College students use social media to cheat

Student use of cheat sites has decreased.
Social media and content sharing websites account for one-third of plagiarism among college students, and paper mills are far less popular than once thought, according to a report detailing the most common cheating methods in higher education.

iParadigms, creator of anti-plagiarism site Turnitin.com, released a report April 28 documenting where students are turning for research material. Educators submit their students’ research papers and assignments to Turnitin, which then compares the content to three information repositories filled with more than 14 billion current and archived web pages.

The study shows that legitimate educational websites are also among students’ most heavily used internet resources.…Read More

Full Sail University receives numerous honors from USDLA

In an effort to reward outstanding online institutions and brick-and-mortar schools that offer web-based programs, the U.S. Distance Learning Association (USDLA) presents honors to deserving universities, reports U.S. News & World Report. For example, the USDLA recently announced in a press release that Full Sail University won the 2011 International Distance Learning Award. This honor is annually given to organizations and individuals who demonstrate excellence in the delivery of distance education…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

How social media can help, and not hinder, during a crisis

Social media can help school leaders communicate effectively and quickly during emergencies—and these tools also can help leaders monitor a developing crisis.

All it takes is a quick read of the headlines to recognize the added stress on all educators and students as they deal with the potential for violence. Today’s news contains a rising number of stories about disruption at our schools—from an altercation between staff or students to disastrous events like shootings.

It’s important for school leaders to understand basic crisis management principles—and how social media might play a role in the event of a crisis, for better or worse. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Identify the risks…Read More

Educators question RateMyProfessor annual college rankings

More than 1 million professors are rated on RateMyProfessor.

Can 10 million college students be wrong? The popular site RateMyProfessor released its 2010-11 rankings April 26 – naming the top university and professors – as many in higher education remain skeptical of the site and said students shouldn’t base their school choices on RateMyProfessor’s reviews.

Students on RateMyProfessor, which compiles anonymous student ratings and written reviews of more than 1 million professors and instructors on 6,500 campuses, named Brigham Young University (BYU) the nation’s top school.

Florida State University, the University of Wisconsin – Madison, the University of Michigan, the University of Georgia, and the University of California Berkeley rounded out the website’s top-five ranking for the 2010-11 academic year.…Read More

How online education could stop the higher-ed bubble from bursting

There could be 25 million online college students by 2015, according to research.
Low-cost online courses could help higher education from becoming the next economic bubble that bursts and inflicts fiscal pain on institutions, investors, and students, said educational technology experts who want more inexpensive options for those seeking a college degree.

Economists and financial analysts first warned about the growing higher-education bubble in 2009. The bubble, they said, is fed by rising tuition, increasing enrollments, and crushing school debt that often can’t be paid by recent graduates who can’t find a good-paying job in a down economy.

And just as Americans were urged to invest in tech companies before the dot-com crash of 2000, or to buy property while housing prices skyrocketed in the mid-2000s, Americans are encouraged today – by everyone from family members to lawmakers – to sign up for college classes, even if it requires massive loans.…Read More

App maker: Don’t just play on your smartphone–study, too

Students in 20 countries use Watermelon Express.
When Ashish Rangnekar wasn’t studying for his business school entrance exam, he played games, perused websites, and checked eMail on his iPhone. Now he – and 75,000 other students – can do both simultaneously.

Rangnekar is the cofounder of Watermelon Express, an application available for the iPhone, iPad, and desktop computer that helps students prepare for high-pressure exams such as the GMAT, GRE, LSAT, and SAT using game-playing features, competitions with peers, and analytics showing precisely where students need to improve.

Watermelon Express uses reams of educational and test-prep content from books and open-source websites to create questions for seven subjects.…Read More

Roommate charged with hate crime in NJ webcam case

Clementi's body was recovered Sept. 29 in the Hudson River.

A former Rutgers University freshman who prosecutors said used a webcam to spy on his roommate’s same-sex encounter was charged April 20 with a hate crime and accused of deleting tweets and texts to cover up his tracks.

Dharun Ravi, 19, was indicted in Middlesex County on 15 counts including bias intimidation and invasion of privacy in events that predated the suicide of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, who in death started a national conversation on the perils of bullying.

Ravi had already faced invasion of privacy charges along with another Rutgers student, Molly Wei.…Read More

Ed Department: Half of community college students need remedial classes

Duncan spoke at Montgomery College in Silver Spring, Md.

Community colleges should tailor remedial curriculum for students who are unprepared for introductory English and math courses, and in some cases, developmental classes “hinder” student progress, according to a report released by the Education Department (ED) during an April 27 virtual symposium.

ED Secretary Arne Duncan and Second Lady Jill Biden spoke to educators and students at a symposium broadcast on the internet from Montgomery College in Silver Spring, Md., a two-year school with more than 60,000 students on three campuses.

ED officials and educators who led sessions at the symposium outlined “bridge programs” for adult learners who want to return to college after many years in the workforce, and customizing those remedial classes that come with high costs to colleges, students, and taxpayers.…Read More

Campuses not meeting demand for hybrid classes

The percentage of students who prefer online classes has skyrocketed since 2007.
College students enrolled in entirely-online courses might prefer more face-to-face learning, according to a survey that says higher education is in need of more “hybrid” courses.

Hybrid or “blended” classes, shown by the Education Department (ED) to be more successful than web-based education, include online curriculum mixed with occasional in-person lectures.

Support for classes that involve at least some traditional classroom-based education is shared by prospective college students as well as current students.…Read More

Poll: Youth without degrees at end of job line

Almost half say getting real-world experience before going through more school was a key factor in their decision.

The nation’s economic upheaval has been especially hard on young people trying to start their working lives with a high school education or less. Only about a third are working full-time, compared with two-thirds of recent college grads, according to an Associated Press-Viacom poll.

Most say money was a major reason they bypassed college, and the vast majority aspire to more education someday.

Christopher Cadaret’s been fixing TVs and stereos for fun since he was 10 years old and thinks he’d like to work in electronics or auto repair. But four months after he dropped out of high school, he hasn’t found any kind of job.…Read More

Universities told not to edit their Wikipedia entries

 

Wikipedia records 150 edits every minute.

 

Campus communications officials shouldn’t aggressively monitor and change their university’s Wikipedia page unless the entry has been “vandalized” by another editor, a Wikipedia spokeswoman said during a recent discussion on how educators are using the vast online encyclopedia.…Read More

Google tablets expected to challenge iPad

Android-based tablets will make up 39 percent of the market in 2015, Gartner predicts.

Apple’s iPad will maintain tablet supremacy for the next four years, but higher education soon could see an influx of tablets that operate with Google’s operating system (OS) during the same period, according to an April 11 report from IT research company Gartner.

After changing the tablet market the way the Apple iPhone “reinvented” the smart-phone market, the iPad and its iOS—Apple’s operating system—account for almost 70 percent of media tablets, while Android-based tablets account for 20 percent of the market, according to Gartner.

Google’s Android OS, however, will see steady growth over the next four years. By 2015, Google will own 39 percent of the tablet market, compared to the iPad’s 47 percent, Gartner predicts.…Read More