Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

College presidents sending mixed messages about technology

The report finds that presidents' beliefs about the mission of higher education are linked to their views on online learning.

Most college presidents say they use technology every day, yet only half say online courses are comparable to traditional courses—and nearly all say plagiarism has increased as a result of technology, according to a recent survey. However, college presidents also believe online courses and technology are the keys to higher education’s future.

These are the results from a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, in association with the Chronicle of Higher Education, in which 1,055 presidents from two-year and four-year private, public, and for-profit colleges and universities were surveyed online about technology use in higher education.

The results seem a bit contradictory: Though only half (51 percent) of the college presidents surveyed say online courses provide the same value as traditional courses, more than 77 percent say their institutions now offer online courses. Fifty percent also say that 10 years from now, most students will take online classes.…Read More

Jump in U.S. college enrollment highest in 40 years

The nation’s colleges are attracting record numbers of new students as more Hispanics finish high school and young adults opt to pursue a higher education rather than languish in a weak job market, reports the Associated Press. A study released June 16 by the Pew Research Center highlights the growing diversity in higher education amid debate over the role of race in college admissions and controversy over Arizona’s new ban on ethnic studies in public schools. Newly released government figures show that freshman enrollment surged 6 percent in 2008 to a record 2.6 million, mostly owing to rising minority enrollment. That is the highest increase since 1968, during the height of the Vietnam War, when young adults who attended college could avoid the military draft. Almost three-quarters of the freshman increases in 2008 were minorities, of which the largest share was Hispanics. The enrollment increases were clustered mostly at community colleges, trade schools, and large public universities, which tend to have more open admissions policies and charge less tuition. Still, the gains in minorities were seen at almost all levels of higher education, with white enrollment dipping to 53 percent at community colleges and 62 percent at four-year colleges…

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