CU-Boulder: Eliminate journalism and create iSchool

At schools that have closed down CS, journalism has been closed down too.  Colorado is now talking about closing down journalism, and to create a School of Information.  Is that the first step towards closing down CS, too, in keeping with the trend?  Isn’t it ironic, that CS innovations have led to the closing of Journalism, but that’s somehow joined with taking down CS, too?

The University of Colorado should eliminate its standalone journalism degree and create both a new school of information and an institute to study the “global digital future,” according to documents released Tuesday by the Boulder campus.

CU officials announced in August that they would take unprecedented steps to possibly close down CU’s traditional School of Journalism and Mass Communication, citing budget cuts and the rapid evolution of media.

Through the program discontinuance process, a CU panel and top campus leaders have recommended shutting down the traditional school and relocating its tenured professors elsewhere on campus.

via CU-Boulder chancellor: Eliminate standalone journalism degree after 2012 – Boulder Daily Camera.

What’s wrong with online courses

I liked this piece in the NYTimes about why online courses aren’t taking off.  The author’s point about online courses “lacking the third dimension” (social, face-to-face interactivity) is a good one (and that’s where OpenStudy comes in), but the side point he makes is more interesting to me.  The media of online courses just is nowhere near what it needs to be!  Powerpoint slides, PDF tests, and no feedback is just abysmal, and we can do so much better!

When colleges and universities finally decide to make full use of the Internet, most professors will lose their jobs.

That includes me. I’m not worried, though, at least for the moment. Amid acute budget crises, state universities like mine can’t afford to take that very big step — adopting the technology that renders human instructors obsolete.

via Online Courses, Still Lacking That Third Dimension – NYTimes.com.