March 2007 Archives

Wikipedia, the free on-line encyclopedia has it's fair share of success and downfalls. It began as an experiment in 2001 and in just 6 years it has become the fast growing information source, with over 2 million articles.

Downfalls:
The writing is sometimes incomprehensible.
Anyone can edit (rewrite, add or revise) the information
The information is not always accurate.
Internet vandals are intentionally changing the information to wrong information.

Successes:
Information on any topic available at the click of your finger.
Free for anyone to access.
The largest on-line source to share information with others.
Written entirely by unpaid volunteers.
Some say this is a way to "democratize knowledge."

Shall academics contribute their expertise to wikipedia, ignore it, or ban it from students citing it on essays and examinations? What is the policy for referencing Wikipedia at your University?

Just published February 2007, Å. Gornitzka, P. Maassen, J. P. Olsen, and B. Stensaker attempt to answer the question; how is the University as an institution affected by ongoing processes of European integration? Click here for the PDF file of the working paper.

Kristen is a 2006 graduate of the HEEM programme. She currently holds the position of Study Abroad & Exchange Advisor at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Canada. Prior to the HEEM programme, Kristen studied English Literature at Queen's University (Canada), participated in an academic exchange program at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), was an intern with the International Secretariat of the University of Aarhus (Denmark) and worked in the Student Recruitment and International Initiatives Office of Queen's University (Canada). Below, is a short interview with Kristen:

Highlights of your programme experience?
"* Having the opportunity to explore remote corners of Europe,
* living and learning with people whose perspectives, opinions, beliefs, traditions and languages were very different than mine,
* having ample time to absorb course material and readings,
* collecting memories and developing friendships with individuals whose company has profoundly enhanced my life! "

A few words that describe your experience?
"A unique, valuable and enriching opportunity to study higher education from the inside."

Thesis topic? "Canadian Student Mobility and the Experience of National Identity Abroad"

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Virtual Iber-American University, composed of eight universities from four Latin-American countries and one university in Spain, is slated to open the virtual classroom later this year. Spain's University of Extremadura; Mexico's University of Guadalajara; Argentina's National Universities of Córdoba, Entre Ríos, and de la Plata; the University of Santiago de Chile; and Brazil's Federal Universities of Santa Maria and Paraná are among the collaborating universities. The goal is to offer low-cost, graduate studies in such areas as sustainable development, teacher training and cultural development. The participating universities will develop a virtual library, cultural resources and other on-line support services for students.
What do you think about the concept of virtual universities? Are the student learning outcomes equivalent to those students who are physically sitting in the classroom?

A Visiting Professor from Michigan State University, James Fairweather
By: Liu, Po-Yun, Taiwan

It is a great opportunity to participate in the lectures of Professor James Fairweather from Michigan State University. In these lectures on comparative education, Professor James Fairweather introduced the American higher education system and the trends in Finnish and European higher education in a comparative education perspective. In terms of the variation in different states and institutions, the American higher education system is a very complicated system. Therefore, Professor James Fairweather tried to use cases and data to explain this diversified system. Through his elucidation, it is easy to understand the rough picture and basic variation of the American higher education.

The Atlas of Student Mobility, 2006 UNESCO Report on International Educational Exchange released the latest figures on student mobility in November 2006. As countries continue to pursue internationalization strategies at the regional, national, state and institutional level, are these numbers driving the process? Why are students pursuing studies in these top 8 destinations?

The top 8 Global Destinations for International Students:
(estimated on 2.5 million students)
United States 22%
United Kingdom 12%
Germany 10%
France 10%
Australia 7%
China 6%
Japan 5%
Canada 3%

By: Xu Dehui, China

In the current China, hundred of thousands of students graduate from countless universities every year, and tens of thousands of students pursue their master’s degree study afterwards. Possessing a master’s degree doesn’t promise students any bright future even though they graduate from key universities. The extent of competition is so fierce and beyond our imagination, especially in big cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai. What I say, is what I see. Therefore, most students with optimistic economic background resort to study abroad to empower their ability in competition. That’s the major reason why I am here in Norway.

Personally, I made a very big step which I think was a turning point in my life. Having studied international trade for four years, I suddenly switched to the field of higher education which I had never touched before. The dream to become a businesswoman was replaced by a teacher occupation, which means more leisure time, good salary, two vacations every year and lots of respect in China. Teachers always say I have the quality and potential to be a good teacher in the future.

The World Bank provides financial and technical support to developing countries through low-interest loans and interest-free credit programs. Tertiary education has become one of the areas the world bank supports, since 1963 various projects have been approved. Below, are a few recent projects focusing on higher education:

*JUST ANNOUNCED* Nepal- February 2007-US $80 million
Goals: Improve quality and relevance of higher education and research by funding infrastructure and under-privileged students.

Afghanistan- May 2005-June 2010- US $40 million
Goals: Restore and reform the basic functions at a few core Universities.

West Bank & Gaza- April 2005 -December 2009- US $10 million
Goals: Strengthen regulatory role of Ministry, build efficiency and quality improvement into the system, and further develop the student aid program.

Ethiopia- September 2004-2009- US $40 million
Goals: Improve undergraduate and postgraduate education by deepening and expanding the current reforms, and provide developmental grants for capital infrastructure and various organizations associated with quality and training.

What do you think about the World Bank helping developing countries in the quest to improve higher education? Where does higher education stand on the priority list for funding when there are other, more pressing domestic issues?

Visiting Lecturer, Bruce Johnstone Visits Tampere
By: Leasa Weimer, USA

"It's the act of writing that clears the head." -Bruce Johnstone

This week, we were lucky enough to have yet another visit (we first met him in Oslo) by Bruce Johnstone, the scholar who termed, "cost sharing" in regards to higher education financing. His lecture focused on the need for more non-governmental revenue in higher education around the globe in order to sustain the quality and the growth. He argued that the rising cost per-student, public sector inefficiencies, rising enrollments, cost-sharing paradigm, limitations on government and taxpayer revenues, and competing public sector has caused this great need for other revenue than just simply relying on government financial support. However, he concluded there is no perfect solution as faculty entrepreneurship, philanthropy and cost sharing all have limitations.

“I like this picture because it encourages us to go over the bridge even though we don’t know what is on the other side.”-Timo

Timo is the Research Director in the Higher Education Group (HEG) at the University of Tampere. Since 2000, he has held a Docenture position at the Department of Management Studies. He received his PhD degree from the University of Helsinki in 1998, majoring in Administrative Science.

Early in his career, Timo dreamed of working at a university during the academic year and working on his farm during the summer months. However, that vision still remains a dream. During the summer months, he advises HEEM students on their thesis until July and the rest of the summer months he serves as a Scientific Rector of the Summer University in Lahti.

In the fall of 2006, he was a visiting professor in the Center for National Finance and Management in Tokyo. During his 3 month visit in Japan, in addition to practicing the Japanese language, he took part in research, gave lectures about the Finnish higher education system and wrote two articles. Japan and Finland are both undergoing reform. Japan is in the implementation phase of reform and Timo was lucky enough to take part in some of the reform discussions during his visit.

Even though Timo enjoys his travels, he always comes back to his roots in Finland, “I’m no international boy, I am a country boy.”

Martin Trow, known as the first scholar to describe the higher education transition from an elite system to a system for the masses, died February 24. His 1973 seminal paper on universal student access to higher education was written for the Organization Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Quoted in the UC Berkley News, "It was controversial at the time, but the change in higher education over the years has largely happened the way Marty described it," said Burton Clark, a professor emeritus of higher education at UCLA who shared an office with Trow when they were both young professors at UC Berkeley. "Countries still use that paper today to see where they are on the trend line."

Trow had written over 150 articles and 11 books. He worked at UC Berkley since 1958 and held many posts, including an 11-year stint as Director of the Center for Studies on Higher Education. He was professor emeritus of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley when he passed away from an inoperable brain tumor.

The European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2006 was recently published and the innovation gap between Europe and the U.S. and Japan seems to be decreasing. The EIS is an instrument designed by the European Commission, under the Lisbon Strategy, to measure and compare the EU countries performance in innovation, which includes a comparative analysis of innovation performance among U.S., Japan and the European countries. The Nordic countries and Switzerland continue to be the world leaders in innovation.

Based on their overall innovation scores, here is where the countries landed in the EIS ranking system:
Innovation leaders: Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Germany and Japan
Innovation followers: UK, Iceland, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, US
Catching-up countries: Slovenia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Portugal, Poland, Latvia, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania
Trailing countries: Estonia, Spain, Italy, Malta, Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia