus+ student exchanges were linked to freedom of movement. Switzerland has blocked free access to its employment market for Croatians. More...

By Waqar Hashmi and Aida Hamdani. The Higher Education Commission has set up stringent criteria for admission to MS, MPhil and PhD programmes, in line with international standards. These criteria encourage regular students to pursue research work.
However, since the dimension of professional work experience has been completely ignored, it discourages industry professionals from participating in research activities. This is a serious flaw.
It is, therefore, imperative for the HEC to introduce separate criteria for enrollment to MS, MPhil and PhD courses in universities, that will enable them to offer research opportunities to mid-career professionals, while waiving some coursework requirements. More...

Viadeo vient de lancer trois nouveautés à destination des profils de ses membres. Retour sur ces fonctionnalités fraîchement lancées par le réseau social professionnel.
Après s'être occupé des étudiants et des jeunes diplômés en lançant Viadeo Campus, le réseau social professionnel français se porte désormais sur les profils mêmes des utilisateurs, en proposant trois nouveautés. L'accroche, l'import de CV et la Bibliothèque sont désormais accessibles aux membres du réseau social professionnel. Suite...

France Université Numérique compte un cours en ligne massif et gratuit en plus. Nommé "Introduction aux réseaux mobiles", ce MOOC est une manière de découvrir ce qui se cache derrière les sigles tels que GSM, 4G ou LTE, et de comprendre comment fonctionnent ces réseaux permettant d'accéder à internet et de communiquer.
France Université Numérique (FUN), plateforme proposant des MOOC depuis janvier dernier, rencontre déjà un bon succès. Pour autant, elle poursuit son développement, en préparant de nouveaux cours en ligne massifs et gratuits. Un nouveau MOOC en Numérique et Technologies vient ainsi d'être lancé. Intitulé "Introduction aux réseaux mobiles", il est proposé par l'Institut Mines-Télécoms jusqu'au 15 avril prochain. Suite...

Aujourd'hui, un bon employé doit avoir une orthographe irréprochable, en plus de compétences propres à son poste. Mais, dans cinq ans, les compétences numériques deviendront elles aussi la norme, affirme l'Observatoire de l'évolution des métiers liée à la transformation numérique. Près de 60 % des salariés devraient en effet disposer de ces compétences !
Les compétences numériques vont continuer de prendre de plus en plus d'importance dans les entreprises, semble-t-il. Dans cinq ans, 59 % de salariés auront des compétences numériques, affirme ainsi l'Observatoire de l'évolution des métiers liée à la transformation numérique. Suite...

By Emma Macdonald. Nearly 15,000 students from 88 countries have enrolled in the Australian National University's first ever MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses, which will begin rolling off the internet server in March.
Enrolments are flowing heavily from the US and India - two countries which account for about half of all enrolments - but students are also coming in from as far afield as Nicaragua, Romania, Cambodia, Chile and Norway. Read more...

By Maureen Guarcello. How does leadership intersect with massive open online courses (MOOCs)? I begin this entry by sharing that I dated MOOCs before my decision to marry blended learning in my research. That being said, I still have a warm place in my heart for the platform I consider to be an excellent way for institutions to showcase faculty and course content on a global stage. As a leadership studies scholar I have spent the lion's share of my doctoral program analyzing the ways blended learning and MOOCs intersect with leadership theory and practice...or if they do at all. Below is a segment of work I conducted around the idea that massive open online courses may include a leader-member exchange even with the extraordinary faculty/student ratios, seeming lack of formal authority and accountability, and distance between the "leader" in this case faculty, and the "followers" in this case students. More...