Don’t be deceived by diploma mills…

“I never realised that this was so big and more than that, it was the embarrassment of having been scammed.Laws and regulations need to be in place internationally in order for the whole business to be put to an end.Even if one person, somewhere, can be stopped from making the same mistake, it would be worth it.”

Young beautiful business woman is thinking about education at business school. Drawn business icons over the concrete wall. Graduation hat.

This is a quote from a woman who contacted me wanting to know if she could do anything about a Axact bogus school who deceived her and scammed her out of thousands of dollars. My article was just published in Teach UAE Magazine and is called “Don’t be deceived by diploma mills” Please read and if you are a person who has been scammed or know of someone I would like to hear your story.

Other Notes: I am attending the European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN) 2015 conference in Barcelona this week. I will be on a panel on June 12th at 10AM discussing Expanded Learning Scenarios of Best Practices. This will be my first European education conference and look forward to meeting my E-Learning colleagues.

One of the issues I want to raise with my North American & European colleagues this week  is the diploma mill scandals which is getting worldwide attention. I am advocating that EDEN, USDLA, and similar organizations help take the lead in exposing these groups and make sure bogus education groups are not members or if so then expelled. let’s look at ways professional E-Learning organizations can get the word out to individuals and groups about diploma mills and where to find quality accredited programs.  Follow me on Twitter (deanhoke) for updates.

PS: Image courtesy of Teach UAE Magazine

 

Flipped Class Movement Dubai Workshop April 4th at 9:30 AM

Jon B image

I spoke with a colleague of mine (Ed Smith) who told me, about a workshop in Dubai on Flipped Classrooms and I want to make you aware of this event.  The speaker is non other than the guy who came up with the idea, Jon Bergmann.  Jon is considered one of the pioneers in the Flipped Class movement.  His latest venture, FlippedClass.com, provides Flipped Learning training to small and large businesses, governments, non-profit organizations and schools around the globe. The venture’s mission is to teach, share and implement best practices for creating learner-centric environments that empower trainers to maximize their teaching impact while lowering training costs.

Bergmann’s corporate clients include Wella (Procter & Gamble), the Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA), and iSchool, which provides learning management systems (LMS) to educational institutions throughout Asia.

In addition, Bergmann co-authored two popular books, Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day and Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement.  His radio show tells the stories of Flipped Educators around the world and is hosted on iTunes and the BAM Radio Network. He received the Presidential Award for Excellence for Math and Science Teaching in 2002 and was a finalist for the Brock International Prize for Education in 2014.  He currently serves on the advisory board for TED-Education. Jon holds a MA degree in Instructional Technology from the University of Colorado at Denver and a BS degree in Science Education from Oregon State University.

Also speaking are representatives from Pearson and Convergent, who will ​talk about how to flip a class, using real world examples and show the benefits to the learning outcomes.  Overall those that attend will come away with a level of knowledge of how to be a digital learning architect.

They will be holding the workshop at International Horizon College on the 42nd Floor, U-Bora Tower Business Bay Dubai —– on April 4th. You can register by clicking here. It begins at 9:30 AM and concludes about 12:30 PM.

​If you are an educator or educational technologist in the UAE region I hope you take advantage of this opportunity.

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