Whither Higher Education?
Len Sherman, Len Sherman's Blog, July 10, 2013

Let's suppose, says Len Sherman, that "despite earlier flame-outs, this time is different and higher education will be disrupted as new technologies enable viable alternatives to the unsustainably high costs and declining value of traditional higher education formats." Then what? "Resistance from incumbent stakeholders will eventually be overcome by two large and powerful constituencies poorly served by today’s status quo: the 70% of US adults who do not have a college degree and the large number of employers challenged by a skills gap in the recruiting marketplace." Universities cannot respond simply by retrenching, concludes Sherman; they need to support those faculty members trying to extend their reach (and enhance their value) through the use of new technologies.

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5 Journalism Techniques To Borrow For eLearning
Connie Malamed, The eLearning Coach, July 10, 2013

I certainly agree with the main suggestion in the headline; I use techniques from journalism all the time, and the courses I offer have more in common with newspapers than with books. But there's journalism, and then there's tabloid journalism, and unfortunately this article tends toward the latter. Here are my alternative suggestions:

• Yes, write good clear headlines, but informative headlines, not 'catchy'
• Use callouts to reinforce main points, not merely to 'tease' the reader
• Leads should not just be 'compelling', they should tell the whole story
• Quote from knowledgeable sources, not just 'engaging' sources
• Close with a call to action, not merely a 'kicker'

These are good rules for journalism as well as e-learning, and indeed for any writing designed to inform rather than merely to intrigue and entertain.

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Alfred Hitchcock Explains the Plot Device He Called the ‘MacGuffin’
Mike Springer, Open Culture, July 9, 2013

I have often said that content in learning functions as a McGuffin (or MacGuffin - you can spell it both ways) - you need it to drive the plot forward, but it can be almost anything. This video features Alfred Hitchcock explaining the concept. "Despite the supposed centrality of the MacGuffin, the movie is always about something else... Hitchcock explains: The main thing I’ve learned over the years is that the MacGuffin is nothing. I’m convinced of this, but I find it very difficult to prove it to others."

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Is The Unpaid Internship Dead?
Susan Adams, Forbes, July 9, 2013

"The law says that when you work, you have to get paid,” says lawyer Justin Swartz. And yet "Though the laws are clear, employers in competitive, creative fields have ignored them." They they wonder why we have no respect for them. We have a long and well-established tradition of apprenticeships and cooperative placements, not to mention actual internships, where the students (or former students) are paid. We've even had them in our own office. These are good things. Unpaid internships are exploitation, pure and simple. They should be banned.

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