technology and innovation

At a small high school in New Hampshire, there are no letter grades, and students can take a test as often as they want. Administrators here are taking a risk and preparing their students for what they hope will be the future of education.

What if your smart phone could predict your performance at school or work? Researchers at Dartmouth are perfecting an app that can tell students' their GPA, based on how and where they spend their time.

Does the pending closure of Sweet Briar signal the end of the liberal arts? Former Bucknell University president Brian Mitchell says the answer – unequivocally – is “No.”

MIT scientists are presenting a report Monday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science that describes what they call America’s growing innovation deficit.

Don’t be fooled by the windmills you see in Chevron’s sleek advertising, says author and activist Naomi Klein. Fossil fuel companies may claim they care about preventing climate change, but as they earn record profits Klein says they are clearly not reducing fossil fuel consumption.

Having universities divest from fossil fuels is a feel-good measure that would do nothing to address the problem of global climate change. Instead, we should be focusing on efforts to push for strong government action.

While only 22 U.S. colleges and universities have actually agreed to sell their shares in oil and coal companies, more than 50 have committed themselves to efficiency projects on campus through a special financing method called green revolving funds, including Harvard University.

At Harvard Tuesday morning, environmentalists and student activists expanded their blockade of Massachusetts Hall, blocking University Hall. The protesters are demanding Harvard sell off fossil fuel stocks in its $36 billion endowment. Today, WGBH's Kirk Carapezza explains why divestment is not so easy and how colleges are trying to foster a sensible conversation about climate change.

A new MIT-Harvard study released Wednesday finds nearly 40 percent of learners who take open online courses are teachers. That finding has researchers wondering whether they can better design online courses once predicted to upend students' experience to meet teachers' needs.

Last year, WGBH's On Campus reported that despite low completion rates researchers at MIT and Harvard insist that online courses still have value:

The way higher education is packaged and delivered in this country is rapidly changing. Soaring costs and online alternatives are prompting many traditional colleges and universities to take a long look in the mirror, including one faculty-led think-tank located in the shadow of Georgetown University in Washington D.C.