Archive for March, 2009

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ELIG Calls on EU to Promote High-Quality Learning

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

CHECK.point eLearning 

Following the successful DECOM event held in October 2008, the European Learning Industry Group (ELIG) has launched the DECOM Declaration: a summary of key recommendations that its members and other experts in the field of learning-content production and learning technology see as critical to ensuring equitable access to high-quality learning for all European citizens.

The recommendations summarized in the Declaration represent an industry perspective on some of the most pressing issues facing the learning-content publishing industry today. Three main issues were identified in the Declaration: new opportunities and business models, learning research priorities, and learning technologies and standards.

In regard to new opportunities and business models, the Declaration mentions the following topics (among others):

*Supporting experimentation in new business models for accessing and downloading learning materials for mobile devices.

*Encouraging partnerships among educational publishers, learning-system providers, and all stakeholders in the education and learning processes.

The topics related to learning research priorities and learning technologies and standards include:

* Funding to support R&D in device-specific content delivery is needed, in particular, content aimed at maximizing the different characteristics of mobile devices and classroom devices such as digital boards, e-books, and all other e-educational tools.

* Facilitation and promotion of learning technologies and learning standards must become a concerted effort of the learning and publishing industries, the official de-jure European (CEN) and international (ISO)standardization bodies, and global standards consortia (e.g. IMS, AICC & OASIS).

* Harmonization between American and European standards leading to international consensus is critical and should not only extend to include new EU member states but should also enable other (mostly Eastern) European countries to adopt the harmonized standards.

The DECOM Declaration calls on all stakeholders in the learning process, the learning industry itself, regulators, and policy makers to consider urgently those actions they might take in response to the recommendations. ELIG will be working within its Public Policy Group, to begin this process, which will include a call upon the European Commission for stronger content-related policy actions to promote high-quality learning resources for Europ

Cuts Hurt Education Quality

Monday, March 30th, 2009

USA Today

Budget-cutting measures being pursued in higher education are often based on faulty premises and insufficient information. These measures too quickly cut to institutions’ educational core, unnecessarily compromising quality and productivity.

To many people, it makes sense that faculty should be major targets for savings. They share the widespread beliefs that higher education has high labor costs and faculty are the principal labor cost driver. They reason that to achieve major savings, you address the major costs.

But the reasoning is faulty, based on an inaccurate view of higher education costs and faculty. Tenure-track faculty often represent less than a quarter of institutional employees (and much less in community colleges) and of total institutional costs. Moreover, faculty costs have not been rising significantly. What has been rising is the use of less costly contingent faculty. Finally, faculty salary increases have been well below tuition increases and salary increases for senior administrators. The growing costs in the academy lie outside the academic core.

Current choices are frequently being made without careful analysis and deliberation. Faculty and other campus community members often have insufficient access to information about finances, even when administrators call for extraordinary measures given financial duress. Often, there is insufficient consultation with faculty or other constituencies, and insufficient consideration of savings options provided by the very professionals who understand best how the institution works and who can identify strategies for achieving efficiencies without undercutting quality and productivity.

Finally, current measures too often cut to the core not of institutional costs, but of educational quality and productivity. Faculty are not just labor costs; they are intellectual capital. They generate value for the organization and society. They do not just cost money, they produce revenue.

The common aims of trimming waste or unneeded academic programs ignore the realities: We are hitting vital organs while spending on matters peripheral to the core educational function. Our objective should be to pursue measures that reduce costs and protect our core, not unduly compromising the quality, production and revenue generation to which faculty are central.

Many Interested in Building Career in China

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Taiwan News

Many people in Taiwan are impressed with China’s emerging economic prowess and are showing interest in building a career there, according to the results of a survey released Thursday by a youth group.

The results reveal that 53 percent of the respondents think China is likely to replace the United States as the world’s largest economy in the future.

Asked if they would consider building a career in China, 43 percent gave a positive answer, while 35 percent said they have no intention of doing so.

The survey was conducted among 2,889 people aged 18 and over between Feb. 20 and March 10 by the Youth Day Celebration Organizing Committee, a group comprised of representatives of local youth organizations and trade unions. It had a margin of error of 0.05 percent.

The results show that 65 percent of the respondents believe the opening of direct air and shipping links with China, encouraging overseas Taiwanese businesses to invest more in Taiwan and raising foreign investors’ interest in investing in Taiwan are all beneficial to Taiwan.

In addition, 63 percent of the respondents said opening the country to Chinese tourists is also a positive move for Taiwan.

Eighty-six percent of the respondents expressed distrust in the quality of China-made merchandise and 55 percent were satisfied with a food safety agreement signed late last year between Taiwan and China.

However, 75 percent said they were unaware of the details of a government plan to establish an economic cooperation framework agreement with China.

Fifty-eight percent of the respondents said they believe Beijing’s gift of a pair of pandas for Taiwan was politically motivated, while 77 percent said Beijing’s obstruction is to blame for Taiwan’s international ostracization.

On the speed of cross-Taiwan Strait exchanges, 38 percent of the respondents said the current pace is acceptable, while 22 percent said it is slightly fast, 23 percent said it is slightly slow, 10 percent said it is too fast and 7 percent said it is too slow.

While 83 percent of the respondents said they are concerned that recognizing Chinese academic degrees will impact the competitiveness of Taiwanese students, 60 percent said allowing Chinese students to study in Taiwan would help enhance Taiwan’s competitiveness.

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