Civil War at Harvard over Textbook Costs
Eye-opening article in yesterday's Boston Globe re: student concerns over the textbook cost issue at Harvard,with a headline that reads: " In Harvard Square, a war over words". The first paragraph...
View ArticleStudents Protest Textbook Prices in Colorado
According to an article by Erika Gonzalez in this morning's Rocky Mountain news, the concern about textbook inflation has finally reached Colorado. Maybe it's been here for awhile, but under my radar...
View ArticleGlobal Text article in the Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education had an article on the Global Text Project, written by Andrea Foster, in its November 16th edition. If you're a subscriber to the Chronicle. you can access the article...
View ArticleColorado Student Concerns Over the Cost of Textbooks
As those of you who have been following this blog for awhile know, the two overriding themes have been the Global Text Project and IT systems foul-ups by the State of Colorado. The Global Text Project...
View ArticleCafe for Cat Lovers
A while ago I posted an item about some folks who established a rent a dog business. It's designed to let dog lovers walk a dog of their choice every now and then....whenever they need a dog fix. I...
View ArticlePay What You Want
Just wondering if this business model will spread. The rock band, "Radiohead" is selling its latest album from its website asking buyers to pay whatever they want for an MP3 download. Really. Heres...
View ArticleWhoops! CBMS just won't go away
In my July 23 post I showed some optimism about the State of Colorado finally making the problems with our infamous Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) go away like a bad dream. Sorry, it looks...
View ArticleCBMS Lawsuit is Settled
This morning's Rocky had a story by John C. Ensslin entitled "Settlement reached over state's benefits management program." You may recall that shortly after the Colorado Benefits Management Systems...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hmmmmmm. Maybe CBMS is not doing so well.
Got an email today from a group that is planning to march on the State Capitol on Sunday, April 6th. Here's what they say on their flyer: JOIN US AS WE MARCH ON THE STATE CAPITOL...
View ArticleUpdate on Textbook Costs
The February 19th issue of Inside Higher Education has an article that will give you more insight into what's going on. It lists a number of techniques that faculty can take to help reduce the porices...
View ArticleBrilliant Personalization Sites
You've gotta try these two personalization sites. They are amazing, particularly Pandora.com, which personalizes music to your tastes once you give it a couple of hints. I'm a big fan of soft...
View ArticleTextbook Cost Controls Are Now the Law in Colorado
Governor Bill Ritter signed Senate Bill 73 into law on Tuesday, April 8. Sponsored by Senator Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, and Representative John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, it is patterned after similar laws...
View ArticleCBMS and Other Colorado Systems - Status Report as of May 22, 2008
Well, folks, the news is not good, at least for CBMS, but maybe it could be. Someday. Maybe.Ann Imse's story in today's Rocky Mountain News, "Data systems get some glue", discusses the additional...
View Article"As Textbooks are Customized, Students Pay"
That's the title of an article in the Wall Street Journal on July 10th. Here's the way the article, by John Hechinger, begins:"College students, already struggling with soaring tuition bills and...
View ArticleArticle on Open Textbooks from USA Today
USA Today published an article on Friday, July 11, entitled "Online "open" textbooks save students cash". Written by Svetlana Shkolnikova, it's a pretty good overview of the problem and some of the...
View ArticleCost of Textbooks Covered in Higher Education Act
The Higher Education Act was passed in both houses of the US Congress and is expected to be signed into law today. It includes several provisions related to help reduce the cost of textbooks. They...
View ArticleOpen Education 2008 Conference
I usually have a topic in my courses on competitive intelligence and how the Internet can be used as a tool for environmental scanning. Imagine my embarrassment when, shortly after I had the thought...
View ArticleSome Publicity on Global Text at DU
There were three publications on Global text and/or the high cost of textbooks at the University of Denver in the past three weeks. One was on DU Today, a University web-based news channel, and the...
View ArticleAh, yes. The Colorado Benefits Management System
Sorry for the unusually long hiatus. Guess I haven't had much to say. But, the Colorado Benefits Management System never lets me down (although it seems I'm the only one it does not let down).Let me...
View ArticleMy New Year's Resolution
Well, at least one of them.Maria Bartiromo interviewed US Congressman Barney Frank in the December 10 issue of Business Week. See Barney Frank on Detroit, Housing, and Executive Pay . One of their...
View ArticleBoarding Pass Innovation
In the what will they think of next category:Here's the headline:Cellphones ring up a quick way for fliers to check inTravelers receive a special bar code that acts as a boarding passHere's the link to...
View ArticleAnother Way to Lower Textbook Costs - Rent Them
Today's Wall Street Journal had an interesting article by Peter King, entitled "A Textbook Case of Renting Books". I'd heard of similar schemes before, but most were offered by some of the major...
View ArticleThe Kindle has certain shortcomings for textbooks (in my opinion)
Amazon announced its new version of the Kindle today. Bigger screen (9.7 inches). More expensive ($489). Touted to be the salvation of newspapers and textbooks. Maybe newspapers (but doubtful)....
View ArticleMore on CBMS. Can you believe it?
Ta Da. Deloitte Consulting is riding to the rescue of CBMS (for only $44 million more than who knows how much has been spent already on this incredible fiasco).Here's the story from the front page of...
View ArticleThe Denver Post's Editorial Page Chimes in on CBMS
An editorial in the Denver post on May 16 called attention to the weirdness of the way a solution to the CBMS fiasco is being pursued.“Call us mystified by a report from The Denver Post's Allison...
View ArticleColorado beats Guam with CBMS!
Sherry Allison does a nice job of summing it up in her story which ran in the May 31 issue of the Denver Post, entitled "Glitch drains aid to needy". I'll just quote from it, although I'm inclined to...
View ArticleA Wonderful Article on Global Text from the Times (UK) Higher Education
Published on May 28, 2009, it sums up the project's status very well. Here's the first paragraph:"Expensive textbooks put the brakes on higher education for many students in developing nations. But a...
View ArticleLots of options for lower cost classroom materials
As classes get ready to start up again I couldn’t help but notice the plethora of alternatives to traditional textbooks that have hit my radar screen. For example, I received an email from my...
View ArticleIt's 2010
I can't believe that I have not posted anything since August. I thought it was going to be a busy quarter and it was. Time passed by quickly in a very satisfying way and now it's time for a New...
View ArticleA Few Things You Shouldn't Plan to Buy in 2010
The Wall Street Journal Sunday had a story today covering things you shouldn't plan to buy in 2010. Among them were DVDs, Home phone service, and external hard drives.The one that caught my eye,...
View ArticleColorado Benefits Management System - Stlll Broken Going on Six Years
This has got to be a record for a screwed up computer system. Absolutely shameful!The Denver Post published this article on the system's status on Feb 1, 2010:COLORADO STILL FAILS ON FOOD STAMPS,...
View ArticleThe Post's Editors Chime in on CBMS
Here's what they said in the lead editorial on February 3, 2010:EDITORIALStill lagging on state welfare systemFive years after Colorado launched an expensive computerized benefits system, the state is...
View ArticleThe Saddest Colorado Benefits Management Systems Story Yet
Denver boy, 9, died after state-benefits error denied him asthma medicationBy Allison SherryThe Denver PostZuton Lucero, with her daughter Ashantay, 8, holds a picture of her 9-year-old son, Zumante,...
View ArticleIs Amazon Evil?
Well, Mike Littwin the Denver Post columnist thinks they are. See http://www.denverpost.com/littwin/ci_14644174?source=rsshomecol, and maybe they are. At the very least, I think they showed poor...
View ArticleMore on CBMS
Under Allison Sherry's byline, the following story appeared in the March 3 issue of the Denver Post:"Paperwork maze endangering Colorado Medicaid patients" You can access the full story at...
View ArticleShould Textbook Authors Keep Royalties from Books Sold to Their Own Students?
Well, maybe. But according to this article by Jack Stripling from Inside Higher Ed on April 7, 2010, a number of universities say it's an ethical breach or at least a conflict of interest. Here's a...
View ArticleCBMS on National Public Radio
An NPR piece was broadcast Friday morning, April 23 about food stamps and CBMS. It's worth a listen:...
View ArticleInternational News
Wow. I can't believe I haven't posted anything since April 28th. Shows you how busy I've been. Classes are finished and after winding down I've been chilling out a wee bit. Feels good. Here's a...
View ArticleNo Wonder We're Sick
Sorry to have been gone for awhile. It's summer (and the livin' is easy..........as the old song goes). I'll try get more active from now on. There's a lot going on.But first, I have been watching a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Well, OK, it's been awhile, but CBMS is still a disaster!
I know, I know, I haven't posted in awhile, but I promise to get back at it. In preparing for class tomorrow, I wanted to retrieve a news story on the current status of CBMS. I give my undergraduate...
View ArticleRe: CBMS as of March 1, 2011. Maybe, just maybe........
Maybe there’s some cause for optimism. Personally, I think Governor Hickenlooper understands that CBMS must be fixed and will see that it finally gets done. Cross your fingers (and stay tuned). From...
View ArticleA Third Case on CBMS Will be Published Soon
Sorry for being silent for awhile. Spring quarter was pretty busy at DU, but now summer is here and my schedule has freed up quite a bit. There's a few interesting things things on my agenda looking...
View ArticleColorado computer benefits system cited in federal audit
Actually, the headline of Michael Booth's article in today's Denver Post says "Colorado computer benefits systems cited in federal audit for "serious," ongoing problems. (I knew CBMS would not let me...
View ArticleMore on the Federal Audit of CBMS
A more detailed summary of the findings of the Federal audit of CBMS was published on July 8th in a newsletter of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP). You've heard me laud the pro-bono work...
View ArticleLawsuit for damages filed in child's death
On February 15, 2010, I posted a brief summary and link to the Denver Post story of the death of 9 year old Zumante Lucero who died because his mother, Zuton Lucero-Mills, was unable to get approval...
View ArticleNew Classroom Teaching Case on CBMS is Published
Professor Cindi Fukami and I just had a our third teaching case on CBMS published. Its title is:"Colorado Benefits Management System (C): Seven Years of Failure" Here's the abstract:"In September...
View ArticleThe Latest on CBMS
Sorry to have been away for so long. Didn't have much to say, I suppose. But, there are some new updates on CBMS, perhaps some hope that the new administration will finally get this thing fixed....
View ArticleMOOCs
I'm back. It was a busy spring and I've slowly geared down and am now gearing back up. I've been following MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses) and as someone who has been following electronic...
View ArticleMOOCs - An Eye-opener
So I somehow heard about a MOOC being offered by the folks behind Hybrid Pedagogy. It's called MOOC MOOC (a MOOC about MOOCs). I signed up and sort of got started today. Holy Moley, are my eyes being...
View ArticleA Very Tardy Update
I'm still collecting my thoughts on what's going on in higher education. What I can see is that EC entrepreneurs, many of them VC-backed, are pouring into this space. Sure, it's MOOCs, but there are...
View Article