Wally Boston, Author at Wally Boston

Has the Coronavirus Accelerated the Future of Assessment?

Posted on July 15, 2020 (April 30, 2024)

Times Higher Education (THE) published an article about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the assessment of learning in colleges and universities. Steve Masters, Education 4.0 Lead at Jisc (formerly the Joint Information Systems Committee), stated, “Universities’ first challenge was to get remote working up and running and get learning out there during this ‘triage’ period, but there’s a disconnect between what we need to do for students moving forward and what’s happening now.” Masters believes that as universities prepare for the possibility of teaching online in the fall, online assessment will need to be on the agenda. […]

The Financial Impact of No Season for College Football

Posted on July 14, 2020 (April 30, 2024)

With all of the news about the college athletic conferences (Ivy League and Patriot League) cancelling the fall sports schedule or limiting it to conference opponents only (Pac-12 and Big 10), I remembered a USA Today article I read this spring that discussed the financial impact to colleges if the football season was cancelled. […]

Adapt Now: The Coronavirus Will Be with Us for a While

Posted on July 13, 2020 (May 7, 2025)

When the first college campuses in the state of Washington closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I thought the actions to be reasonable and short term because of the proximity to Seattle, the early coronavirus hotspot in the U.S. As more college campuses closed for the remainder of the spring semester and athletic teams’ seasons were cancelled, I thought the actions to be reasonable. Those measures were designed to keep a socially active age group from spreading the coronavirus on campus and in their college towns and cities. […]

Higher Ed Publications and Publishing Uninformed Opinions

Posted on July 7, 2020 (June 12, 2024)

In Monday’s Inside Higher Ed, regular contributor Joshua Kim calls out the online publication’s editors for allowing the publication of an op-ed titled “Generals Die in Bed,” written by Jeff Kolnick, a professor of history at Southwest Minnesota State University. Dr. Kim, Director of Online Programs and Strategy at Dartmouth’s Center for the Advancement of Learning (and co-author of Learning Innovation and the Future of Higher Education, which I recently reviewed), states that he does not disagree with Dr. Kolnick’s concerns about the health risks of face-to-face instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a matter of fact, Dr. Kim shares the same concerns. […]

July: A Month of Memories, Celebrations and Reflection

Posted on July 6, 2020 (June 12, 2024)

The month of July triggers many memories. When I was younger, the month kicked off with the Fourth of July holiday festivities of picnics and fireworks, all of which were fascinating to me, my siblings, cousins, and friends. July 4 was also my grandfather’s birthday, an occasion that we were fortunate to celebrate with him through his 95th. […]

The Walls Are Crumbling: Will Colleges Reopen This Fall?

Posted on July 2, 2020 (November 21, 2024)

With cases of the coronavirus on the rise around the U.S., colleges leaders that made the early call to go online for the fall appear more prescient every day as we get closer to the anticipated start date. While the safety of students, faculty, and staff has to be at the forefront of any decision to return to campus, there are some who have asked if the decision to return has been driven primarily by financial considerations. […]

Indispensable Institutions: Reimagining Community Colleges

Posted on July 1, 2020 (July 22, 2026)

Opportunity America, a Washington, DC think tank and policy shop, issued a report last week that reimagines the role of community colleges. The JPMorgan Chase Foundation and the Lumina Foundation sponsored the initiative, which included assembling a group of educators and policy makers across the U.S. in 2019. The group met with guest speakers to discuss the current status of community colleges and how they might adapt in line with the future changes in the workforce due to technology innovations. […]

College Presidents Survey: An Increasing Concern about Value

Posted on June 30, 2020 (April 30, 2024)

During the COVID-19 crisis, Inside Higher Education and Hanover Research have regularly surveyed college and university presidents, asking questions about their actions during the crisis. More recently, these presidents have been asked about their expectations of when campus life will return to normal. […]

Five Days: Provoking Thought about Inequality in Baltimore

Posted on June 29, 2020 (June 12, 2024)

Earlier this week, I received my copy of Wes Moore’s latest book, Five Days. Co-authored with journalist Erica Green, Five Days depicts the unrest in the city of Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, a black man whose “rough ride” in a Baltimore City Police Department (BCPD) van led to his death. The authors tell the story as the events unfold through the eyes of Moore and eight other Baltimoreans. […]

Social Media Activism: Adversely Affecting Your Job Search?

Posted on June 26, 2020 (November 4, 2024)

On June 2nd, the virtual world exploded into an armada of black squares, and the hashtag #BlackoutTuesday dominated social media feeds. The murder of George Floyd, as with countless others before him, cast a harsh spotlight on our country’s painful racial divides. For some, the decision whether or not to participate in social media activism is based on personal beliefs about the movement itself and the many nuances surrounding the issue of racial injustice in America. […]

Author: Wally Boston

Posts by Wally Boston

Has the Coronavirus Accelerated the Future of Assessment?

The Financial Impact of No Season for College Football

Adapt Now: The Coronavirus Will Be with Us for a While

Higher Ed Publications and Publishing Uninformed Opinions

July: A Month of Memories, Celebrations and Reflection

The Walls Are Crumbling: Will Colleges Reopen This Fall?

Indispensable Institutions: Reimagining Community Colleges

College Presidents Survey: An Increasing Concern about Value

Five Days: Provoking Thought about Inequality in Baltimore

Subjects of Interest

Artificial Intelligence/AI

EdTech

Higher Education

Independent Schools

K-12

Science

Student Persistence

The Future of Work

Workforce