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alexandra m. pickett

Kenan Institute for Ethics » Institutions in Crisis - 0 views

  • reed, Negligence, or System Failure? Credit Rating Agencies and the Financial Crisis (2011) Download Case Study (pdf) Download Teaching Notes (pdf) Credit rating agencies are responsible for rating the credit-worthiness of a wide variety of investment opportunities. While the agencies’ failure (out of greed or negligence) to properly assess the risk of these instruments leading up to the 2008 financial crisis is well-known, this case explores more encompassing systemic factors, including shifts in corporate culture, that led both to agency failures and the global financial crisis. Keywords: credit rating agencies, Moody’s, Standard and Poors, financial crisis, derivatives, subprime mortgaged, conflicts of interest, corporate culture, regulatory oversight, market competition
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    "reed, Negligence, or System Failure? Credit Rating Agencies and the Financial Crisis (2011) Download Case Study (pdf) Download Teaching Notes (pdf) Credit rating agencies are responsible for rating the credit-worthiness of a wide variety of investment opportunities. While the agencies' failure (out of greed or negligence) to properly assess the risk of these instruments leading up to the 2008 financial crisis is well-known, this case explores more encompassing systemic factors, including shifts in corporate culture, that led both to agency failures and the global financial crisis. Keywords: credit rating agencies, Moody's, Standard and Poors, financial crisis, derivatives, subprime mortgaged, conflicts of interest, corporate culture, regulatory oversight, market competition"
Hedy Lowenheim

How Do I Invest? | Beginning Investing - 4 views

  • What is investing?Any time you invest, you're devoting your own time, resources, or effort to achieve a greater goal. You can invest your weekends in a good cause, invest your intelligence in your job, or invest your time in a relationship. Just as you undertake each of these expecting good results, you invest your money in a stock, bond, or mutual fund because you think its value will appreciate over time.
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      Very useful site for my course in personal finance. The site explains personal finance in very simple terms. Most anyone should be able to relate to how the information on investing is presented. Great information on topics such as investing, goal setting, active and passive management, etc., that correspond to many of my course's learning objectives.
  • Planning and setting goalsInvesting is like a long car trip: A lot of planning goes into it. Before you start, you've got to ask yourself: Where are you going? (What are your financial goals?) How long is the trip? (What is your investing "time horizon"?) What should you pack? (What type of investments will you make?) How much gas will you need? (How much money will you need to reach your goals? How much can you devote to a regular investing plan?) Will you need to stop along the way? (Do you have short-term financial needs?) How long do you plan on staying? (Will you need to live off the investment in later years?
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      The car trip analogy that the authors use in this article for planning & setting personal financial goals, is something everyone can relate to. This gave me some excellent ideas that will definitely be of use to me in my course since financial goal planning is another one of my learning objectives. I felt that the car trip analogy used on the site will assist with understanding the planning that goes into creating medium and short term goals was brilliant, and something everyone should be able to relate to. Creating medium and short term goals are also learning objectives in my course, (module 3). It should be an excellent way to engage students, since most everyone travels and has to put energy into planning out their trips, for example what to bring on the trip, how long it will take, how many stops there will be along the way, etc.
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      Another one of my learning objectives is understanding cash management and cash flow and having the students understand how important it is to save, and put that money to work. Site has some very useful examples on how to save and put away money automatically in a disciplined fashion.
  • Active and passive strategiesThe two main methods of investing in stocks are called active and passive management, and the difference between them has nothing to do with how much time you spend on the couch (or the exercise bike). Active investors (or their brokers or fund managers) pick their own stocks, bonds, and other investments. Passive investors let their holdings follow an index created by some third party.
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    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      Another one of my learning objectives is understanding the difference between active and passive management. This site will definitely be helpful in refining some of the learning objectives in my course. It might also be a good site to post a link to for more information on specific person investing topics.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      how will you use this resource in your course, Hedy?
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      Alex I plan on using this Motley Fools web site which focuses on investment basics since the personal investing terms and strategies are presented very clearly, simply and with humor and relate directly to learning objectives in my modules; such as active and passive strategies in relation to investing (module 6), cash management/cash flow (module 2), and short and medium goal planning (module 3). The site will be an excellent resource for the students. This will also introduce them to the Motley Fool web site which should be helpful to them throughout the course and afterward. I felt that the car trip analogy used on the site to help understand the planning that goes into creating medium and short term goals was brilliant and something everyone should be able to relate to. Creating medium and short term goals are also learning objectives in my course, (module 3). It should be an excellent way to engage students, since most everyone travels and has to put energy into planning out their trips, for example things like what to take on the trip, how long it will take, how many stops there will be along the way, etc. I added some comments under the highlighted areas in Diigo with sticky notes (you should also be able to view them on the site) that reference a few of my learning objectives. By the way, I did find some useful sites on Merlot & OER, but many of linked to PDF files. A link on Merlot led me to the Motley Fools web site. I hope this helps! Hedy
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      this looks great Hedy! thanks! not sure what you meant by the comment about pdfs. you should be able bookmark pdfs... : )
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      I am under the impression that you cannot highlight text & create sticky notes in PDFs (just tested again), that was why I was having a hard time finding an acceptable site for the assignment in Merlot, most were PDF files. I guess I could have bookmarked them in Diigo and entered my comments write on the Diigo site instead of on the actual URL. I was thrilled once the Merlot site linked to the Motley Fool site!
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      ahhh. yes, that is true, put you can bookmark the resource, and annotate it on the diigo site - exactly as you describe! just wanted to be sure you knew that : )
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      I thought you might have wanted us to do highlighting and sticky notes for the assignment and right from the actual URL site. I must say that in the past 24 hours I have became much more familiar with Diigo, sink or swim, but I still need to work with it. Love the tool! Will we have access to Diigo after the course? Thanks and get some rest!!
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      yes. i want to be sure you can use this tool, so i am glad you persisted!! and i am really glad you love the tool. me too! yes you will have access to this group and this tool beyond the end of the term. that is one of the reasons i use the tool!
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      Excellent!! Be great if students continue to use it. Looks like these messages b/t us are not for public viewing. Is that a setting you turned on? I know there is public/pvt setting for sticky notes when you first create one (that's what was giving a bunch of students issues), but I do not see that setting on these notes. Hope this makes sense. Thanks& hope swimming is going well! Hedy
alexandra m. pickett

Small Town Girl in the Big Cyber City - 1 views

  •  My original goal was to get an A in the class, and every other class until I reached my objective of  my Master’s w/ a 4.0. Now my goal is to become a teacher that is there for my students, who isn’t assuming any good or bad about them, who’s only goal is to help them grow and learn, (and hopefully to get at least a B in this class.)
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      B R I L L I A N T ! ! !
  • Again, I find myself writing for a college professor rather than a middle school student. Even this past September, I handed out my “course syllabus” to each of my classes. Looking back now I wonder if they knew it was one of my course information documents or is they were trying to figure out how to clap out the syllables.
  • Why did I need to call it a syllabus? That wasn’t for them, it was for me. 
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      i LOVE this observation!
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  • I want them to know that I understand that some activities will suck and be difficult and that they’ll want to rip their hair out but that I also know which activities are the most fun and how rewarding and accomplished they will feel when it’s all said and done.
  • I really don’t know why I do things the way I do. Is it from years of routine as to this is how it needs to be done? Is it from no one stopping and helping me break these habits?
  • At first my fear was that I was a “dead-thinker”
  • I was predispositioned to not question, to memorize and regurgitate information. I was scared that I was passing this trait on to my students.
  • I’m losing that with all the hours it takes to create these.
  • I really began to question whether I am a teacher or a web designer.
  • After Alex asked me to think about how this may hold true in my daily life and routine I realized I really don’t speak up any where let alone in class.
  • I think this is not only my biggest challenge in this class but in my life as well
  • I think I’m just scared. 
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      This is a brilliant self-reflection. Now what are you going to do about it? There is NOTHING wrong with being shy, or an introvert ( http://www.diigo.com/user/alexandrapickett/introvert ) WATCH this NOW! http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html You need to get MAD and use that anger to get over the fear that is preventing you from doing/being/experiencing. Anger is a powerful force that can help you stop focusing on yourself -when you flip it to use it to advocate for those less powerful than you - your students!
    • Erin Fontaine
       
      Oh, I'd love to get angry and actually stand up for myself and others. Unfortunately that only seems to happen with a few glasses of wine in me. Not too feasible in the classroom, lol. That should be my next goal, find strength without liquid courage!
  • Ya know Alex, I love you and all and this class has been amazing but I honestly think you are killing my laptop!!
  • Well no more soul searching I have a course to design. Best of wishes to all my fellow classmates as we begin to wrap up this amazing journey!
  • Lisa, I can’t believe how amazing your course is! I want to take it!!
    • Lisa Martin
       
      Thank you, thank you, thank you...I'm finally now starting to spend a good amount of time looking through other people's courses. Looking forward to seeing yours!
  • Less than 24 hours later this article appeared in my inbox. At first I was really aggravated by this article because it seemed like it was ripping to shreds everything I have been working at this summer and I felt like he was sitting at home with an “I told you so” smirk. This quote just floored me “In terms of learning on the college level, the Department of Education looked at thousands of research studies from 1996 to 2008 and found that in higher education, students rarely learned as much from online courses as they did in traditional classes.” Really, what study? Everything that we have read seems to be in the complete opposite direction of this statement! I agree that for some there will be a financial obstacles and internet issues like we’ve all had but that’s where as a teacher we come into play and offer solutions and options. Upon reading it for a second time I feel that this article and any other article discrediting online teaching should be looked at as a challenge! I am strong and passionate about this endeavor of mine and no article or fuddy duddy teacher is going to come in the way of that. Well I hope you all have an amazing weekend. I will be attempting to cool my boiling blood as I sit by the calming cool waters of the Kinzua Dam with a delicious glass of Riesling.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      That article prompted response from the online learning community. Here is a particularly excellent articulate and respectful response: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/open-letter-professor-edmundson
    • alexandra m. pickett
  • As this class come to an end and I look back at where I was in May, I can only say I wish I knew then what I know now. This class has given me so much academically, personally and technologicially, lol. In only a short time I feel like I have grown so much as person and as a teacher.
Irene Watts-Politza

Using Facebook to build community in large college classes (essay) | Inside Higher Ed - 1 views

    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      Uh oh ... this is how it starts ... he'll be an online teacher within two semesters!
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      Such affinity for promoting teaching presence!
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      The future of the public university ...
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  • It is definitely not for everyone -- you must be committed (especially time-wise) to using it. But knowing that you and your hundreds of students are finally seeing eye-to-eye is worth the effort!
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      We must be passionate about what makes our students passionate.
  • The success of Fb described above, as well as survey data I collected showing positive reactions to the Fb group, will lead to my continued use of this technology.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      Collecting feedback to improve future course iterations ... another example of using data to effect best practice.
  • After all the years of teaching these “mega-sections” and with the tough financial situation of my state university it was clear that this type of class was not going away.
  • I was hoping to include something that would add a greater sense of community to the class, something that everyone in the class could use to better connect to one another.
  • I knew the data about how many college students were on Fb, but would students be willing to spend some of their valuable Fb time communicating within a Fb group for a college course? Also, would I be willing to become an avid Fb user, following the flow of communication several times a day? It did not take long to learn that the answers to these questions was “Yes,” and that I had reached my goal of facilitating a sense of community. Although joining the Fb group for the course was not required, a little over 80 percent of the class became members of the group.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      Roughly equivalent to 76% student satisfaction rate Alex and colleagues found regarding student satisfaction with high levels of student/instructor interactivity.
  • Moreover, the students essentially ran the group.
  • These included everything from asking for notes, getting clarification on points made in lecture, posting videos and images that pertained to class material, forming study groups, noting relevant events on campus, and congratulating class members on specific accomplishments.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      This makes me wonder how to increase the visibility of the "Bulletin Board" or "Faculty Lounge" course areas.
b malczyk

Online-Education Trend Will Leave Many Students Behind | TIME Ideas | TIME.com - 0 views

  • could actually widen the learning ga
  • “give everyone access to the world-class education that has so far been available only to a select few
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  • democratize learning
  • although the content is free now, it’s unlikely that it will remain that way for long.
  • schools plan to make a profit
  • omputer-aided instruction will actually widen the gap between the financially and educationally privileged and everyone else, instead of close it.
  •  only 35% of households earning less than $25,000 have broadband access to the Internet, compared with 94% of households with income in excess of $100,000. 
  • only half of black and Latino homes have Internet connections at all, compared with almost 65% of white households.
  • , many blacks and Latinos primarily use their cell phones to access the Internet, a much more expensive and less-than-ideal method for taking part in online education.
  • If we really want to democratize education, finding creative ways to realistically open up colleges to different communities will do more to help than a model that, despite its stated intentions, is more beneficial for students who are already wealthy, academically prepared and highly motivated.
Amy M

Open Courses, Nearly Free - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • Mr. Reshef sees his project as a way to use the Internet to bring higher education to poor students around the world.
  • The university is not accredited, and it offers programs only in business administration and computer science. But in June, it got two votes of confidence: New York University announced a partnership under which unusually promising but needy University of the People students might be able to enroll at N.Y.U.’s Abu Dhabi campus and receive financial aid, and Hewlett-Packard announced an internship program, saying it believed strongly “in the work UoPeople is doing to democratize higher education.”
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    Open Courses needed in Haiti after earthquake
Amy M

Faculty Advisory Council Memorandum on Journal Pricing § THE HARVARD LIBRARY ... - 0 views

shared by Amy M on 08 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • Harvard’s annual cost for journals from these providers now approaches $3.75M. In 2010, the comparable amount accounted for more than 20% of all periodical subscription costs and just under 10% of all collection costs for everything the Library acquires. Some journals cost as much as $40,000 per year, others in the tens of thousands.
  • ibrary, representing university faculty in all schools and in consultation with the Harvard Library leadership,  reached this conclusion: major periodical subscriptions, especially to electronic journals published by historically key providers, cannot be sustained: continuing these subscriptions on their current footing is financially untenable. Doing so would seriously erode collection efforts in many other areas, already compromised.
  • The Faculty Advisory Council to th
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    Harvard's memo on a commitment to open access journals.
alexandra m. pickett

Financially Wise Women - 1 views

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    Great links Alex! You gave me a lot of fresh new ideas. Now I just need a few more weeks to implement them!!
Joan Erickson

The Channels Newspaper - Why so many people drop classes - 0 views

  • conflict that occurs between jobs and classes. This is followed by health or family problems, then financial reasons, and finally by students who couldn't keep up with course work.
  • the first students to drop courses were the ones who didn't keep up with assignments.
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    the reasons why college students drop classes and the consequences
Sue Rappazzo

Leaving Children Behind. - 0 views

  • The introduction to this legislation states that "In America, no child should be left behind. Every child should be educated to his or her full potential." Mandating standards and tests in and of itself cannot erase the fact that children from homes where parents have little education and minimal resources have many strikes against them.
  • Evidence indicates that the "digital divide" gets larger each day. Children in homes with computers have huge advantages over those without such technology. While neurologists have extolled the virtues of high-protein diets for brain growth and development of young children, the economically disadvantaged continue to be plagued with high-carbohydrate diets, even in Head Start and public-school food service programs. Evidence indicates that more time on task helps to advance learning. The few efforts to increase the school year have mainly focused on poorly structured remedial summer programs doomed from their inception with the "punishment brand."
  • Empirical research does not support the belief that all children can learn the same curriculum, in the same amount of time, and at the same level. The problem with such an unsubstantiated belief is that it may be used to deny differential financial support for those who come to school with environmental disadvantages. Not all children have high-quality nutrition, stimulating homes, and extensive learning opportunities prior to entering school.
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  • This concrete evidence should be enough to convince us that we should concentrate on improving the lives of children before they come to school. It is not enough simply to proclaim that "no child will be left behind" without enacting proper public policy to provide economic opportunity for families, healthcare for all children, and parenting education for young mothers.
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