Internationalisation of HE through distance learning | University World News

"Distance learning presents a key pathway for internationalisation at home and could be particularly useful for emerging countries prepared to go beyond physical mobility to get the input of international students into their education programmes," says Hakan Ergin, holds a PhD in educational sciences from Bogazici University, Turkey and Bruno Morche, holds a PhD in sociology of higher education from Brazil and an MA in comparative education from the UCL Institute of Education in the United Kingdom.  

Over recent decades, the international dimension of higher education has become an essential part of the agenda of higher education institutions and governments all over the world. While countries compete with each other to host international students, supranational organisations, such as the OECD and UNESCO, compare the numbers of international students in several countries in order to shed light on the level of internationalisation of different higher education systems.
 
But it is worth asking whether the internationalisation of higher education should be solely dependent on the physical mobility of students across national borders. As stated by Hans de Wit, director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College: 

"Internationalisation of higher education over the past decades is moving more from a focus on 'abroad' towards a focus on 'at home', placing less stress on physical mobility for a small group."
 
The general idea of ‘internationalisation at home’ is a relevant topic explored recently by commentaries on this website and in other publications.
Internationalisation has traditionally been embraced by higher education stakeholders for its academic, economic, social/cultural and political advantages. To access these benefits, universities, on the one hand, host international students at their own institutions and, on the other hand, send their own students to study abroad.  

Nevertheless, physical mobility-oriented internationalisation cannot meet stakeholders’ expectations on its own, because it enables just a minority of students to internationalise...

Distance learning in Turkey and Brazil
The figures above reveal that physical mobility-oriented internationalisation does not ensure 'internationalisation for all' on its own. For this reason, strategies for internationalisation at home need to be employed to help more students experience an international curriculum, classmates and instructors. An interesting way of achieving this might be internationalisation via distance learning, which provides students with the relative independence of time and space.

Distance learning is now an integral part of mass higher education systems in emerging countries and could be an essential tool for internationalising their systems. It is estimated that at least 21 million students from emerging countries have studied through distance higher education in recent years and this number is growing very quickly...

In other emerging countries such as Brazil, distance education has been mostly used as a way to expand higher education internally to meet internal demand. Experiences of internationalisation through distance learning in Brazil are almost non-existent. The potential, however, is huge.
Brazil has approximately 1.5 million online students, most of whom are at private institutions. The total number of foreign students in the Brazilian higher education system is quite low. According to the Brazilian Ministry of Education, in 2016 only 15,796 out of the eight million students were from abroad. Those students represent less than 0.2% of the total student population...

It is important to note here that having international distance students can serve internationalisation of higher education in emerging countries in several ways:

• Academically, local students and academics can get a chance to meet international students in online classes and exchange knowledge.
  
• Economically, universities generate income from international distance students' tuition fees.
  
• Socially or culturally, international students can learn about other emerging countries' culture and history.
  
• And politically, those countries can gain soft power as their universities access people in different parts of the world over the internet.

What we observe here is the initial steps towards digital internationalisation of higher education. 
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Source: University World News

What Do These Business School Deans Really Think About The Online MBA? | MBA Distance Learning - BusinessBecause

Photo: Marco De Novellis

Marco De Novellis, Journalist & Editor at BusinessBecause inform, "Online MBA programs have traditionally been seen as secondary to campus-based courses. But now more and more UK business schools are investing in online."

John Colley is associate dean for the MBA at Warwick Business School, top-ranked for its online MBA.
Photo: BusinessBecause

Go to a business school conference 20 years ago, and everybody would be talking about online learning. Go to a business school conference today, and people are still banging on about it.

While online learning hasn’t quite become the all-conquering disruptor that commentators once predicted, real developments have been made.

Today’s business schools have woken up to the importance of flexible, affordable alternatives to classroom-based study. In the workplace, everything is online. So why shouldn’t business education be too?

Still, every business school is different. Some schools offer 100%-online MBA programs; some offer online MBA programs with residential components; some schools don’t offer online MBA programs at all.

BusinessBecause caught up with business school deans and MBA directors across the UK—one of the more developed markets for distance-learning—and asked them one simple question: what do you really think about the online MBA? 
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Source: BusinessBecause

The Digital Future Is Human | Technology - Chief Learning Officer

"HR technology is making human skills like leadership, communication and collaboration more critical" reports Mike Prokopeak, vice president and editor in chief at Chief Learning Officer magazine. 

Photo: Storyblocks.com

The robots are coming! The robots are coming!

But as automation takes on the burden of tasks and entire jobs once carried out by people, it is putting more emphasis on the skills and abilities that remain, for the time being, the exclusive realm of humans.

The ability to think critically, adapt to change and communicate effectively in a variety of situations are the currency of the new economy. According to a survey of 4,000 professionals conducted by LinkedIn Learning, the most important skills employees will need — and that learning organizations must develop — are leadership, communication and collaboration.

This emphasis on the soft skills at the heart of modern management is increasingly driven by the digital technology transforming many industries. Nearly three-quarters of executives surveyed by The Hackett Group, a consulting firm headquartered in Miami, expect digital transformation to disrupt their industry and change the competitive landscape (Figure 1). Eight in 10 expect it to fundamentally change how they operate.

That insight is not new. The past decade has seen an exponential increase in data processing power paired with increasingly sophisticated and user-friendly technology tools that have sped up the transition from the industrial economy to a primarily digital one.

That finding holds up when looking at the plans of learning executives. According to a survey of the Chief Learning Officer Business Intelligence Board, coaching, communication and engagement were the top three skills targeted for development among managers (Figure 3). Business acumen, emotional intelligence and critical thinking rounded out the top six skills, reflecting the need for managers on the front line to be hands-on and people-focused.

The Chief Learning Officer Business Intelligence Board is a group of 1,500 professionals in the learning and development industry who have agreed to be surveyed by the Human Capital Media Research and Advisory Group, the research and advisory arm of Chief Learning Officer magazine.
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Source: Chief Learning Officer 

YABATECH trains lecturers, to begin open distance learning | Education - New Telegraph Newspaper

"Ahead of the smooth takeoff of the Open Distance & Flexible Learning (ODFL), Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) in collaboration with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has organised a training, tagged: “Train the trainer workshop” for lecturers selected across the 12 departments of the college" writes Kayode Olanrewaju, Correspondent.

Yaba College Of Technology

The Open Distance & Flexible Learning (ODFL) had been approved by NBTE, the agency supervising polytechnic and monotechnic education in the country. Part of the vision of the initiative for polytechnics across the country, according to NBTE, is to adopt and introduce distance learning programmes and make judicious use of the programme to the benefit of the people. 

For the take-off of the initiative, NBTE was said to have trained lecturers from various polytechnics with the mandate to go back to their respective institutions to train others, with a view to equipping them with the knowledge of distance learning, to kick start ODFL in Nigerian polytechnics.
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Source: New Telegraph Newspaper

'When I came to Malmö I didn't want to go anywhere else' | The Local Sweden

Follow on Twitter as @ekjlofgren

MY SWEDISH CAREER: British particle physicist Abbey Waldron talks to The Local about why it is important to help entrepreneurs and scientists navigate the world of artificial intelligence and machine learning by Emma Löfgren. 

Abbey Waldron mentoring at a Computer Science Retreat.
Photo: Private

Computer science is growing at lightning speed, with some of the largest strides in recent years being taken in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. But the challenge is to make sure that all tech entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators are able to keep up with and benefit from the breakthroughs.

"I think if there are things in the world holding science back, this is one of them: making sure that people who are doing research have the right skills," Malmö-based particle physicist Abbey Waldron emphasizes.

This hurdle prompted her and her colleague Muriel Grobler to ask the question: well, what if we get people who want to learn these skills and apply them to their research in a room together, and teach them?

"A lot of people want to get into the field of AI but don't really know how, and a lot of the latest developments happened after they left university. There are a lot of things that happened in the past five or six years that you never had a chance to study if you graduated ten years ago," says Waldron.

She got her PhD from the University of Oxford in 2012 and has since worked in the fields of machine learning and education in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and now Malmö, Sweden.

Together with Grobler she set up Computer Science Retreat, a course where developers and scientists can come, bring their own projects and learn how to apply the latest AI tech to them. It is based in Austin, Texas, where Grobler lives, and Malmö, where Waldron moved around a year ago.

The Briton ended up in the southern Swedish city by chance. She had left the Netherlands and was travelling around Europe when she one day went across to Sweden from Copenhagen for the day for an event at Foo Café – a meeting hub for people interested in tech and media. It was love at first sight.

"I had realized Rotterdam wasn't the city for me. So I travelled around, I went to Berlin, Copenhagen and then when I came to Malmö I didn't want to go anywhere else."
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Source: The Local Sweden

Differentiating Instruction for Digital Learners | Digital & Mobile Technology - The Tech Edvocate (press release)

"For generations, teachers have taught to the average, or perhaps slightly below average, student" inform Matthew Lynch, Author at The Edvocate.

Photo: The Tech Edvocate

This seemed to be the best approach, given that to do anything else would mean leaving the majority of the class behind. Of course, no student is perfectly average, and most students were receiving instruction at a rate too fast or too slow for their unique needs. Differentiated instruction offers a better model: it involves providing instructional materials that are aimed at the specific needs of each student. If that sounds like an impossible goal given the realities of large classes and limited time, you may want to rethink because there are some edtech tools that make it possible to differentiate even the largest class.

For example, teachers can use hyperdocs to create virtual “playlists” of instructional materials. There are two ways to use hyperdocs to differentiate learning: teachers can either create unique playlists for each student, or one playlist can offer options for students based on their performance. So a hyperdoc could begin with a formative assessment. Then, depending on which problems students got right, which they got wrong, and what kinds of errors they are making, the hyperdoc can direct students to different learning activities that are targeted for their individual needs.

Another excellent resource is Newsela. It provides articles on current events as well as on other topics of interest.
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Source: The Tech Edvocate (press release) (blog)

The 10 best books on AI | Big Think

"Artificial intelligence has been the stuff of mad dreams, and sometimes nightmares, throughout our collective history. We've come a long way from a 15th century automaton knight crafted by Leonardo da Vinci" according to Mike Colagrossi, Big Think.

Photo: GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images

Within the past century, artificial intelligence has inched itself further into our realities and day to day lives and there is now no doubt we’re entering into a new age of intelligence.

Early computing technology ushered in a new branch of computer science dealing with the simulated intelligence of machines. In recent history, we've used AI for common tasks, such as playing against the computer in chess matches and other game play behaviors. Thanks to advances in computer technology, however, AI is advancing now 10 times faster than it had before. AI can also be defined as the capability of a machine to imitate human behavior. The holy grail — and what most people probably think about when they hear AI — is something called artificial general intelligence, or AGI. 

With advanced AGI, robots would, in theory, be able to do anything a human could do. This usually conjures up pictures of anthropomorphic robot butlers or Westworld type androids.
One can get lost in the rich history, rabid speculations, and intriguing fictionalized world of AI. Here are some of the best books on artificial intelligence that’ll guide you and provide a multifaceted view of this incredible technology.
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Source: Big Think (blog)

12 tricky math riddles only the smartest people can figure out | Culture - Reader's Digest

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Check out these tricky math riddles.   

"You might want to break out a calculator because it takes a genius to solve these tricky math riddles" according to Morgan Cutolo, Author at Reader's Digest. 

Knight moves

Photo: Min C. Chiu/Shutterstock

I have a calculator that can display ten digits. How many different ten-digit numbers can I type using just the 0-9 keys once each, and moving from one keypress to the next using the knight's move in chess? (In chess, the knight move in an L-shape — one square up and two across, two squares down and one across, two squares up and one across, and other like combinations)

Answer: You can form the numbers 5034927618 and 5038167294. You can also form their reverses: 8167294305 and 4927618305. Hence four different numbers can be made. The key point is to realize that the number must start or end on the '5' key, followed/preceded by the '0' key, otherwise, there is no way of using all ten keys during the route. Only 2 percent of people can solve Einstein's Riddle. Can you?
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Source: Reader's Digest

Universities Should Rebrand Distance Learning Programme | Education - Modern Ghana (press release)

"Professor Kwesi Yankah, the Minister of State for Tertiary Education, has urged universities to rebrand distance learning as part of efforts to bring education closer to the people" notes Ghana News Agency.

Photo: Ghana News Agency

'The time is long overdue to indeed rebrand distance learning in Ghana.'

'I hereby urge universities to tap steps to arrest the perception of low standard output from distance education programmes, and urge the National Accreditation Board to tighten its vigilance to ensure the maintenance of quality and standards in distance learning,' he added.

Prof. Yankah said this on Friday at a Durbar and Colloquium of the College of Education, University of Ghana (UG), in Accra, as part of activities marking the 70th Anniversary Celebration of the University.

It was on the theme: 'Celebrating Excellence, Shaping Futures'.

Prof. Yankah said all over the years, distance learning had been successfully adopted the world over 'to increase access and make learning flexible for candidates far and near, defying distance, defying time zones and defying social and economic circumstances.'

'It has produced some of the greatest men in history, but it has also been noted to be liable to exploitation and gross abuse in this part of the world.'

He called for the plugging of the loopholes to improve images, stating that 'distance learning may be one important channel that could help the country to cope with the overwhelming influx of senior high school graduates likely to knock on the doors of universities, as from 2020'.

On admission of mature students, Prof. Yankah said: 'If mature students' exams for entry to university should be taken more seriously, they should, perhaps, be standardised across board and administered by one credible examining body just like WASSCE (West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination), rather than administered by respective universities using different standards'.
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Source: Education -Modern Ghana (press release) (blog)

How to nurture digital talent | Training Journal

Have an insight into how you can nurture digital talent, says Jonathan Fitchew, CEO of Pareto Law.
 

Photo: Pexels

Finding and training digitally-savvy employees instils innovation and helps your business stay ahead of the curve. A recent study into emerging apprenticeships finds a demand for a unique blend of digital and soft skills in a variety of industries.

But with technical and interpersonal skills not necessarily coming hand-in-hand, what can businesses do to ensure their training strategy keeps them at the forefront?

Blended learning 
As digital natives, Generation Z are the next wave of talent to enter the workplace – they’re ambitious, have entrepreneurial spirit and recognise how the right employer can carve out their career paths.

Engaging Gen Z is key to nurturing digital talent within your business and according to research, half of them prefer a combination of face-to-face and digital training methods. With blended learning appealing to their technical prowess, this approach will help engage them in a more authentic way.

Soft skills
While technical abilities are a fundamental part of today’s workplace, soft skills can boost ROI, staff productivity, retention and among other things, can improve your bottom line.

With the majority of emerging apprenticeships looking for a blend of technical and communication capabilities it’s essential you focus on developing employee soft skills to ensure you stay ahead of the competition. Interpersonal skills are important for all businesses and industries, but it’s possible to build on these soft skills to make them more of a commercially viable asset.

Making work fun
Studies show instilling a fun working environment with like-minded people can increase productivity and have a positive effect on staff morale. Creating an environment where employees can freely express their ideas, and encourage cross team collaboration is key to develop a workplace where employees can grow their skills.

Consider office seating plans and layout – ensuring there’s enough space for breakout areas will help with creativity flow – introduce elements to help spark social interaction such as pool tables will help instil the message of collaborative teamwork.

Partnering with academic institutions
Bringing in students to undertake apprenticeship schemes helps bring fresh ideas into the business, and create a sharing and learning environment between colleagues. Fostering a relationship with academic institutions allows access to a constant stream of talent that could potentially become an asset to your company.
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Source: Training Journal