Another week gone by! As sad as it is to say goodbye to the offices for two whole days, do rest assured that we’ll be keeping our minds squarely on free and open education. The A/C is fixed right in time for the heat wave to have passed, and we’re back on speaking terms with our […]
Read More… from Smorgasbord: A/C, Team Pics, Math Puzzles, MOOC Puzzles, Hanging Out
[On July 1st, interest rates on U.S. federally-subsidized student loans doubled. The event was a re-hash of a similar drama last year in which a rate hike was averted by Congressional action. Discussions of alternative systems are back in fashion, such as the income-based repayment models used in Australia, Britain, and — maybe — Oregon. […]
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are part of an initiative to develop and promote a national curriculum for U.S. schools. Although forty-five states, four territories, and the District of Columbia have formally joined the initiative, public debate over the content and adoption of the standards has raged on, sometimes fueled by mistaken beliefs. In […]
Read More… from Top 5 misconceptions about the Common Core State Standards
Today, we’re releasing BUS305: Small Business Management on our iTunes U channel. And that got us thinking: variations on the word “entrepreneur” show up 137 times. But entrepreneurship doesn’t come easy, and it doesn’t come cheap. Back in April, our trustee, Michael Saylor, shared some of his thoughts on getting started in business: “You could call […]
Read More… from Less than nothing: student debt, risk, and small business dreams
“First came free online courses. Now come…free online textbooks” (“Coursera to offer students free online textbooks, with conditions” | WaPo). Call us picky, but the implication that free textbooks are an xMOOC innovation is a bit frustrating, especially coming a couple days before we announced the release of a free-and-open, no-strings-attached college mathematics textbook. Even more […]