HigherEd

Where do you go to school to be an entrepreneur?

Matt Brezina is a Schreyer Scholar graduate, a member of our External Advisory Board member, founder of Xobni and now Postagram. Oh, and a real mensch! He has some very interesting thoughts about how to become an entrepreneur. For those not familiar with Y Combinator start at their site: http://ycombinator.com/

I’ve always been interested in starting companies. Ten years ago I was an undergrad at Penn State. I was told by professors, my parents & the press that the best way to start a company was to go to graduate school, become an expert in your field and start a company with a classmate. Ten years ago grad school probably was the best place to meet potential co-founders. That’s what Larry and Sergey did. That is how Filo and Jerry met.

So I went to grad school.

I did not love my time stuck in the dark corners of the control systems lab at the University of Maryland. The opportunities to evaluate and work with potential co-founders were lacking. Note* I realize this concentration would have been higher at a place like Stanford or MIT. Luckily I met Adam Smith on Craigslist during a summer internship, we became roommates, did a lot of brainstorming over hot pocket dinners and eventually started Xobni together.

From the outside Y Combinator may simply look like a new disruptive venture fund. And it is. But the secondary effects may be even larger.

I often say Paul Graham doesn’t do YC for the money, he does it to teach. He is a professor in a new type of university. And as an entrepreneur himself, of course it is a university he founded.

Read it all YC: The new grad school | The Blog Of Matt Brezina.

Better late than stupid, Mossberg sees “tablets” as growing market

Jan 10th, 2011

by Christian Brady.

2 comments

This is the future!

OK, this one get’s a new tag: “no duh.” The brilliant and prescient Walt Mossberg has caught up with 2010. From the CHE.

Expert Predicts a Deluge of Tablet Computers on Campuses
Cloud computing will also be a major trend in higher education, says the influential “Wall Street Journal” technology columnist Walt Mossberg.

For the record, this is not being a “futurist” or even an astute industry observer, this is recognizing what is already occurring.

“Furthermore,” said Mossberg, “I see a future where students will access information available in what I call ‘the ether’ and will use that information in an uncritical manner.”

Visionary, that’s what he is.

Technology, Tenure, and Peer review

Dec 8th, 2010

by Christian Brady.

No comments yet

My brother Steve and his friend Tony Pittman have a technology podcast called Real Tech for Real People. After the show there is often further discussion and after Episode 62 Steve and I stayed on the line to discuss the issues raised during SBL regarding the role of online biblical studies in promotion and tenure and my proposal. As anyone who know us (or have siblings of their own) might guess Steve and I have different views on this issue. He is an academic in the field of business logistics and questions, among other things, the very necessity of peer review. I think it is worth the 38 minutes to give it a listen.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:22 — 17.6MB)

Learning something new about learning

Sep 7th, 2010

by Christian Brady.

5 comments

Brooke Lester @AnummaBrooke shared this article via twitter (see Jim, it can be very useful, or at least as useful as a blog), Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits. The article summarizes several decades worth of research regarding how we learn and what ought to be understand as best practices in learning habits.

The findings can help anyone, from a fourth grader doing long division to a retiree taking on a new language. But they directly contradict much of the common wisdom about good study habits, and they have not caught on.

For instance, instead of sticking to one study location, simply alternating the room where a person studies improves retention. So does studying distinct but related skills or concepts in one sitting, rather than focusing intensely on a single thing.

The article goes on to relate how numerous studies have shown that we, everyone, gather and retain knowledge best we when learn it in smaller doses in various contexts. Alternate studying vocab, reading, and conversation when learning a new language, for example, rather than spending a long time trying to memorize that vocab list. Moving locations can help as well. Study ancient near eastern creation myths in your room for a while and then the next day study it again, in a completely different location. Our mind apparently takes in the ambience of our learning environment and by varying the backdrop our mind is able to highlight the commonalities of the two situations, bringing the subject matter out in relief, as it were.

This latter point really resonated with me. As my job has required me to travel more in the last four years I have been flummoxed as to why I have so much better retention of articles read on a plane or in an airport than when I am sitting in my comfy office. (And I can often remember where I was in addition to remembering the content.) Now I know why that is so and having it explained means that I can be more directive in my study habits…and those of my children. Read the article, I think you will learn something as well.

UPDATE: Someone on facebook linked to the abstract of one of the key studies discussed. This is very interesting to read. They concluded:

We conclude therefore, that at present, there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general educational practice. Thus, limited education resources would better be devoted to adopting other educational practices that have a strong evidence base, of which there are an increasing number. However, given the lack of methodologically sound studies of learning styles, it would be an error to conclude that all possible versions of learning styles have been tested and found wanting; many have simply not been tested at all. Further research on the use of learning-styles assessment in instruction may in some cases be warranted, but such research needs to be performed appropriately.v

Teaching religion at a secular university

Jul 19th, 2010

by Christian Brady.

4 comments

NB: Rick’s comment made me realize that I did not clarify at the outset that I was not commenting directly on the merits of Howell’s hiring or firing. I was commenting on the practice of allowing an organization or donor outside of the university dictate the hiring or firing policies.

The University of Illinois is receiving a lot of flak right now over the decision to not reappoint a lecturer of Catholic thought. From Inside Higher Ed:

The way the University of Illinois teaches Catholic thought has attracted widespread attention in the last week with the news that a long-term instructor, Kenneth Howell, was told that he would not be rehired, following complaints about an e-mail message he sent to students, which many viewed as misinformed about homosexuality, and as hostile to gay people.

The full piece is worth reading as it presents the arguments and concerns quite clearly. It seems that for decades UI has had an arrangement whereby St. John’s Catholic Newman Center vets, approves, and pays the salary for this instructor who then teaches courses within the religious studies department. Needless to say, this has brought up questions of separation of church and state (UI being a state school) and academic freedom.

As someone who has always taught religious subjects in secular schools, both private and public, as well as having directed both Jewish studies and religious studies programs, I have very strong and clearly formed views about such hirings. I can certainly understand the origins of such a position and payment situation. It was a common scenario in Jewish studies as well where the college or university had its roots (or assumptions) in Protestant traditions and the only way other religions were to be taught was through external funding. Such funding often comes with pressures and guidelines from the donors. But that is not where UI is anymore. They have a well established department of religion with top-notch faculty.

In order for religious studies to maintain its integrity and for the proper academic (as opposed to apologetic) teaching of the subject matter, it is imperative that the department and faculty make hiring decisions according to appropriate guidelines. In such a manner the process can be assessed and put under the usual rigors of the hiring and tenure process rather than being at the capricious whims of the donor. (I wonder what the outcry would have been had St. John’s not renewed Howell’s contract?) Catholic thought is certainly a field that is appropriate for a department of religion and I hope that UI funds a permanent tenure-line appointment within the department of religion.