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The Forum > Article Comments > Information technology and the end of the traditional university business model > Comments

Information technology and the end of the traditional university business model : Comments

By Keith Suter, published 13/10/2015

But newspapers have shown that giving something away means eventually that consumers expect all of it to be free. MOOCs may undermine the university business model rather than save it.

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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is obligated to apply the information element of IT for public benefit.

I have informed Malcolm Turnbull that AGW and IPCC and Kyoto associated science has not measured and assessed photosynthesis-linked warmth in ocean algae plant matter proliferated by unprecedented sewage nutrient pollution.

I have also raised the subject numerous times on OLO yet university and government and political and especially media interests do not take due action, such as investigating and reporting the reality or likelyhood or not.

There is no relevant mention in major media about incorrect climate action and expenditure of public money on the wrong cause of ocean warming and climate change. Yet it is inevitable reality becomes known.

http://www.pnas.org/content/112/19/5921

Perhaps it's good that universities are getting a shake up over control of information.

However there is still time for real science in universities to make ocean algae an issue at the forthcoming Paris climate talks.
Posted by JF Aus, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 11:05:45 AM
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As a post graduate and full time professional journalist I have developed ways to carry on international digital discussions over the last 10 years. Here is an example http://gentleseas.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/pakistan-to-receive-chinese-type-035.html Note that my site-meters indicate that the commenters are frequently from the US, Australia, India, Pakistan and eslewhere.

The author talks of students populating the four walls of universities OR being digital participants in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

There is a third way, which is formal Online Courses, with:
- graded seminar discussions
- formally assessed essays
- marked exams
- actual books from university libraries are ordered, loaned and arrive by snail-mail
- traditional academic journal articles are downloaded from the Internet
- Pass, Honours and Masters Degrees are formally conferred after years of study.

These formal Degree Online Courses have the added benefit of teaching essential digital skills that cannot be instilled through school-like classroom face to face teaching.

Four walls university teaching have some social advantages.

Formal Online Courses (which are not MOOCs) have other advantages in preparing students for the largely online work lives (populated by emails and skype) that they increasingly use in the 21st Century. Online courses also make it easier to work and study at the same time.

Pete
Posted by plantagenet, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 11:40:15 AM
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Marine algae, more commonly known as seaweeds, come in all shapes and sizes. Algae are not plants, even though they sometimes look like them. The classification system of algae can be confusing, as the classification schemes change as we learn more about them. Interestingly, although they are all referred to as algae, the red, green and brown algae are classified into three different kingdoms: the protists, chromists and Plantae, respectively. The algae all have cell wall structures and are capable of photosynthesis like our plants on land.

Brown algae is the largest type of algae. Brown algae is in the phylum Phaeophyta, which means "dusky plants." Brown algae is brown or yellow-brown in color and found in temperate or arctic waters. Brown algae typically have a root-like structure called a "holdfast" to anchor the algae to a surface.

There are more than 6,000 species of red algae. Red algae has its often brilliant color due to the pigment phycoerythrin. This algae can live at greater depths than brown and green algae because it absorbs blue light. Coralline algae, a group of red algae, is important in the formation of coral reefs.

There are more than 4,000 species of green algae. Green algae may be found in marine or freshwater habitats, and some even thrive in moist soil. These algae come in 3 forms: unicellular, colonial or multicellular.
Posted by doog, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 11:48:30 AM
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It looks like OLO is becoming the new information campus.

doog, you seem to have expert knowledge about algae.
Do you know anything about solar warmth absorbed by algae during photosysthesis. That is, warmth in all algae.
I think universities are yet to learn about warmth in ocean algae plant matter, algae is vegetable matter, not animal, not mineral.

Microscopic algae in the ocean can be seen from a NASA satellite in space. Look closely like a doctor examining an xray.
It's obvious algae is linked to weather and climate.

Pinpoints of cloud can be seen forming virtually parallel above micro algae in the Bering Sea, the pinpoints forming into bigger cloud. See:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=40716

Ocean algae is now beginning to be "impossibly" discovered by science (2012) but still there is no mention of warmth in algae warming areas of oceans.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/june/arctic-algal-blooms-060712.html

My lay knowledge of warmth in algae dates back over 50 years though I made relevant comment in 2009, yet universities are still lacking such insight.
There are many words at the following link but the first para or two should be enough f.y.i. See:
http://www.solomontimes.com/letter/1969

Dr Suter will need to change his futurist outlook when he becomes aware of the impact of algae on world seafood supply and weather impacting agriculture, all linked to nutrient overload pollution proliferating algae and need to sustain AFFORDABLE food supply to feed over 7 billion humans daily.
Posted by JF Aus, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 1:01:05 PM
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Giday JF Aus and strop

It is typical of the low murky depths that perfectly good articles are dragged down to when commenters talk about algae?

OLO is Indeed "becoming the new information campus"

OLO is a abiding interest to:

- insane fringe dwellers

- and the psychologists-psychiatrists who study them

- rightwing political extremists

- and the security services who study them

While the author's article presents a rare opportunity to discuss university functioning it is typical of OLO's middle aged rogue male punters that they seize on algae.

I'm happily returning to my website.

Cheers
Posted by plantagenet, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 1:30:03 PM
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plantagenet, it is unfortunate for you being blind to new information that could help develop prosperity and overcome hardship.

How can you justify turning away from critically serious consequences of nutrient overload in ocean ecosystems that control weather and affordable food supply for seafood dependent island and many coastal people?

You sound like a CO2 desciple.
My focus is algae because it is the cause of consequences to humanity, the environment and the economy.
You plantagenet, seem to comment on everything but I do not complain about that.

This thread is also about knowledge.
Knowledge can be derived from a NASA photo in this modern IT world, compared to knocker mentality educated from old literature in resource-starved libraries.

Why engage in ad hominem, subtle or not, and not address new knowledge about a source of warmth in oceans that has not been measured and assessed in AGW science?

I submit new knowledge yet to be realized about algae and associated phenomena and impact could even support whole new fields of study in an existing university or a completely new one.

Congratulations on your new website. Wish I had one.
Posted by JF Aus, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 4:25:39 PM
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Hi JF Aus

Algae and submarines both dwell underwater - so I may get interested :)

Cheers

Pete
Posted by plantagenet, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 6:17:04 PM
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Algae are a very diverse group of generally simple unicellular or multicellular eukaryotic organisms. Most of them are autotrophic which means that they can harvest carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it to organic matter.

They inherited their photosynthetic apparatus from cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are sometimes called blue-green algae but they are prokaryotic organisms and are not true algae. Some cyanobacterial species are used as food as well.

Seaweeds are edible algae that have been used for centuries as food in many coastal regions all over the world. They may belong to one of three groups of multicellular algae: red, green or brown. In countries such as China, Japan, Korea and to some extent Iceland, Ireland, Chile and New Zealand algae are part of people's regular diet. They are usually of marine origin since freshwater algae are often poisonous.

Algae are of excellent nutritional value since they contain complete protein (in contrast to plant food harvested on land), fiber, and sometimes high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. In fact, the omega-3 acids in fish comes from the microalgae consumed at the bottom of the food pyramide and gradually passed up to the fish at the top. Algae are also rich in many vitamins, such as A, C, B1, B2, B3 and B6, as well as minerals, such as iodine, calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron. They are consumed both cooked, dried and raw.
Posted by doog, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 6:21:28 PM
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plantagenet, I think you are already interested and the following should make you much more interested.

As for submarines I have Gold Coast City Council approval in principle to develop an underwater submarine rail tourist ride off Surfers Paradise CBD. 4 x 50 seat subs, and to regenerate seagrass in The Broadwter.

Plus I have traveled about 400 kilometers feet first backwards underwater inside a torpedo sized lure, to film for the first time, giant black marlin attacking to feed.

The ocean is a big place requiring big ideas.

A more recent proposal is a 2,000 km long submarine-like tube, aqueduct to transport presently wasted water, south to farmers and the water starved Coorong.
The Coorong is supposed to be feeding biodiversity in the southern oceans.

It's a multi billion dollar "productive development", all steel aqueduct. Steel suppliers and submarine engineers and fabricators, surveyors and planners, all university graduates, should be very interested

Nothing sensible is impossible.
More here:
https://ozcrowd.com/campaigns/nqa-water-infrastructure/#.VgnpNPmqqko

You see plantagenet, there is now dire urgent need to manage nutrient and algae and the most likely viable way to achieve that goal, involves new productive and viable food and fibre export business for the nation.
Prove me wrong if anyone can.
Posted by JF Aus, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 6:59:01 PM
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doog, why do you think algae aren't plants?

_____________________________________________

As for the article, think tanks are absolutely crap at advancint knowledge because they don't make a proper distinction between genuine knowledge and the disinformation that their corporate backers want people to believe. They don't have the proper peer review process that universities do.

MOOCs are great, but I wouldn't want to rely on them for everything.
Posted by Aidan, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 7:27:11 PM
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Doog

Unfortunately for algy kelp, it is currently being decimated by a black fungus. I've been watching large areas of kelp beds disappear over the years, and turning into dead sticks..the ocean equivalent of die-back in eucalyptus forests...
Posted by diver dan, Tuesday, 13 October 2015 9:00:35 PM
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The trouble with the eucalypt here in Victoria is the missal toe bird. Spreading its food supply around. Thirty % missal toe on a gum tree will kill the gum while the missal toe survives.

It is said that the parasite missal toe uses more water and the gum tree gets none.

Cut it of and the tree is fine. You would need a chopper to do it.
Posted by doog, Wednesday, 14 October 2015 6:17:02 AM
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One of the primary differences between algae and plants is that the latter have connective tissues that serve to transport nutrients and water throughout the entire body of the plant. In the case of the algae, each individual cell is responsible for absorbing its own water. This makes the algae nonvascular compared to the highly vascular plant species. In this connection, algae also lack several key structures that are normally present in ordinary plants like the leaves, roots and stem. The absence of these structures further reaffirms the nonvascular nature of algae. Furthermore, this is exactly the reason why many algae are nowadays not described as plants. They are now grouped in their own known loose groups or phyla.

Although algae can still possess a multitude if cells, the typical algae like the green alga is a single-celled organism. This makes it a simpler entity compared to multi-cellular plant organisms that have chloroplasts, are able to create embryos and whose cells have cellulose walls. On top of these characteristics they obviously lack the capability of locomotion.

With regard to their place of growth, the majority of algae usually thrive underwater though there can be some types that can live on land and even on snow. Algae just use the minerals found in the water to produce their own food for survival. Plants, on the contrary, mostly thrive on land because they use the natural sunlight and carbon dioxide to keep some of its most important biologic processes going on.

In addition, the mode of reproduction or the reproduction system itself is more complex in plants compared to the more primitive counterpart in the algae.

Although both algae and plants are photosynthetic in nature and are classified as eukaryotes (have highly differentiated cells that contain specialized structures like the nucleus), the two still differ in the following aspects:

1. Algae can either be unicellular and multi-cellular while plants are multi-cellular organisms.
2. Algae typically live underwater while plants thrive on land.
3. Algae are nonvascular. They don’t have structures such as connective tissues, leaves, stems.
Posted by doog, Wednesday, 14 October 2015 6:25:08 AM
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doog, some people will think you are altogether off topic.

On the other hand there are biologists will tell you some algae is cyanobacteria. In any case it's vegetable matter that absorbs solar warmth during photosynthesis.

Science barely knows the basic biology of life in the oceans. A marine biology professor pulled me up on that point and said science knows even less than that.

I think university business modelling should involve teaching solutions required for present day problems, such as reducing sewage nutrient overload pollution dumped in ocean ecosystems worldwide.

Evidence of substance indicates reduction of the nutrient loading will reduce warming in areas of oceans and make climate more natural.
What do university peers think about that?
Posted by JF Aus, Wednesday, 14 October 2015 12:42:29 PM
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If universities were capable of joining together in teamwork they could do the science to establish nutrient trading, for example to allow householders to sell their waste to feed algae for biofuel.

Emissions trading and nutrient trading go hand in hand together. The plumbing industry can build new cities and retrofit the old.

Science has the ability to stimulate the world economy. All humans live within the ocean ecosystem.

All countries would be happy with economic stimulus associated with proper scientific management of the oceans and atmosphere of our planet.

The subject of algae gives rise to numerous business and employment and prosperity, opportunities. Plumbing and agriculture already employ multi-millions.

Productive infrastructure projects are needed to generate export revenue, including through scientifically harnessing algae.

What does Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have to say and tweet about algae and nutrient trading and aqueduct infrastructure in Queensland?
Posted by JF Aus, Wednesday, 14 October 2015 4:01:10 PM
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This is another storm in a teacup. Online courses provide the teaching, but qualifications can only have value if the knowledge is tested. There have been correspondence universities for many decades giving valued degrees, which have had little effect on the demand for brick and mortar universities which will always have their place.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Thursday, 15 October 2015 2:18:26 PM
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Exactly, Shadow Minister.
Posted by JF Aus, Thursday, 15 October 2015 3:20:41 PM
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What are universities doing about reducing the "amount of nutrients in water" killing coral worldwide?

Photos show bleached coral but look at the already dead coral in background and to the sides.

http://www.catchnews.com/environment-news/why-are-corals-turning-white-and-what-does-it-mean-for-us-1444830733.html

I think universities would gain significant public and government support if their education business models were known to include solving present day problems such as devastation of ocean ecosystems on this planet.
Posted by JF Aus, Friday, 16 October 2015 9:18:49 AM
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