This post comes from the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. The growing popularity of e-learning may pose one of the greatest challenges currently facing traditional educational institutions. The questions often asked are how, rather than whether, to embrace this new form of instructional delivery and how to create an appropriate learning environment for the learners. Educational institutions in Hong Kong have the option of adopting programmes or learning materials developed in other parts of the world for local learners, or not. Such an approach of acquiring learning materials is not without risks in terms of the suitability of materials embedded with cultural contents ‘foreign’ to local learners, or in terms of the suitability of assumptions in the communication context. What are the issues involved in the globalization of education through e-learning? This paper explores – from a critical-dialectical perspective – the implications of globalization on educational policy through cross-border delivery of educational programmes by e-learning, with particular attention given to the threat of cultural imperialism. The paper concludes that Hong Kong seems to be coping with ‘cultural imperialism’ rather well because of its unique history of being a cross-road for East and West, and also with some recommendations to e-learning providers to mitigate the potential damage of cross-cultural delivery of e-learning. Click here to read the rest of this article.

This post comes from Fox Business.CareerBuilder.com, the nation’s largest online job site with more than 23 million unique visitors and over 1.5 million jobs, released the results of its latest survey, conducted by Harris Interactive(R: 47.52, -0.46, -0.95%), tracking projected hiring trends for 2008. The survey, titled “2008 Job Forecast,” was conducted from November 13 through December 3, 2007 among 3,016 hiring managers and human resource professionals in private sector companies.

“The job market of 2007 showed resilience amidst economic uncertainties and produced north of 1.3 million new jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com. “Looking forward, plans for hiring are tracking below last year’s projections, but point to continued job creation. Thirty-two percent of employers CareerBuilder.com surveyed plan to add full-time, permanent employees in 2008, down from 40 percent who planned to do so in 2007. Employers are taking caution in the New Year, anticipating the advent of a slower, but still steady hiring environment.”

Full-time

Thirty-two percent of employers plan to increase their number of full-time, permanent employees in 2008. Eight percent plan to decrease staff levels in 2008 while 47 percent expect no change. Thirteen percent are unsure.

Part-time

Twenty-one percent of employers plan to increase their number of part-time employees in 2008, down from 23 percent who expected to do so in 2007. Six percent plan to decrease headcount in 2008 while 58 percent expect no change and 15 percent are unsure.

Hiring By Industry

Comparing select industries, solid job creation in Professional and Business Services and Information Technology is expected to carry into the coming year. Forty-five percent of employers in these sectors plan to add full-time, permanent employees in 2008, followed by 37 percent of employers in Transportation and Utilities, 34 percent in Financial Services and 32 percent in Hospitality. Healthcare and Retail employers are also planning to expand staffs at 28 percent each.

Hiring By Region

Staff expansions are expected to remain strongest in the South and West in 2008. Thirty-six percent of employers in the South and 34 percent of employers in the West plan to add full-time, permanent employees compared to 31 percent in the Northeast and 28 percent in the Midwest.

EIGHT MAJOR TRENDS FOR 2008

“Time-to-hire continues to be a challenge for employers as they struggle with a shortage of qualified candidates,” said Ferguson. “Nearly one-in-five employers report it typically takes them two months or longer to fill their open positions and 40 percent say they currently have open positions for which they can’t find qualified candidates. Recruitment and retention efforts are becoming increasingly competitive and job seekers are likely to benefit in the New Year in terms of higher paychecks, more allowances for flexible work arrangements, special perks and better career advancement opportunities.” Click here to read the rest of this article.

This post is from the University of Arkansas Daily Headlines.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Not everyone who takes classes from the University of Arkansas is physically on the Fayetteville campus. Thanks to technology available through the School of Continuing Education and Academic Outreach students anywhere in Arkansas and around the globe have access to courses taught by world-class University of Arkansas faculty.

The demand and availability of these courses is steadily growing. From 2003 to 2006, the enrollment in distance-delivered credit courses at the school doubled. Currently, 22 fall degree programs are approved for distance delivery, with a total of 133 online course offerings scheduled for spring 2008.

“We are committed to taking higher education across Arkansas and around the world to help individuals and their regions address the economic and cultural imperatives of our 21^st century global community,” said Bob Smith, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.

In recognition of this commitment, the school is taking on a new identity: the University of Arkansas Global Campus.

“Global Campus is more descriptive of our vision, since our scope and reach is not limited to the physical boundaries of the Fayetteville campus,” added Linda Beene Ballard, dean and associate provost. “As we continue to rapidly expand our educational programming, we want everyone to be aware that a University of Arkansas education is within their reach. People who have not sought or completed a higher education degree because they are location-bound or challenged by family or career responsibilities now have viable educational opportunities.”

Those opportunities are made possible both online and through interactive video and satellite transmissions. The University of Arkansas is the hub of the Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network, a fiber-optic system that potentially enables faculty to share large amounts of data through the Internet. The school’s mobile television production resources, which include live video and satellite transmission, provide a powerful communication link from the University of Arkansas Global Campus to anywhere in the world.

“A growing number of students who couldn’t come to the Fayetteville campus for any number of reasons are now completing their undergraduate degrees and pursuing advanced degrees through the Global Campus,” said Ballard. “To this end, our instructional design specialists are working with university faculty and academic departments to develop even more flexible learning opportunities for the citizens of Arkansas and the world.”

Early partnerships with faculty and leaders of the College of Education and Health Professions have produced several degree programs approved for distance delivery, along with a number of courses. A new partnership with the Sam M. Walton College of Business for the Executive MBA program for business professionals in Shanghai emphasizes the reach of the Global Campus. This program paved the way for negotiations to deliver another degree program in China, as well as courses in Europe.

The Global Campus also offers programs for traditional University of Arkansas students. Through the Office of Study Abroad and International Exchange students may earn credit through instructor-led study abroad trips or formal exchange programs. Approximately 20 percent of University of Arkansas undergraduates enroll in credit courses that are taught in another country. Efforts also are under way to design an international certificate to be offered by the Arkansas World Trade Center, based at Rogers, Ark.

The term University of Arkansas Global Campus will not replace the school’s formal name - the School of Continuing Education and Academic Outreach - but will be used in all future communications and marketing for the school.

Are you looking to take control of your career in 2008? About.com has just posted an article by Gatlin Education Service’s CEO, Stephen Gatlin, on this subject. Here is the article.

New Years Resolutions for Job Seekers. 

In addition to losing weight and spending more time with family, many people will vow to improve their professional lives in the coming year. According to research, one of the top 10 most popular New Year’s resolutions is job-related. However, in the busy months that follow, many of these goals are forgotten and never achieved. Here are 10 keys you need to realize your professional objectives and take control of your career in 2008:

1. Explore career options
As the year winds down, reflect on your job by asking yourself these questions: Does my current position utilize my professional abilities and talents? Am I maximizing my earning potential? Am I doing what I was born to do or something that I’m passionate about? If the answer is an overwhelming “no,” assess your work style and personal.

2. Brush up on job skills
On the other hand, if your career suits you, take time to better yourself at what you do. Stand out from other employees by completing the latest training and updating your industry expertise. With an Internet connection, workforce development is at your fingertips. You can peruse TheeLearningCenter.com, the world’s largest compilation of career training courses in a number of languages, from the comfort of home to find convenient options that will bolster your skill sets and strengthen your resume.

3. Meet with your boss
Instead of guessing at your strengths and weaknesses, gain the input you need directly from your boss. Schedule a lunch or sit down over coffee to get their opinion on skills that will boost your advancement possibilities. Meeting regularly to review performance will help you re-evaluate goals and set priorities.

4. Set realistic career goals
Identify what you want to accomplish professionally in 2008 and write them down in order of priority. Your goals may include improving current work performance, being promoted to a job that you’re qualified for or making a complete career switch. Just make sure each goal is specific and attainable.

5. Establish a plan of action
Think of the required steps you need to take to get your 2008 career goals underway, and put them down on paper. Give yourself deadlines to follow, but keep them realistic. Remember that becoming CEO of a company does not happen overnight.

6. Start preparing now
What are you waiting for? The downtime of the holiday season is a perfect time for you to get a head start on your career goals. Make a list of career challenges to conquer this week and celebrate your achievements along the way. The small steps today will lead to big accomplishments in the New Year.

7. Get organized
Take time in the slow holiday weeks to rearrange your files so they are more organized and efficient. Start by archiving anything you haven’t sourced in the last year into a file cabinet further from your desk, leaving the files used daily closer and less cluttered.

8. Analyze your work day for efficiencies
Practice better time management in the coming year. Are you making your phone calls when people are normally at their desk (8:00 - 9:30), rather than in meetings or at lunch (10:00 - 1:00)? Are you spending too much time on certain activities? Make a to-do list before you leave the office and dedicate the next day to completing those tasks.

9. Boost work relationships
Strong relationships with people you work with can develop in small ways. For example, keep a positive attitude when working with others or key co-worker birthdays into your calendar and recognize them on their special day. Maintaining good relationships with colleagues will not only make the office a place you want to be but can boost work productivity. And, you never know who may get promoted and become your next boss.

10. Follow through on actions
Taking control of your career in 2008 will not happen unless you follow through. Visualize your success regularly and don’t be afraid to ask for help when necessary. More importantly, pursue your goals aggressively and resolve not to give up on reaching them.

Being in the career training industry for more than 20 years, I’ve noticed that the holiday season is a great time to achieve career goals before the rush of the New Year. If you get a head start on your career resolutions now, 2008 will be the year to reach your full potential and finally take charge of your career.

This post comes from the International Association of Educators for World Peace. My experience, each morning, may not be unlike yours. We pick up our newspapers or turn on the TV-in New York, Lagos or Jakarta-and peruse a daily digest of human suffering. Lebanon. Darfur. Somalia. Of course, as Secretary General of the United Nations, I at least am in a position to try to do something about these tragedies. And I do, every day.

When I took on this post, nearly five months ago, it was without illusions. A distinguished predecessor famously remarked that it was “the most impossible job in the world.” I myself have joked that I am more secretary than general, for after all the Secretary General is no more powerful than his Security Council is united. In the past, as today, that unity has often been elusive. And yet, I remain as optimistic as the day I first entered this office.

That might be hard to understand, given the dimension and intractability of many of the problems we face-nowhere more so, perhaps, than in the Middle East. With demands growing on every front, from peacekeeping to humanitarian assistance to health, the U.N. today is being called upon to do more than ever before, even as the resources to do these jobs grow proportionately more scarce. On the other hand, consider some of the ways in which the world has changed, in recent years, to the U.N.’s advantage. Click here to read the rest of this article.

This article is by Jeff Bush of Insight Schools and comes from Madison.com.

Insight School of Wisconsin, one of the state’s newest publicly chartered virtual schools, could not disagree more profoundly with the recent Court of Appeals ruling that a virtual school violated Wisconsin law because its teachers and students are not entirely located within one school district’s borders.

The ruling is a step back for education. It hurts Wisconsin’s quest to be economically competitive in a high-tech, online educational world. Most disturbingly, it hurts some of the neediest students we’re all trying so hard to help.

The Appeals Court ruling denies what is already happening in schools. As a former teacher and principal, let me point out the obvious: Technology has changed the classroom. Online schools, video programming and Web-based distance learning have obliterated school district borders. The world is now our classroom. Click here to read the rest of this article.

We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of our new Interior Design online training program. This nationally recognized Interior Design course is an exciting interactive certificate program where you will learn how to create spaces for living, working, and enjoyment. The program focuses on Design Theory, Design Process methods and Design Studio Work. The learning sequence study included are the design elements and principles, color theory, programming, space planning and the design of residential, commercial, and retail spaces. This course is only offered in partnership with major colleges and universities.

This post comes from The Chronicle’s Wired Campus Blog.
Not long ago I attended a party at a house where there didn’t seem to be any books. It was a young couple that I didn’t know well, and there were plenty of new furnishings and decorations, and a large flat-screen TV — but no bookshelves.

Last week Doris Lessing complained about a similar phenomenon on a much larger scale. In the speech she prepared to accept this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, she describes regularly visiting rich schools and even universities where she is told that some students don’t read books at all, and that the library is half-used.

“We are in a fragmenting culture,” she wrote, “where our certainties of even a few decades ago are questioned and where it is common for young men and women who have had years of education to know nothing about the world, to have read nothing, knowing only some speciality or other, for instance, computers.”

She goes on to lay the blame on the Internet, which she said “has seduced a whole generation into its inanities so that even quite reasonable people will confess that once they are hooked, it is hard to cut free, and they may find a whole day has passed in blogging and blugging etc.”

Most of the speech has nothing to do with technology, and instead involves scenes of poor people in remote parts of Africa who, despite the odds, hold on to a love and respect for books. One woman clings to a torn section of Anna Karenina, which has found its way to her after a visiting United Nations official carelessly left it behind. It’s a stark contrast in attitudes, and one that is meant to be damning to Internet-happy folks at U.S. schools and colleges. To read the rest of this article click here.

Yale’s Open University now offers free open access to seven online courses.  These courses are taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at Yale University. The aim of the project is to expand access to educational materials for all who wish to learn.

According to Yale, “Open Yale Courses reflects the values of a liberal arts education. Yale’s philosophy of teaching and learning begins with the aim of training a broadly based, highly disciplined intellect without specifying in advance how that intellect will be used.

This approach goes beyond the acquisition of facts and concepts to cultivate skills and habits of rigorous, independent thought: the ability to analyze, to ask the next question, and to begin the search for an answer.

We hope these courses will be a resource for critical thinking, creative imagination, and intellectual exploration.”

Free courses are available in Astronomy, English, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology and Religious Studies.

This post comes from Education Week. Districts are choosing on-site coaches as a way to enhance their teachers’ instructional practices and thereby improve the chances of their students’ success.When the Adams 12 school district introduced a new mathematics curriculum to elementary schools several years ago, leaders here turned to an idea both old and new to make the change a success. They created a position dubbed “student-achievement coach” that gives each school a skilled teacher ready to urge her colleagues forward in three areas: putting math across, helping English-language learners in the classroom, and using assessment to improve instruction.

Adams 12 already had coaches for the teaching of reading and writing, and so had experience with the progress teachers can make when help from an accomplished colleague is woven into their work.

“We think the coaching model has been a critical component in the rise of student achievement,” said Superintendent Michael F. Paskewicz, citing three straight years of growth in state test scores, including two years in which Adams 12’s increases outstripped those of the other districts in the Denver metropolitan area.

Click here to read the rest of this article.