I took a few days off to go camping in the Adirondacks with my son Tucker last week. It was a much needed respite, and despite that fact that we officially need a bigger tent (he's 6' 2" now), we had a great time hiking, fishing, and tree adventuring (highly recommended.) I'm surprised, in fact, by how much I enjoy trying to navigate wobbly tree log stumps hanging 75' in the air, hoping the carabiners hold when I slip off. It's good to feel pushed and uncomfortable from time to time, right? Seems like that's the way a lot of folks are feeling about the economy given the raft of articles and posts attempting to analyze the near future of jobs and such given the trendlines of the last few years. Here are just a few of the links (with some extended quotes) I found when I opened up my laptop upon my return: The WTF Economy by Tim O'Reilly: "What do on-demand services, AI, and the $15 minimum wage movement have in common? They are telling us, loud and clear, that we’re in for massive … [Read more...]
What You Should Know This Week
AltSchool’s $100 million. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long run). This week (the week of May 4, 2015), Audrey Watters looks at a massive round of funding raised by the “micro-school” startup AltSchool. … [Read more...]
What You Should Know This Week
Corinthian Closure. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long run). This week (the week of April 27), Audrey Watters looks at the sudden closure of the for-profit higher education chain, Corinthian Colleges. … [Read more...]
What You Should Know This Week
LinkedIn Buys Lynda.com. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long run). This week (the week of April 6), Audrey Watters looks at the acquisition of online education company Lynda.com by the professional social network LinkedIn. … [Read more...]
Urgent Memo: We’re Losing Teachers
Two recent news articles from different parts of the world should have us thinking hard about the future of the teaching profession. First, from Australia, a report that there has been a 12% fall in applications to study teaching at that country's universities this year. Greg Craven, the vice-chancellor at Australian Catholic University says, not surprisingly, "I'm deeply concerned about the decline in enrollments." And from the U.S., a story from NPR's Eric Westervelt starts simply with this: "This is the canary in the coal mine." Over the last five years, California has seen a...wait for it...53% drop in teacher training programs. North Carolina is down 20%, and according to the story, New York and Texas are down significantly as well. This all squares with a conversation I had last year at a major university in Indiana where a professor told me that teacher pre-service applications were down by one-third, forcing layoffs and cutbacks in the department. So what's going on … [Read more...]
What You Should Know This Week
The End of (a) College. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long run). This week (the week of March 2), Audrey Watters looks at the announcement from Sweet Briar College that it will shut its doors. … [Read more...]
What You Should Know This Week
Disneyland and the Measles. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long run). This week (the week of January 26), Audrey Watters looks at an outbreak of measles, traced to Disneyland – and the anti-vaccination trend . … [Read more...]
What You Should Know This Week
Funding for Online Training Companies. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long run). This week (the week of January 19), Audrey Watters looks at the latest investment into education technology company Lynda.com. … [Read more...]
What You Should Know This Week
Sexual harassment online. Each week, Educating Modern Learners will pick one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and help put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long run). This week (the week of December 8), Audrey Watters examines reports of sexual harassment in edX MOOCs. … [Read more...]
What You Should Know This Week
#Ferguson. Each week, Educating Modern Learners will pick one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and help put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long run). This week (the week of November 24), Audrey Watters examines the announcement that a St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict police officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. … [Read more...]