A personal learning environment is defined as including: “… tools, communities, and services that constitute individual educational platforms that learners use to direct their own learning and pursue their educational goals.” The personal learning environment includes obvious things like books, papers as well as social media, library resources, people and so on. In the undergraduate […] … learn more→

Crises offer a chance to think about the past and prepare for the future. That is evident in the case of Spain and Italy, where a debate is underway over the economic model followed over the last decades. \’Investment in knowledge\’ is now in the mouth of every politician, but this requires long-delayed and painful […] … learn more→

Wi-Fi is coming to our cars. Ford Motor Co. has been equipping cars with Wi-Fi transmitters since 2010; according to an Agence France-Presse story last year, the company expects that by 2015, 80 percent of the cars it sells in North America will have Wi-Fi built in. The same article cites a host of other […] … learn more→

Universities are traditionally seen as exclusive institutions for the few, not the many. But that is changing as a new wave of online courses throws open the doors of academia to all. Led by world renowned American institutions like MIT and Harvard, this push to democratise learning is being taken up in Australia too. A […] … learn more→

First the good news: The need for management education is unlikely to go away anytime soon. Next the not-so-good news for U.S.-based business schools – on several fronts. As mentioned in a previous post, over the past decade the US is losing its dominance in worldwide MBA rankings. There are simply more high-quality programs available […] … learn more→

I did not know what to expect at the “Sustainability Across the Curriculum Leadership Workshop” I attended last week at San Diego State University, put on by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). I had my doubts when I previewed an agenda that included “two-legged exercises” and moments for “reflection.” […] … learn more→

A wave of excitement is spreading across the world\’s media today as scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) announce the latest results in their search for the Higgs boson. So has this elusive particle been found? And why is finding it so important? I asked Alan Barr of Oxford University\’s Department of Physics, UK […] … learn more→

“TWANG! It’s been a …” There is perhaps no song as quintessentially Beatle-ish as A Hard Day’s Night – it just bubbles with unbridled enthusiasm and joy. And in my mind, there’s no other opening chord of a rock song that is as instantly recognisable as that one. I grew up grudgingly playing the piano, […] … learn more→

As an undergraduate I had a wardrobe consisting of state university sweat pants, hoodies, flip-flops and free t-shirts. And why not? It was comfortable, easy, and everyone else dressed that way. However, when I got to graduate school I realized that my undergrad wardrobe was not going to cut it. There was no formal dress […] … learn more→

In preparing our new UCS report on meat and deforestation, I’ve been surprised at how often people think you’re saying “meat” when you actually said “beef.” Beef is meat, of course, but it’s not the only kind, and in fact it’s not even the most popular kind. Worldwide, pork actually has the largest share of […] … learn more→