DrThomasHo's Comments

The Principal of Change : The Blended PLC

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 18:19:52 +0000

In #2, isn't the word "not" missing before "often"?

Edudemic : Share Your Favorite Web 2.0 Tool, Win A Fully-Loaded New Laptop

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:03:21 +0000

Diigo is my favorite because not only does it enable me to share my bookmarks & access them from anywhere, but it also enables me to annotate text on my bookmarked pages.

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sun, 7 Aug 2011 12:19:23 +0000

The problem is our K-12 education system isN'T preparing capable students for college...parents bear much responsibility as well for NOT instilling values FOR education!

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sun, 7 Aug 2011 12:13:38 +0000

In my professional experience, faculty DO INDEED receive annual review and post-tenure review invokes 'rehabilitation' after two consecutive unsatisfactory reviews. The problem is that this process isn't as rigorous as the process which governs promotion from non-tenured to tenured status! That process is "up or out" so IF YOU DON'T GAIN TENURE, YOU'RE GONE. Some faculty do NOT gain tenure, but the proportion varies widely!

Big Government : The Silliness That Was 'Save Our Schools' (Part 1)

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 18:03:08 +0000

While these fools were out in the hot sun marching, many of us were ONLINE (likely in AC :-) learning how to reform education at The Reform Symposium: http://ReformSymposium.com I blogged about this irony at: http://blog.learnstream.info/post/8527189092/rsco...

Big Government : The Silliness That Was 'Save Our Schools' (Part 1)

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 17:54:09 +0000

Unions enrich the union LEADERS...I doubt they do as much for the MEMBERS :-(

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 15:21:16 +0000

I loved when my "old" Dean characterized faculty politics for being disproportionate with the stakes being so "low" :-) Alas, I'm afraid the (especially financial) stakes are much higher now! :-(

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 15:09:23 +0000

As I said, faculty don't like to "get their hands dirty" I loved my School administration in the 1980s because my Dean changed his own oil and my Associate Dean did woodwork...they both held doctorate degrees! I suspect they wereN'T typical even back then :-)

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 15:02:47 +0000

I hope your comments help the "uninitiated' to realize the "complexity" of the situation because they are RIGHT ON! Regional accreditation is a huge "tail wagging the dog" while discipline-oriented accreditation, e.g. http://abet.org, has much merit.

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 14:57:32 +0000

If he's NOT in engineering or science, it's probably true :-(

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 11:19:29 +0000

This observation is right on! Although faculty "governance" is the norm, it's usually the administration who speaks for the institution to outside constituencies so faculty will have to become politically active to speak for themselves. I wonder IF they'll do that...I doubt it because it's NOT their way to get organized!

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 11:11:14 +0000

Most reasonable comment so far!

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 11:09:31 +0000

This isN'T the case in all disciplines. In engineering and science, grad students actually "work"

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 01:27:08 +0000

Some public colleges are even more "clever" by hiring state legislators to work for them! Talk about having "friends in the right places"

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 00:45:03 +0000

It seems that the road to REFORM would be lined with COMPETITION! Since private institutions are more "efficient" than public ones, some "school choice" mechanism would make sense in higher education just as it does in K-12 which is starting to offer choice in some states like Indiana. Is anyone aware of any such initiatives in public higher education? I sense the outrage in the comments, but be careful about "throwing the baby out with the bath water" because unlike our K-12 system, we STILL do have a higher education system which is the envy of the rest of the world! It COULD be even better, but I doubt that it's as "clear" about how to "fix" higher education as I think it already is evident how to improve public K-12 education IF the unions would just get out of the way! Some college faculty are in unions, but fortunately they are in the minority so you don't want to give the rest of them "reasons" to want to join a union!

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 00:29:02 +0000

The administrative overhead of large institutions is indeed bloated. I would guess that smaller (usually private) schools are "leaner" and "meaner" but in any case, it's the "administrative assistants" who you disdain who often "make the place work" so I wouldn't go after them! By the way, you're STILL in academia...it just doesn't "feel" like it :-)

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 00:24:08 +0000

Textbook costs are a different issue which is largely outside the control of the schools. If the university bookstore marks up a "cheap" textbook, it MAY be a private company like Barnes and Noble to which the university has OUTsourced the bookstore. I used books which were available through Amazon so the students didn't even need the university bookstore. By the way, if you want "more" outrage, check out the USED textbook business! The sad truth is that a $25 textbook is considered "cheap" these days so watch for more competition from e-books as well as technology initiatives from the campuses themselves! Technology is actually a bright spot for higher education.

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 00:17:13 +0000

Public colleges and universities "love" international students who pay their own way because they pay OUT-OF-STATE TUITION!

Big Government : Higher Education Reform Meets Professor X

Fri, 5 Aug 2011 22:58:53 +0000

Tenure is much more difficult to earn in higher education than it is in the public school system. In higher education, many probationary faculty do not get tenure especially if they don't ever get into the "tenure track" As this post explains, the problem in higher education is what happens AFTER tenure! To its credit, some institutions have instituted post-tenure review, but it isn't as rigorous as the review for earning tenure in the first place.

Mission Notes | Christian Music Blog : Why Does Worship Look Like How We Worship

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:33:59 +0000

Didn't you leave out the word "music" in the first sentence?