Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Numbed by the Numbers, When They Just Don't Add Up

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
Not really a column about online learning, but the lessons in this article ought to inform anyone with an interest in media or public policy. Without context, numbers lose their meaning, and often, the reader must supply the context. For example: "When Harvard announced that it was allocating $2 million more to financial aid for poor students, bringing the total to $82 million a year, was it really being generous? Well, in 2004, $82 million was about six days' income from the Harvard endowment, and the heralded $2 million increase that prompted this fairly prominent article was the equivalent of what the endowment earned every 3 hours and 36 minutes."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 22, 2024 03:38 a.m.

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