online education

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Just sign us up

Byuclafaculty

From today’s Inside Higher Ed comes some interesting news about a collective bargaining contract UC recently signed: “We believe that if courses are moved online, they will most likely be the classes currently taught by lecturers,” reads a brief declaration against online education on the website of UC-AFT, the University of California chapter of the American Federation of Teachers… Now the California lecturers, who make up nearly half of the system’s undergraduate teaching teachers, believe they have used… bargaining power to score a rare coup. The University of California last week tentatively agreed to a deal with UC-AFT that included…

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Back in the Stream

Byuclafaculty

You may recall a brief episode in which classes which used streaming video at UCLA suddenly had the service cut off – and then restored after a brief interval. The practice of making such video course assignments available over a password-protected network to students was challenged in court as a copyright violation. The university restored the service when it concluded there was not a copyright violation. (You can find earlier posts about this matter on this blog.) A court victory was announced by the university yesterday. However, questions remain about how general the victory is. See below: Court dismisses lawsuit…

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Free Access to Academic Info Promoted

Byuclafaculty

Many faculty have websites with access to recent papers they have written available for free – some published; some in working paper stage. The impression of yours truly is that journals seldom object, even if they hold copyrights and normally charge for access. Book publishers can be more resistant to free access, however, when it comes to chapters in books. In any case, as per below, there is a move in academe toward wider, free access. Princeton U. Adopts Open-Access Policy (except) September 29, 2011, Chronicle of Higher Ed (Wired Campus blog), Jennifer Howard The movement to make research freely…

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Getting China Money for Online Ed at UC?

Byuclafaculty

UC investing millions in new cyber studies program Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle, September 12, 2011 The University of California will unveil its first top-tier cyber courses in January – 26 online offerings, from global climate change to game theory. At the same time, it’s eyeing China and even American soldiers as potential sources of cash to pay for them… Economically, the online venture is equally experimental. Its most vigorous proponent, UC Berkeley Law School Dean Christopher Edley, expected to raise $6 million for the pilot program, but attracted just $748,000 in private funds. Rather than abandon the effort, UC…

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The Sun Rises on UC Online Education

Byuclafaculty

In the 1950s, you could take college courses via “Sunrise Semester” on your black and white TV. Now we have online ed, where you don’t have to get up early in the morning to watch your course and it is in color. See below: UC takes first steps into online education (excerpt) Lisa M. Krieger, 8/18/2011, Contra Costa Times Going online to get a college degree has been championed as a cost-effective way to educate the masses and challenged as a cheapening of academia. Now, the online classroom is coming to the vaunted UC system, making it the nation’s first…

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More on the Poizner-UCLA Extension Online Partnership

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post on this blog noted the partnership between Encore Career Institute, headed by former gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner, and UCLA Extension. Below is more info taken from the website of Encore: http://encoreci.com/ ========================= About Encore Career Institute A unique combination of passionate leaders and experts have come to together to merge Silicon Valley’s best-in-class technology, Hollywood’s marketing assets and the world renowned academic curriculum of UCLA. The result is a brand new concept and company called the Encore Career Institute. Backed by $15 million in Series A venture capital funds, Encore is poised to revolutionize the higher-education world,…

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Better Learning Through Chemistry?

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly is not sure this is exactly what those pushing for more online education at UC envisioned. The Daily Bruin today carries a story about Chemistry 14D. Students receive credits for putting together videos that communicate principles of the course. Full story at http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/06/extra_credit_music_videos_make_chemistry_14d_more_basic An example is below. Click on cc (closed captions) to see the words.

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UCLA Extension and Steve Poizner (Remember Him?) Offer Online Ed

Byuclafaculty

For those whose memory is a bit shaky, Poizner was the state insurance commissioner who lost to Meg Whitman in the Republican gubernatorial primary in 2010. UCLA Extension to offer online courses aimed at boomers (excerpt) Walter Hamilton, LA Times, June 23, 2011 UCLA Extension… is teaming with Encore Career Institute Inc. in Los Gatos, Calif., to teach baby boomers how to reinvent themselves in today’s rapidly evolving job market… The Silicon Valley start-up will offer online coursework based on UCLA Extension classes. It will also give career assessment and job-placement assistance designed for baby boomers, who range in age…

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Leg Assembly Summary

Byuclafaculty

These really high-quality cellphone photos come from yesterday’s Legislative Assembly meeting. There were no shockers. Presentations were made by Academic Senate Chair Ann Karagozian, Chancellor Gene Block, and Vice Chancellor Steve Olsen regarding budget and other matters facing the campus this year and next. With regard to the hotel/conference center pause-and-review, Chair Karagozian said that the Olsen review of the proposal would likely take until the fall. Since VC Olsen was present and did not indicate otherwise, I assume that timing is indeed the likely prospect. The Block and Olsen reviews of the budget and related matters indicated that unlike…

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Big Wheel Keeps On Turning

Byuclafaculty

Michael Meranze alerted me to the item below which he posted on another blog. Apart from the specific merits of the project involved – online education in this case – it illustrates the momentum that projects at UC can take on. Even if the original plan is not working out, the projects tends to continue. In the case below, a project that was supposed to develop a funding source on its own now seems to be poised to borrow money from the university. The big wheels keep turning… Academic Council Responds to Debt-Financing of Online ProjectMay 6, 2011 PRESIDENT MARK…