Cisco and University of Phoenix Team Up to Deliver New Network Programs for Students

This article is from Market Watch The Wall Street Journal

 University of Phoenix today announced an agreement with Cisco that will create new programs dedicated to providing the body of knowledge needed to attain the Cisco CCNA(R) certification. Cisco is an industry leader in network support, and the associate-level CCNA certification is vital to those seeking to enter or advance in the high-growth field of system networking and support.

Job growth for network administrators, network support specialists and computer network architects is projected to grow by more than 20 percent by 2018 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With this opportunity comes a need for highly trained workers familiar with the latest networking technology and systems.

Online learning 'could look at business practices'

This article is from Virtual College

Educators rolling out e-learning platforms could benefit from analysing the successes and failures of companies that have used this strategy.

Director of Glasgow Caledonian University's Caledonian Academy Allison Littlejohn said during a Chat Live discussion hosted and published by the Guardian that oil corporation Shell has been using global knowledge networks in a pioneering manner.

She noted her higher education institution has been using similar online learning tools to improve the effectiveness of education for students in the Netherlands and UK.

The Economic Advantage of Online Education

Susan Gilbert, Dean of the School of Business and Management at Thomas Edison State College, wrote this article for the Huffington Post. It discusses some of the advantages of online education. Here is an excerpt: 

When an economist refers to a "revolution", he/she means a dramatic change, not a battle; as in Industrial Revolution, Agricultural Revolution, Information Revolution. This change is often attributed to the introduction of a technology that changes the way things are done; e.g., a reaper, a steam engine, a personal computer. However, as Peter Drucker pointed out in 1999, the real revolution and resultant cost savings that occur in an industry do so as a result of industrial engineering and the teachings of Adam Smith, rather than the technology itself. (The Wealth of Nations, 1776). Yes, a sewing machine may increase the seamstress' productivity from 1 shirt to 5 shirts per day; but it is the assembly line and specialization of labor that can magnify those results. Can we apply these lessons of Adam Smith to higher education? Can colleges be compared to tee shirt factories? These are the burning questions of our times, at least for those of us in higher education.

Distance education has been around for nearly 30 years, if we go back to the first Computer Assisted Learning Center in 1982; and web-based services in the area of education
date back at least 15 years. Blackboard was founded in 1997. Around 2000, I began using Webex for Sunday night help sessions with my executive MBA students. I recall the freedom of "working" in my pajamas (no web camera, please) coupled with personal savings of time and gasoline for me and the students. There were no labor savings to the institution; the technology provided greater access.

Click on the link to read the full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-gilbert/online-education_b_1282646.html

Defending Online Learning, Part One By Thomas K. Lindsay

This article by Thomas K. Lindsay of the National Review is an opinion piece on online learning. Here is an excerpt:

"For some time now, we’ve heard the following criticism of online education: “Its only virtue is that it’s cheap; it has little educational value compared with traditional, fact-to-face education.”
This claim no longer can withstand scrutiny.

 

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education published a review of no fewer than 44 studies evaluating post-secondary students. The report concluded that “students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.”

News: University Libraries Receive Technological Upgrade

This article by Andy Wright from the New York Times discusses new library technology in California.

San Francisco State University has been renovating and expanding its library since 2008, and now the overhauled building is finally finished and partly open to students. But some who enter its newly pristine doors may notice something lacking: books. In a move that has thrilled some university employees and horrified others, only 25 percent of the collection of more than a million books and other materials will be available for browsing. San Francisco State is not alone; experts say there is a national trend toward digitizing university libraries.