Arne Duncan has added another organization to his CV. The former secretary for the U.S. Department of Education under President Obama recently joined the board of Turnitin, an education technology company that provides services for writing help, literacy skill development and plagiarism checking in K-12 and higher education.
A wiki developed by Contact Nord, a nonprofit funded by the government of Ontario, describes the "breakthrough innovations" being tested at open universities around the world. TeachOnline.ca profiles the work of 66 open universities dedicated to increasing access to courses for those who want higher education, no matter what their backgrounds.
Generally girls lose interest in STEM careers as they get older. But, according to a new study, small changes at school and at home can have a profound impact on how girls perceive STEM careers, how confident they feel in class and how likely they are to pursue STEM academically and into their careers.
Unizin, the nonprofit consortium of 25 member universities, has teamed up with McGraw-Hill Education to combat the high cost of textbooks. The deal will make the company's digital learning materials available to nearly 1 million students through an "Inclusive Access" model, which automatically provides students with their course materials on the first day of class for a low, flat fee.
The digital textbook market has a new entrant. Lead Winds has launched two digital textbooks on an online platform with chapter-by-chapter access to the written textbook, an audiobook version, videos that teach the chapters, slideshows and extra videos of students and instructors sharing study notes and tips for each chapter. The cost: $35 per student.
Upcoming events include the Innovations Conference, Digital Signage Expo 2018, University Innovation Alliance National Summit, SANS 2018, O.L.C. Innovate and the A.A.C.C. 98th Annual Convention.
Two new reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine tackle data science for educators. One report summarizes the findings of a workshop on training students to "extract value from big data." The other is intended to help institutions envision data science from an undergraduate perspective. Both reports are available on the National Academies Press website.
M.D.R.C., the College Promise Campaign and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association have launched the College Promise Success Initiative, a project that aims to expand the support provided to students in College Promise programs. The idea is that Promise programs can see greater success when they address the many barriers low-income students face to college achievement, beyond just covering tuition and fees.
Students in the University of Missouri System have access to more affordable course materials, thanks to a new agreement with McGraw-Hill Education that lowers the cost of the company's electronic textbooks by 38 percent. The books will be offered through the university's AutoAccess program, which provides e-books through U.M.'s learning management system as part of its Affordable & Open Education Resources initiative.
Rice University and 10 other institutions in Europe, Asia and Australia have agreed to be part of a three-year "Credits for MOOCs" program that allows students from the participating schools to enroll in specific free online courses from the other member schools and receive transfer credits for passing them. When it's fully up and running, the pilot effort will feature from three to 10 credit-bearing online classes from each institution for the "virtual exchange." The program, which is in its second semester for the 2017-2018 academic year, currently features 18 courses.