Geeking out about higher ed since 2013.
Our guest this week is Tara Gilboa, who spoke about her journey in education through teaching, instructional design, and studying abroad.
The Flat World & Education, Linda-Darling Hammond
Range, David Epstein
Originals, Adam Grant
Give & Take, Adam Grant
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Over the past few months, I’ve worked with, spoke with, and visited with several different higher ed tech companies. Obviously I’ve worked in this space myself for the past nearly three years, but through this experience, I’ve garnered a unique perspective on our greater ecosystem in higher ed.
Coming up through traditional campus based student affairs, I had no idea what was out there. Learning more about all the different organizations that help support the mission of institutions was helpful to appreciate how important these partnerships are. Done right, they augment our work with students. They don’t replace it.
With that being said, there are other valuable lessons I took to heart as I met with various folks in higher ed tech that I hope can resonate with other campus based professionals.
I’ve found it to be far more ubiquitous in the ed tech world to have the best tools to support our work. It helps with everything from collaboration, communication, expenses, HR, analytics, and student support. It seems like it is just a different mindset for the most part. Nothing is preventing campuses from using most of these tools (I know privacy can be a big concern). A lot of them have catered to colleges, there just needs to be the willingness to invest the time and energy in implementing it. We can often experience a lot of inertia with our processes, especially in higher ed. Now more than ever with the disruptive demographic challenges and competitive marketplace for students, we need to make sure we’re doing the best work we can to recruit and retain students. We also need to be doing this in the most efficient way possible with modern tools on our side. Take a look at tools like Workday, Slack, Salesforce, Presence, Roompact, Zoom, and AdmitHub.
Something else that is fairly fundamental to ed tech teams is a remote first policy. I currently work fully remote for a company that is mostly remote. It’s been a great perk to have this flexibility to work wherever and however will allow me to be the most productive. This is a topic I’ve written about before and it is even getting notice from places like Inside Higher Ed. I won’t belabor the point again here, but we really need to consider this more so that we can attract and keep high quality talent.
The last point I’d like the emphasize is that for anyone looking to work in higher ed but having trouble finding a good fit, there is a wide array of different jobs out there now. So many organizations want people with formal campus based experience to bring that perspective to their team. Whether it is working directly with campuses for support, doing trainings, marketing, or back end admin support, there is a place for everyone in higher ed tech. I’ve greatly appreciated still being able to support student success while being able to work in a far more healthy environment for me.
I think about this topic a lot and have for a while. I wrote as a contributor to the Defectors series a few years ago which has been a great insight into the experiences of other folks in this space. Something else to note here is that just because you leave a campus based role doesn’t mean you can’t or won’t ever go back. I know of some people who have gone back and forth. You can certainly contribute valuable knowledge coming back that you perhaps may never been able to garner otherwise.
I hope that we can get to a place where the ed tech space is discussed in graduate programs. I hope we get rid of “vendor” as a dirty word at conferences. I hope we can aspire to be a more adaptable field that can measure up to the expectations our students have of us to be digital, nimble, accessible, and responsive. I hope everyone who wants to stay and work in higher ed can find environments that appreciate them and jobs that fulfill them.
I’m always happy to discuss this further with anyone interested. Please connect with me if you have questions!
Our guest this week is Eric Olsen from Helix Education and host of the Enrollment Growth University podcast! This is a really fun chat exploring marketing, digital education, and the future of higher ed.
Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson
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Our guest this week is Melissa Ruiz from our good friends at Swift Kick! She speaks about her journey to being a speaker, how her college experience at Rutgers shaped her and what’s she working on now to help expand access to high quality fitness experiences.
Upstairs at the White House by JB West & Mary Lynn Kotz
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Our guest this week is Anne Trumbore who works with Wharton Online but has a long history working in digital higher education and a unique journey of how she got into the field.
House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
AI Superpowers by Dr. Kai-Fu Lee
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Music by pond5.com
Our guest this week is another repeat guest of mine from the SAC podcast days, Kevin Forch! It was great to catch up with Kevin and hear more about his story as he has built his career and family out in Nebraska.
Insight by Tasha Eurich
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One of the most famous casino games, roulette has featured in a number of high profile films such as the James Bond classic Diamonds Are Forever, Casablanca and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. But where did the casino game originate from?
Roulette, which you can try out at https://casino.paddypower.com/c/roulette, is believed to have originated from well-known mathematician and physician Blaise Pascal in the 17thcentury. Pascal is known for devising the triangular array of binomial coefficients, known as Pascal’s triangle. His research introduced the mathematical theory of probability and the roulette wheel is believed to have been a bi-product in his efforts to create a perpetual motion machine.
Although invented in the 17thcentury, it wouldn’t be until the 18thcentury that the wheel would be used for gambling. These wheels included a 0 and a 00 space which allowed the house to have an even better edge and help their profits. The exact origin of who included these spaces on the wheel is unknown, but there are a couple of versions. One is that a French novelist saw them on a roulette wheel in the Palais Royal, while another cites Francois and Louis Blanc as the inventors, although others suggest that the pair were behind the removal of the 00 space in order to make the game appeal to more people by reducing the house edge.
Roulette has been known as the devil’s game and that is purely down to the fact that, if you were to add up all the numbers on a traditional roulette wheel (1-36), they add up to 666, supposedly the “Number of the Beast”, although this is merely a coincidence.
As the casino game began to gain popularity across Europe it began to spread across the Atlantic Ocean to the USA, where they added another symbol to help increase the house edge. As well as the 0 and 00 spaces, they added in an eagle – the national bird of the United States.
Following a roulette ban in Germany, the Blanc brothers moved the game to Monte Carlo and with their single 0 version, they created a gambling paradise. The single 0 version of the roulette wheel has become the most popular format of the game and has spread worldwide.
There are three different games of roulette – French, European and American. While the French and European have the same wheel (just the single 0) and are almost identical in how they’re played, the betting board is slightly different in its layout and there are a couple of additional rules. Firstly there is “La Partage” which allows people receive half of their stake back if they’ve bet on red or black and zero comes up. The other is “en prison” where in the same circumstances, the player can leave their bet on the table for the following spin.
In American roulette, the only real difference is one the wheel, there is the 00 as well as the 0, which gives the house an increased edge. It is for this reason that European and French roulette are seen as the more popular amongst casino visitors, as no one wants it to be more likely that they’ll lose their money to the house.
Finding a safe place to play roulette
Roulette is one of the most well-known casino games, but you don’t have to visit a casino to play. Online roulette has become increasingly popular in recent years, and there are many sites available for those who enjoy trying their luck and spinning to win. You can choose to play for fun or to deposit money and try and win cash through options like a Trustly casino. If you’re new to roulette, it’s a great idea to sign up for trial versions to make sure you understand the rules and get a feel for the format before you choose red or black.
My first read of the year was the recently released book, Bad with Money by Gaby Dunn. Inspired by the podcast of the same name (which I love), this book explores some different fundamentals of finance, with a dash of social justice, and pinch of both humorous as well as poignant anecdotes from the author.
I really enjoyed this book. It definitely captures the spirit of the podcast well while not just feeling like a retread. It centers each chapter on a concept then provides facts, figures, and advice from experts. Dunn then puts the concept in context of her own story. She acknowledges her shortcomings, mistakes, and where she just had gaps in her understanding at the time. She also shows how she has worked to get past these financial difficulties, yet still underscores it with the acceptance that she still has a way to go.
This book serves as a great primer for college students, young professionals, and freelancers, but certainly has a lot to engage any reader on the current state of our financial systems and how they have historically disadvantaged many Americans.
I can’t think of a better book to kick off 2019 with. Bad with Money is smart, funny, socially conscious, honest, and engaging. I blew this book very quickly which is a testament in itself for me. It usually takes me forever to read a book to the end, and even then I sometimes skim through parts that feel irrelevant. I read this one cover to cover and recommend you do the same!
Hope you enjoy Bad with Money as much as I did!
Working in an office can have its perks. You will always have a comfy seat to enjoy during the day, you’ll be able to drink and eat at your desk, and it will often feel like a home from home. However there are also downsides to being in an office all year long, such as the lack of fresh air and often lack of space. But this year it is worth making some changes to your office space to make it more fun for everyone in the workplace, and you can even add some features for your team to enjoy between work. Here are just some of the ways to inject some fun into the office this year.
Have a garden
The indoor space of your office is always an important thing to consider when you are working, but an outdoor space can also be important. Having an outdoor space to escape to and even to work in during the summer is a great idea and it can increase morale in the workplace. Make sure to add lots of colour with perennial plants and think about planting fruits such as strawberries and raspberries for people to pick when they are ripe.
Build a bar
Who said the office can’t have fun on a Friday? If you are looking for a way to bring your office into the 21st century this year, one great thing to add is a bar. Having a bar in the office which serves beer and wine is of course not for every day of the week, but when 4pm rings on a Friday everyone can go down and sit at the bar for an hour to catch up and end the week on a high note. This can be a great thing for employee morale and it can really help you to feel closer to your team.
Create a game room
Sometimes the best way to teambuild isn’t to go out and do some cheesy games out and about, it’s to stay in the office and make your own fun. The office can be a good place to play games and you can inject a pinball machine and even a table tennis table and a games console into a quiet room. This will allow you to have tournaments now and again and this can really help to increase employee morale.
Make it homely
The office is a place you will spend a lot of your time, whether you like it or not. This is why it is important for you to make the place comfortable and homely as much as you can. This can include some bright lighting and plants, and also things such as air conditioning and heaters when it is cold.
Add a quiet space
Everyone has bad days, and sometimes work can become a little overwhelming which is why it is important for you to have a quiet space to escape to when you need it. Create a room with a sofa, some books and a TV for those times when someone needs to get away for a while and calm down.
In this episode, we give a brief update on the past few months and what listeners can look forward to this season.
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Music by pond5.com