Demand for universities to soar

From the BBC …

As many as 240,000 extra university places could be needed to meet the growing demand for higher education by 2010, an independent think tank says.
The demand for new places – equivalent to 16 universities – would be driven by the rising number of 18 to 20-year-olds and improving A-level results, it says.

Hepi said funding had to be improved or universities would struggle to cope.

Finding Online Teaching Jobs

I've had a few requests lately for more information about finding online teaching jobs. There isn't one site that has everything about finding an online teaching position, but here are a few that may aid your search.

ITT Technical Institute has issued a direct call for teaching applicants.

Teachers.net has a few listings, but like most of these, you have to wade through general teaching positions to find the ones which are exclusively online.

Education Week has job listings by state and region, and through the search engine there.

Also try Teachers at Work.

For those in the health care field, New York University has some links to job databases.

Teacher's Employment Network looks like a good site.

These and many more can be found at Teaching Jobs.

And a few more at Watch Education.

Bridging the digital divide

A great article at CIO about using technology in education and bridging the digital divide between the technologically rich and poor.

Placing computers in classrooms is essential, but it is just the first step. Technology must become an integral part of teaching and learning in all our schools.

Early exposure to technology is critical. We cannot tackle the digital divide too late in a child's personal evolution. Kurt Landgraf, CEO of the Educational Testing Service, says that technology is the fourth basic literacy-after reading, writing and Arithmetic. He points out that to succeed in the classroom, workplace, home or community, students need to know how to efficiently find, use, manage and evaluate information resources so that they can create and effectively convey information and ideas. As a significant harbinger, ETS is considering standardized testing for computer literacy.

Employment at online universities and colleges

Distance Educator has a good collection of links here to employment resources for those looking at teaching at online universities.

Try …

BrassringESL JobsThe Choncile of Higher EducationJobvertizeTCM Careers

AOL pitches in on college savings accounts

Thought this would be of interest to anyone looking at saving for school … from the New York Times, via Educause.

AOL PROGRAM ENCOURAGES COLLEGE SAVINGS ACCOUNTS
AOL has announced the expansion of a program with a company called Upromise that helps consumers create college savings accounts. Upromise offers a service in which consumers who have registered with the company receive rebates from participating merchants. Businesses included in the Upromise service offer rebates of up to 10 percent of purchase amounts and deposit those rebates into college savings accounts. Under the new arrangement, AOL will double the amount of the Upromise rebates for AOL subscribers. Previously only available to new AOL customers, the bonus is now an option for all subscribers. According to AOL, more than one million of its 24 million subscribers are part of the program. Upromise, which was started in 2001, has more than 2.5 million subscribers.New York Times, 3 May 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/03/technology/03aol.html

The future of the MBA

The Global Future Forum links to an article from The Hindu Business Line on what the future holds in store for the MBA that is worth a read. Here's an excerpt …

There have been two notable innovations in recent years towards broadbasing management education. The first is throwing open the portals of management institutions to older persons with prior business experience, and not exclusively to fresh graduates from colleges. The exposure of older participants from the corporate world to the conceptual framework and theoretical postulates of the academic courses has the effect of sending them back with a wider intellectual horizon, sharpened strategic vision and enhanced professional skills.

The second is the emergence of open universities offering management courses both to fresh students and employed executives on sabbaticals. This experiment is still at the nascent stage, and the evidence gathered so far does not lead to any definitive conclusion one way or the other. Its merit lies in its flexibility and Accessibility, both of which help in reaching out to aspirants of a much larger catchment area hailing from diverse economic, social and cultural milieus.

Also check out a few other stories at the Global Future Forum – the future of business education, and the MBA comparator.

Scholarships, fellowships and international studies

Here's a good site for anyone looking for funding their education in India, or for Indian students wanting to study abroad.

Another good site for any international student is the International Education Financial Aid page. They also have a message board if you want to cross check any of the aid programs with other people who may have experience with the one you're looking at.

Check out their page of links for a more extensive listing than what I've provided here.

Also, try looking at CollegeView.com for questions about Financial aid. This is more geared to the American student, but does have a very good FAQ section here, as well as this step by step planning guide for financial aid.

Building bridges between online and offline learning

From Distance Educator, via Syllabus.

For residents of California's sprawling Eastern Sierra Corridor, distance learning is often a necessity-not an option. Cerro Coso Community College serves this 18,000-square-mile stretch of mountain, desert and valley communities.