August 9, 2007
The Government of Saskatchewan has announced a $14 million capital investment for the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST). Funds will allow the purchase and renovation of a 3,500 square metre building that will open in September 2008 as learning space for construction trades, steel fabrication, electrical, masonry and emergency medical technician training programs.
Saskatchewa n News Release $9 million has been announced in capital funding for Sheridan College, towards upgrading and expanding the school's Burlington campus. Sheridan is currently struggling with space constraints at both its Brampton and Oakville campuses, although additions and interior renovations are underway to address the issue. Sheridan plans to build 23,840 square feet of new space and renovate a further 23,620 net square feet across both campuses.
South Asian Focus (Brampton)The
Toronto Sun reports that the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations is calling for the Ontario government to "reach even higher" if it doesn't want the quality of undergraduate education to deteriorate. According to OCUFA's president, the
Reaching Higher plan "isn't sufficient to bring us up to the level of excellence." The $6.2 billion plan was announced in 2005 and has seen 86,000 additional students access PSE in the province. OCUFA is calling for an additional $900 million annually.
The Toronto Sun Lethbridge College will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a day of free community events on August 24th. The Lethbridge Symphony will join forces with a local rock group, the Chevelles, to lead a 7-hour musical celebration. "Concert at the College" will kick off the school year with fireworks and the re-opening of the Cousins Building, which has been thoroughly renovated into a cutting-edge lab and science centre.
Lethbridge News Release Trent University's Mathematics department has successfully collected more than 1,500 textbooks to donate to university students in Ethiopia. During a visit to Addis Ababa University, Prof. Abdella of Trent noticed that many of the textbooks in the science library were outdated: "New textbooks are very expensive and can cost faculty as much as one month's salary." Donations from Trent faculty filled almost 50 boxes with books covering biology, chemistry, computer science and many other disciplines.
Trent News Release Newfoundland & Labrador's government has announced $1 million in infrastructure funding for the College of the North Atlantic in Grand Falls-Windsor and Stephenville. CNA has 17 campuses located "primarily in rural Newfoundland and Labrador," providing programming to thousands. $18 million was recently announced for a new college facility in Labrador West, as well as $5.4 million for an extension to the Happy Valley-Goose Bay campus, and $4.5 million for a St. John's campus.
NL News Release A recent feature article in
University Business describes homeschooled students as "fertile ground for college enrolment efforts." To target these students, make your interest in them clear on your website. Outside of the secondary school support system, it is also helpful to support these students through the admissions and applications process. Homeschooled students come from an impressively diverse variety of secondary education experiences and backgrounds, so be careful not to make any across-the-board assumptions when addressing them.
University Business A quick 4.5-minute YouTube video on the general topic of Web 2.0 led to international media coverage for a US professor, donations to his department, and a surge of inquiries from interested students and faculty around the world. When the home-produced video went viral on YouTube, reaching 2.8 million views, the image of a formerly agricultural school was transformed. A December survey found that 74% of adult web users watch online videos from sites such as YouTube, ABC, CNN, and MySpace.
University Business While still controversial as a scholarly reference, Wikipedia is breaking ground as an online learning tool with its "Wikiversity" project. Wikiversity is a "free learning community" that provides free educational resources and courses through the internet. Anyone is allowed to offer a course, and everyone is free to sign up to study. Unlike MIT's OpenCourseWare project, Wikiversity users are free to copy and share materials from the website. Authors and publishers have no control over modifications, and no right to restrict use of content once submitted.
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Wikiversity (English)
Not surprisingly, a study undertaken by MTV and Microsoft has found that friends are becoming as influential as brands for youth worldwide. "Opinion formers" and "influencers" are growing in number, as are their avenues to communicate their opinions with peers. 88% of respondents said "the majority of websites they viewed were due to links from friends." The "Circuits of Cool/Digital Playground" study surveyed 18,000 kids and teens across 16 countries. All respondents had access to the internet, a cell phone and at least 2 other electronic devices.
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