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Archive for June, 2010

Finance Reform Bill’s Effect on Student Loans

June 28th, 2010

The U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives have come to agreement on terms of a Wall Street regulatory bill which would have major impacts on student lenders.

The Finance Reform Bill (H.R. 4173) includes more regulation of private lenders, even when those private lenders are the schools themselves (for-profit and non-profit private schools often give loans to students).

The bill, if signed into law, would create a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which would have oversight of all private (non-Federal) education loans made to students.

Supporters say this law will provide better regulation of predatory lenders. Many private schools, however, say that the law will interfere with a successful educational model, and could eventually lead to more costs and fewer courses.

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Posted in Financial Aid, For-Profit Education

Harry Potter Inspires a New Generation of Theme Park Designers!

June 25th, 2010

“Disneyland will never be completed…as long as there is imagination left in the world,” Walt Disney once said. For those who are looking to conjure up some theme park design magic, there are currently several theme park projects planned in the United Emirates, Kuwait, China, South Korea, and Australia.

By blending creativity and innovative technological advancements, the creations of theme park designers have enabled us to experience the thrills of an African river excursion, race down a Himalayan mountain, encounter swashbuckling pirates, and enjoy a spooky tour of an ominous haunted house, all without ever leaving the safety confines of a themed environment.

Hogsmeade Village at Universal Orlando

One of the most exciting projects in the theme park arena to open recently is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter located at the Universal Studios Orlando Resort. Opened June 18th, attractions include the Wizarding World’s signature ride, “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey” and a life-size recreation of the village of Hogsmeade.

The breakthrough attraction, a fusion of robotic technology and filmed scenes that has never been achieved until now, takes guests through scenes and rooms from the blockbuster movies inside a richly detailed remake of Hogwarts Castle. It is said to be the most breathtaking ride on Earth.

“We have created an entirely new way to place our guests into the heart of one of the most compelling stories of our time,” said Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Creative. ”What we have done will forever change the theme park attraction experience.”

There are no college degree programs specifically in theme park design, so how can aspiring designers get the info and experience they need to jump-start a career? The answer to that question is both simple and complex. There are many hundreds of career fields involved in theme park design because it takes many disciplines in order to produce one. The real key is finding an area that you would love to work in and then becoming skilled in that area(s).
Here are some of the areas of theme park design, followed by average (median) annual earnings figures.

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Posted in Art, Careers

Tags: harry potter theme park careers theme park design wizarding world of harry potter

YouTube’s Popular Khan Academy Raises New Questions

June 8th, 2010

Khan's Youtube Academy

The Khan Academy is an example of something new in the education landscape that wasn’t possible before.

The most popular educator on YouTube (more popular than free videos from MIT instructors) doesn’t have a Ph.D. and has never taught at a college or university. More than that, he delivers all of his lectures from a bedroom closet.

“My single biggest goal is to try to deliver things the way I wish they were delivered to me,” he told The Chronicle recently.

The resulting videos don’t look or feel like typical college lectures or any of the lecture videos that traditional colleges put on their Web sites or YouTube channels. Khan’s videos are about 10 minutes each and very low-tech (viewers see only the scrawls of equations or bad drawings that Khan writes on his digital sketchpad software as he narrates), and he teaches every subject (he has produced 1,400 lectures since he started in 2006). Now Khan records one to five lectures per day.

Some critics have blogged that this learn-as-you-go approach is no way to run an educational project—and they worry that the videos may contain errors or lead students astray.

The Khan Academy raises the question: What if colleges could be retooled with new technologies in mind?

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Posted in Online Education, Technology

University of Arizona Students Finalists in Disney Design Competition

June 4th, 2010

A group of UA students are traveling to Glendale, Calif., to present their concept, “Pandora’s Peak: the Race for the Voyager’s Cup,” to Disney Imagineers, for Walt Disney Imagineering’s ImagiNations Design Competition.

Although the projects are not intended to be built by Disney, in its 19th year, the competition’s other finalists are from Carnegie Mellon University, Eastern Michigan University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Taylor University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. All told, 20 students are competing.

In addition to presenting their ideas during their time in California, teams will also interact and meet with Imagineers for a chance to network. In the past, those who have been named winners in the competition have received internships and full-time positions as Imagineers.

Theme park design has recently become a “hot career” with the advent of new technology and planned theme parks around the globe. To learn more about a career in theme park design or Disney Imagineers, visit Designschools.com.

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Posted in Art, Student Life

Tags: disney imagineering ImagiNations Design Competition theme park design university of arizona

What Should I Expect in a Criminal Justice Degree Program?

June 4th, 2010

Criminal Justice Degree Programs

Popular television shows like CSI, NCSI, and Law and Order have heightened the curiosity for the pursuit of careers in the multifaceted world of Criminal Justice. Criminal justice students have the opportunity to earn a wide variety of degrees, such as diplomas and certificates, associate degrees, bachelor degrees, and master degrees. Majors that fall under the scope of criminal justice include criminal justice, criminology, corrections, legal studies, and much more.

Not sure where to begin your search? Arguably the most popular ranking resource, U.S. News and World Report ranks the top criminology graduate programs. Thirty-two programs are judged by peer assessment and academic experts. Deans, program directors and senior faculty are asked to judge the academic quality of programs in their field.

Most criminal justice students, regardless of their degree level, will take a broad suite of core major classes that cover the history of law, court systems and procedures, crime theory, ethics, security, law enforcement and police operations, prisoner and victim rights, and investigation. Advanced criminal justice studies often include a range of electives that cover more specific topics such as gang behavior, juvenile law, hate crimes, white collar crimes, and drug control and enforcement.

Entry-level criminal justice careers generally require some sort of educational program, whether it be a diploma or certificate program or an associate’s degree. Many criminal justice programs are designed so that students can earn a short-term degree, start working, and then continue building their educational credentials to advance in their criminal justice careers.

Associate degree programs are common starting points for those entering a criminal justice career. American Intercontinental University in Georgia offers on-campus associate degrees in criminal justice, while Westwood College is just one school that offers online associate degrees in criminal justice.

Criminal justice bachelor degree programs are often found at public schools and private universities such as Devry University and Strayer University.

Master degree programs in criminal justice are also fairly prevalent. Schools such as the University of Cincinnati and the University of Phoenix offer online criminal justice master degree programs.

Kaplan University offers a tremendous variety of criminal justice degrees, spanning from certificates in criminal justice and corrections to master degrees with a variety of specialties.

Find the degree program you need at CriminalJusticeDegree.org

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Posted in Criminal Justice

Tags: careers in criminal justice Criminal Justice criminal justice degrees

The World’s Top Ranked Fashion Schools

June 4th, 2010

Fashionschools.com has listed Fashionista’s top 5 fashion schools on the planet. To generate their list, they spoke to students, employees at the schools, companies who hire graduates, and industry professionals.

They also looked extensively at tuition costs and demographics. Then they mashed it all together to come up with five schools that are worth a look.

And they are…

1. Central St.Martins

Central St. Martins’ elite fashion design program was the clear winner here amongst the panel of experts. Location is critical and being in the heart of London provides inspiration and full access to cultural and industry resources.

2. Parsons The New School for Design

Much like FIT, Parsons is located in the heart of New York City’s Garment District, providing easy access to industry resources.

3. Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp)

It’s part of one of the oldest design schools in the world, and has produced some stellar talent in the past 20 years. The Royal Academy is an elite design school and is known for its serious students–many drop out because they can’t handle the work load.

4. London College of Fashion

It has a fashion design program, but the fashion journalism program is the standout here.

5. Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)

As a preeminent institution of fashion and design education in the US, F.I.T. is unique in the fact that it is located directly in the heart of the industry that it teaches—the Garment District, so the school has access to incredible resources and professionals.

Learn more about the World’s Top Fashion Schools and how they made the list..

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Posted in Art, Fashion

Tags: Fashion fashion degrees fashion schools top fashion schools

Is Technology Removing the Human from Humanities? The Teacher from Teaching?

June 2nd, 2010

At a recent conference for college staff, Anthony Pitucco, chair of physics at Pima Community College in Arizona, and his colleague Stewart Barr, chair of philosophy, made a point about the academic reliance on technological tools. Namely, they hinder learning and “diminish the role of teaching and education”, they said.

Too many PowerPoint presentations lead to less thinking and less learning. And too many teachers are relying on them instead of their own communication skills, they said.

Though there are specific software and other tools that can help make the lives of faculty easier and create other benefits — such as a decline in plagiarism – Pitucco and Barr are concerned about the emphasis placed by many colleges on technology over the human element. They pointed to data that suggested students were not learning at the level they should be, despite their easy access to technology.

It is not the technology itself that is the problem, they said, but how it is used.

Meanwhile, for a look at the benefits of technology in teaching, go to Stanford University’s new Literature Lab, where English professor Matthew L. Jockers is using technology with a team of graduate students from a variety of disciplines to analyze more literature than they ever could have before.

The students are using Stanford’s new Literature Lab to “explore the frontiers of literary scholarship”, with the help of access to Google’s digital library. In his blog, Prof. Jockers describes the work being done by students as the “lifeblood of the lab”. The approach could fundamentally alter how humanities research is done.

Read more about the Pittuco and Barr seminar and Stanford’s Literature Lab.

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Posted in Humanities, Teaching, Technology

Tags: Pima Community College Stanford University

President of Kaplan College Campus Is Fired Over ‘English Only’ Declaration

June 1st, 2010

Kaplan College

Dennis Manzo, the president of Kaplan College’s campus in Chula Vista, Calif., was fired this month over his handling of an incident in which students were told they would face academic sanctions if they spoke Spanish in class. Manzo had been president since the campus, located just seven miles from the Mexican border, opened in December.

Jonathan Cedeño, the student whose complaint triggered the investigation that led to the president’s dismissal, had complained that an Anglo woman in his medical-assistant course had been complaining that he and his friends, who started the class after she did, weren’t keeping up.

He said Patricia Dussett, program director for allied health, came in to two of his classes the following day and told students that campus policy forbade the use of any language other than English in class, even in side conversations.

Dussett was gone for a few days after her May 3 statements. Officials would not confirm or deny any disciplinary action, saying it was a personnel matter.

Mr. Cedeño e-mailed his aunt, Leticia Maldonado, a college-programs coordinator at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Maldonado threatened to contact the news media and parents of Chula Vista students, and to seek legal advice if the matter was not resolved.

Within the week, Ms. Maldonado said, administrators and college lawyers had apologized to students and the president had been dismissed.