Blogs

It is difficult to argue that the cross-border programs add much value to the larger institution when students from the home campus are rarely aware that they exist and are not encouraged or (sometimes) allowed to visit or study there. Although the marketing and public relations departments of institutions operating abroad make reference to the campus in Qatar, Dubai, Singapore or Shanghai as evidence of the global or international character of the whole institution, it is mostly image making and at best aspirational. Most often the language used is either an exaggeration or an embellishment and not a reflection of reality. Claims of being a “global university” or a “global network university” are, for example, quite common.

New rules will take effect soon. Will they have an impact? Yes and no -- and I care more about the no.

What if financial aid went directly from the federal (or state) government to the student, rather than running through individual campuses? The students could use the aid to attend any accredited institution.

What digital skills, technologies, and tools should we develop while in graduate school? And how do we do that? I’ve put together a few suggestions and hope readers from a variety of disciplines will offer additional ideas in the comments section below.

I'm spent. Here's some creative non-fiction instead.

Before I started blogging I never really spent time with people that work in public relations (PR).

At the last Board of Education meeting, in addition to dealing with the critical issue of security, we also continued our discussion of FLES — the teaching of language at the elementary school level as well as our discussion of a world languages orientation. Often, at the college level, students look to minimize their course work in foreign languages. But in a global environment, where English is not the only world language, such an orientation is clearly short sighted.

“Mom, take a video of me and put it up on Facebook!” My five-year-old daughter is a (relative) wiz with technology. She was using my iPhone with ease before she was even 18 months old, playing memory games, shape puzzles, and phonic lessons. Both she and her younger brother have our old iPhones for when we travel (said one nine-year-old to his mom when I took them out on one trip: “THEY have iPhones!”). She loves to take pictures with her phone, and complains bitterly that she can’t also take video. The two kids are used to interacting with screens, so to speak, as they regularly skype with their grandparents and other extended family members. We use Facebook to share pictures, videos, and funny stories about our family life with family and friends, most of whom live far away from us.