Opinion

Google releases innovative ideas and projects seemingly on a daily basis. With their commitment to creativity (and not being evil), Google supplies a steady stream of new tech. Recently, I came across a couple of Google projects that caught my eye.

In that case, Dean Dad, consider yourself flattered, because here are my Friday Fragments.

Any disappointment starts with a confession. I grew up infused with the idea that acquiring higher education is the most important professional aim in life. As a consequence, it is highly recommended that one share the company of people who have acquired university studies because through a dialogue with such persons, you grow up as an intellectual individual. Intellectuals always meet to discuss ideas and thoughts on how to change the world for good, don’t they?

OER textbook startup Boundless Learning is being sued for copyright infringement by Pearson, Cengage, and Macmillan. While the startup says that it's using openly licensed content to build its free textbooks, the publishers contend that the startup is copying topics, sub-topics, layouts and the like.

The price of content is too often overshadowed by the mode of delivery in the discussion about how to drive down the cost of educational materials, writes Caroline Vanderlip.

There must be something in the water in California. A few months ago, the world saw the viral video of campus police tear gassing protesters at a UC campus. This week, students at Santa Monica College -- a community college -- were tear gassed when trying to enter a public meeting to protest the proposed two-tier tuition plan outlined here.

One of the best aspects of working on a college campus is the enormous number of opportunities to hear knowledgeable people talk about interesting topics. Usually for free. Tonight was one of those opportunities.

This week we learned about the newest player in the online higher ed for-profit space, the Minerva Project. Check out Audrey's blog post and and Doug's article for some good background and discussion about Minerva.