W1, Blog 1: Melissa Parsowith (Introduction & Article Response)
Hi, All! My name is Melissa Parsowith and this is my last full semester in the Higher Education Administration program at Baruch College. I graduated in 2012 from Pace University’s Pforzheimer Honors College and returned to my alma-mater in 2014 to work as a Program Coordinator in the Lubin School of Business, aiding and advising Accounting students. I absolutely love what I do and look forward to earning my Master’s so I can move up in the Higher Education field. Although I am originally from Central NJ, I work and live in New York City now and feel very lucky to call the best city in the world my home. Looking forward to a productive Spring semester ahead!
I greatly enjoyed this week’s introductory articles to International Higher Education. When first selecting this course, I was not sure if there would be a lot of information on how Higher Education has been studied on an international level. After reading these articles, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much research has been done on the topic. Altbach’s “Internationalization and Global Tension” piece highlights the aspect of International Higher Education that I feel myself and many of my peers are concerned with: the global scale. The article begins by acknowledging the 2015 Paris attacks and the current global turmoil our world is facing. It goes on to review the history of International Higher Education, from the wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, all the way to todays global climate. Personally, I found this article intriguing because there are great concerns with the danger and/or safety associated with international relations. Although international business can broaden one’s world views and scope of knowledge, this article drives home the important fact that the world is not always without political tension, and it is important to acknowledge this before choosing to leap outside of your comfort zone. In Madeleine Green’s “Is The U.S the Best In the World?” I was not surprised to read that the United States is not the #1 nation in support of institutional internationalization. As explained in the Oxford article about International trends, the U.S “remains the most popular country for international students” (Oxford, 2015, p.5). With this in mind, I find it highly probable that the worlds most desirable destination for international students should be less occupied with promoting internalization of their own students. In short, if the U.S is a wonderful place to learn, it is understandable that many of our own students are happy to stay here for their education, rather than pursue it internationally. I also found it extremely interesting when the Oxford article discussed the value of study abroad among international employers. Assessment is something Higher Education professionals constantly aim to achieve. The European Commission found that the skills and employability of international students yielded a positive outcome. I wonder what variables were considered when making this determination? Lastly, I found the “International Trends” article to highlight the extremely important notion of technology, and the many ways in which it is changing our world. As they mention, open access to information, online classrooms and MOOC’s are just a few of the many ways which technology has allowed education to grow accessibility of information across the world. It is delightful to see the many ways which technology helps our nations succeed, and something which I believe will remain a trend for many years to come.
3 thoughts on “W1, Blog 1: Melissa Parsowith (Introduction & Article Response)”
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for your post. It looks like we both picked out similar themes in the readings. For example, we both identified areas that required clarification in Green’s article about the US not being a world leader in internationalization in higher education. I liked your point about the US’s robust and high-quality education system playing a factor in US students not wanting to study abroad.
I also found the technology section in the Oxford reading interesting. MOOCs have been a hot topic issue, however due to various problems with the feasibility of assigning credit and low retention rates, as the Oxford article notes, “enthusiasm is beginning to wane” (p 15). I did like how the reading brought up a few niche markets for MOOCs such as expanding educational opportunities to a wide audience in Africa at a low cost or requiring an introductory online course for first-year Mechanics students at the University of Bristol. However, what I found even more interesting was the technology used to digitize and disseminate books, manuscripts, and even works of art. I liked how the Oxford publication noted that these technological advances overcome practical limitations such as the possibility of damage, space limitations in a library or archive space, and of course, distance.
It is interesting that that you (and many others in class) picked up the topic of MOOCs in the reading, about free access to classes and education. I agree that technology is making a lot of lead way to open up opportunities for education. However, I wonder about the “free” portion of any education provided in person/online and how those courses/certificates are recognized around the world.
Few days ago, there was an article in Inside Higher Ed about MOOCs and how they will no longer be free, if you would like to be able to do the assignments and receive a certification of completion. It seems like the original ideal no longer makes investors happy, as it does not make money to help the program operate and expand. So now, it seems, MOOCs will become as any other online school that provides online classes, possibly at a higher level, but still, it is no longer freely available to anyone around the world.
Hey Melissa,
Thank you for your post! To comment on a statement you made “if the U.S. is a wonderful place to learn, it is understandable that many of our own students are happy to stay here for their education, rather than pursue it internationally”. Yet, The U.S. is not the best place to learn and current citizen students do not pursue an internationally education for two reasons. Either they realize how beneficial it would be to study abroad, but it would be too costly or they are brainwashed into believing America is so diverse that they don’t need to venture out into the world. I see the latter as a form of American privilege/weakness and it would be smart for more American higher education institutions to utilize technology so students can have open accessibility to international issues.
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for your post. It looks like we both picked out similar themes in the readings. For example, we both identified areas that required clarification in Green’s article about the US not being a world leader in internationalization in higher education. I liked your point about the US’s robust and high-quality education system playing a factor in US students not wanting to study abroad.
I also found the technology section in the Oxford reading interesting. MOOCs have been a hot topic issue, however due to various problems with the feasibility of assigning credit and low retention rates, as the Oxford article notes, “enthusiasm is beginning to wane” (p 15). I did like how the reading brought up a few niche markets for MOOCs such as expanding educational opportunities to a wide audience in Africa at a low cost or requiring an introductory online course for first-year Mechanics students at the University of Bristol. However, what I found even more interesting was the technology used to digitize and disseminate books, manuscripts, and even works of art. I liked how the Oxford publication noted that these technological advances overcome practical limitations such as the possibility of damage, space limitations in a library or archive space, and of course, distance.
Kristen
Hi Melissa,
It is interesting that that you (and many others in class) picked up the topic of MOOCs in the reading, about free access to classes and education. I agree that technology is making a lot of lead way to open up opportunities for education. However, I wonder about the “free” portion of any education provided in person/online and how those courses/certificates are recognized around the world.
Few days ago, there was an article in Inside Higher Ed about MOOCs and how they will no longer be free, if you would like to be able to do the assignments and receive a certification of completion. It seems like the original ideal no longer makes investors happy, as it does not make money to help the program operate and expand. So now, it seems, MOOCs will become as any other online school that provides online classes, possibly at a higher level, but still, it is no longer freely available to anyone around the world.
Natallia
Hey Melissa,
Thank you for your post! To comment on a statement you made “if the U.S. is a wonderful place to learn, it is understandable that many of our own students are happy to stay here for their education, rather than pursue it internationally”. Yet, The U.S. is not the best place to learn and current citizen students do not pursue an internationally education for two reasons. Either they realize how beneficial it would be to study abroad, but it would be too costly or they are brainwashed into believing America is so diverse that they don’t need to venture out into the world. I see the latter as a form of American privilege/weakness and it would be smart for more American higher education institutions to utilize technology so students can have open accessibility to international issues.
Adia Johnson