Is Your College Just an Understudy for Harvard?

JHU Seal

JHU Seal

Ok, so some students at Johns Hopkins University are upset that a new movie The Social Network, is being filmed on their campus. Their beef is that Johns Hopkins is standing in for Harvard in the movie, which is based on the true story of Mark Zuckerberg, who is credited with being the creator of Facebook while he was a student there.  My first though was that they must have chosen Johns Hopkins because it is in Maryland and therefore at least a few degrees warmer than it is up here is in Massachusetts.

But it wasn’t climate of even budget that took the films’s producers to Hopkins.  It seems that Johns Hopkins was something of a second choice for the movie producers because it wasn’t possible to film on location at Harvard. The Baltimore Sun‘s article on the controversy is funny, albeit quite sarcastic.

The movie, like some Hopkins students, couldn’t get into Harvard, which has a longstanding policy against commercial filming on campus. So the production has opened some old college-admissions wounds.

“The general consensus is, a lot of kids are not pleased,” said Lorre Atlan, 20, a junior majoring in biomedical engineering. “It’s obvious they [the filmmakers] could get Hopkins and not get Harvard.

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NITLE Programs This Week and Next

NITLE

NITLE

This is the NITLE Professional Development News that went out today. It focuses on my programs for the coming two weeks. They are going to be be keeping me busy. But they are interesting programs, so they should be fun.

Dear Colleagues,
As campuses continue to respond to the challenges of globalization as well as on-going economic restraints, I wanted to take a moment to call your attention to three upcoming NITLE programs relevant to both situations.

Using media elements with an international perspective to introduce complex issues such as research ethics can offer a new dimension to the lab-based science class, stimulating and enriching discussion. Faculty members in the natural and social sciences who want to integrate an international perspective into lab-based curricula in this way are encouraged to sign up for “Science and International Perspectives.” Continue reading

Academic Freedom Media Review, October 23-30

Compiled by Scholars at Risk

Israel Deports a Bethlehem U. Student Because She Is From Gaza
Matthew Kalman, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/29

The United States Provides $45 Million for Higher Education Commission
U.S. Department of State, 10/29

Academia and its Discontents
Jia Ahmad, Nneka McGuire and Nicholas Wong, Columbia Spectator, 10/29

Continue reading

Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review

Here, once again, is the weekly Academic Freedom Media Review from one of those organizations I wish would just go away.  Go away because there would simply be no more need for it.  Unfortunately, all over the world scholars come under attack for their scholarship or teaching.  It’s said that knowledge is power and history is full of examples of the power of ideas to rock the foundations of societies of political structures.

And so scholars, researchers, students, and even administrators find sometimes find themselves subject to restrictions on their academic freedom  that include obstruction of their research, prohibition of its publication, bans against being able to teach, requirements for ideological review of publications and course materials, unofficial intimidation from any number of sources, blacklisting, media smear campaigns and the like.  All to often scholars might even be subject to arrest, extended imprisonment, torture or even assassination.

The Scholars at Risk Network (SAR) is an international network of universities and colleges that responds to this by raising awareness of the issue, getting scholars in particular danger out of danger, and through other programs described on their site.

Academic Freedom Media Review
October 9 – 23, 2009

Compiled by Scholars at Risk

Hundreds of Palestinian Students Are Blocked From Travel to Foreign Universities
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/22

Colleges and Universities Across Pakistan Are Closed Following Deadly Attacks
Shailaja Neelakantan,The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/21 Continue reading

NITLE’s New Online Presence

Revised NITLE Site

Revised NITLE Site

Some of you may have already noticed, but NITLE’s web site has gotten a face lift or, more accurately, a radical redesign of the sort that would be worthy of an episode if anyone were ever to launch and “Extreme Web Makeover” series. I couldn’t be more pleased and I’m very grateful to the task force that coordinated this project for the new public face they have given us.

This is my personal blog and I don’t often use it to talk so much about work, but I can’t help myself, so let me point out just three things that, for me, are highlights of the new main site and its complementary presences.

I should point out that while we were asked for our opinions of the site at various points in it preparation, I was not part of the task force. So I am approaching the site as a user or visitor like you, not as a guide involved in its design who can tell you why things were set up the way they were. I am also expressing my opinions, which may not necessarily be representative of NITLE policy.

We might as well start at the main page. There is a lot of information presented on this page, and yet it is done clearly and in a manner that is easy to navigate and that quickly takes on into sought after information without multiple stops en route. If you are interested in something on the front page and you click on a link, more often than not you end up directly on a page containing the information you need, even if that click takes you out of the NITLE site.

That, in fact, is the other thing I like more about the front page. It sends a clear message from the start that NITLE is an organization that works in partnership with our participating colleges so the page itself presents a dialogue.
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I also like that it brings together, right up front, all that is going on with NITLE. We’ve got some cool projects in the queue for the NITLE labs and we’ve got some good programming coming up, too. In the Daily NITLE Column you will find items from NITLE’s new blogs.

Liberal Education Today has been re-focused and revamped to become Liberal Education Tomorrow, fitting for a blog covering emerging technologies. Perspectives is geared toward the technology leadership at a liberal arts college. Techne, the one which I will be contributing to most regularly, is about integrating technology for teaching and learning at liberal arts colleges.

There are other things I like as well, but I said I would mention only a few. There are bugs and glitches, too. I’ve already pointed out two that are being corrected. But this is the world of information technology and everything is always a work in progress. That’s why things move forward at the pace they do. And that’s why we need you comments.

We’d all like to know what you think of these sites, so visit them and post your comments or contact our staff.

Morocco to fund overhaul of universities / Conference for Arab youth and media takes place in Tunis

This is good news.

The Moroccan government will provide universities with resources to boost reforms under a far-reaching 2009-20012 education emergency plan.

The government and universities signed 17 agreements to promote higher education at a ceremony on Tuesday (October 6th) presided over by King Mohammed VI. With nearly 12.6 billion dirhams earmarked for the improvements, the plan will enlarge and improve infrastructure, revamp facilities and instruction, increase universities’ intake capacity and promote scientific research.

But the investment is much needed.

The backdrop for the recent agreements is a 2007 World Bank report on education in the Arab world that sharply criticised Morocco for failing to implement widespread reforms. The report cited a lack of systematic evaluation of students, an alarming rise in dropout rates, the small budgets allocated to schools, and the inability of educational institutions to prepare students for the workforce. Following these findings, King Mohammed VI urged the government to create the emergency education plan.

You can read the full story “Morocco to fund overhaul of universities” on Magharebia.com, but I taught for six years in the Moroccan university system, and Moroccan university students deserve a system of education that is worthy of their academic talents and skills. 

Another article by Mona Yahia also, on Magharebia.com, discusses a recent meeting of Arab youth throughout the region.
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Young people from all over the Maghreb and the wider Arab world met in Tunis on Monday (October 5th) for a three-day seminar on moulding the media to match the aspirations of Arab youth.

Delegates from Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar, Egypt, Yemen, Palestine and Sudan drafted a number of recommendations at the event, which took place under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Physical Education in collaboration with the Arab League.

“The topics discussed were important and motivated us to exchange expertise with participants from various countries, and discuss with them means of developing youth-oriented information in the Arab world, especially with the appearance of other media that can threaten youth,” said Karima Weslati, a member of the Tunisian media, who took part in the event.

The full story is availabe at”Arab youth call for media that reflect their interests” on Magharebia.com

I’ve got an iPhone App!

Icon for Africas Islamic Experiences- History, Culture, and Politics

Icon for Africas Islamic Experiences- History, Culture, and Politics

I’ve got an iPhone app! I don’t mean a new app on my iPhone. I’ve far too many of those already. I mean that is I have created an iPhone app…kind of…

What has really happened is that a book I helped edit has been turned into an application. The volume comes, in part, from a conference on Islam and Africa I helped organize as a graduate assistant under the direction of Ali A. Mazrui for his Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University. Before leaving the Institute when I began working for NITLE, my colleague and I had edited a number of the conference papers and begun initial steps toward assembling a volume on the topic. But as the book was not to be simply conference proceedings, but rather a truly cohesive collection of essays on the subject, the project wasn’t finished.
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I wasn’t sure what happened to the project until Professor Mazrui sent me the book. I later discovered the app by accident when I was searching for applications that might be useful for the teaching of Arabic.

Though I am far from an impartial critic, I found it is an interesting and impressive volume, composed only in part of essays developed from papers delivered at the Islam and Africa conference. Because of this, I can’t take much credit for the book. It was, as Professor Mazrui so graciously acknowledges, a team effort, but it is definitely his vision, engagement and leadership that originated the project and saw it through to its completion.

Academic Freedom Media Review, October 2-9, 2009

The Academic Freedom Media Review is a collection of articles compiled weekly by Scholars at Risk. This is the review for October 2-9, 2009.

Iranian Professors Worldwide Call for Independent Ethical Conducts of their Peers in Iran
Payvand Iran News, 10/9

Palestinian University Is Shut Down Amid Fight For Control
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/8

Law to back academic freedom
Guy Healy, The Australian, 10/7

Egypt’s top cleric plans face veil ban in schools
Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press, 10/6

File under – ‘Silly comments by middle-aged university managers’
Ferdinand Von Prondzynski, Irish Times, 10/6

UNL faculty report aims to protect academic freedom
Melissa Lee, Lincoln Journal Star, 10/6

US complains about Turkmen student travel ban
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Saudi cleric sacked after attacking mixing at new university
AFP, 10/5

Palestinian Students in Gaza Ask Egypt to Allow Entrance to Universities
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/5

KENYA: University closed indefinitely after violent protest
Dave Buchere, University World News, 10/4

Visa snarl-up leaves thousands of Pakistani students barred from UK
Declan Walsh, The Guardian, 10/4

IRAN: Students protest on first day of new term
Jonathan Travis and Daniel Sawney, University World News, 10/4

Overthrown Honduras Culture Minister, Now at Harvard, Watches Strife From Afar
Noah S. Rayman and Elyssa A. L. Spitzer, Harvard Crimson, 10/2

Is Multitasking Making Me Stupider? (More stupid? Oh Hell! I don’t know. Blame it on the multitasking. What was I writing about again?)

It seemed to me that my local NPR station, WBUR in Boston, had been giving undue attention to the findings of a Stanford University study of “Cognitive control in media multitaskers,” recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. I first heard it reported on one of the news programs, Morning Edition or All Things Considered. Then Talk of the Nation did a show on it. Then a nationally syndicated show produced by WBUR, On Point. Counting them up, that’s only three times the story was featured, but it seemed like more, perhaps because I found it so disconcerting.

Anyway, the study found that “heavy multitaskers” have trouble filtering distractions and switching tasks compared with those who do it less. In other words, those who multitask most are the least proficient at it.

As someone who is myself a heavy but not particularly proficient multitasker, I found that surprising, but possible. I had thought it was just me. But the study also found that frequent multitasking affects cognitive abilities across the board, and this I found worrying. Is multitasking making me stupid? In trying to become more efficient, am I not only being less efficient, but also less able to follow an argument and to construct and argument?

At least that might explain some of the postings in this blog when I go back and read them. Blame it on the multitasking.

Here is the abstract of the article by Eyal Ophir, Clifford Nass and Anthony D. Wagner of Stanford.

Chronic media multitasking is quickly becoming ubiquitous, although processing multiple incoming streams of information is considered a challenge for human cognition. A series of experiments addressed whether there are systematic differences in information processing styles between chronically heavy and light media multitaskers. A trait media multitasking index was developed to identify groups of heavy and light media multitaskers. These two groups were then compared along established cognitive control dimensions. Results showed that heavy media multitaskers are more susceptible to interference from irrelevant environmental stimuli and from irrelevant representations in memory. This led to the surprising result that heavy media multitaskers performed worse on a test of task-switching ability, likely due to reduced ability to filter out interference from the irrelevant task set. These results demonstrate that media multitasking, a rapidly growing societal trend, is associated with a distinct approach to fundamental information processing.

Putting my personal anxieties aside and assuming the study replicated and the findings supported by other research, these are obviously findings that have enormous implications for educators. Unfortunately his is not the first study to suggest there are such problems with multitasking.
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In a 2001 study Joshua Rubinstein, Ph.D., of the Federal Aviation Administration, and David Meyer, Ph.D., and Jeffrey Evans, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan raised questions about the efficiency of multitasking. They used the metaphor of a “mental CEO” to describe brain’s prefrontal cortex and other key neural regions establish priorities among tasks and allocate the mind’s resources to them. They found that this process of allocation of resources reduces efficiency and slows down processes.

Earl Miller, a neuroscientist based at MIT dismisses multitasking as a myth, saying that what we are really doing is task switching. “People can’t multitask very well, and when people say they can, they’re deluding themselves…The brain is very good at deluding itself.”

Yet there is no question that multitasking is a fact of life, an increasingly unavoidable fact of life. March Prensky argues that the minds of those who are being raised with technology are changing (Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do they Really think Differently? pdf file).

Technology has become such a major part of our lives that we sometimes forget how new it is. In 1991, the year that an 18 year-old first year college student was born, Microsoft had just released MS DOS 5.0, the internet was first made available for public use, and the first web browser was introduced. Windows 3.0, the first version of Windows to be widely accepted by the buying public wasn’t introduced until 1992. The participants in the Stanford study were college students. Some say the Digital Native was born after 1980, others say 1990. But if we use the analogy of language acquisition, today’s colleges students became fluent early, but still aren’t native speakers. Between 1990 and 1997, the percentage of households owning computers more than doubled, increasing from 15 percent to 35 percent, and in in 2000 that number was still only 60%.

Moreover, the capacity of computers to run multiple applications at the same time really efficiently is relatively recently. Remember how often Windows 95 crashed? AOL Instant Messenger only came into being in 1997, Facebook in 2004, YouTube in 2005. Text messaging via mobile phones, while possible for quite some time, is a very new phenomenon in the United States, not really taking off until 2004-2005. So perhaps the generation now in college are not yet digital natives. Or maybe they are, but they are the children of immigrants, and thus not quite acculturated.

Not matter what, the findings give me pause. Maybe I need to turn of my IM client and email notifications. It’s a start. I’ll be out of touch for the next hour or so.

“Raising Pell” Week of Action

Below is a message from the United States Student Association. Raising Pell grants is a goal I support. Anything that will help tomorrow’s students graduate with less of a debt burden than most of my friends and I. Join the week of action is you agree.

Students!
“Raising Pell” Week of Action starts TODAY! Join thousands of students across the country in demanding Student Aid Reform NOW!

Take Action throughout the week!

TUESDAY: Media BLACKOUT!

– Message your Senator through Twitter: Visit the Raising Pell website at http://tinyurl.com/yc4vcos, select your state, and tell your Senator you want student aid reform NOW!

– Change your Twitter status to “Join the Nat’l Mvmnt to “Raise Pell!” Amplify your voice & demand affordable higher ed. Visit http://tinyurl.com/yc4vcos to get involved! Pls Retweet! #SAFRA

– Change your Facebook status to: “TODAY from [enter time] at the [enter location], students will be demanding affordable higher education for all! Join the National Movement to “Raise Pell!” by calling your Senator and demanding Student Aid Reform Now! Find out more at http://tinyurl.com/yc4vcos
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– Download the Raising Pell! Image from the USSA website and set it as your Facebook and Twitter picture.

– Send in letters to the Editor and Opinion/Editorials to your newspaper! For tips and samples, visit www.usstudents.org/our-work/legislative/safra-take-action.

Tuesday is only the beginning! On Wednesday and Thursday we’ll continue amplifying the student voice with calls and faxes to the Senate! Let’s show Congress the power of students AND DEMAND STUDENT AID REFORM NOW!

– U.S. Student Association