“Open Thread” Wednesdays have been taking place each week on ProfHacker since August 26, 2009. The discussion thread in the comments section is open for readers to use as they like (within reason, of course, and within the bounds of usual profhackery topics).
The standard questions we use to prompt your participation are these:
What’s on your mind?
How’s your semester going?
Do you need advice or feedback about something related to life and work in higher ed?
Do you have advice or feedback to share about something related to life and work in higher ed?
What would you like to see covered at ProfHacker?
Let us hear from you in the comments!
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7 Responses to Open Thread Wednesday!
kaitlinwalsh - May 5, 2010 at 3:30 pm
I was going to ask if anyone had any tips for interdisciplinary people on the job market, but I see you’re two steps ahead of me:http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Building-an-Interdisciplina/23080/(But if anyone has any more tips that weren’t covered in the post and discussion, I’m all ears. :))
timelord33 - May 5, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Hi everyone. I am interested in what schools are doing in response to the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 which includes new language around the issue of student authentication for students in online courses. My institution is conducting a pilot study of ProctorU (www.proctoru.com) this summer. ProctorU has online proctors who watch a student by web cam as he/she take their proctored online exam. ProctorU proctors also can view the student’s computer screen while they take their exam. Although some institutions might feel this is too “Big Brother” of an option to adopt, I feel it will give our online students an additional proctoring option which will be helpful for students who cannot come to campus for proctored exams. ProctorU comes bundled with Acxiom’s identity verification software so students authenticate their identity by correctly answering certain questions they should know about themselves (e.g., past residences, father’s middle name).I would be interested in ProfHacker doing a story on new technologies institutions are using for student authentication such as Acxiom’s product as well as technologies currently available that are designed to detect plagiarims such as TurnitIn.com or technologies designed to deter cheating such as online proctoring services like ProctorU. I would be willing to share the results of our pilot study with ProctorU with any interested institution.Thanks,Kelvin BentleyDirector of Online LearningNorthampton Community Collegetimelord20@me.com
dr_redrum - May 5, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Why do “top down” administrative decisions have such a bad reputation? After all, top administrators are the ones who have all the data. They know what the problem is, what needs to be done to solve it, and what resources are at hand that can be immediately put in place. If they didn’t know all this stuff they wouldn’t be in the top decision-ing position, now would they?
cschroeder - May 5, 2010 at 7:32 pm
XML, especially the use of XML and XML related programs to define, store, sort, and process data in humanities and social sciences fields that are not programming-centered fields.
jcmeloni - May 5, 2010 at 7:36 pm
@cschroeder you’d like me to extend this into something longer and more specific?http://chronicle.com/blogPost/A-Pleasant-Little-Chat-about/22746/NO PROBLEM. I only need one person to show interest. :)
hypatia - May 5, 2010 at 8:55 pm
This has nothing to do with what others have written so far, but what’s on my mind is the problem of what to make of my career and professional life now that I am in the last phase of it. I’ve reached a point where I am very cynical about academia (not about teaching and research, just about everything else–and it’s amazing how much more there is to academia, now). I wonder if I need to reinvent myself. Or just coast. Or carry on as usual. Each one of those possibilities looks difficult to the point of impossibility. Advice?
jcmeloni - May 6, 2010 at 3:01 pm
@hypatia As a newbie to academia, I have no standing to answer your question [I'm personally a reinventor but all situations are unique and complicated, of course]. I sincerely hope that others weigh in. We will have a guest post here soon that touches on these issues, from Bethany Nowviskie.