If You’re in College, are You a Student or a Customer? Both?

Posted on February 26, 2010 by Barbara Macaulay | 1 Comment

UMassOnline CAO Barbara MacaulayIn the first full week of this new year, a New York Times blog called Room for Debate featured five academic voices from higher education giving their opinion on the question of whether or not college enrollees are students or customers. It’s a conversation The Times acknowledges was ignited by an article in The Chicago Tribune.

I really enjoyed reading the various viewpoints but they  got me thinking.  After carefully reading the viewpoints of the five contributors – all men, by the way, which I find a little interesting coming from The New York Times – it was clear that 80% rejected the notion of students as customers.  This should have been startling and yet in some ways it is not.  So I think we should put this to our readers.  What do students think?  What is your point of view? Want to sound off in favor of one side or the other… weigh in here.

Tags: Online Learning, UMassOnline

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Great Blog Source for eLearning Development and Delivery Ideas and Solutions

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Barbara Macaulay | Leave a Comment

UMassOnline Barbara MacaulayThanks to an article by Andy Petroski, writing for the Central Penn Business Journal, a unique blog site was identified that is a great source of information for eLearning professionals. Mr. Petroski’s news piece is focused on organizational learning. But while the blog site he references as a source of help does seem useful for business organizations, educators everywhere will find posts and conversations on topics and techniques rarely found.
Here, for example, is a sampling of the headlines on some recent posts at the blog site:

How to Navigate Social Media (and Avoid Information Overload)
Here’s a Quick Way to Create Your Next E-Learning Template in PowerPoint
How Fonts Take a Starring Role in Your E-Learning Courses
Here’s How to Be an E-Learning Superstar in 2010
How To Design Custom PowerPoint Templates for E-Learning (Plus 8 Free Templates)
Should You Add Background Audio to Your E-Learning Courses?
Here’s How to Get Past a Screen Full of Bullet Points

The blog is called The Rapid eLearning Blog, which you can view here.

You can see the original news article by Mr. Petroski here.

Tags: Online Learning, UMassOnline

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Philosophy Professor Argues for Evidence-Based Educational Approaches

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Barbara Macaulay | Leave a Comment

UMassOnline Barbara MacaulayPaul Thagard is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Waterloo and author of The Brain and the Meaning of Life. This month, on a Psychology Today blog site he has posted an article with the headline “Education, Evidence, and Ethics: How should university students be taught?” Professor Thagard, by the way, has examined both traditional classroom and online learning. Read more…

Tags: Blended Learning, UMassOnline

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Expert’s Guide to Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Barbara Macaulay | Leave a Comment

UMassOnline Barbara MacaulayAccording to this article I found in The Sacramento Bee, it was authored by an independent college adviser based in Charlotte, N.C. named Lee Bierer. While we can’t and don’t vouch for the services of individuals or any third-party entities or organizations, the substance of this article, entitled “Countdown to college: Terms you need to know to apply for financial aid,” seems quite reasonable and accurate:

Each year around this time I focus on financial aid issues because the FAFSA becomes available on Jan. 1. The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Everyone, repeat, everyone should complete this form. It’s simple and you don’t need to hire anyone to fill it out for you.

Following that, the ‘How-To’ piece features some explanations of key terms but you can get many of these and more from the same source that’s used by Lee Bierer and cited in the article: “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Financial Aid for College“.

Tags: UMassOnline

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