Smartwatches banned from exam halls

INTERNATIONAL (div) -- Universities across the world ban smartwatches in a bid to stop students cheating in exams, it has been reported from Australia, Italy, England and Japan. Kyoto University was the target of an unprecedented cheating scandal in 2011 ... read more 11.12.15

Russia deports 13 Turkish university students

ISTANBUL (cihan) -- Turkey’s relations with Russia, which have been strained ever since the latter’s jet was downed by Turkey on Nov. 24, took another twist as thirteen Turkish college students inscribed at Voronezh State University were deported ... read more 10.12.2015

The money MOOCs make by 2020

PUNE (m&m) -- According to a report, the global market of Massive Open Online Courses will grow from $1.8 billion today to $8.5 billion by 2020. The biggest challenge for MOOC is the difficulty in adopting server-based resources or a secured IT infrastructure. Moreover, there is huge return on investment in the MOOC market as opportunities for augmented performance are always increasing ... read more 07.12.2015

Broken higher education in Ukraine

KIEV (uwn) -- Low-quality teaching, ineffective bureaucracy and systemic corruption at all levels, which often makes degrees worthless, are not the only reasons to avoid Ukraine as a study destination ... read more 11.12.2015

Syrian student resources, over the thumb

NEW YORK (wes) -- An estimated 450,000 refugees from the Middle East are 18 to 22 years old and around 100,000 of them are eligible to enter university. While their exodus has lasting negative implications for the region’s future, in Europe the “lost generation” of university students for Syria are considered as potential talent and “assets for Germany and other European countries in the short and particularly the longer term” ... read more 07.12.2015

Malta: It’s neither “American”, nor a “university”

VALLETTA (times of malta) -- The plan to build a private university in Zonqor, Malta, backed by a huge investment of the Jordanian Sadeen Group, had a hard time passing parliament. The property motion was approved after a long night of debates about ecological issues and the institution’s name and status “university” ... read more | here | and here 15.12.2015

Spanish left promises to revise university law

MURCIA (la verdad) -- Javier Sánchez is the candidate of Podemos for the southwestern Spanish region Murcia. He said, if his party wins the elections, they will abolish the controversial law of former education minister Ignacio José Wert because it has “impaired equal opportunities” ... read more 15.12.2015

German researchers pledge help for refugees

BERLIN (nature) -- Many of the incoming people are well-qualified and motivated — a boon for the German economy. Germany’s main research-funding agency, the DFG, encouraged grant holders to consider hiring refugee scientists in their research ... read more | nature editorial 16.12.15

EU committee promotes the ‘entrepreneurial’ university

BRUSSELS (nether) -- The European Economic and Social Committee is pushing for more efforts to make universities more ‘entrepreneurial’ and ‘embedded in society’. The EESC, a 350-member consultative body of the EU, recommends managerial autonomy and a stronger involvement of businesses, social partners, civil society, regions and cities in the decision-making of higher education ... read more 9.12.2015

EU youth get closer to intellectual property

ALICANTE (pau) -- The EU’s intellectual property agency carried out a study about how EU citizens perceive intellectual property. Eight out of ten 15-24 year olds believe that buying counterfeit products has a negative economic effect, and two thirds agree that illegal downloading is a threat to the economy and jobs. However, 57 percent think illegally accessing copyright-protected content for personal use is acceptable ... read more 18.11.2015

Slovak higher education struggles with nepotism

BRATISLAVA (denník) -- Universities are probably the sector with the highest incidence of family ties in Slovakia. This is due to a selection process that needs to be reformed urgently, policy expert Martin Grančay argues. He sees an unhealthy interaction of the academic senate’s role, short-term contracts and the lack of rules for academic titles ... read more 14.12.2015

Berlin: Court bans tabacco promotion for students

BERLIN (tsp) -- The quarrel over tabacco vans near universities is over. A court in Berlin prohibited the promotion for cigarettes closer than 200 meters around universities, schools and kindergardens. Health campaigners hope the decision will be adopted by other German states ... read more 15.12.2015

Swiss students disapprove of brain-doping

Bad English at Dutch universities

THE HAGUE (nltimes) -- According to a survey by the student union LSVb, 57 percent of students indicated that their lecturer’s English is substandard and that they would have gained more knowledge if the lecture was just given in Dutch ... read more 09.12.2015

Infographic: Apple & education