By Cathy Davidson. My colleague Kaysi and I spent today working on quizzes for the certificate one can earn from taking my Coursera course on "The History and Future of (Mostly) Higher Education." This MOOC is actually a "meta-MOOC" in that we are using this massive platform to engage a worldwide community in a movement on behalf of learning innovations. Called FutureEd, HASTAC's initiative is led by students and faculty (not corporations), and we're hoping to think together, in a massive way, and with different voices from around the world, about many of the practices, standards, ideas, and institutional models in current education. More...
University admissions - Not educating the masses
The proportion of rural students at university has declined dramatically.
CHINA’S infamous university entrance exam, known as the gaokao, has long been a target of criticism. Admissions are based solely on the points scored in one exam, and the need for rote memorisation does little to foster creative minds. Now the government has taken its first tentative steps towards reforming the system. In December it announced that the English-language part of the test can be taken several times, with the best score counting. More significantly, it said it would move towards an evaluation process where the test did not make up 100% of the score, and would include more subjective assessments of, for instance, extra-curricular activities. Details are expected this year. More...




