Readers

The best moments on a blog occur when a conversation is sparked and readers engage with one another, or with the blogger, and minds are changed. I'm happy to report that I've had several of those moments while writing this blog over the past few months. Here are a few recent highlights:

A post asking whether online higher education will replace the bricks-and-mortar kind inspired a flurry of informed comments, including many from people who had worked in online education or taken online courses themselves. Readers pointed out that students need to do their homework before enrolling in online courses to verify whether an online institution is accredited, whether course credits will transfer to other schools, and whether online courses even make sense for a given course of study. Readers who had been students of online education weighed in on the benefits (convenience, affordability) and drawbacks (absence of a physical community, wide disparity in quality of programs) of online education. They also challenged my choice of headline ("Will online education replace the Ivy League"), which suggested that the future of elite private educational organizations was the big issue with online education, when there are so many (and probably more important) issues to talk about when it comes to online learning. Read More »

Usually I’m on the advice-giving side of things. But some readers have recently given such good advice in the comments that it’s about time to shine the spotlight on those wise souls who are teaching me something about careers, putting me in my place when I’ve failed to see the whole picture on something, or simply disagreeing with me.

Here’s a few of my favorite nuggets from the comments section:

Read More »

I love the moment at a party when the person who is being feted suddenly gets all choked up with gratitude for the people surrounding her. I love how often it happens that the whole room raises the glass to one person and that person can only talk about everyone else but herself. It is this sweet, poignant, and brief bit of time when it is clear that it takes a lot of people to raise one person up.

At this party, we are celebrating the one-year anniversary of Shine. And as all of us who are lucky enough to work here look around the room, we can only say thank you to all of you who have made this site as radiant and alive as it is.
Read More »