Last chance to read microfiche before the world ends at 6 pm tonight

Greetings, If the world ends at 6 pm tonight, today may be your last chance to read microfiche (in this world, at least). So come on in. The GGU University Library is open until 5 pm today, giving you plenty of time after we close to get ready for the rapture.

Remember we are here for you forever --or at least until the world ends.

Online course should always include proctored exams

Thankfully, GGU CyberCampus does this as SOP. To understand it's importance (and to read some startling admissions from students) see the post in the Chronicle of Higher Education's Wired Campus on proctored exams for online students.

Then there is the question of cheating. Ms. Wachenheim’s study did not gather any direct evidence, but she reports anecdotally that students have told her how they work in groups to compile huge caches of the publishers’ test-bank questions. She quotes one student as saying, “We may not learn the material, but we are guaranteed an A.”

One wonders how much they would learn if they expended the same amount of effort reading the course material as they do on avoiding reading the course material?

Managing your online reputation

Faculty and anyone else who regularly publishes (or would like to some day): be mindful of your online reputation.

An article in Nature News, Best face forward, explains how not just to keep track of your online presence, but to take more control over it.

Most interesting is the mention of a private company that will do this for you:

Online Reputation Manager, headquartered near Rochester, New York, is a company that uses search-engine optimization strategies to repair the online image of clients who have been besieged with unfavourable press.

Here's a new sub-field within Public Relations I hadn't heard of before. Know any other similar companies? Please let us know in the comments.

Five gadgets that will be dead in 5 years

Courtesy of Prof. Bob Fulkerth:

Five gadgets that will be dead in 5 years. From MSNBC's Gadgetbox blog.

Inside Higher Education today alerted us to the new book
'The Constitution Goes to College: Five Constitutional Ideas That Have Shaped the American University in which the author, Rodney A. Smolla, president of Furman University, "argues that key values in American higher education can be traced to the U.S. Constitution. Some of the traditions in academe that the book traces to the Constitution include the divide between public and private spheres, the distinction between rights and privileges and ideas of equality." The book is published by New York University Press. Quote is from Inside Higher Education, http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/04/26/new_book_about_how_the_constitution_influences_higher_education retrieved April 26, 2011. The Inside Higher Education article, also available via tiny url: http://tinyurl.com/constitutionuniversity, includes an interview with the author. Following is one question and an excerpt from the author's response:
"Q: How do you see the Constitution influencing the shape of private higher education in the United States, given that private colleges are not state actors?

A: I argue that there is a 'shadow constitution,' a blend of statutes, contracts, and customs, providing a network of principles that often mirror the protections that derive directly from the Constitution, providing legal or customary protections that largely reflect constitutional principles and doctrines. ..."

Willingness and ability to learn identified as key traits for CEOs

"The C.E.O.’s are not necessarily the smartest people in the room, but they are the best students," writes Adam Bryant in an article adapted from The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons From CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed. The article appeared in the New York Times, April 16, 2011.

In the book, which was just published, Adam Bryant analyzes interviews he has conducted with 70 leaders to determine traits that indicate what it takes to be a leader. The five traits he identifies in the article are: 1. "Passionate curiosity," 2. "Battle-hardened confidence," 3. "Team smarts," 4. "A Simple Mind Set," and 5. "Fearlessness"

We are ordering Adam Bryant's book for the GGU University Library, so you can soon come and check it out.

Student Success in Higher Education Report from AFT

Academic Impressions today alerts us to the report, "Student Success in Higher Education," from the American Federation of Teachers Higher Education.

According to the AFT website http://www.aft.org/yourwork/highered/studentsuccess.cfm
"The report outlines a number of key elements of college student success, recommends ways to create effective programs and outlines the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders in creating the conditions for students to succeed. The publication is based on extensive outreach with AFT higher education members and education policymakers, as well as a series of focus groups among higher-risk first- and second-year college students that are documented in the companion report "Exploring Student Attitudes, Aspirations and Barriers to Success."

Quote is from http://www.aft.org/yourwork/highered/studentsuccess.cfm

retrieved April 4, 2011. Both reports, Student Success in Higher Education, and Exploring Student Attitudes, Aspirations and Barriers to Success, are available at the website for downloading.