Opinion

Data from Google show what types of degrees and programs people are searching for.

In response to yesterday’s piece about the lack of generational turnover in college leadership, a particularly thoughtful comment deserved a post in itself. "Shannon" wrote:

If President Obama is to find solutions to college cost and student debt problems, he should talk more to leaders of comprehensive and community colleges that focus on access, writes Jonathan Gibralter.

I have this hypothesis that edtech companies are overly worried about sharing their future product roadmaps, and that they would in fact benefit from being more transparent and inclusive in the development and sharing of future plans.

When I first started working in academia as full-time staff, I was 24 years old, and had graduated only 18 months earlier. I envisioned myself still a student, and technically, since I was enrolled in a part-time graduate program, I was. My friends were still students, some undergraduate, some had moved on to graduate programs. I thought I was able to offer the “older” staff relevant opinions on what students would or would not like, which I hope was partly true.

I had a terrific experience as a doctoral student. The courses, the faculty, the other students all made for a wonderful educational journey.

GradHacker began as a bootcamp to introduce grad students to social media that would improve their lives. Most of our authors use a myriad of tech on a daily basis. All of us have Twitter, many are also on Google +, we own a diversity of smart phones, and our laptops are more an extension of our person than a tool. Technology is increasing important to academia, with online discussion and electronic publication becoming a frequent practice. Personally, I wouldn’t be where I am without Twitter and Wordpress opening a number of important windows of opportunity to me.

As President Obama convenes college leaders, Arthur M. Hauptman urges a focus on developing U.S. policies that encourage moderation, not escalation, of tuition.