Feature

The readers have spoken and for the first time ever, University Business magazine is honoring higher education products and services, in this first annual Readers’ Choice Top Products for 2012. Earlier this year, campus leaders and administrators from across the country had the unique opportunity to nominate what products they and their peers around the country are using, and voice how these products contribute to the success of their schools.

As the December issue was going to press mere days after Hurricane Sandy ripped through the Northeast, we were already hearing of colleges and universities in the region beginning to put the pieces back together. While the monstrous storm caused power outages and damage to many institutions, the effects likely would have been far worse, and even deadly, if not for effective disaster preparedness planning.

The Myth: If you use open source, you’re on your own.

A college reunion this spring at the  State University of New York at Oswego presented the web-development team an opportunity to build an iPhone app using an open-source software called Kurogo, developed by Modo Labs. The app was a hit, with 30 percent of the 2,000 or so reunion attendees downloading it to share photos and stay on top of events over the course of three days.

By now, most of us have heard the term “flipped classroom” and learned that the concept is not as aerodynamic as its name. But it is becoming a movement. In this type of learning space, lectures and other traditional classroom elements are swapped out in favor of more in-person interaction, like small group problem solving and discussion.