Re:Learning — An Economist Argues That Our Education System Is Largely Useless

[THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION] #subscribelink [Subscribe Today]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Subscribe to The Chronicle today to get access to premium content and more.]( Re:Learning Tuesday, January 30, 2018 --------------------------------------------------------------- [Sign up for this newsletter]( Highlights --------------------------------------------------------------- [An Economist Argues That Our Education System Is Largely Useless]( [premium] By Scott Carlson School and college, boring as they are, do little to make us smarter or more prepared for work, says Bryan Caplan, who proposes a profound change. [How Do You Keep Students From Checking Out in a Large Lecture Hall?]( Colleges can innovate their way out of some problems. Others — like those distracted students in the back of the auditorium — may be harder to crack. [Why Community Colleges Are Good for You]( By Carl J. Strikwerda These unsung engines of higher education deserve the resources and respect to be equal partners with four-year institutions. [Should Students Be Expelled for Posting Racist Videos?]( By Emma Kerr Two recent cases suggest that colleges are reacting more swiftly and firmly to students’ offensive conduct on social media. Quick Hits --------------------------------------------------------------- Going to SXSW EDU this year? The Chronicle will be there. By popular demand, we’ll hold our fourth-annual Shark Tank:Edu Edition on Thursday morning, March 8, when we will again invite contestants to pitch our panel of "sharks" and the audience on how a good new idea could improve higher education. If you’d like to be considered, please send an e-mail to events@chronicle.com and briefly describe your innovation. That morning we’ll also host [“The Adult Student Meets the Network Effect,”]( a conversation about the roles of employers, community groups, and others in helping more adults to enroll in college. —Goldie Blumenstyk More Ed-Tech News and Commentary --------------------------------------------------------------- [Digital Detox: Cleaning Up Our Personal Digital Environments]( Lee Skallerup Bessette discusses a new pilot project at Middlebury College, Digital Detox. [Technology Makes Amnesiacs of Us All]( [premium] By Francis O’Gorman And the academy only hastens our forgetting. [In Praise of Adequacy]( By Rachel Judith Weil In a liberal-arts education, there’s a lot to be said for “good enough.” [4-Year Colleges That Drew the Highest Percentages of First-Time Students From Out of State, Fall 2016]( [premium] The Chronicle List Among the colleges that drew the highest percentages of first-time students from other states were elite private institutions on the East Coast. [The Benefits of Doing It Wrong]( By David Gooblar Why you should invite your students to write badly, perform an experiment incorrectly, or botch an equation. [Creating Your Own Attendance 'App' With Google Forms]( Amy Cavender explains how readers can create their own attendance "app" using Google Forms. On Teaching --------------------------------------------------------------- [Teaching and Learning]( Learn more about The Chronicle's coverage of teaching and learning, including its weekly newsletter devoted to these issues. [View the Latest Jobs in Higher Education]( [THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION] 1255 Twenty-Third St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 [Like us on Facebook]( [Follow us on Twitter]( [Add us on Google+](chroniclehighereducation/posts?elqTrackId=015ffd12caff4afd9df1ee6cfd2ac70f&elq=340ab9c7619a466ca78e435b28e5d585&elqaid=17649&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7765) [Subscribe Today]( Get the insight you need for success in academe. [Stop receiving this newsletter]( Copyright © 2018 The Chronicle of Higher Education