Dr Flavius Akerele III's The E Team Education blog

Traditional note taking in college seems to be a thing of the past in that students often do not want to take notes in class, or they type on their laptops. I personally, have gotten in the habit of posting my PPT slides for the students to look at after class because I know that is as close to note taking as some students will get. It is amazing how many students do not have notes for exam, even after I announce an open note test; I see many students scrambling to make notes last minute or trying to make photocopies of their classmates notes (which I do not allow anyway). “Taking Notes by Hand Benefits Recall, Researchers Find” “ Distractions posed by laptops in the classroom have been a common concern, but new research suggests that even if laptops are used strictly to take notes, typing notes hinders students’ academic performance compared with writing notes on paper with a pen or pencil.” “Daniel M. Oppenheimer, an associate professor of psychology ...

“Elementary School Choir's Cover Of Pharrell's 'Happy' Will Make Your Whole Week Better” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bhfu1KnKjM#t=12   The little things in life everyone, enjoy! Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

 “Unionized Adjuncts in Washington, D.C., Seek to Craft a Citywide Contract” “Having organized well over two-thirds of part-time faculty members at this city’s colleges, labor organizers connected with the Service Employees International Union are now working to devise a common labor agreement covering all unionized adjunct instructors here.” “At a national meeting for adjunct instructors held by the SEIU on Monday at Georgetown University, Kerry B. Danner-McDonald, a lecturer at Georgetown and leader in the city’s adjunct-organizing effort, told the audience that those working to devise such a contract still have "a lot to work out." But, she said, they expect to come up with a master agreement that sets minimum pay levels for all colleges but has the flexibility to tailor contracts to individual institutions.” Read the whole thing here: http://chronicle.com/article/Unionized-Adjuncts-in/145541/?cid=oh&utm_source=oh&utm_medium=en What are your thoug...

 “Candy Crush games developer King valued at over $7bn” “It sold 22.2 million shares priced at $22.50 per share - the mid-point of the range the firm had initially set.” “King said it plans to use the money raised for "working capital" and "other general corporate purposes, which may include acquisitions".” “Candy Crush was the most downloaded free mobile app of 2013.” http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26741017 So you student gamers, remember your professors when you graduate and become famous J Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

  The ongoing case of Pima Community College in Arizona just got stepped up a notch: “Pima Community College Is Barred Temporarily From Enrolling Veterans” “Pima Community College has been banned from enrolling military veterans for at least 60 days while the school tries to correct the problems that led to the sanction.” “The Arizona Department of Veterans Services imposed the penalty because of the college's poor record keeping practices for students who are military veterans.” “The deficiencies have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars, money the federal government wrongly paid to veterans who weren't eligible to receive it because PCC didn't keep proper track of their status.” “Federal rules on educational aid to military veterans require schools to notify the government, for example, when such students quit, flunk out or take courses that aren't part of an approved program of study.” “The state move, announced by the college t...

 In the news today: “New Data on Student Veterans' College Outcomes under New G.I. Bill” “ Slightly more than half of military veterans who enrolled in college under the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill completed the academic or training program they pursued, according to new data to be released today, USA Today reported. The study, released by Student Veterans of America in conjunction with the Veterans Administration and the National Student Clearinghouse, showed that 51.7 percent of the nearly 800,000 former military service members who pursued some kind of postsecondary credential earned it within the 10 year time frame. About a third of the veterans earned bachelor's degrees or higher.” Read here: http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/03/24/new-data-student-veterans-college-outcomes-under-new-gi-bill How are things going in your institution? Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

I read about this recently and realize that not only is this a sign of the 'job market' times, but also a sign that we truly do not understand that electronic communication is forever. I am also disturbed that some people in the comments section immediately started blaming political parties and ideology (not taking sides here). This is not about politics, this speaks for itself: http://iacknowledge.net/businesswoman-who-sent-worlds-meanest-rejection-letter-gets-a-lesson-in-karma/ What are your thoughts? Please be civil Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam 

Have a great weekend!

These articles speak for themselves and make for a great conversation, so please chime in! K12: “California Groups Urge Schools to Spend on Student Support Staff, Not Police” “Two California groups released a policy brief today that asks school districts in the state to use new funding to lessen the gap in spending between school security and student support and engagement initiatives.”   “An overreliance on school-based police in many districts, including many that serve large numbers of poor and minority students, has led to overly harsh discipline and too many referrals of students to the justice system, the Los Angeles-based Labor/Community Strategy Center's Community Rights Campaign and the Oakland-based Black Organizing Project said in the report.”   “"We have watched our school budgets be increasingly devoted to law-enforcement-based school security strategies at the expense of vital support and educational services that students need,...

Many of us have asked about the training university leaders receive to be able to handle their posts, and what is known so far is that there really are no official programs for this. However, it seems that institutions have heard and are answering the call: “Administrator U.” “There’s a new training ground for would-be higher education leaders.” “Arizona State University and Georgetown University’s presidents announced Tuesday that the two universities are teaming up to create the Institute for Innovation in Higher Education Leadership.” “The institute, which will begin as a pilot program this fall, is envisioned as an executive training program that will meet over four long weekends each year.” “The program is entering a space somewhat occupied already  by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the American Council on Education and several trade associations. An emphasis of the ASU-Georgetown program is for a variety of college leaders, i...

As I have always said, we should pay attention to what is happening with the bigger players in higher education. “Accreditor Rejects Partnership Between Business School and For-Profit Group” “A deal between the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a for-profit education company has been rejected by the business school's regional accreditor, giving at least a temporary victory to an alumni group and some former board members who said the arrangement would turn Thunderbird into a "diploma mill."” “Thunderbird, based in Arizona, had been seeking a partnership with Laureate Education Inc. in order to shore up its troubled finances. The arrangement would have brought the school $53-million through a sale-leaseback of its campus and $13-million more to start online and undergraduate programs and to expand its international sites.” “Thunderbird pursued the deal with Laureate after rejecting several other suitors, including Arizona State Universit...