By Paul Jump. Humanities and social sciences in Australia could lose A$100 million (£60 million) in funding following a change in government, it is feared.
The Liberal-National Coalition, led by former Rhodes scholar Tony Abbott, recorded a convincing victory in Saturday’s general election over Kevin Rudd’s Labor government. Last week, the Coalition said that it will carry out an audit of “increasingly ridiculous research grants” funded by the Australian Research Council, and proposed to “reprioritise” A$103 million of ARC funding to where it is “really needed”. It has also pledged to boost spending in medical research by A$190 million. More...
Asian academia faces language block
By Farish Noor. GLOBAL LINGUA: Scholarly works that are not in English are not able to penetrate the international arena
THE debate over the teaching of the English language continues, not only in Malaysia but also in many other countries across the world. While the form and content of the debate has been shaped by domestic political considerations and agendas, there are some pressing realities that we cannot escape from; and one of them is the simple fact that English remains the most commonly used language in global academic circles.
In order to circumvent the somewhat heated temperature of the debate here, allow me to offer some observations based on my experience teaching in some other Asian countries. In countries like India and Pakistan, the teaching of English remains a serious concern for many students, parents and educational institutions that wish to give Indian and Pakistani students a fighting chance in the ever-changing global economy. For many of the new industries that have emerged, including information technology, the working knowledge remains English - despite the linguistic nationalism that is articulated and foregrounded by some politicians and activists there. Read more...
Prominent Islamic University Plans Malaysian Campus
Al-Azhar University in Cairo, a leading center of Arab and Islamic learning founded in the 10th century, will open its first international campus next year in Malaysia, according to the New Straits Times newspaper, which cited a senior Malaysian education official, Idris Jusoh. The Universiti Al-Azhar Tuanku Muhriz, named after the ruler of Malaysia’s Negri Sembilan State, will open next September in Nilai, near Kuala Lumpur, it said. The campus will initially accept 300 students to follow courses in Arabic, Shariah and Islamic studies, the newspaper said. More...
10 Countries With the Worst Literacy Rates in the World
By Kristina Chew. Barely anyone — one to two percent of the population — could read in ancient Rome and nobody thought more people should. Now we recognize that literacyis a human right; that being able to read and write is personally empowering and, in a world that relies more and more on technology, simply necessary.
Nonetheless, millions of children, the majority of whom are girls, still never learn to read and write today (pdf). This Sunday, September 8, is International Literacy Day, an event that Unescohas been observing for more than 40 years to highlight how essential literacy is to learning and also “for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy.” Read more...
Création de l'Université de Bordeaux
Décret n° 2013-805 du 3 septembre 2013 portant création de l'Université de Bordeaux.
Objet : création d'un établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel (EPSCP) dénommé « Université de Bordeaux ».
Entrée en vigueur : le nouvel établissement se substituera aux trois universités préexistantes à compter du 1er janvier 2014. Les dispositions transitoires nécessaires, notamment, à la constitution des organes de gouvernance du nouvel établissement entrent en vigueur le lendemain de la publication du présent décret.
Notice : le présent décret prévoit que l'Université de Bordeaux assure l'ensemble des activités exercées par les universités Bordeaux-I, Bordeaux-II et Bordeaux-IV qu'elle regroupe. Les dispositions transitoires du décret prévoient les modalités d'adoption des statuts et du budget de l'Université de Bordeaux et de gouvernance de l'établissement. Les biens, droits et obligations et les contrats des personnels des trois universités bordelaises sont transférés à l'Université de Bordeaux. De même, les fonctionnaires précédemment affectés dans ces établissements sont affectés à l'Université de Bordeaux. Enfin, les étudiants inscrits dans ces trois universités sont inscrits à l'Université de Bordeaux.
La dénomination et les statuts de la communauté d'universités et établissements bordelais, érigée en EPSCP par la loi n° 2013-660 du 22 juillet 2013 relative à l'enseignement supérieur et à la recherche (art. 62 et 117), sont modifiés en conséquence pour tenir compte de la fusion des trois universités. Cet établissement prend le nom de Communauté d'universités et établissements d'Aquitaine. L'opération Campus, le portage des programmes d'investissement d'avenir, la coordination des services offerts aux étudiants et de la politique documentaire seront désormais assurés par l'université de Bordeaux.
Voir le décret n° 2013-805 du 3 septembre 2013 portant création de l'Université de Bordeaux.
Rapport de l'Igas sur le retour à l’emploi des seniors au chômage
L’IGAS publie un rapport d’évaluation sur le retour à l’emploi des seniors au chômage et plus particulièrement, pendant la période de transition entre emploi et retraite. Le rapport analyse les freins spécifiques à cette population dans leur retour à l’emploi, notamment à partir des pratiques de recrutement des entreprises. Il s’intéresse ensuite à la façon dont les politiques publiques intègrent cette question des demandeurs d’emploi les plus âgés dans la définition de leurs orientations et leur mise en œuvre, et formule quinze recommandations visant à favoriser le retour à l’emploi des seniors chômeurs.
Consulter le rapport de l'Igas sur le retour à l’emploi des seniors. Suite...
Will Teachers Move Their Own Courses Online?
I wrote a piece that examines what we have seen from the MOOC experiments of the past two years. It seems clear that the toolset for delivering courses is within the grasp of everyday teachers, not purely the doman of MOOC providers and "superprofessors". If so, will mainstream professors embrace these tools to engage their own students or sit by and wait for disruptions or displacement?
Worth reading on this topic, Jonathan Rees urges professors to Unbundle Yourself.
Are my tips in line with your experiences? Please comment here or at the source.
¿Cómo financiar tu proyecto educativo?
De la mano de los expertos de la Educación Prohibida conocemos dos de las herramientas más utilizadas para conseguir financiación a la hora de desarrollar un proyecto: el Crowdfunding y Crowdsourcing.
ESPACIO DE COLABORACIÓN CON GERMÁN DOIN
"Herramientas de financiación colectiva en propuestas educativas"
En esta actividad, Germán Doin nos presenta dos de las herramientas de financiación colectiva más utilizadas en la actualidad: Crowdfunding y Crowdsourcing. El objetivo de esta actividad es esclarecer los elementos pedagógicos en este tipo de prácticas, de cara a construir colectivamente un proyecto educativo transformador.
Is the pedagogy of MOOCs flawed?
This is a question that I tackle in my Udemy course The Wide World of MOOCs. Almost immediately after I uploaded this preview to YouTube, someone on Twitter politely challenged me.
She took umbrage to my assertion that MOOCs are pedagogically richer than “regular” online courses.
Her counter argument was that the pedagogical devices that I cited – readings, online discussion forums, social media groups and local meetups – are the same learning and teaching functionalities available in any LMS. Read more...
Moocs: if we're not careful so-called 'open' courses will close minds
By Peter Scott. Massive open online courses, or Moocs, will probably turn out to be little more than an edu-tainment 'bubble', says Peter Scott. I have tried, really hard, not to write about Moocs. But I can't keep it up forever, and what better time than the silly season to write about this phenomenon, which may transform higher education, or just turn out to be another damp squib.
Moocs, for anyone who has switched off from the chattering of the policy/management class, are massive open online courses. The idea is that courses are uploaded to the "cloud" where they are available to everyone. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is credited with being first, and now some big global media companies have piled in. The catch, of course, is that credentials – which is higher education's core business – will remain as tightly rationed as ever. More...
