Business Model? We Don’t Need No Business Model!


Few things raise my hackles more than irrational or illogical behavior. And, in this collection I also include my own behavior. Take for example the recent news of a student, Timothy Arnold, a University of Central Florida student, who developed an application. His application, UCouldFinish, helped students find courses with open seats. Armed with this…

Ethics of Deadlines in Education


I recently attended a day-long workshop at the Jefferson County Community and Technical College-Southwest in Louisville, KY. GeoEd 2012 targeted two-year college staff and faculty looking to incorporate geographic information sciences (GIS) in their coursework. My primary employer is a 4-yr institution but the presentations were not especially directed to universities, which is good; otherwise…

U.S. Citizens Worry Me


I’m trying to get out of the habit of saying, “Americans.” As a society, we are really a self-centered lot. North America is comprised of both Canada and the United States. Technically, a Canadian could call herself an “American,” as she lives on the continent of North America. But, would that make people living in…

Crying and Complaining in Higher Education


At Ivory Tower State University, our dragon program historically has enjoyed a great reputation. Over last couple years, though, the dragon program has taken to slogging through the muck. Reputations are as fickle as the people upon whose shoulders those accolades rest, though. The hiring of individuals can really change a program, either for the…

The Future of Educational Technology: The Conundrum of Tablets, PCs, Smartphones, and the Cloud


My discipline lives and breathes by technology. Personal computers helped revive the discipline of Geography beginning in the 1990’s. Along with rapid advancements in personal computer technology came application development environments such as Microsoft’s Visual Studio. Several companies were poised to avail themselves to rapid changes in personal computing technologies, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI),…