Category Archives: higher education

Changes ahead!

(and no, the change isn’t just that I’m posting to this blog again!) I’m delighted to report that, beginning next month, I will be the Director of Educational Technology at Trinity College. This is an exciting opportunity to work closely … Continue reading

Posted in connecticut, higher education | 2 Comments

My 7-yr-old understands the economics of higher ed

Sorry it’s been a while: It turns out that simultaneously launching ProfHacker and getting elected union president had deleterious effects on my private blogging. But no more!) On New Year’s Eve, the 7-year-old spent about 45 minutes putting together a … Continue reading

Posted in AAUP, academe, higher education | Comments Off on My 7-yr-old understands the economics of higher ed

Professor-funny

In his mailbag yesterday, ESPN’s Bill Simmons offers up a taxonomy of the different ways athletes can be–or, painfully, not be–funny.  For example: 5.0 — Learned Funny Humorless people who learn how to be adequately sports-funny in the right situations … Continue reading

Posted in academe, higher education, humor, teaching | 1 Comment

As goes California . . .

The California budget crisis, and its impact on the state’s higher ed system, merit close attention, as well as support where possible. Right now, one of the best resources is Remaking the University (via Barbara Hui on Twitter), which aggregates … Continue reading

Posted in AAUP, academe, higher education | 1 Comment

Why we need to think about PhDs & the job pseudo-market

This article about Fort Hays State University’s decision to outsource gen ed courses is frustrating an harbinger of doom.  According to the reporter, “the school will accept credits from a private company that runs introductory courses in subjects such as … Continue reading

Posted in AAUP, academe, academic freedom, higher education, things that should stop | Comments Off on Why we need to think about PhDs & the job pseudo-market

Known-new contract FAIL

From the AAUP’s “Things to Know Before You Go” page for this summer’s institute:  There is also a public wireless network available in any building on campus for those with laptops. Please remember to bring your cables. [emphasis added] Either … Continue reading

Posted in AAUP, academe, higher education, silliness | Comments Off on Known-new contract FAIL

Graff & curricular mixed messages in English depts

Mark Bauerlein posted over the weekend about Gerald Graff’s presidential address (some scrolling required) to the MLA.  The argument will be familiar to anyone who’s read Graff’s Clueless in Academe: The default attitude of many professors is a kind of … Continue reading

Posted in academe, English major, higher education, teaching | 2 Comments

On rules

“Why Rules Matter,” Gary A. Olson’s “First Person” essay in the Chronicle this morning, surveys the comical sense of “rules for thee but none for me” that operates all too often on college campuses.  I’ll never forget standing in the … Continue reading

Posted in academe, academic freedom, higher education | 1 Comment

Mozilla / Creative Commons Open Education Course

This week marked the start of a very cool experiment in movement-building:an online seminar on open education, sponsored by Mozilla and Creative Commons. You can see the main page for the course–and most of the content–here: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Education/EduCourse/Outline.   It was organized … Continue reading

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Learning from our public schools: What matters in evaluations

So, this weekend we received a document with two forms: the teacher of the year nomination and a parent survey, largely about satisfaction with the school.  We’re pretty happy with the school, and very happy with the teacher, so no … Continue reading

Posted in academe, assessment, higher education, new britain, public schools, silliness, teaching, things that should stop | Comments Off on Learning from our public schools: What matters in evaluations