Nation’s education schools failing to make the grade

From the New York Times.

American colleges and universities do such a poor job of training the nation's future teachers and school administrators that 9 of every 10 principals consider the graduates unprepared for what awaits them in the classroom, a new survey has found.

Nearly half the elementary- and secondary-school principals surveyed said the curriculums at schools of education, whether graduate or undergraduate, lacked academic rigor and were outdated, at times using materials decades older than the children whom teachers are now instructing.

Students hit the web for summer jobs

From Wired News via Educause.

A number of employment Web sites claim to include jobs as well as employment resources catering to high school and college students. Sites such as GrooveJob.com, Teens4Hire.org, and JobSherpa.com generally list high-turnover, entry-level jobs, many of which are geared toward students and others looking for seasonal employment and flexible hours to fit their schedules. The federal government also operates a job site, Studentjobs.gov, focused on younger workers. Some student-oriented job sites include tools to help users refine their job-hunting skills, such as assistance with writing resumes and hints on how to interview successfully. While some users praise the sites for offering jobs and services for younger workers, as compared to sites such as Monster.com or Yahoo's HotJobs, tracking how many individuals Actually find employment is difficult. Still, operators of such sites said business is booming. GrooveJob.com's David Hunegnaw, for example, said traffic on his company's site has increased from 6 to 10 percent per month for the past five years.

Colleges getting online with online classes

At the Flint Journal …

The convenience of online classes is a blessing for the Baker College of Flint student, one of more than 19,000 Baker enrollees across the state working toward degrees either partially or completely online. Some 890 students at the local campus, on Bristol Road in Flint Township, are taking classes entirely online.

"I've got six classes left (to complete a degree) and I know I'd be farther behind if it weren't for online classes. I'd have made it work, but it would have been a lot harder."

How an Online University Uses Technology to Prevent Faculty Plagiarism

From Business Wire.

The people who have condemned widespread student plagiarism are being found to be guilty of the same crime. Pervasive student plagiarism used to be the dirty little secret in higher education, but the plague of plagiarism by professors is the dirtier secret now being told.

As is described below, Kennedy-Western University, an online university offering Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate degree programs since 1984, has proactively ensured originality of faculty work, and in doing so, proven that its own faculty abides by expected academic ethics.

Experts weigh online education

From the Star Telegram, via Distance Educator.

Teaching an advanced placement environmental science class Wednesday when he had to leave early to make another appointment.

So he typed to his students, who had gathered in an online chatroom, that they were to continue reviewing the lesson plan without him.

New Routes for Education

From Distance Educator, an interesting piece on new proposals for using digital technology in education.

Vera C. Queiroz is a PhD student at Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brasil. Her research is on courses mediated by technology, mainly by computers. She holds a Master degree in Applied Linguistics from Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC), São Paulo. She has worked for more than 20 years as an EFL teacher. She has also worked at IBTA in São Paulo as an english for special purposes professor. She has written several academic articles in Portuguese and in English and has contributed quizzes, puzzles and materials for the Internet TESL-J and VemConcursos and is a volunteer teacher at EFI (English for Internet).

Online MBA fair at The Economist

You can register for free if you have a subscription to the magazine. It looks to be mostly offline MBA offerings, but still worth a look if you are a subscriber (and I'd highly recommend subscribing to The Economist anyway). Here's Bill Rodgers on what to expect …

Choosing where and how to take your MBA is a momentous decision. A full-time MBA at a top-ranked school could conceivably set you back US$100,000 in tuition fees alone-and that's before you've considered factors such as forgone salary or living expenses.

An MBA programme can be a life-changing and rewarding experience. But only if you make the right choices. Let the Online MBA Fair help.

A bold new future

From Distance Educator and Yahoo News, e-learning seeing rapid growth.

In companies, schools, and governmental agencies, evidence is mounting that e-Learning and blended learning programs are poised for rapid growth beginning in 2005.

Experts see three important elements driving this growth: reliable web technology, user understanding of the Internet, and the continued desire for high quality, affordable training.

Online course in international trade offered at Philadelphia University

From Distance Educator …

Philadelphia University will offer a new online test preparation course for a new international business test that will lead to a nationally-recognized certification for professionals in the field.

Online Law School Grads Helped By Texas Bill

I believe I noted this elsewhere before, but worth bringing to attention again. From the Chronicle of Higher Education …

A bill working its way through the Texas legislature could give graduates of online law schools more opportunities to practice law. The American Bar Association (ABA) has so far refused to accredit online law schools, saying that they do not train students adequately to practice law. Although the ABA continues to refuse accreditation to online law schools, the organization does accredit institutions that offer some courses online. Currently in Texas, a graduate of an online law school can only take the state's bar exam if he or she has practiced law in another state for at least five years. The proposed law would allow online graduates to take the Texas bar exam if they simply had passed the bar in another state. A small number of other states have similar statutes. California is currently the only state that allows individuals to take the bar exam without having passed another state's bar exam. The bill was prompted by the situation of Julie Drenner, daughter of a state legislator, who graduated from Oak Brook College of Law and Government in California, passed that state's bar exam, and now wants to practice law in Texas.