News

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    Oh! So Clever!

    Byadmin

    When it came to unveiling a new push to create a series of online courses for California college and university students, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg thought it was fitting to deliver the news in a decidedly digital fashion. So instead of holding a traditional press conference, the Sacramento Democrat and other supporters of the effort logged into Google to stage a “Hangout” video conference. “(Technology) is overwhelmingly I think a positive force in our lives we want to use it to try to help as many young people, as many students, as possible be able to keep their dreams and compete in the modern…

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    There’s a Place on Campus

    Byadmin

    From time to time, we like to remind you that even without a new hotel-conference center, events are routinely held on campus.  The photo is of yesterday’s UCLA Anderson Forecast held at Korn Hall.  (Sometimes the event is at Ackerman.) Parking, food service, etc., was all accommodated. There were even some TV cameras from a local station. Just a reminder that there is (already) a place for us somewhere:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BQMgCy-n6U?feature=player_detailpage] And if you still can’t find a place:http://www.uclameetings.com/Meeting-Event-Spaces/Overview.aspx

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    More on Yudof Private Thoughts

    Byadmin

    In an earlier post, we reproduced part of a Daily Bruin article that dealt with UC President Mark Yudof’s comments on “privatizing” the UCLA Anderson School of Management at the March 7 IMED Seminar.  Below is a link to what he actually said (audio with a still picture).  Yudof’s comments were more ambiguous than the news item suggested.  First, the interviewer, Prof. Lee Goodlick, used the word “privatize” without defining it.  (The P-word hasn’t been used in actual proposals regarding the Anderson School; “self-sufficiency” is preferred.  In addition, the latest version of the proposal referred only to the MBA program…

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    Now here’s a bright idea…

    Byadmin

    From Inside Higher Ed today: A powerful California lawmaker wants public college students who are shut out of popular courses to attend low-cost online alternatives – including those offered by for-profit companies – and he plans to encourage the state’s public institutions to grant credit for those classes. The proposal expected today from Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat and president pro tem of the state Senate, aims to create a “statewide system of faculty-approved, online college courses,” according to a written statement from Steinberg’s office. (A spokesman for Steinberg declined to discuss the bill.) Faculty would decide which courses should make the…

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    Nowhere to go on Sepulveda Boulevard

    Byadmin

    We might as well provide a pretty picture but the real news is: Southbound Sepulveda Boulevard at Constitution Avenue will be reduced to one lane beginning Wednesday.  The closure will affect commuters between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. through Friday while traffic signal reconfiguration is completed at Constitution Avenue, according to a Metro construction notice… Source: http://centurycity.patch.com/articles/sepulveda-closure-could-snarl-westside-traffic

  • Even if tempting, don’t click on anything you find in the comments

    Byadmin

    Online fraudsters put spam-type “comments” on our blogsite regularly.  We delete them as we find them. Some explicitly claim to offer porn. Some just offer websites and invite you to click on them. Don’t click on them!  You are more likely to get something harmful to your computer than anything else. A typical comment of this type will have a message that may say something like “What a great post!”  But it generally won’t have anything specifically relevant to the posting.  If you find such a comment that is more than a day old, we may have missed it when…

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    Harvard is Shocked and Appalled that Emails Aren’t Private

    Byadmin

    We have noted that at public universities such as UC, emails you may consider private might be demanded as part of a public documents request.  At private universities, of course, those external rights of the public to see such material doesn’t exist.  However, in this day and age, nothing online can be assumed to be private.  Recently, Harvard faculty and deans were shocked and appalled to find out that the powers-that-be in the administration were snooping in deans’ emails to find a leak:  From the Boston Globe: Harvard College issued a partial apology and a lengthy statement this morning offering…

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    Windfall Revenue Remains

    Byadmin

    In January, the state controller reported a surprise windfall of about $4 billion arrived in personal income tax revenue.  It was unclear why but possibly it had to do with speculation by wealthy taxpayers about the fiscal cliff or prospective income tax changes at the federal level.  No one knows.  An interesting question was whether the windfall would unwind in February, i.e., come in below estimates.  It did unwind a bit.  But basically, there still is an unforeseen extra $4 billion in revenue so far this year. What the impact might be on the state budget for the coming year…

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    I guess the chemistry was good

    Byadmin

    UC-Irvine has put a chemistry course on the web.  But it doesn’t give credit for it and isn’t using the Coursera website (although UC-Irvine is affiliated with Coursera) because it wants to give the course away free.  As for labs, it says that if some other institution wants to offer the course, it will have to provide the labs, etc.  We are likely to see a bunch of such offerings from the campus. They show the campus is up-to-date, complying with the Regents/governor desires, and yet – in the end – they commit to nothing.  Actually, yours truly has put…

  • More in our coverage of teaching innovations

    Byadmin

    Given the hunger at the Regents and with the governor for teaching innovations – notably online education – we have in past postings noted college courses on TV in the 1950s and on radio in the 1920s. Online ed is supposed to allow students to work at their own pace.  So may we present to you now, the Skinner teaching machine: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTH3ob1IRFo?feature=player_detailpage]