Like many U.S. education reformers, Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Inc. thinks he might have a solution to improve the nation’s failing public education system: “computers, of course.”
New technologies are beginning to mimic the capabilities of humans more than ever before. While technology and education experts agree that teachers won’t be replaced by robots anytime soon, computers have helped schools to make strides in student progress and achievement over the past few years. Tools like interactive online education platforms and online courses have demonstrated success, while also helping school districts save money. But to pinpoint successful educational technology, interactivity is key.
“We’re getting closer to where you can make devices that become a friend and not just a computerized textbook,” Wozniak told chip engineers at an event in Silicon Valley on Tuesday.
As school districts across the country have faced budget gaps, they’ve been forced to cut back. Schools are eliminating programs and cutting teaching jobs and salaries – it’s clear that the U.S. public education system is facing problems. But Wozniak thinks that school systems have not “adapted to children’s needs,” and that computers could help to fill these gaps. Additionally, they could help schools save money.
“If you had 30 teachers in a class with 30 students, they’d all get individual attention and be moving at their own paces,” Wozniak said. “So I think someday a computer could possibly be a teacher.”
Wozniak added that many children seem to “get lost in our school system” because of its inability to cater to the individual strengths and needs of every student. Computers allow for personalized attention that human teachers are physically incapable of offering to more than one student at a time.
“School in itself is pretty much a restrictive force on creativity,” he said. “When you come to class, you do the exact same pages in the book, the same hours as everyone else in the class. You don’t go off in your own little directions. This is not the way of the future.”
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May 11
2
What Does College Really Cost?
New legislation requiring all U.S. colleges and universities that receive Title IV federal student aid funds to provide accurate cost calculators on their websites will go into effect this fall. But to meet student demand, some schools are getting a head start.
Thirteen West Virginia schools are already using high-tech Net Price Calculators, which can estimate what a student’s educational expenses will be, taking financial aid into consideration. “The calculator allows students to see an estimate of how much they will have to pay for college by subtracting how much money they are eligible for through scholarships from the college’s published cost of attendance.” Concord University and Bluefield State College are two of the schools that are pioneering the new calculator.
“Concord University will include the NPC on the main web page under the prospective student’s tab, the admissions web page and financial aid web page,” said Debbie Turner, director of Financial Aid at Concord. “We want the NPC to be easily accessible. We anticipate having the NPC live on the web site in late May or the first of June.”
Many college admissions experts worry that simply listing tuition rates on a school’s website can do one of either two things: deter a student from applying who may actually be able to afford the school after financial aid, or mislead a student who fails to consider additional expenses associated with the cost of college, such as off campus housing and supplies. But highly accurate cost calculators can take each individual students situation into account.
“The program asks a series of questions regarding residency, housing, academics and financial data to determine the student’s expected family contribution,” Turner said. “This data is used to determine the student’s estimated eligibility for financial aid… The calculator chosen by Concord University calculates state and institutional aid in addition to federal aid. This provides a more comprehensive financial aid estimate for the student.”
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Barnes & Noble is launching a new social-commerce platform, which will enable the textbook retailer sell books and merchandise through college bookstore Facebook pages.
“We’re going to the platform that students like the most,” said Karen G. DiScala, a Barnes & Noble College spokeswoman. The company said that it “hopes that allowing students to ‘like’ products on Facebook will increase word of mouth sales of bookstore products.”
As new options for purchasing—or even renting—textbooks become available online, sales through college bookstores have steadily declined. By embracing social media and new technologies, traditional textbook retailers can reconnect with consumers and find new ways to appeal to the modern college community, which is heavily reliant on new, cost-effective technologies.
College faculties think that the new platform will give official college bookstores an advantage over other nearby campus retailers. Because college Facebook pages are so widely accessed by students, alumni, and fans, college faculty expect that heavy online traffic will encourage increased interaction to promote sales.
Texas A&M University’s Facebook page, for example, has over 250,000 ‘likes.’ Shane Hinckley, assistant vice president of business development at Texas A&M said that “the new social-commerce platform could make it easier to connect those users with the college bookstore, which is a key retailer for campus apparel, in additional to books.”
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According to recent report given by the Education Department, nearly 60 percent of new community college students need remedial courses in order to be up to par for regular college courses. More specifically, they “enroll in at least one developmental education course to bring their reading, writing, and mathematical skills up to college level.” Contrary to popular belief, the courses that are already in place at many community colleges actually hamper the progress of the student.
Those that led the report findings, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan, presented “bridge programs” specially formulated “for adult learners who want to return to college after many years in the workforce.”
Also in the report were the findings that many times, remedial courses hampered student progress with repetitive lessons and could even affect the “students’ persistence or completion rates.”
Shana Smith Jaggars, working at the Community College Research Center in New York as a senior research associate and who attended the symposium, called for remedial classes that were more flexible and have “educators pinpoint precisely where a student needs improvement” instead of a more general approach.
Smith Jaggars noted, “We need a system that diagnoses student weaknesses and determines which areas require quick redress [that] gives students less opportunity to get disheartened and a chance to drop out.”
Another solution would be “early intervention.” These summer “bridge programs” would cater to university bound high school students and help them prepare for college courses later in their degree pursuit.
Duncan and Vice President Joe Biden, another attendee and presenter, stressed the importance of two-year colleges for those looking to change careers to stay afloat in the new economy and as part of the recovery. Federal funds are vital in this endeavor for many Americans. Biden praised the addition of $2 billion for community college funding in the healthcare reform that was passed just this last year.
As part of their presentation, the Education Department also presented the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) Grants Program. Initiated on January 20th, they invited more community colleges to apply for the grants available. Up to $5 million could be awarded per school. Up to $20 million could be awarded if schools applied as a consortium.
There will be about $500 million given out in 2011 and $2 billion would be given out over the next four years. Biden stressed that “these funds will support programs that use proven or innovative strategies to prepare students for high-demand careers.”
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According to a Connecticut state Department of Labor official, “employers nationwide plan to hire 19 percent more graduating college students this year than they did in 2010.” Mark Stankiewicz, who spoke to a group of business leaders at Mitchell College earlier this week, also said that to earn at least a middle-class income today absolutely requires a college degree.
But although job prospects might be up from last year, Stankiewicz warned that starting salary figures won’t be ideal. In today’s economic climate, employers are eager to hire college graduates at “less than stellar pay.”
“It’s a tight labor market,” he said. “It’s an employer’s market.”
But just because employers can cheaply hire new grads doesn’t mean that they don’t have their doubts. Amanda Ljubicic, assistant director of Mitchell College’s career center, said that business leaders often have concerns about new graduates’ soft skills – public speaking, work ethic, eye contact, and respecting co-workers in the office. Many new graduates have never held a professional job and take time to acclimate to the modern workplace.
“They’re relatively resistant to learning professional skills,” Ljubicic said. “For this generation, we’re trying to teach skills that in previous generations they learned younger.”
Still, experts agree that the best way to increase your chances of employment is to start with education. “The latest survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers showed the first projected double-digit increase in college graduates’ hiring since 2007,” with prospective employment rates much higher than the rate among job candidates with only a high school diploma.
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Apr 11
26
Online Courses Required to Graduate?
School districts across the country have noticed that online courses can serve a dual purpose: students like taking them and generally fare well as a result of web-based courses, and they also help school districts save money. Some districts and states have gone as far as to mandate that students take at least one online course before graduating high school. Officials claim that online courses help prepare students for college and a technology-based workplace, and some admit that requiring online courses simply help districts save money when education funding is cut.
The state of Idaho has made plans to require that students take online classes, and although nothing has been finalized, many predict that as a result of “the state’s cash-strapped school system… it remains likely some sort of online mandate will face the class of 2016.”Although other states have seen popularity of online classes among students, a survey of six Idaho school districts shows that “student participation [in online courses] will have to go way up” if the mandate is implemented.
Last school year, a surprisingly small percentage of Idaho students took an online course in their district. Of districts that were surveyed, the percentage of students enrolled in at least one online course ranged from 4 percent to just about 20 percent—certainly less than 100. Caldwell School District, one of the schools surveyed that had the smallest percentage “has been planning a major increase in online emphasis since before state schools Superintendent Tom Luna pitched the online graduation requirement.” Other districts said that they do intend to increase their online course offerings, but they cannot fully prepare to meet new graduation requirements until strict guidelines are set.
Requiring students to take online courses has been a hot topic in Idaho since the idea was proposed in January. Initially, the plan was to require students to take eight online courses while in high school, though the specific number of credits was quickly cut in half, then deemed unspecified as the bill was revised. Currently the plan is to “establish online credits as a graduation requirement for 2016,” without an exact number specified.
“We’ve had informal talk about this, but we haven’t had the time to discuss it,” Boise School District Administrator of Instruction Dean Jones said. “Right now we’re trying to get a handle on the new funding formula and what it will mean for the district’s budget.”
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Ashish Rangnekar, co-founder of the popular educational application Watermelon Express, developed the idea for the app while doing what so many other students do each day, “playing around” with his smartphone as a distraction from studying for exams.
“I realized I spent too much time on my iPhone just sort of playing around – not the best use of a student’s time,” he said. “I knew it would be valuable if I could study on my iPhone… so there was no big vision to begin with. I just wanted to make the engagement part less restrictive.”
But now, Rangnekar’s app makes it possible for college students to study while simultaneously checking their email, playing games, or just surfing the web. Watermelon Express helps students prepare for important entrance exams like the SAT, GMAT, or GRE through games and competitions. The app pulls test-prep content from books and open-source websites to formulate study questions, but attempts to enhance standard materials.
“There’s a lot of content out there, but when you interact with it, you realize how one-dimensional it really is,” said Rangnekar. “So we start from where [publishers] leave off.”
Watermelon Express is available for the iPhone, iPad, and desktop computers. Apps can cost anywhere from $9 to $50, the most expensive being the Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) app. Questions can be accessed on any compatible device, so students are even able to begin studying by taking a practice test on a computer at home, then finishing it later on their smartphone.
Ranger thinks that although college students spend so much time on their computers and smartphones, they’re unaware of the devices’ full educational potential.
“I’m not fully convinced that most of these users know that there are education tools available on their phone,” he said. “That’s why the bigger concern for me is discoverability – knowing what’s out there for them to use.”
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Studies have long shown that employment opportunities increase in relation to education level; and today’s young-adult population, in particular, is realizing the effects of this correlation. According to a new Associated Press-Viacom survey, conducted in partnership with Stanford University, “only about a third of the 18- to 24-year-olds who aren’t in school said they have full-time jobs.” And less than 25 percent of this group works part-time, meaning that the remaining 40 some percent are unemployed.
A majority of young adults who chose to forgo higher education have held a paying-job at some point, and about two-thirds do have a high school diploma. But although they are willing to work and might have a little experience, 60 percent of these individuals say that their high school education—whether they completed it or not—didn’t prepare them to find work and maintain a job.
Cost is the main reason that most people say they did not go to college; three-fourths of those surveyed who do not have a higher education said that money played a factor in their decision. Many also said that they favored gaining real-world experience over beginning college immediately after graduating from high school. But interestingly, almost 75 percent of those surveyed without a college education said that they do plan to go back to school to continue their education someday.
Although 6 in 10 young adults surveyed said that their current job is unfulfilling and likely temporary, 8 in 10 “are at least somewhat confident they’ll find a career that will make them happy.” The survey polled 1,104 individuals, ages 18-24.
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In a landmark ruling, the Education Department can now move forward with its intention to regulate for-profit colleges using their proposed “gainful employment” policy. Last minute efforts from for-profit lobbyists before Congress “passed a compromise budget bill” failed last week.
Members of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU) were urged to call their representatives before the budget was finalized. However, the provision still went through as Congress passed the final budget to find the government through September. The final regulations won’t be made into law until July 2012.
This new ruling could now affect some of the largest online schools, including Kaplan University and University of Phoenix. The bill also included the stipulation that if these colleges’ students “maintain high loan debt-to-income ratios” they will be tripped of federal funding.
Harris Miller, the president of the APSCU, vowed that he “won’t stop our efforts to fight for our schools and our students.” Additionally, he stated that he intended “to hold Secretary Duncan to his word that the final gainful employment regulation will be much more thoughtful and much better for the country than the original proposal.”
While the lobbying efforts to block the Education Department’s bill failed in the Democratic majority Senate, it was widely approved by the Republican majority in the House. The letter submitted to Congress was bipartisan. It urged lawmakers that job creation would be harmed and that nearly 400,000 people would not be able to access the education they need to enter, or re-enter, the job force. The letter also reiterated that their schools helped “millions of new students during the economic downturn that began in 2008.”
Other critics of the new regulations include Larry Penley, Colorado State University’s former president. He said that by limiting the funds to for-profit colleges who use revolutionary new technology would hinder “innovation in education” and severely limit the number of nontraditional students who seek online education as a means to further their careers.
For-profit colleges are still confident that the regulations will not be as strong as they are now when the time comes to pass them into law by 2012.
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The state of America’s economy has created a vicious cycle when it comes to higher education; more students are going to college to increase their chances of getting a job, but as tuition rates rise, students are accumulating more debt than they can manage. In effort to save students some cash, schools are beginning to wonder if they can condense the time it takes to complete a degree.
In some states, officials are stepping in to help. Ohio Gov. John Kasich “ordered state universities to investigate ways for students to get a bachelor’s degree in three years.” By reducing the length of time it takes to earn a degree, college students will spend less time paying tuition, and more time actually working to earn income.
But the challenge in creating a degree that can be completed in only three years is to maintain the quality of one that takes four. Some schools already offer a three-year degree, and have seen success among motivated students who were willing to commit to school year-round. Ball State University in Indiana, for example, has offered a three-year degree since 2005.
“Students are utilizing summers to take full loads—two, in some cases three, summers—depending on the academic program,” said University President Tom Taylor.
But ultimately, because students must pay for summer courses, “they only save a few hundred dollars off a $26,000 tuition bill for the degree.” Interest in the program seems limited, with only about 25 students enrolling each year. Experts agree that more students would consider similar programs if summer school wasn’t a major factor.
Matt Mayer of the Buckeye Institute thinks that offering a three-year degree could make the higher education process more efficient – in properly educating students and sending them out into the workforce.
“If we really kind of strip down higher education and the four-year degree down to a really rigorous three-year process, for many kids that would be a great road to get their skills, get their knowledge base, graduate and then become productive members of society,” Mayer said.
In addition to Kasich’s order to Ohio universities, other measures to reduce education costs have been proposed, like putting a limit on tuition increases and requiring faculty members to spend additional hours teaching in the classroom.
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