Daily Lumina News 031122

Ryan Flaco Rising took his first college class in New Folsom State Prison. Soon, he will graduate with a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Even though Rising has turned his life around, challenges related to his criminal history still linger. Higher education is an aspirational path for formerly incarcerated students, yet one that comes with social pitfalls, skeptics, and a relentless need to prove something.

Race plays a role in every part of campus life, especially residential life. Case in point: A recent study shows that resident assistants of color at predominantly white institutions sometimes found themselves diluting diversity programming to make their white peers more comfortable.
The scholars behind that study talk about what they learned and how residential life can improve in this interview.

Coursera and edX, whose MOOC platforms collectively serve some 140 million users, are each suspending content from their Russian university and industry partners.
MOOC platforms are joining the legions of companies that have scaled back or cut ties with Russia since its invasion of Ukraine last month.

As Congress moves forward on expanding the Pell Grant to short-term certificates, there’s an important caveat: Online education programs will be excluded.
Excluding online programs won’t keep low-quality programs out—but it will restrict access for students who need flexibility, writes James Dean Ward of Ithaka S+R in this commentary. Instead of blanket exclusions, Ward is pushing for more accurate measures of quality.

The people who build and fund edtech tools occupy very different professional worlds than the educators who use those tools. And the two worlds can sometimes collide.
On this podcast, a venture capitalist who invests in edtech companies goes one-on-one with a professor who is critical of the edtech industry. The topic: What role should artificial intelligence play in education?

A reasonably priced education at a world-class public university. A single-family house in a neighborhood that is clean and peaceful. For generations, these have been pillars of the California dream.
Now an epic clash between the two ideals is forcing state lawmakers to confront the limits of California’s promise, as growth collides with the state’s ability to sustainably house and educate its 40 million people.