Complexity: A Leader's Framework for Understanding and Managing Change in Higher Education | EDUCAUSE Review

Complex adaptive systems offer higher education leaders a framework for understanding dramatic systemic change as well as approaches to engaging, managing, and driving change.

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In 2011, an open online artificial intelligence course offered at Stanford University attracted several hundred thousand registrants, launching frenzied global interest in how teaching and learning could be extended by colleges and universities by George Siemens, Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington and leads the Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning at the University of South Australia, Shane Dawson, Director of the Teaching Innovation Unit and Professor of Learning Analytics at the University of South Australia and Kristen Eshleman, Director of Digital Innovation at Davidson College, where she leads a campus-wide innovation process designed to reimagine a traditional liberal arts institution in the current context.
 

Photo: Mark Allen Miller © 2018

In 2017, Purdue announced it was purchasing Kaplan to create a new public online university. In California, decades-long flirtation with distance education resulted in the formation of a statewide online college in early 2018. In June 2018, two large public Australian universities (University of South Australia and University of Adelaide) announced they were exploring options for a merger to create a more competitive international university. These examples highlight the radical responses that higher education institutions are now required to undertake as a result of the significant pressures from reduced research funding, increased government requirements to address labor market needs, mounting public calls for accountability, and growing questions about the utility of a traditional college/university degree.

For higher education leaders, this environment can be overwhelming as traditional approaches for managing institutions seem woefully underpowered to meet the multitude of economic-social-technical changes.¹ The integrative approaches and core principles of complexity science can provide a framework to address these challenges and to understand the role of rapidly changing colleges and universities in a society that has long been experiencing disruption and transformation.

Enter Complexity 
Science Complexity is the foundation of life—evident in even the most mundane of situations. Recall a time when you've found yourself stalled in traffic. You probably began to wonder about ways to solve the traffic problem. If only more people took public transport. If only the government implemented more public transport zones. Wouldn't these actions resolve the problem? In short, no...

Five Complexity Principles 
An important role of higher education is preparing individuals to engage meaningfully in society. What happens, however, when the modes of interacting with information presented in formal learning environments no longer align with the lived experiences of learners in work and other environments? 
The existing higher education system—with its focus on credit hours, semester-long courses, and formal credentialing—fails to account for new practices available in a digital, and globally connected, world. This is evident in today's global online learning environments, which increasingly blur formal and informal practices.

Five principles of complexity science are of particular relevance to the higher education system. These attributes—networks, emergence, self-organization and social coordination, feedback sensitivity, and agility—are sufficient to provide higher education leaders with an entry into complexity science as a means of observing, understanding, and interacting with change. 
Read more... 

Additional resources  
Complexity: A Leader's Framework for Understanding and Managing Change in Higher Education (PDF)

Source: EDUCAUSE Review

Teaching Students about Their Digital Footprints | Teaching and Learning - Faculty Focus

This article first appeared on Faculty Focus on September 19, 2016. © Magna Publications. All rights reserved.

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Dawn McGuckin, professor at Durham College (Canada) observes, Our students live in an online world. They’re emotionally and physically attached to their devices and many of their relationships exist within technology. 

Photo: iStock

As educators, there are many ways that we have had to adapt to this changing landscape of communication within our teaching, and when I look around my institution, I think we’re doing a remarkable job at keeping up with the rapid pace of change.

However, one area that doesn’t get the attention it deserves is educating students on the digital footprints they leave behind. Footprints that can jeopardize their employment potential. A large part of our job as college educators is to ensure that our students have the skills to become contributing members of society working in their chosen fields. We give them content knowledge and skills and we may even impart some of our worldly knowledge, but we rarely think about their online activities and the long-term ramifications they can have on their ability to achieve these goals.

I have presented on this topic on several occasions throughout North America and I am always surprised by how little some post-secondary educators know about the functionality and privacy of certain social media platforms...

Below I describe several steps for creating a lesson plan that will aid in making the Internet a constructive tool for building a positive, online identity for our students.
Read more...

Source: Faculty Focus

PhD Opportunities in EMS | University News: The University of Western Australia

Make a difference in the world
 

UWA is furthering scientific understanding with groundbreaking research across a range of disciplines. Researchers in the Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences work collaboratively with other faculties, universities and industry in Western Australia and worldwide. Our PhD students have the opportunity to conduct research with supervisors who are recognised experts in their field, have access to state-of-the-art facilities and are encouraged to grow and develop your critical and analytical skills.  

Why Engineering and Mathematical Sciences?

The world is quickly evolving with rapid population growth, higher standards of living and environmental challenges, requiring smarter ways to use energy and resources. EMS empowers researchers to change our world, developing innovative ideas for the future.

Read more...

Source: University News: The University of Western Australia

Top US technology universities lose ground in computer science and engineering | Rankings - Times Higher Education (THE)

View the results in full:
THE World University Rankings 2019 by subject: computer science 
THE World University Rankings 2019 by subject: engineering and technology

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The University of Oxford now leads Times Higher Education’s two technology-focused subject rankings, according to Ellie Bothwell, rankings editor and international reporter at Times Higher Education. 
 

Photo: Times Higher Education

The University of Oxford has become the first UK institution to top our computer science and engineering and technology subject rankings, while US technology powerhouses such as Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology all slid down the tables. Oxford is not the only European success story; ETH Zurich and the University of Cambridge both made gains in the computer science list.

Oxford overtook three prestigious US universities renowned for their strength in technology to take pole position in the two tables. In the computer science ranking it outperformed Stanford University, which fell two places to third, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which dropped three places to fifth.

Meanwhile, in engineering and technology, Oxford achieved a higher overall score than Stanford, which dropped one place to second, and the California Institute of Technology, which fell two places to fourth...

THE’s 11 subject rankings have each been expanded this year. The computer science ranking now includes 684 universities, up from 301 last year, while the engineering and technology ranking includes 903 institutions, up from 501.
Read more... 

Source: Times Higher Education (THE)

2 is the new ‘one’ | News Today

Mathematicians will be aghast but 2 is a prime number now, says Jawahar T R, Group CMD & Editor-in-Chief.

Rajinikanth, who is known for doing impossible things on screen (he holds the record for defying gravity by flying for the longest time and in the process knocking out scores of villains in mid-air before touching ground zero), is the architect of this arithmetic acrobatic.

Since the release of his film 2, which is actually 2.0, (now, don’t ask what the difference between 2 and 2.0 or the point of adding a ‘point zero’ to 2), the number 2 (or 2.0, take your pick), has become numero uno, putting every other digit in the shade. 2, which includes 2.0, truly rocks. This despite Rajini himself declaring in the movie that he is always number 1.

A bit confusing eh…? But that’s Rajini style. Anyway, we know that if R says something once, he is deemed to have said it twice (that makes 100 equal to 2 — though none can equal 2.0 itself, if you get the drift). I can see that there are too many brackets already — more than 2 in about 3 paras. This is because I am trying to say 2 … too many things at the same time. And it sucks to type them, as brackets, along with quote-unquote, are the toughest challenge on a keyboard — there is a chance of getting the two curves mixed up...

And, finally, 2 has disrupted hashtags and history too. #MeToo will now have to be #Me2 if women want to escape from wolves on prowl. And BC Rome has to be recreated to make Julius Caesar say ‘You 2’, Brutus (et 2, Brutus). After all, Rajini can change history and just about anything with retrospective and prospective effect.

Now, don’t put 2 and 2 together and make that a prediction of his political prospects. TN’s battle-hardened politicos are robot-proof and the Superstar may have to put up with many missed calls even if he be 1, 2 or whatever. Or, he may turn out to be just another sparrow, falling victim to the viles of the towers, sorry, powers that be. Or as is his trend, his ‘tomorrow never comes’, remaining just a filmy rhetoric to keep his lusty fans always on their twos, I mean, toes.
Read more... 

Source: News Today

Using 4 Mat Model for Creating Engaging Digital Learning Experience | Blog - Tesseract Learning

The 4Mat model of instruction design is an offshoot of the Kolb's learning styles. How exactly it can be used to create better digital learning experiences is the focus of this article by Parthasarathy Vinukonda, learning design professional with 16+ years of experience.

Photo: Tesseract Learning

Overview of the Model

I have presented in my previous article on Kolb's model that all learning happens due to real world experiences which then help people form mental models of that experience. Some people actively experiment with the new learning and create further experiences on the subject.

In the Kolb's learning cycle, the learning begins through an experience the learner has. The experience then makes the learner reflect on it, think about it and create new mental model that he/she can apply it in another situation. Through careful application, the experiences are refined and further changes are made to create another concrete experience.

The 4 Mat Model is derived from the Kolb's model in that there are new and easier terms that are overlaid on it. The right brain part of the model calls it "why" and "what" of learning. The left-brain part is about "How" and "If" of the learning, that is how the process works and can be implemented and refined through "what if" scenarios. The diagram is given below. 

4Mat Model Explained
The 4Mat model was propounded by Dr. Bernice McCarthy's that talks about learning styles and behaviorism in a concrete manner. 4Mat attempts to take advantage of the learning styles (as explained in Kolb's model) to achieve better learning outcomes.

The model integrates the 4 parts of the learning cycle and can be illustrated as below:
4Mat model answers 4 key questions that are necessary for the learning cycle to complete. 

They are: 

• WHY?  
• WHAT?  
• HOW?  
• IF?

Let us look at each question to understand what they imply. 
Read more...

Source: Tesseract Learning

Learning an Instrument: Choosing What to Play | Music - Times Square Chronicles

With so many instruments out there to explore, how do you decide what to play?,  as Times Square Chronicles reports. 

Photo: via Pexels

When we’re younger, it’s easy to join a school class like band or orchestra and pick up whatever sounds interesting. As adults, there’s a lot more to keep in mind before you go instrument shopping. Luckily, you know more about yourself now. You know your music taste and what interests you. That’s why it’s the best time to pick up a new instrument and start playing.

With so many online resources, it’s easier than ever to learn how to play anything from the bagpipes to the fiddle. Don’t just choose what’s the most popular when you might be destined for something else. Are you ready to choose a musical instrument that’s right for you? Let’s get started.

Asking the Right Questions

Photo: via Pexels

Sometimes we’re immediately drawn to an instrument. These instruments call to us, and we’re just going along for the ride. Other times, things aren’t so straightforward. Even if you feel you’re being called to a certain instrument, it’s worth taking the time to consider if that’s really right for your situation.

We all have budgets, space, and time restraints that might keep us back from choosing our first choice. The good news is there’s no such thing as a bad instrument! Here are some questions to get your mind moving.

What is your favorite genre of music?

Of course, the first question is what you like to listen to. If you don’t enjoy listening to classical music, you probably don’t want to pick up the mandolin or the violin. Choosing something that feels right to you starts with knowing your favorite genre. You’ll be spending a lot of time listening to yourself play so you might as well enjoy what you’re listening to...

Can you read music?
Depending on what you choose, you’ll need to learn how to read music. That’s no problem if you know how already, but it can take some time if you aren’t already competent in music reading.
Read more...

Source: Times Square Chronicles

Graph Theory and Cocktail Parties | Roots of Unity - Scientific American

Science writer Yen Duong tells us why she loves the "friends and strangers" theorem, says Evelyn Lamb, Freelance math and science writer based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Social connections are rich fodder for the field of graph theory 
Photo: Martin Grandjean Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

In this episode of our podcast My Favorite Theorem, I talked with Yen Duong, who has a Ph.D. in math and now works as a science writer, a little like another math and science writer you might know and love. We were not joined by my cohost Kevin Knudson because we recorded the episode in person at the annual meeting of the National Association of Science Writers. You can listen to the episode here or at kpknudson.com, where there is also a transcript.

Yen Duong.
Photo: Yen Duong

Dr. Duong decided to talk about what she refers to as a gateway math proof, a fact about acquaintances and strangers. As she framed the question, suppose you are trying to form a committee of three people and you want all three to be acquaintances or all three to be strangers. How big does the pool of potential committee members need to be to guarantee that you can form such a committee? Three people wouldn’t work because two of them could know each other and the other could be a stranger to both of them. In fact, a pool of six will be sufficient, as Dr. Duong explains. (For a written rather than spoken explanation, check out her post about it.) The theorem is often phrased in terms of the social dynamics of parties rather than committees, and Dr. Duong likes to tell people about it at parties, so it is a cocktail party theorem on two levels.

This theorem about Ramsey numbers, sometimes called the friends and strangers theorem, is fun because it is accessible, no matter your math background, but leads very quickly into open questions in math. The minimum number of people you need to guarantee a trio of friends or a trio of strangers is called the Ramsey number R(3,3), and proving that it is six is doable with pencil and paper...

You can find Dr. Duong on her website, her blog Baking and Math, and Twitter. Some of her writing on science and health appears at North Carolina Health News. As we mention in the episode, both she and I started our science writing careers through the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship program. This paid internship places math and science graduate students or recent graduates in news rooms around the country for a summer. Our fellowships were sponsored by the American Mathematical Society. Both of us consider it formative in the direction our careers have taken. You can read about her experience with the Mass Media Fellowship in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society.
Read more... 

Source: Scientific American (blog)

Social media and fake news: how the smartphone is transforming India | Books - The National

'The smartphone is giving Indians things most of them have never had: cameras, MP3 players, alarm clocks. That is transformative,' says author Ravi Agrawal, managing editor of Foreign Policy.

Indian priest Pawan Pandey, 38, poses with his smartphone at a Hanuman temple near the Sangam area in Allahabad.
Photo: AFP

Imagine what it must be like, if you have spent your entire life in a rural Indian village, to see a smartphone for the first time. To watch as this small device responds to your every command. You want to see the Taj Mahal? Sure, here it is. How about contacting a relative many miles away and seeing their face right there in front of you? No problem. This shiny little screen provides the gateway to all the things you have heard about – and many you haven’t, too. It would seem like magic.

Such has been the experience of hundreds of millions of Indians in the past few years. You can buy a brand-new smartphone in India for as little as $46 (Dh168), and data is cheap, which means a significant proportion of India’s poor can now access the internet for the first time. The numbers are extraordinary. In 2000, only 20 million Indians – or two per cent of the population – were online.
That number had increased to 100 million by 2010, but 1.1 billion Indians were still offline.

By 2017, however, 462 million Indians – or 35 per cent of the population – had discovered the internet, and projections suggest that nearly a billion Indians will be online by 2025. This is nearly all down to the smartphone.

'The West’s evolution is India’s revolution'  
Things happened more gradually in the West. In the late 1990s, if you had a personal computer, a telephone and a dial-up connection, you could probably send an email, search Google, and maybe even visit some rudimentary, grainy-looking websites.

With the arrival of broadband and then wireless, connection speeds increased. Online businesses were launched, music and films were shared for free, blogs started appearing, pornography became widely available, and a river of information (and disinformation) burst its banks. Then in 2004, Facebook arrived, followed by YouTube in 2005 and Twitter in 2006...

Dealing with the bad  
On the flip side, though, look at fake news. It is a virus, spread online, which has infected almost every society with access to the internet. But Indians are particularly susceptible to it. “New users, who discover a rudimentary version of computing on their mobiles, have no prior experience with Photoshop, for example, or doctored videos,” Agrawal writes.
Read more... 

Recommended Reading  
 

India Connected
How the Smartphone is Transforming the World's Largest Democracy

India Connected: How the Smartphone is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy, published by Oxford University Press, is out now.

Source: The National

Petra Bagust: Singing together, a language we can all understand | Newshub

On our second day in Lebanon, Luke and I arrive at the Learning Centre on the outskirts of Beirut with instruments and sheet music, continues Newshub.

Photo: Tearfund

This 'school 'is housed in a building on the edge of a busy highway.

We climb five flights of stairs, past metal and wood workshops, to a room that's used as both the school hall, and a playground, for the 50 children who come on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the 70 here on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

There is delight and mirth when we bring out the tiny guitars - ukeleles!

We have five to give to the learning centre, and packets or replacement strings - which they'll need, based on the enthusiasm of the children's strumming...

I also speak with a younger girl who loves the learning centre and maths.

She is so grateful to all her teachers. It's been the best year-and-a-half since she started coming here.

The bell sounds, and they race away into the corridor, down five flights of stairs and out into the chaos of a busy city.

I hope their new song - written out on the whiteboard, can be a warm memory in their hearts, and I hope that we will be able to fund resources for the school.
Read more...

Source: Newshub 

COMMENT: The mathematics you must learn for a job in data science and AI | Advice - eFinancialCareers

If you aspire to find a job in data science and artificial intelligence, you're probably wondering how to allocate your time. - Should you focus on learning math(s), or Python? Or both?, inform Paul Bilokon, founder of The Thalesians. The Thalesians are an Artificial Intelligence (AI) company specialising in neocybernetics, digitaleconomy, quantitative finance, education, and consulting.
 

Photo: eFinancialCareers

The answer is, both. You should not neglect mathematics.

Mathematics is an unusual subject. It is not a -logy, unlike, for example, theology or biology. The word itself comes from the Greek word “mathematikos” meaning, quite simply, “fond of learning”. In a sense, mathematics is our prowess to learn.

Unfortunately, at school we are led to believe that mathematics is about numbers. Indeed, there are three kinds of mathematicians: those who can count and those who cannot. Only later, if we choose to pursue the subject to undergraduate level and beyond, do we learn that numbers are incidental, whereas mathematics is about ideas, logic and intuition – a sense of truth.

Jacques Hadamard believed it was primarily about the latter, since “logic only sanctions the conquests of intuition”. Intuition begins with observation – just as philosophy begins with wonder – a deep and thoughtful observation, and a desire to discover the truth – the ultimate goal of a data scientist...

Indeed, some of the simpler branches of mathematics are the most useful for the data scientist. If you want to work in data science and machine learning, you will not necessarily need to understand stochastic calculus, but you will need to understand the mathematical concepts below.
Read more...

Source: eFinancialCareers

5 edtech tools that take personalized learning to the next level | Teaching & Learning - eSchool News

Districts should implement a personalized approach supported by a variety of carefully chosen digital resources, according to Lance Key, instructional technology specialist for the Putnam County (TN) School System and a member of the Putnam County VITAL program.

Photo: eSchool News

On day one of math class, about one-third of school students are ready to master grade-level standards while others aren’t yet able to complete basic skills. Indeed, it’s not uncommon that students’ abilities span not just one grade level, but several grade levels. And while whole-class instruction may meet the needs of some students, more often than not, it leaves out many more students than it helps. An effective way to tackle the challenge of teaching core academics to all students across ability levels is to implement a personalized approach supported by a variety of carefully chosen digital resources.

In the Putnam County (TN) School System— a rural school district with 23 schools spread across 400 miles—our personalized learning approach has allowed us to reshape education for students on a variety of fronts. In the past several years, we have implemented a number of district-wide initiatives to support personalization and differentiation for students including the launch of our Virtual Instruction to Accentuate Learning (VITAL) program in 2008. Highlights of VITAL include a virtual homeschool, blended and online learning across every one of our schools, course recovery to ensure students stay on track to graduate, and course acceleration—all with the goal of preparing students to be future ready.
 
Intentional design
Our transition to personalized learning has been an exhilarating journey that picked up even more momentum through our work with Education Elements beginning in the 2017-18 school year...

Here are five digital resources we use to meet students where they are and take them where they need to go.
Read more... 

Source: eSchool News

Be Intentional—in Your Learning Design, in Your Skills, in Your Career | Facilitation - ATD

Ryann K. Ellis, editor for the Association of Talent Development (ATD) notes, As part of our series of interviews with experts to mark ATD’s 75th year, we spoke to Cindy Huggett about trends in virtual training and skills practitioners need to succeed.  
 

Photo: ATD

Cindy Huggett, CPLP, is a pioneer in the field of virtual training. She’s been providing virtual training solutions since the early 2000s, and is a recognized industry expert in teaching training professionals how to design and deliver interactive online classes. Partnering with clients, Cindy helps them transition from face-to-face to virtual classrooms, and works with them to design online and blended learning solutions. She is the author of numerous articles and three books on virtual training, including Virtual Training Tools and Templates: An Action Guide to Live Online Learning and The Virtual Training Guidebook: How to Design, Deliver, and Implement Live Online Learning.
Read more...

Source: ATD

Google Classroom Tip #24: Blended Learning | Google Classroom Tips - The Tech Edvocate

Click here to view all of Google Classroom Tips.

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In this article, we will discuss how Google Classroom can support blended learning in the classroom a not cost, reports Matthew Lynch, The Tech Edvocate.

Blended learning is no longer optional for education today. It’s required. The factory model upon which educational processes were founded during the industrial age has long ago faded from the workplace, so it makes sense that factory-style education should disappear from schools as well. Modern technology has changed the way we think about work and how we perform our jobs. This same technology has changed education for the better.

Blended learning has taken the place of factory-style education. This new educational model combines traditional face-to-face education with online learning opportunities in the form of e-courses and collaborative projects with peers and subject matter experts. Advocates of blended learning say that it is less restrictive, more authentic, and offers greater flexibility. But how to do educators in school districts with limited edtech budgets, take advantage of blended learning. The answer is Google Classroom.
Read more...

Source: The Tech Edvocate

Why eLearning Will Grow In Higher Ed in 2019 | Editor’s Picks - eLearningInside News

Cait Etherington, writer and education/training consultant summarizes, Discover why eLearning in higher ed in 2019 is expected to continue growing both in the United States and globally.
 

Image courtesy of hywards at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last year, eLearning Inside News predicted that eLearning would have a strong year.  In 2018, key drivers cited included growing student demand, changing faculty attitudes, and a surge in the global eLearning market. eLearning Inside is predicting that 2019 will be another strong year for eLearning in higher ed. While some of the factors driving the continued popularity of online learning at the postsecondary level remain constant, a few new factors appear likely to further drive eLearning in higher ed in 2019.
Read more... 

Source: eLearningInside News

Education and learning have changed significantly over the last thirty years | Technology / Media - Market Business News

Since the advent of the Internet and other technology, education and learning have changed significantly. The Internet has impacted every aspect of our lives, including education, explains Veronica Cruz, native English and Spanish speaker.

Education and learning are very different today compared to medieval times.
Photo: Market Business News 

University classrooms do not look that different today compared to thirty or forty years ago. However, you might find that students today are looking at their smartphones, tablets, and laptops instead of books and notepads.

Technology has changed access to education
Today, even if you live in a remote area, as long as you can get online, you have access to education. This was not the case for most of the twentieth century. If you lived more than a 2-hour commute from a school or college, you simply could not study.

Students today can go online and even get help from a college homework helper to assist in their assignments. Whether these services are good for education is a matter of opinion. A manager of a department, for example, when having to prepare a report, will get his or her team members to prepare the material. Lawyers, politicians, and accountants do the same. However, surgeons need to have hands-on experience, skills, and knowledge.

Today vs. medieval times Contrasting education today and in medieval times, Purdue University writes:
“In medieval times, books were rare, and only an elite few had access to educational opportunities. Individuals had to travel to centers of learning to get an education.”...

What do teachers and professors think? Approximately one-third of all academic leaders believe that online learning is inferior to face-to-face instruction.
SEO.com says the following regarding online learning:

“Even with online learning being as widespread as it is, however, as many as one in three academic leaders consider it to be inferior to face-to-face instruction.”

“As these online-trained students continue to enter the workforce, time will tell whether internet education can compete with traditional learning models.”
Read more...

Source: Market Business News

Research indicates which universities offer greatest return | UK - Belfast Telegraph

A report suggests graduating from university increases average earnings at age 29 by 28% for women and 8% for men.

Studying maths at Oxford is the course and institution combination that gives women graduates the greatest earnings return
Photo: Chris Radburn/PA

Studying maths at Oxford is the course and institution combination that gives women graduates the greatest earnings return. 

For men the top pairing is an economics degree at the University of Bristol, with them seeing an average return of more than three times as much.
A report, commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE), suggests graduating from university increases average earnings at age 29 by 28% for women and 8% for men...

Chris Belfield, co-author of the report and a research economist at IFS, said: “The share of young people going to university has increased rapidly in recent years, leading to more people with lower prior attainment and without science or maths A-levels attending higher education.

“This has led to particular interest in the returns for this group of students.

“We find that going to HE has only a small impact on the early-career earnings of men in this group.
Read more... 

Source: Belfast Telegraph

Policy shift forces Danes to close degrees and cut English teaching | Times Higher Education

Follow on Twitter as @elliebothwell

Universities in Denmark reacted with dismay in August after the government said that it would cut places for international students because too many left the country after graduation. Now leading institutions in the country have announced that they will close several degree programmes and switch the medium of instruction from English to Danish in order to abide by the policy, says Ellie Bothwell, rankings editor and international reporter at Times Higher Education.

Photo: iStock

Hanne Tange, associate professor at Aalborg University, said that the moves were “a smart way to actually exclude all people not speaking Danish without actively discriminating against European students”, which would be illegal. The situation raises the question of whether universities in other European countries – many of which have also seen a backlash against English-taught courses – will also be forced to “renationalise” their degree programmes. 
Read more...

Source: Times Higher Education

The 26 New Skills You Can Now Learn on LinkedIn Learning | New Courses - LinkedIn Learning

Photo: Paul Petrone

Paul Petrone, Editor - LinkedIn Learning reports, Each week presents a new opportunity for you and your team to learn the skills necessary to take on the next big challenge.

Photo:  Learning Blog - LinkedIn Learning

And, at LinkedIn Learning, we want to do everything we can to help make that happen.

So, each week, we add to our 13,000+ course library. And this past week was no different, as we added 26 new courses covering everything from IT networking to photography to leading with emotional intelligence.

The new courses now available on LinkedIn Learning are:
Read more... 

Source: Learning Blog - LinkedIn Learning

The Philosophers and the American Left | News & Politics - Tablet Magazine

Third in a series on the American left: a tale of buried treasure, argues Paul Berman, Contributor to Tablet Magazine.

Photo: Tablet

I.
The American left, which has sometimes been poor in institutions, has always been wealthy in political philosophy—and you can see the wealth and its significance in two books of our own moment, one by the late Richard Rorty and the other by Michael Walzer. Perhaps Rorty’s book is not completely of our moment. The book is Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America, which came out from a university press in 1999 and lay in slumber for 17 years, until the catastrophic Election Day of 2016. Then the book awoke, and Achieving Our Country became a publishing sensation, such that, even today, it appears to be selling fairly well, for a book of its nature. Its success is owed to a single passage on page 90. Rorty wondered on that page what would happen if, one day, America’s trade unionists and unskilled workers, the people who do not live in prosperous suburbs, ever came to notice that, in the American government and among the American elites, no one at all was even trying to defend them from the economic and social consequences of modern industrial trends.

He wrote:

At that point, something will crack. The nonsuburban electorate will decide that the system has failed and start looking around for a strongman to vote for—someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots. A scenario like that of Sinclair Lewis’ novel It Can’t Happen Here may then be played out. For once such a strongman takes office, nobody can predict what will happen. In 1932, most of the predictions made about what would happen if Hindenburg named Hitler chancellor were wildly overoptimistic.

One thing that is very likely to happen is that the gains made in the past forty years by black and brown Americans, and by homosexuals, will be wiped out. Jocular contempt for women will come back into fashion. The words ‘nigger’ and ‘kike’ will once again be heard in the workplace. All the sadism which the academic Left has tried to make unacceptable to its students will come flooding back. All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet.

He was a genius. It is not just Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, his masterwork. It is that one passage!

But the university left had made a mistake. It had fallen under the influence of the postmodernist professors, who led their adepts into an infinity of minicauses and controversies over language. The university left had ended up losing sight of the primary purpose of any left-wing movement, which ought to be the maxi-cause of the working class. And Rorty proposed a rectification...

He wanted to invigorate the philosophy of democracy that John Dewey had drawn in part from Whitman—democracy as an eternal project for endless social progress, democracy as a way of life and a way of thinking—which became Hook’s idea, and became his own...

II.
During the last 150 years or so, the American left has advanced in a nearly mathematical pattern of waves, one wave after another—waves of popular insurgency, which rush forward and linger a while, then get pulled back by a nasty undertow and other forces, only to rush forward again, a generation later. There have been four of those waves in the past—in the 1870s and ’80s; in the 1910s; in the 1930s and ’40s; and in the 1960s and ’70s, continuing into the ’80s and maybe beyond. A fifth such wave is unmistakably upon us right now—the new insurgency that got underway with Occupy Wall Street in 2012 and continued into Bernie Sanders’ Political Revolution and the Women’s March and has lately brought a lot of people, the progressives, into the Democratic Party. And each of these waves has engendered its own destructive undertow.
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Source: Tablet Magazine