The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Online Teacher Education Programs Now Award The Most Degrees

Virtually unknown a decade ago, big online teacher education programs now dwarf their traditional competitors, outstripping even the largest state university teachers' colleges. four big universities, operating mostly online, have quickly become the largest education schools in the USA. Last year the four — three of which are for-profit — awarded one in 16 bachelor's degrees and post-graduate awards and nearly one in 11 advanced education awards, including master's degrees and doctorates. Online schools such as Phoenix and Walden University awarded thousands more master's degrees than even the top traditional schools. Read more at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-08-07/online-teaching-degrees/56849026/1

Colleges Confront The STEM Gender Gap

Even if they start college majoring in a STEM field, women are more likely than men to change majors, federal data show. Some critics of the focus on gender parity say the concern is overblown. A number of colleges that specialize in these fields have recently taken steps to increase female enrollment and are seeing results. Read more at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-07-23/math-science-gender-gap/56669934/1

Teachers' Colleges Will Need To Prepare Students For More Rigorous Licensing Exams

New York and up to 25 other states are moving toward changing the way they grant licenses to teachers, de-emphasizing tests and written essays in favor of a more demanding approach that requires aspiring teachers to prove themselves through lesson plans, homework assignments and videotaped instruction sessions. t is also a reaction to a criticism of some teachers’ colleges, which have been accused of minting diplomas but failing to prepare teachers for the kind of real-world experience where creativity and flexibility can be the keys to success. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/nyregion/with-new-standards-going-beyond-paper-and-pencil-to-license-teachers.html?ref=education

College Programs That Serve As Startup Launchpads

College campuses are becoming incubators for startups, offering encouragement in the form of classes to nurture young dreamers. This explains the influx of 21-year-olds making millions of dollars in investment before they can legally pop a beer. Given the amount of preparation and forethought it takes to start a company, you may think it ludicrous to expect entrepreneurial success in a semester or two. Yet, a handful of programs across the country have produced their fair share of fresh-faced CEOs. Here is my run-down of the leading college classes that serve as launchpads for startups. Read more at:
http://venturebeat.com/2012/07/21/make-or-break-college-classe/

Startups On College Campuses Aided By Incubators

That’s revolutionary thinking for a university culture that has long focused on the inventions of graduate students and faculty. But campuses are beginning to put their bets on undergraduates. Who better understands the social media mindset? And what campus wouldn’t want an Instagram founder as an alum? Campus incubators are growing.On campus or off, incubators are not always useful.  Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/education/edlife/campus-incubators-are-on-the-rise-as-colleges-encourage-student-start-ups.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss 

 

College Students Use Interdisciplinary Approach To Developing Mobile Apps

How many anthropology students does it take to develop a mobile application? Just one, if you also have engineering, business and graphic arts students on your team. About 80 Florida Atlantic University from the four disciplines teamed up to develop health-related mobile applications as part of a new interdisciplinary course. The outcome of "Android App Design and Project Management," offered in the spring semester for the first time, was seven potentially marketable health-related applications. Some of the students are trying to take their projects to market. Read more at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-mct-fau-students-team-up-to-develop-mobile-apps-20120716,0,1465655.story

Plans Underway For Nation's First School Of Philanthropic Studies

Recognizing the increasing role of nonprofit organizations in today's economy, Indiana University is poised to launch the nation's first School of Philanthropy. The university already is a leader in philanthropic studies. with a growing market for nonprofit workers, university officials say the time has come for a formal school at IUPUI. If the university receives state approval this year, as is expected, classes could begin in the 2013-14 academic year. No major university has formed a school of philanthropic studies or a school in the related field of nonprofit management. Read more at:
http://www.indystar.com/article/20120706/NEWS04/207060347/1013

Certificates Are Fastest Growing College Credential

The number of people earning college certificates has dramatically increased as students seek the quickest connection to a job. Certificates are the fastest-growing college credential, with more than 1 million awarded nationally in 2010, according to a recent study from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Certificates equip students with the skills they need for a job often in less than a year, and they sometimes increase a person's earnings potential past that of a bachelor's degree holder. "There has been an explosion in certificates," said Sean Creighton, executive director of the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education. Read more at:
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120709/SCHOOLS/207090313#ixzz20DxLROxV

Ohio's Public Universities Must Begin Developing Three-Year BA Degrees

Ohio is pushing public universities to show students how they can earn a bachelor’s degrees in three years — potentially saving thousands in tuition, room and board and avoiding the kind of debt that cripples many families. But some worry that the accelerated pace, which requires taking college courses in high school and during summer months, doesn’t prepare students for life after college. State law requires that by October, Ohio’s 14 public universities must prove how 10 percent of their baccalaureate programs can be completed in three years. Read more at:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/public-colleges-told-to-outline-3-year-grad-plan-1402608.html

Honoring The Humanities At A STEM University

Kondos is the only one in her graduating class of 247 to have majored in humanities or social sciences — economics and history in her case — without double-majoring in science, math or engineering. Since 2008, only a dozen Caltech students have done the same, Science, of course, rules at Caltech, but it doesn't eliminate the likes of James Joyce or Immanuel Kant. Along with the notoriously tough math, physics, chemistry and biology courses, all Caltech undergraduates must take what amounts to a humanities or social science class every term. Read more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-caltech-20120615,0,4879358.story