http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2014/09/difference-engine
In their latest book “Aspiring Adults Adrift”, sociologists Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, of New York University and the University of Virginia respectively, fear that universities focus too much these days on students’ social lives at the expense of academic rigor.
Two out of three students at American universities and colleges change their major at least once during their four years on campus; one in five does so two or three times.
parents should let their preferences be known, but then leave the selection proces to their daughter or son, hopefully guided by a school councillor rather than merely friends. Another piece of advice was to visit as many campuses as possible beforehand.
getting a university degree, even merely a baccalaureate, is worth it nowadays. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the median annual wage of Americans with a bachelor degree, and lucky enough to have found (not easy) full employment, was $48,000 last year, compared with a little over $25,000 for those with only a high-school diploma. But college graduates in the lower quartile made no more than $27,000.
http://fcw.com/articles/2014/09/23/online-privacy-new-security-paradigm.aspx
Verizon’s 2014 Data Breach Investigations Report,
Fragmentation of online identity means that we as online users are forced to struggle with proliferating accounts and passwords. And we are regularly required to reveal sensitive information about ourselves and repeatedly enter the same information to create accounts that establish new, disparate online identities.
Establishing a system for trust management requires a common infrastructure for specifying policies that can protect yet enable access to data and systems, representing identities and credentials, and evaluating and enforcing an organization’s policies — all while maintaining privacy.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2466790/6-powerful-google-apps-productivity-features.html
Research Tool
The Research Tool adds a quick citation system. To launch the Research tool, click Tools > Research. You can also use keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl-⌘-Shift-l on a Mac and Ctrl-Alt-Shift-I on a PC.
Power Linking
Control-K or ⌘-K.
surveys and data with Sheets
Unless you’re an Excel power user, Google’s Sheets is probably full-featured enough to handle most spreadsheet needs.
Map It
Charts tab and select Map. GeoMap option
Slides solves the groupwork dilemma
Use Hangouts for face-to-face collaboration
http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx
eCourse outline
Part 1: Introduction and Engagement—Getting Users through the Door
- A brief overview of how library instruction has developed for more than 100 years
- A brief review of how library instructions is evolving to meet users’ changing needs
- Identifying what must be learned and how we can encourage effective learning (needs assessment)
Part 2: Preparing for Delivery—Thinking from a User-Centric Point of View
- A brief overview of instructional design techniques
- Thinking about the audience and how to create learning opportunities that stick
- The importance of preparation
Part 3: Delivering Learning for Positive Results—Providing Learning that Lasts
- Creating learning environments that facilitate success
- Keeping learners awake and engaged
- Encouraging learning through facilitation of discussion and exploration
- Setting learners up for success
Part 4: The End is The Beginning: Libraries as Onsite-Online Social Learning Centers
- What to do when formal learning ends and learners leave the learning face-to-face or online learning space
- Providing a place where learners can succeed
- Evaluating for success
- Returning to the beginning with new and improved learning opportunities
http://www.cnet.com/news/how-do-you-make-a-good-virtual-reality-game-oculus-developers-gather-to-find-out/
Avoiding making people sick is one of the key struggles in producing VR games. Developers large and small have said games need to be made in new ways to protect players from motion sickness.
Social Networks Are Driving More Online Sales And Influencing Offline Purchases
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-social-networks-drive-sales-2014-9#ixzz3DzGI8Gvp
Growth is sure to accelerate and conversion rates should improve as Twitter and Facebook roll out “Buy” buttons,