If the digital environment we are entering is disruptive to colleges and confusing to learners, it poses equal challenges and opportunities to employers. Historically, a college degree and a resume were the documents that employers looked at when screening potential candidates for a position. But both are proxies for the eligibility and “fit” between a person, a job, and the culture of the receiving organization. … Continue reading Impact on Employers

There it was in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s 4/21 edition: an article entitled “College Attainment Rises, But Lumina’s 60% goal is Now Harder to Reach.” The essence of the article concludes that the growth rate is up, but behind projections; the traditional population is declining; adults need to be placed squarely in the focus of populations to be served; and that significant changes are … Continue reading USDoE: Sacrificing Lumina’s Attainment Goals at the Altar of Elitism

It’s all his fault. Or maybe it’s the fault of the tiny, red Arvin radio that I got for Christmas when I was 6. It received two stations (AM) and the Lone Ranger was on one of them three nights a week from 7:00-7:30. And then I was off to sleep in Burlington, Vermont, dreaming of this masked man and his Native American partner, Tonto. … Continue reading Blame It On The Lone Ranger

Is the competency-based approach to assessment and degrees a step towards greater accountability and improved clarity for teachers and learners alike?  Or, does it sound the death knell for traditional higher education, fashioned to control non-elite students who are more interested in career preparation than the liberal arts? Or is the definition of the two sides as contrasted and hostile to each other; a false … Continue reading The Democratization of Higher Education and Competency-Based Assessment

In the article “New Data Show Where Veterans Enroll, but Not How They Fare,” The Chronicle of Higher Education demonstrates, once again, how idiotic it is to use IPEDS data in a discussion about college completion. After discussing who is enrolling veterans, and showing a chart of the number of enrollments at the top institutions and graduations percentages, the article goes on to say “The … Continue reading IPEDS Idiocy

Everything I have learned, whether from professional experience and activities or more personal turning points and important events in my life, tells me that, beyond everything else, all learning, in projection and consequence, is intensely personal. And even more importantly, the events that change your life trajectory happen, more often than not, away from the classroom and away from the academic endeavor. It is the … Continue reading Turning Points: Up Close and Personal

Historically, we are used to thinking about transparency as being “open” and available so that others know what we are doing. As a recovering politician, I experienced open meeting laws in that arena as a legitimate check to assure that decisions were discussed and reached publicly, for all to see and hear. However, the power of transparency in learning and employment in the digital dimension … Continue reading The Power of Transparency

What are we to make of the new study published by Nexus, “Do Proprietary Institutions of Higher Education Generate Savings for States?”  I had a number of takeaways. First, its authors are the real deal. Jorge Klor de Alva and Mark Schneider are respected members of the policy and research community.  Second, the reviewers, with people like Pat Callan, David Longanecker, Darcie Harvey, and Chris … Continue reading The Cost of Replacing Proprietary Colleges

What’s a college to do when all the resources that it used to control, that made it unique, become free or very cheap and readily available to the general public? Think about free courses (edX), low cost or free assessments (CLA+), on-line labs (MIT OCW), books available online or printed on demand (EspressoBook Machine), socially-networked learning support (OpenStudy), Career Advice (AARP-Life Reimagined), and a complete … Continue reading Impact on Institutions

For the individual learner, regardless of age, the digital dimension is not something that you can just walk across a bridge and enter, by buying or developing access to a computer. Two critical barriers face learners entering the digital dimension. First, increasingly, you don’t have a choice of whether to enter the digital dimension or not. Put one way, the penalties for not accessing this … Continue reading Needed: A Learning/Career Concierge Service