LectureShare

This new web tool makes it easy for instructors to share text, audio, and video with students. Registration is required, but free. Use the FAQ and About sections to orient to the resources. Also look at Ezra Katz's sample course LectureShare 101 (once registered). ____JH

(Thanks to Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day for this reference.)

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• Give students access to course materials without the burden of maintaining your own webpage or the hassle of complex web-based solutions
• Post audio and video content easily
• Make class announcements that your students will actually read—via e-mail, RSS (coming soon), or SMS
• Effortlessly make your course available to anyone if you choose

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Beware the College Rankings Machine

Beware the College Rankings Machine
The National Review Online has an illuminating article up pointing out the illogicality (and foolishness) of putting too much faith in the warped college rankings system. I’ve said about all I can say (using professional language) about the rankings, so I’ll hold back and let Frederick M. Hess and Thomas Gift from NRO speak [...]

The National Review Online has an illuminating article up pointing out the illogicality (and foolishness) of putting too much faith in the warped college rankings system. I’ve said about all I can say (using professional language) about the rankings, so I’ll hold back and let Frederick M. Hess and Thomas Gift from NRO speak wisely (and way more professionally) instead:

Some of the schools with higher rankings may truly have improved, but the most significant factor is that two of the Barron’s criteria — high-school grades and percentage of applicants accepted — don’t mean what they did a decade ago. Grade inflation, and students’ applying to more schools than they used to, have juiced the numbers to make students look more qualified and schools more selective.

Grade inflation, dubbed “high schools’ skeleton in the closet” by Lehigh University education professor Perry Zirkel, has been a creeping phenomenon for two decades.

Also, whereas college-bound students used to limit applications to a few top choices, it is not unusual for students today to apply to many more. UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute has reported that the percentage of high-school seniors who applied to four or more colleges increased by more than a quarter from 1996 to 2006 and now stands at over 60 percent….. when students in general submit more applications, colleges in general get to reject more applicants — making schools across the board more “selective” by the Barron’s criteria.

And that is why trusting the evil genius rankings machine is a mistake. Be aware of who’s in charge and make decisions accordingly.

Previous Posts, Venting Language Included:

Acceptance
College Rankings
Unigo.com
New System for Ranking Colleges

Posted by Alexa Harrington

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Oklahoma Regents Recognize Schools For ACT Scores

The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education is honoring 11 state high schools for increasing both ACT scores and the number of students who take the college preparatory test.

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Ellison: Hope for better education standards

Ellison: Hope for better education standards

Why have I - and so many others who have similarly spent their careers fighting for higher standards in education - struggled so adamantly against the current standards movement in California and the nation? And why are we now beginning to smile again? We've dreamed of reasonable standards measuring student achievement with authentic assessment.