Student Occupiers: It's the Debt, Stupid College students have, to some extent, always been poor and hungry. But in the past few years, undergrads' plight has become truly dire. It's not hard to see why the Occupy Wall Street movement has struck a chord on campuses. Just check out these stats: Unemployment among college grads is twice what it was in 2007. An analysis by The New York Times of Labor Department data about college graduates aged 25 to 34 found that the number of these workers employed in food service, restaurants and bars had risen 17 percent in 2009 from 2008, though the sample size was small. Earlier this week, students from an OWS offshoot called Occuppy Student Debt pledged to refuse to pay back their student loans. I was one of those kids who always pushed hard and dreamed big. More stats on the dire financial straits of America's college students: Sticker Shock Average tuition (in $ thousands) at private and public colleges has climbed steadily over the last decade: Deeper in Debt School vs.
Essay: Washington college grant program favors vocational over liberal education Last year, as Washington State faced a severe budget crisis, legislators embraced a novel way to fund student financial aid: a public-private partnership between the state and private corporations. Called the Opportunity Scholarship Fund, the fund attracts private donations and matches them with public money in order to support students in science, technology, and other “high demand” fields. As Inside Higher Ed reporter Paul Fain wrote, “the thinking in Washington was that if corporations had more direct control of how their donations were used, they might be more inclined to give. “ This is exactly right -- Boeing and Microsoft quickly pledged $50 million -- but the creation of the fund must be placed in the broader context of state defunding of public higher education. The idea for the fund originated in a task force established in summer 2010 by Governor Christine Gregoire, a Democrat. Nowhere on the panel were the other interests of society represented.
Capitalist universities and fightback « Workers Party (NZ) Joel Cosgrove Universities are an important part of modern society. The Education Act of 1989 defines them as being the “critic and conscience of society”. In practice the record has been patchy at best. In the documentary 1951 author Kevin Ireland recalls calling a Student Representative Council meeting to make a stand against the draconian laws passed to smash the locked out watersiders in 1951 and finding his progressive motions drowned out 10-1 by conservative students, bent on supporting the authoritarian actions of the state. Forecast Tertiary Education Funding vs Forecast Inflation Per capita funding for universities rose in real terms through to the mid-70’s and since then has been declining. Initially the various institutions absorbed the increasing costs. Right now at Victoria University budgets have been slashed, pay rises are below inflation, resourcing cut, tutor numbers have fallen dramatically and more people are being crammed into each course. The pressure is mounting.
Google investeert in talent 14 december 2011 - Google schenkt 750.000 dollar aan het Platform Bèta Techniek. Nooit eerder gaf een bedrijf zo'n groot bedrag. Het geld gaat naar Eerst de Klas wiskundedocenten en betatech-studiesucces en -keuze acties. "Bedrijven zitten nu al te springen om jongeren met een technische opleiding en dat wordt in de toekomst alleen maar meer. Google laat met de gift zien een vooruitziende blik te hebben." Marja van Bijsterveldt is daarom zeer te spreken over de investering die Google doet in onder meer haar initiatief uit de vorige kabinetsperiode, Eerst de Klas. Taak weggelegd voor Google Het geld gaat ingezet worden om meer jongeren te interesseren voor vooral wiskunde en informatica. "Vanwege de toenemende rol van technologie in onze samenleving zal het aantal vacatures op het gebied van informatica, technologie en wiskunde blijven groeien. Vier op de tien "Nederland dient het belang van bètatechniek scherp in beeld te houden.
Adding a Synchronous Component to Online Courses November 14, 2011 By: Linda Macaulay, EdD and La Tonya Dyer in Teaching with Technology Interactive, synchronous web conferencing software such as WebEx, Blackboard Collaborate and even Skype are innovative tools that can be implemented by faculty teaching both hybrid and fully online courses. When faculty at Towson University began using WebEx to incorporate a synchronous component to their courses, they discovered that interactive web conferencing (IWC) delivers many benefits. In this article, we outline some of the benefits we found and share tips for getting started with interactive web conferencing in your classes. Interactive web conferencing increases accessibility. Interactive web conferencing increases student-to-student and student-to-teacher interaction. Interactive web conferencing promotes active learning. Do you want to get started with interactive web conferencing? Getting Started Practice using IWC prior to meeting with your class. Classroom Management Dr. Recent Trackbacks
WP: A primer on corporate school reform - The Answer Sheet This is an edited version of a commentary given by Stan Karp, a teacher of English and journalism in Paterson, N.J., for 30 years. Karp spoke on Oct. 1 at the fourth annual Northwest Teachers for Justice conference in Seattle. He is now the director of the Secondary Reform Project for New Jersey’s Education Law Center and an editor of the 25-year-old Rethinking Schools magazine. A video and fuller version of the commentary can be found here. By Stan Karp “Corporate education reform” refers to a specific set of policy proposals currently driving education policy at the state and federal level. *increased test-based evaluation of students, teachers, and schools of education *elimination or weakening of tenure and seniority rights *an end to pay for experience or advanced degrees *closing schools deemed low performing and their replacement by publicly funded, but privately run charters *vouchers and tax credit subsidies for private school tuition Or take the issue of poverty.
Steven Brill's Class Warfare: What's wrong with the education reformers' diagnosis and cures If you saw Waiting for "Superman," Steven Brill's tale in Class Warfare will be familiar. The founder of Court TV offers another polemic against teacher unions and a paean to self-styled "education reformers." But even for those who follow education policy, he offers an eye-opening read that should not be missed. Where the movie evoked valiant underdogs waging an uphill battle against an ossified behemoth, Brill's briskly written book exposes what critics of the reformers have long suspected but could never before prove: just how insular, coordinated, well-connected, and well-financed the reformers are. Class Warfare reveals their single-minded efforts to suppress any evidence that might challenge their mission to undermine the esteem in which most Americans held their public schools and teachers. These crusaders now are the establishment, as arrogant as any that preceded them. Brill's heroes make a high-profile gallery.
Charter schools: Parents protest Charter schools will mean bigger classes elsewhere, says school superintendent Charter schools have been praised for injecting new energy into inner-cities in the United States. But it's not a one-sided story. There are also parents who see them as a threat to local education. Gloucester is a town about 40 miles outside Boston. A fishing port with white clapboard buildings, it's a world away from the inner city. But there is rebellion in the air here. Setting up another rival school will mean taking away money and pupils from the local school system, they argue. They're angry at what they say will be the disruption of their local schools for the sake of what they see as a political gimmick. While charter schools have a strong emotional appeal in the inner city, in this small Massachusetts town there is hard-headed opposition. "When you look at the funding, they're going to be draining away resources to fund this other school," says parent, Jason Grow. 'Abdicating responsibility'