"The new Minister of Higher Education and Science Esben Lunde Larsen is on a mission to ‘cultivate the elite’." reports Jan Petter Myklebust.  Photo: Esben Lunde LarsenIn an interview with the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende Larsen recently said that although Denmark had the most favourable student financial support system in the world, the system should be adjusted so that students could study for more hours per week during the term, and to treat elite students preferentially. "The elite have not to a sufficient degree been prioritised in our education system," he declared. "Danish students shall not be treated like a grey mass without differences in talents or ambition levels. To a larger degree we will point at the leaders who have outstanding abilities and talents and offer them specific training at a higher level than their peers." Lunde Larsen (36) was appointed to his post in the Liberal Løkke Rasmussen government in late June, removing ‘innovation’ from the portfolio of the previous Social Democratic ministry. Research and science ministers with a PhD are rare in Scandinavia. The last one who comes to mind is Gudmund Hernes in Norway (1990-95). But Lunde Larsen holds a masters degree in theology and a PhD from Copenhagen University.  A former teacher, a post-doc and a regional politician, for two years he also chaired the Board of the Danish State Educational Grant and Loan Scheme, or SU - presiding over the above-mentioned financial support system. The minister is from the so-called ‘Bible-belt’ in the Ringkøbing area, where he received 11,000 personal votes, and the media has tried to allude to him as a kind of religious fundamentalist.Read more... Source: University World News

Forums in eLearning allow learners to connect and collaborate in eLearning environments, making them an ideal addition to both asynchronous and synchronous instructional strategies. In this article, I’ll offer 7 tips that can help you integrate forums into your next eLearning course. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Where did it come from? This blind respect young people give their elders, children their parents, followers a deity. These students didn’t know me. I didn’t have a master’s degree. They hadn’t read my book. I hadn’t written one. Throughout the semester, I would see one boy grooving at a...The post Pedagogue or Peer: Addressing the Social Dynamic Between Tutor and Tutee appeared first on InformED.

Twitter has demonstrated potential to facilitate learning at the university level, and K-12 educators’ use of the microblogging service Twitter to facilitate professional development appears to be on the rise. Research on microblogging as a part of teacher education is, however, limited. This paper investigates the use of Twitter by preservice teachers (N = 20) in […]

This report explores the new contours of friendship in the digital age. It covers the results of a national survey of teens ages 13 to 17; throughout the report, the word "teens" refers to those in that age bracket, unless otherwise specified. The survey was conducted online from Sept. 25 through Oct. 9, 2014, and […]

Join us at our 2015 International Education Conference in Las Vegas, at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino! In addition to the Education Conference, we are also hosting a Business Conference that will be held on the same days, at the same venue. One registration fee will allow you to attend both conferences. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Installing solar panels on your roof can reduce dependence on fossil fuels and make your home comfortable and save on electricity bills. Although the initial cost is high, the federal and local government offers rebates to individuals and businesses that use them, while many local utilities and funding agencies are happy to enjoy the leases ...

by Bruce V. Bigelow, xconomy After establishing a new office of online education earlier this year, UC San Diego recently unveiled plans to develop massive open online courses—or MOOCs—to better prepare workers for jobs in two specialized tech sectors. Under a "global skills initiative" announced by Mountain View, CA-based Coursera, UC San Diego said it will [...]

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal Tablet vendors shipped 44.7 million units in the second quarter of 2015, a 7 percent drop compared to the same period last year when the segment notched 48 million devices sold and a 3.9 percent decline compared to the fist quarter of this year, according to a new report from International [...]

by James Connington, Telegraph UK students have a number of options available to them, ranging from looking abroad for countries with lower tuition fees, to forgoing university altogether and opting for an apprenticeship or school leaver programme. One option that has the potential to flourish in this new environment of high fees and student distrust is [...]