My latest in Forbes: will #Covid and #Zoom, Coursera, Southern New Hampshire University,and @Google Career Certificates prove to be a passing tremor across the landscape of #highereducation — or do they signal The Big One? If your crystal ball on the #futureofeducation needs refreshing, here’s an excellent place to start. An important new book by Arthur Levine and Scott Van Pelt on which #universities will thrive, survive, or wither.
Affiliations and personal history
October 11, 2021 by
Since I write about education, technology, and media, I thought perhaps an extra disclosure of my affiliations, past and present, would be useful. I am a graduate of New York City public schools: PS 148 and JHS Joseph Pulitzer Junior HS (remember those?) Jackson Heights, Queens; Kakiat Junior HS and Spring Valley High School. Hebrew […]
The future of higher education is…omnichannel.
September 3, 2021 by
My recent article in Forbes took me back to a day when Barnes and Noble was the ubiquitous bookseller on Main Street USA and Amazon was a blip on the horizon. I was interviewed by the B&N CEO to be the new head of digital services. During the interview, I asked him: “Why aren’t you […]
Cassandra or A Broken Clock?
May 14, 2020 by
I have been a university administrator, consultant, board director, and faculty member and have worked in public, private, nonprofit, and forprofit educational institutions. Now that CoVid has pushed colleges and universities to the breaking point, I look back on some of my writing and think sadly about how our response to today’s crisis is twisted […]
The Day I Got Hooded (40 Years Late!)
June 13, 2019 by
Maybe someday I’ll write the full story of why I didn’t attend my first Princeton graduation, but for now, I am grateful that I got a second chance. And what a chance! Thanks to Sarah-Jane Leslie, Dean of the Princeton Graduate School, I was invited to participate in the doctoral hooding ceremony that I was too […]
Social media killed my blog
July 11, 2017 by
As in, I don’t post much here anymore. My observations on the general state of the world have devolved into quick hits on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. I don’t have too much use for Instagram or Snap, though I do aspire to experiment with Slack. If I have something more important to think about, something […]
Big news! Wikipedia matters in higher ed!
June 21, 2016 by
In case you need a reminder about the glacial pace of innovation in #highered, here’s a news story that some professors are learning to use Wikipedia. Wait, what? This article should have appeared in 2006. Indeed, it is wonderful to read about enlightened faculty, such as Duke’s Susan Alberts, a biology professor who told Washington Post reporter […]
Early days of nfl.com and how I made my first touchdown
December 18, 2015 by
OK, so it’s not all about NFL….but I found this today, while looking for something else, and it is a mostly accurate and fun account of how WE BUILT THE INTERNET. For sports, anyway, move over Al Gore….
Stephen King, do a Taylor Swift on Apple books!
July 1, 2015 by
Last week, Taylor Swift stared down Apple and stood up for the artists. Didn’t take long, Apple backed down. Rather cheerfully, I thought. So big win for Taylor Swift and artists, and two bits for Apple. I’ve written before about frustration with Apple watch and Audible…wish we were getting the books for free (as Apple […]
Nah, i’m not going to return the Apple watch. Here’s why.
June 28, 2015 by
I bought it with the dream of walking on the beach and listening to audiobooks. Well, it can’t do that. So I really thought about returning my now two-week-old Apple watch. But on balance, I have decided that its other tricks are sufficiently entertaining. And besides, it’s summer, and I enjoy having a lightweight replacement […]