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The State of Higher Education

A look at the State of the Union Address, how to train faculty on tech and the best stories of the week.

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Jimmy is a writer and editor who publishes a weekly newsletter. You can find him on Twitter.

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The State of Higher Education

President Obama touched on higher education in his State of the Union address, but as the Chronicle’s Kelly Field writes, the president was “less fiery” on the topic than in previous years. Instead, he focused on job training and the STEM field and avoided the tuition lightning rod:

But the president steered clear of the criticisms of college costs prominent in his State of the Union addresses last year and the year before. And he offered no new proposals for making college more accessible and affordable.

Read Field’s full wrap-up here.

How to Train Faculty on Classroom Technology

If you aren’t a member of Reddit’s /r/highereducation subreddit, it’s time to register. Great conversations are happening here on a regular basis, particularly when it comes to technology. This week, for example, someone asked, “How do you get faculty trained on academic technology?” Here is a sample of one of many detailed responses:

For specialized pedagogical training, we've found the best avenue is peer instruction. For example, we have a faculty technology workshop each fall that is filled with faculty presenters showing their peers how to adapt some new technology to the classroom or research. They are very well attended, especially by junior faculty. We also offer customized training courses with instructional technologists on just about any topic--- say the political science department wants to learn just enough GIS to make a map of election results? We'll put together a two-day crash course to do so.

Read the full conversation here.

Google Adds Frames for Prescription Lenses

Several colleges, including Virginia Tech and Cecil College, are already experimenting with Google Glass. Until now, however, wearers of prescription glasses were out of luck. The Verge explains in the video below.

Tweets of the Week

Somehow @paulfain managed to turn a stackable credential story into a trip to "Beer City USA" http://t.co/RUuz6sLQ6M #jealousforever

— Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson) January 30, 2014