Kindle for the Academic

Read this at Inside Higher Ed.

E-book readers are all the rage these days — from scenes of Oprah’s audience ecstatically receiving complimentary Kindles to models of Sony’s new eBook readers, this long-promised technology looks like it has finally arrived. Much has been written about the effect that e-books will have on the publishing industry (including scholarly publication), education, and its niche in the ecosystem of Extremely Complicated Handheld Devices Our Students Understand. But how useful are these devices for academics and how do they fit into our own personal scholarly ecosystems?

Read the full story HERE.

Blind Student Finds New Life Through Rio Salado

By David Staudacher, Rio Salado College PR Manager

“I quit high school because I was embarrassed about my vision problems,” said Deitrick Fields “I wore big glasses and I was still bumping in to things and people. I was too embarrassed to ask for help, and chose to quit school instead.”

That was the attitude Fields had when he was a freshman in high school. Today, Fields, 32, has a more positive attitude toward school and life.

“Now, I’m loving school. I earned my GED (General Education Development certificate) and I’m starting college classes,” said Fields. “My goal is to get a degree in broadcasting.”

Like thousands of students, Fields’ path to earning his GED started at Tempe-based Rio Salado College. The majority of students who turn to Rio Salado for help preparing for the GED exam have obstacles to overcome that have kept them from completing high school. For Fields, the obstacle is blindness.

Finding a school that could cater to his disability added an extra obstacle. He tried one school, but found the technology outdated and the lack of instructor support daunting. On the verge of giving up again, he found Rio Salado College, where he got the help he needed with online classes.

“I started with a different school, but it wasn’t keeping my attention,” said Fields. “I contacted other schools, but they didn’t know what to do with me. I looked into Rio Salado and they got me started in classes immediately.”

The prompt help came from Rio’s Disability Resources and Services department, which is set up to help students like Fields.

“We provide a variety of resources and services to promote a successful learning experience for students with disabilities,” said Terry Ferra, Disability Resources and Services manager at Rio Salado College. “Depending upon the disability and the resources we have available, students with documented disabilities may receive accommodations such as sign language interpreters, text in alternative format, and extended test taking time, to name a few.”

Material resources were only part of the support he received from the college.

“Rio’s classes were great,” said Fields. “And, anytime I needed Terry’s help, she was a simple phone call away. I also found tutoring help, and the teachers were easy to talk too. I found the classes very accommodating to my needs.”

While Fields is proud to say he earned his degree, he isn’t afraid to talk about his experience. He is using it to help motivate people in his situation.

“I try to motivate others like me,” said Fields. I meet a lot of people who are visually impaired and want to give up. But I tell them they can’t quit. There is a help out there and anything is possible.”
In the last two years, Fields turned his life around by earning his high school diploma, which led to a new job, and he’s starting college with a very positive outlook on life.

“I have a new attitude toward school and life and there is nothing I can’t accomplish,” said Fields. “Things are coming together the way I always wanted them to be.”

For more information about Rio Salado College’s Disability Services, visit http://www.riosalado.edu/disability_services/Pages/default.aspx.

I thought college was about thinking and learning

What is wrong with college students today?

This morning, ABC 15 reported that an ASU student was shooting out windows at a check cashing business. It also was reported that he took shots at officers.

Earlier in the week, a man ordering food near the University of Iowa campus was called a zombie and punched in the face.

Why are students acting out so violently? This behavior is foolish, and nothing is that serious to resort to violence. Shooting at police and punching people for no reason is unacceptable. What is wrong with students today? They have made it to college and they still don’t know the golden rule!

AZ tuition climbs closer to U.S. average

Increases, surcharges narrow traditional $1,000 gap
By Anne Ryman – The Arizona Republic

Steep tuition increases have brought two of three Arizona state universities within $200 of the national average for tuition and fees.

Arizona usually trails the nation by more than $1,000 in annual tuition and fees for public, four-year universities, according to annual surveys by the College Board, a non-profit group that tracks pricing trends. But this year, a tuition increase, coupled with an unprecedented “economic recovery” tuition surcharge designed to make up for losses in state funding, pushed the state closer to the national mark.

The national average for tuition and fees is $7,020 for the 2009-10 school year, according to the College Board’s report released Tuesday.

Read the full story HERE.

Class Teaches Personal Finance Basics

This story can be heard at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113966361.

In the 1960s, humanities were big. In the 1980s, it was all about high finance. Today at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, kids are looking for something a little more basic. It’s called ECON 223 but you might call it Real Life 101.

Twice a week, Professor Ann Witte plows through the fundamentals of personal finance.

Students dissect a real pay stub and learn about everything from gross and net earnings to COBRA, COLAs and co-pays.

It’s not exactly sexy stuff, but this course fills up minutes after registration opens.

“It’s dry, but this is what you need to know before you go out into the real world,” says senior Fatima Burney. She says she’s watched her older sister make costly mistakes that she doesn’t want to repeat — like ending up having to fly out of the country to get dental work because she let her insurance lapse.

“There was a huge amount I didn’t know, and you can get in a lot of trouble for it,” Burney says.

It may be stuff that people used to just learn on the fly, but as senior Caroline Phillips puts it, that clearly hasn’t worked out too well for the generation of grownups now losing their houses.

“Adults also seem to be kinda flummoxed by everything that’s going on, and well, maybe it didn’t work, and maybe younger people need to take courses like these and hopefully we can be a more responsible generation,” Phillips says.

“I actually have relatives and friends who have already graduated, they’re already doing jobs, and when I told them I was doing this class, they asked me if I could forward my notes to them,” says Burney.

‘You’re An Econ Major?’

Witte started the course about five years ago when she began to notice students completely unprepared to manage their finances.

“They would be racking up credit card debt at 18 percent and paying off student loans at 5.6 percent and it was just like ‘You’re an econ major?’ It doesn’t make economic sense,” Witte says.

Hoping to give students some real-life experience before they start real life, Witte has them invent a profile of a person and then make decisions — such as how to invest for retirement or whether to sign up for a flexible spending account.

“Most of those students wouldn’t have known what any of that stuff was. They don’t understand what’s going on,” Witte says.

Going through the exercises in class provides an “aha” moment for students, “and now they understand and they know what to do,” Witte says.

Ultimately, Witte says every student should take a class like this, and get those “aha” moments in the classroom, rather than making mistakes in the real world.

Amazon Kindle lightens textbook load, but flaws remain

Amazon recently gave away more than 200 Kindle e-readers to college students. Despite being loaded with the needed text books, some students found flaws and said prefered a traditional textbook.

Check out the full story at http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2009-10-13-amazon-kindle-college_N.htm

Colleges See Rise In Mental Health Issues

The other day, NPR had a great story about college students and mental health issues. If you are a student or have kids in college, this is worth a listen.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113835383

Watch what you say online; University Sues Student Blogger

You are always told to think before you speak, and the same goes before you post a blog, picture, movie or anything online.

Last week details were released about Butler University suing an undergraduate student for making libelous and defamatory statements about administrators on a blog he kept anonymously.

Details of the case became public when Bill Watts, an English professor at Butler, wrote a piece in the student newspaper and sent an e-mail to the university’s Faculty Senate in which he questioned “the practice of suing our own students for their utterances.” The e-mail provoked a written response from Bobby Fong, Butler president, who defended the lawsuit Tuesday at a Faculty Senate meeting, noting that “academic freedom does not provide protection for defamation and harassment.”

A full story can be found at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/16/butler

Online Language Classes See Record Enrollment

Rio Salado College’s foreign language program is booming. The Tempe-based college is seeing a record number of students signing up for its online classes.

“We have more students registered for classes at this point in the semester than we did all of last fall,” said Angela Felix, faculty chair of languages at Rio Salado College. “And last fall we saw our largest enrollment.”

Due to the convenience of online learning and community college affordability, many students from surrounding colleges and universities have opted to take their required language class at Rio Salado.

“Our classes start every Monday and never close or cancel due to low enrollment like other colleges,” said Felix. “Also, the flexibility of online classes allows students to complete the course at their own pace, and provides the option to take classes at the traditional 14 weeks or at an accelerated pace. They don’t have to drive to a campus and they can take the class at their convenience.”

According to Felix, the program’s popularity goes beyond affordability and convenience. Rio Salado’s foreign language classes use a state-of-the art voice recognition technology called Auralog, which allows students to perfect pronunciation, build their vocabulary, and improve sentence structure. Auralog tracks the student’s voice, graphing correct sounds and those that are incorrect. The diagrams help the students position their mouth for perfect speech.

“The voice recognition software really makes a difference in learning a language online,” said Felix. “Our online students do just as well as students in a classroom. Students who are hesitant or shy about saying difficult new words in front of a class enjoy the ability to perfect their pronunciation in a familiar environment where they feel most comfortable.”

For questions that cannot be answered with the program, the students benefit from Rio Salado’s 24/7 helpdesk support from expert instructors. The entire program is like having a private tutor assisting you along the way, said Felix.

While the cost of hiring a private language tutor is expensive, the cost of the program is relatively affordable, which is another contributing factor to the enrollment increase. With the interactive voice recognition software students aren’t required to purchase textbooks. Auralog provides all the materials students need to become proficient in speaking another language, said Felix. Auralog cost just $70 compared to textbooks that run at double Auralog’s price or more. The state-of-the-art software is the same that can be purchased for approximately $450 by the general public.

“Our students are really excited about this,” said Felix. “They love the cutting-edge technology over having to buy expensive textbooks, but really appreciate having a knowledgeable faculty member available for guidance and help.”

Rio Salado College’s seven language classes include: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish. The college also offers sign language classes, which allow students to use the social networking site YouTube to submit assignments. For more information about the language programs offered by Rio Salado College, please visit http://www.riosalado.edu/programs/general_education/Pages/languages.aspx.

Rio Salado Named America’s Greenest Campus

TEMPE, Ariz. – Rio Salado College has been named America’s Greenest Campus by Climate Culture on Wednesday for having the highest average of carbon reduction per person. The college also was awarded $5,000 to be put toward green initiatives.

Rio Salado College beat out nearly 500 colleges and universities across the country in the America’s Greenest Campus (AGC) contest, which started in April. All of the participating schools combined to save $4.5 million in energy costs and reduce their collective carbon output by 18.6 million pounds, which is equivalent to the annual amount of carbon emitted by 1,900 cars.

In effect, the award recognizes Rio Salado for having the smallest carbon footprint among all the entrants. Rio Salado’s official carbon footprint, as documented for the American College and Universities Presidents Climate Commitment, is .84 tons of C02e.

The miniscule footprint is the result of Rio Salado’s efficient learning formats, which include 550 online courses, in-person classes on-site at corporations and government agencies, and accelerated formats.
America’s Greenest Campus is the first nationwide contest among colleges to reduce the carbon footprints of their students, faculty, alumni and staff. AGC partners include Climate Culture, SmartPower, Sierra Student Coalition, National Association of Environmental Law Societies and U.S. Department of Energy.

“Environmental viability is part of the culture at our college,” said Rio Salado President Linda Thor. “We want to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”

Rio Salado College is planning to use the money to help fund the Community Garden Project at its main campus, 2323 W. 14th St., Tempe. The community garden will be open to Rio Salado students pursuing a degree or certificate in its Sustainable Foods Program and Rio Salado employees. Food from the garden will be used in the Café @ Rio.

Classes will emphasize the movement toward sustainable food systems, including researching food sources, purchasing locally, and building relationships with local producers. As students progress through the program, they will complete fundamental culinary course work, focus on real food and prepare for hands-on learning experiences in the Café. The Café will work toward a goal of zero-waste.

About Rio Salado College
Rio Salado, founded in 1978, is the largest in headcount of the ten Maricopa Community Colleges in Arizona. The college serves more than 60,000 students annually, more than half online, making it the “college within everyone’s reach.” Rio Salado offers general education courses as well as a variety of degree and certificate programs. For more information, visit www.riosalado.edu.

Contact:
David Staudacher, PR Manager,
w (480) 517-8472 c 480.316.9703