The Final Four no college wants to make
There’s a March Madness bracket out there that might cause nightmares for campus technologists everywhere. It ranks higher education’s worst security breaches, and a related report says things probably will get worse.
Six reasons Google Books failed
Judge Denny Chin’s opinion in rejecting the settlement between Google and the authors and publishers who sued it for infringement of their copyrights can be read as both as a map of wrong turns taken in the past and as an invitation to design a better route into the digital future, reports the New York Review.
Cheating on the hard work of school reform
Cheating in school became education topic number one this week, except this time it wasn’t students cheating on tests–it was adults cheating for them, TIME reports.
Hacktivist Android Trojan designed to fight app piracy
There’s hacking, then there’s hacktivism. There’s malware, then there’s Android Trojans like the latest “threat” discovered by Symantec. Android.Walkinwat is like the Batman of mobile malware–a rogue vigilante seeking justice through means that also skirt legality, but for a good cause, PCWorld reports.
Group seeks labor eMails by Michigan professors
A conservative research group in Michigan has issued a far-reaching public records request to the labor studies departments at three public universities in the state, seeking any eMails involving the Wisconsin labor turmoil, reports the New York Times.
Virginia Tech fined $55K for response to shootings
Virginia Tech will have to pay the maximum $55,000 fine for violating federal law by waiting too long to notify students during the 2007 shooting rampage, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday.
Job searches require phone lessons for text-happy students
With piles of resumes and cover letters waiting to be sifted through, employers more and more weed out applicants with quick phone calls. That can mean trouble for recent college graduates with overdeveloped texting thumbs.
The misleading data and debate on class size
At a time when tight state budgets are pushing schools to increase class sizes at all levels, some of the most powerful voices in educational policymaking are telling us that size doesn’t matter, says Joanne Yatvin.
New federal rule could have worst impact on small states
Colleges with online programs might withdraw from states, mostly in the northeast, that have small populations and stringent requirements for distance education courses when the Education Department’s “state authorization” regulation kicks in July 1.
Marijuana college: Oaksterdam focuses on higher education
On the second floor of the downtown campus, a motley group of students listens to a lecture entitled “Palliative and Curative Relief Through a Safe and Effective Herbal Medicine.” Not the sexiest of topics on the face of it, but there’s a catch: this is Oaksterdam University and the medicine being discussed is marijuana, TIME reports.