UK University dropout steady at 22%

An drive to reduce the number of university dropouts has had no effect, according to a report from a committee of MPs. The proportion of students who fail to complete their degree has remained at 22% for five years.

Edward Leigh MP, chairman of the committee, said, “Five years from our last report on student retention the percentage of students dropping out has not budged from 22%. This is despite some £800m being paid to universities over the same period to help retain students most likely to withdraw from courses early.”

Poorer students, older students, disabled students and those with families – non-traditional students the government is keen to attract – are more likely to drop out. In 2005, St George’s hospital medical school, Oxford University, the Royal Veterinary College, Warwick and Bristol universities had below 3% drop out rates.

‘For universities with consistently low retention rates the funding council’s regional teams should agree specific improvement plans,’ the committee’s report says, citing personal difficulties, dissatisfaction with courses and  financial pressure as reasons why students drop out.

A third of teachers ‘struggle with technology’: study

A third of teachers struggle to use the technology schools are equipped with and want more support and training, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), U.K. NFER’s first Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey (TVOS), which was completed by about 1,000 teachers, including heads and newly qualified classroom teachers, shows widespread use of information technology in schools 80% said it had made a difference to the way they teach.

But a ‘sizeable minority’ (33%) felt they lacked the necessary skills to exploit the technology available to them and needed more support and information  to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) in lessons, NFER found.

However, NFER said when compared to research conducted in 2004, the findings suggest that teacher competence in using ICT has improved overall. Two thirds (67%) said they had the ICT skills to exploit the technology available to them and 62% said ICT helps to raise pupil attainment. Teachers also said ICT leadership in schools could be improved. Just 27% of respondents felt that the leadership of ICT pedagogy in their school was inspirational and only 44% said that their school is innovative in its use of ICT.

Czech science award for school students

The Czech company Ceska Hlava, in collaboration with the Czech Senate and the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, has launched a competition for secondary school students.  Entitled ‘Innovating Minds – Czech Awards for Young Europeans’, the natural sciences and technology competition is open to all European students up to 19 years of age.

The prize will be awarded in five categories: information and communication technology (ICT), health and quality of life, environment, product and technology innovations and design and architecture. Applicants must submit their project synopsis online, including an independent expert’s review provided, for instance, by a science teacher. The applications for the Innovating Minds Award 2008 have to be submitted before  10 September. The award ceremony will then be held in October 2008  in Prague. An international jury will select the winners in each category. The jury is made up of scientists, politicians and experts  from industry

IIT enters China

As part of an MoU, NIIT will work closely with the Wuxi government to develop human capital for the emerging IT industry, in the region.

NIIT has also signed another  MoU with Wuxi New District with similar objectives for the district. Through these partnerships, NIIT will set up IT training centres and offer  its industry training programmes,  while the Wuxi government will  provide support for enabling preferential policies at national, provincial and municipal levels.

Indian publishing major MBD to provide customised
e-Content

Publishing house MBD group will invest INR 100 crore (USD25 million) within the next three years to develop customised educational e-Contents for schools, corporate houses and those preparing for competitive examinations. The new initiative would function under the banner of MBD Alchemie.

“We have already invested nearly INR 30 crore in the last eight months and would invest an additional INR 100 crore within the next three years. From a product-based company, we are reinventing ourselves as a service company,” says Monica Malhotra Kandhari, senior director of MBD group.

E-learning is considered to be the future in delivering content. According to an estimate, the e-Learning market was about USD7 billion in 2004 and is expected to touch USD28 billion by the end of the current year.

The company will create customised services for well-defined verticals such as content business, technology in education, teacher training modules, campus solutions, retail and technology services among others. The content would be provided through an interactive web portal. It will be a knowledge portal but will be excellent on its user interface, navigation and high level of interactivity. IBM would provide technology support, as agreed under the new partnership between the two industry giants.

“In future IBM will also promote MBD Alchemie services both in India and abroad through our huge network,” says Ramesh Narasimhan of IBM. Students, executives and those preparing for competitive exams could log in and register their name. They could avail services round the clock as per their requirement and convenience. Students can ask questions directly to an expert, interact with teachers and take part in a mock test to hone their skill and capability.

Microsoft India opens Tech Lab at IIT Madras

Microsoft India has inaugurated a technology laboratory at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM). The IITM Microsoft Windows Technologies Lab has been envisaged as a hub that will harness innovations through research, and provide a  platform for faculty and students to leverage the platform for a variety of research and trainings. T.A Gonsalves, head of CSE, and Will Poole, vice president of Microsoft, inaugurated the laboratory.

The laboratory will offer MS technology for the faculty and students to work with. In addition to helping students with their B Tech and M Tech projects, as well as MS and PhD research, the laboratory will have experts from Microsoft visit the institution  regularly to conduct seminars and workshops. The company envisages  that an integration of research and innovation will in the long term  enable incubations from the Institute  and beyond.

Compiere opens new development center in India

Compiere, which sells open source business products, has announced the opening of a product development center in Noida, India, located near the capital of New Delhi.The company says the new development center is needed for its recent growth in “capabilities, skills and geographical presence” to address the expanding demand for its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) products.

The center, which is fully operational, is staffed by application software development and test engineers with experience in enterprise application functionality, Java development, Web architecture, automated application testing and customer support. 

Pearson’s 2007 profit exceeds analyst estimates on educationPearson Plc, the publisher of the Financial Times newspaper, reported 2007 profit that surpassed analyst estimates as the company expanded its education business and sold some assets.

Pearson has been selling assets such as foreign-language newspapers to focus on the Financial Times and its education business, which publishes textbooks and provides testing for nurses, business-school students and stockbrokers. Last year, Pearson bought online course company eCollege.com for $538 million and sold its French newspaper Les Echos for 240 million Euros to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA. Sales rose 4.3% to 4.16 billion pounds. Net income dropped to 284 million pounds ($564 million) from 446 million pounds a year earlier, because of a tax charge stemming from the sale of its Government Solutions unit. Education, Pearson’s largest business, will record ‘another year of good profit growth,’ Pearson said.

International Book Bank recognizes McGraw-Hill Education for book donations

The International Book Bank, a non-profit that ships donated books to developing countries, will honor McGraw-Hill Education, a leading global provider of educational materials, with its first President’s Corporate Partner Award at the Book Bank’s20th anniversary celebration on April 12, 2008.

Over the last ten years, McGraw-Hill Education generously donated books to the International Book Bank to help increase global literacy. The books are housed in the International Book Bank’s 43,000-square-foot warehouse in Southwest Baltimore, where custom shipments for literacy programs in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America, are created and sent from the Port of Baltimore. Dr. Charlotte K. Frank, Senior Vice President of Research and Development from McGraw-Hill Education, will accept  the award at the International Book Bank’s event.

SkillSoft survey shows need for more on-the-job training
 
SkillSoft, a leading provider of on-demand e-learning and performance support solutions for global enterprises, government, education and small- to medium-sized businesses, today announced a SkillSoft-commissioned survey indicated that eight out of ten employees would have higher job satisfaction levels if they received more on-the-job training. But, a SkillSoft survey also found, nearly three of those same 10 workers don’t even have this opportunity, because they don’t have access to any ongoing training in their workplace.

The information came to light as part of a comprehensive survey commissioned by SkillSoft in which more than 200 employees working in entry-level to executive positions in IT, sales and marketing, customer service, finance, human resources and administration were interviewed. Roughly 80% of workers said they would be more satisfied if they were given additional training. Nearly 28% of respondents said they work in companies where there is no ongoing training to help them further develop their skills.

The SkillSoft-sponsored survey was conducted by Infosurv, Inc., a full service market research company. Invosurv’s online sampling partner for this survey was conducted by Infosurv, Inc., a full service market research company. Invosurv’s online sampling partner for this survey was Greenfield Online, who developed the first online respondent panel in 1994. More than 40% have been in their field for over 10 years and almost half were from the field of information technology. The study included participants from all areas of the United States and more than 60 % have been with their employer for more than three years.

Year of exceptional growth at Scholar360

Scholar360, a leading eLearning solutions and services provider, reported that 2007 was a year of exceptional growth and innovation.

In 2007, Scholar360 experienced an increase of over 300% in number of new clients, including most notably, a partnership with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), a specialized agency of the United Nations. This collaboration enables members in universities in all 50-member
states to collaborate on projects and discuss issues. Scholar360 was the first LMS to combine social networkingand other Web 2.0 tools (Wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, communities, live chat, etc.) with the academic features in a Learner Management System. In 2007, Scholar360 added several new features to allow for greater flexibility and customization by clients, crucial reporting capabilities, and full support of the SCORM 2004 standards.

ePals in eLearning Agreements with National Geographic, Intel

ePals Inc., an Internet learning community, and National Geographic Ventures, which creates and distributes digital content for the National Geographic Society, have announced a partnership that will enhance the ePals site with National Geographic content to create unique learning experiences for classrooms, students and families around the globe.

Initial topic areas of focus for the new alliance include maps and geography, habitats, global warming, natural disasters, people and culture, great leaders, water and weather. In each area, classrooms and teachers will be able to choose among projects that emphasize collaboration, 21st-century skill building and the use of school-safe communication tools to seamlessly work with learners around the world or down the block

Japan grants USD13 million for enhancing literacy in Afghanistan

Japan’s aid package will be delivered through UNESCO for enhancing literacy within the framework of the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) which was launched by the Director-General of UNESCO in 2005 as a global framework to support the developing countries to promote literacy towards the realisation of Education for All (EFA).

LIFE is officially adopted in Afghanistan as a national literacy framework which offers a platform for all the literacy players to plan and implement their respective activities in a harmonised manner to collectively achieve the National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) literacy goals.  Funded by the Japanese Government, life will provide actual literacy learning to the 6,00,000 illiterate youth and adults especially women in 18 selected provinces in Afghanistan.
In order to tackle the enormous literacy challenges, to date LIFE has already  put in place in the county by organising the LIFE coordination working group with the initiative of Literacy Department of the Ministry of Education and UNESCO.

Since 2001, Japan has contributed a total of USD 3.2 million for ‘Safeguarding Bamiyan Cultural Heritage Site’ and a total of US$ 500 thousand for ‘LAND Afghan literacy project’ to UNESCO in Afghanistan, in support to these activities.

NGC student documentary competition in Hong Kong

With support from the Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau and Hong Kong Parents Teachers Association, National Geographic Channel (NGC) Asia and Wiseman Education kicked off the Think Again Documentary Making Competition 2008 in Hong Kong.

1,000 students, forming over 200 teams, have signed up for this year’s competition. The organisers received responses from almost 40 teams sent forth by schools in Shenzhen and Suzhou, China, in addition to the local and international schools submissions in Hong Kong.

The themes for the competition this year include science and technology, among others. The aim is to challenge students’ language, thinking and analytical skills, presentation, as well as cinematography and editing techniques.

Korean parents support English-only classes

According to Korean online education site Topia Education, 61% of 624 parents with children currently in middle school said they support having English-only classes, while 31% opposed it.

The majority said such classes will help their children learn English more effectively, which could also help them become more globalized. Only 6% said the method would reduce spending on private education.

However, 75% of respondents said they prefer such classes to be limited to the English subject. About 18% said they do not want these classes at all, while only 3% said all classes should be taught in English.

Those against the English-only classes said they are concerned with the teachers’ capabilities of teaching solely in English and they are also doubtful as to whether the teaching material would be sufficient for the students. A mere  5 % said all classes should be run in Korean as it could result in students experiencing identity crises and also cause a decrease in the use of the  Korean language.

Where does Bangladesh stand in achieving the Education for All Goals by 2015!

Bangladesh is likely to meet the adult literacy target by 2015 if the national literacy rate increases at the current rate of  3% per annum.

At a workshop organised in Dhaka on 13 February 2008, the results of a study carried out by the World Bank on the status of Bangladesh in terms of achieving the EFA Goals, was shared with a number of key stakeholders. The study also offers some policy options to accelerate achievement of the EFA Goals. The Government’s National Plan of Action for Education for All (2002-2015) embraced all the EFA goals of making education compulsory, accessible and inclusive.

The policy note reports low levels of learning achievement, poor literacy and numeric skills of primary school graduates. The progress in the quality of school is more difficult to assess because of the lack of systematic assessment and monitoring of learning achievement results, the study observed.