“But tomorrow may rain, so I’ll follow the sun.”
– The Beatles
We had a fantastic discussion with Laura Clark of the Virginia Community College System during last week’s Friday 5 Live. She shared her thoughts on the future of higher education. Please join us for our next Friday 5 Live on June 5.
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Updates on COVID-19 and Higher Education
The Chronicle interviewed Dr. Fauci last week regarding his thoughts and advice about college reopening in the fall. The gist: it’s too early to know if colleges could test widely for COVID-19 and each college’s reopening plans will be unique to location and population. Institutions continue to announce plans for the fall. Colorado College has revised its block system to accommodate a wide variety of learning options. As educators and administrators attempt to predict the future, The Chronicle continues its extensive reporting this week as well as Inside Higher Ed. WCET provides updates on relevant federal policy changes.
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Continued Confusion Over CARES Act Monies for College Students
In statements and a court filing over Memorial Day weekend, the Department of Education stated that it “does not intend to enforce guidelines” saying that emergency student grants from the CARES Act are only available for those students eligible for regular student aid. Financial aid administrators and associations representing colleges report that these new statements do not provide clarity regarding whether CARES Act funds can be distributed to undocumented students or other populations ineligible for federal financial aid.
"If you would have told me in October that we’d be talking about doing a flipped classroom I would have said, ‘Never in a hundred years.’ But here we are.” - Chad Davis, superintendent of East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa, Arizona
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Taking Career and Technical Education Online
Education Dive looks this week at initiatives to take CTE courses online, like automotive technology and cosmetology. This spring semester, many institutions pivoted quickly by having students complete online reading requirements and preparation for written industry certification tests. For the fall semester, programs are developing flipped classroom approaches where small groups of students will use class time to practice their skills and fulfill hands-on requirements. Students will continue the academic portion of their courses online.
11: The number of Instructional Designers the University of Waterloo is looking to hire |
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Supporting Faculty and Staff to Deliver Fall Online
As institutions wrap up the spring semester, faculty and instructional designers are turning their sights towards the fall and preparing for another semester taught fully or partially online. The result is increasing discussion about how to best support faculty in developing and delivering online courses. Inside Higher Ed this week highlights the work of several organizations including the Online Learning Consortium, which offers support and training resources regarding online course delivery.
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Creating Active Learning in the Socially Distanced Classroom
May 29, 2020
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