Red Balloon

I came across something called the "Red Balloon Project" sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). No UCs belong to this group, although some CSUs do. Exactly what it entails is not clear - I suspect there is a fair amount of impetus for online education, etc., involved.

From the AASCU website (excerpts):

http://www.aascu.org/programs/redballoon/index.htm

The Red Balloon Project is a national initiative to re-imagine and then to redesign undergraduate education for the 21st century. Public colleges and universities are facing a complex set of challenges: transformational changes in technology, reductions in funding, shifting student demographics, growth of the private sector in higher education, demands for greater accountability, and more. The Red Balloon Project will help institutions restructure to respond to the rapidly changing circumstances of the new century.

Project Goals

The goal of the Red Balloon Project is to collaboratively create models of undergraduate education that:

1. Created by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and its member colleges and universities, the project is creating a national dialogue, a repository of resources, and a collection of demonstration project to foster innovation among public colleges and universities.


2. Utilize educational technologies to better engage students in authentic learning experiences more aligned with the ways that knowledge is being generated, aggregated and disseminated in an age of networked knowledge.


3. Provide students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities they will need to become successful participants in careers, engaged citizens in a democracy, and thoughtful leaders in the global society of the 21st century.

Introduction to the Red Balloon Project from John Hammang on Vimeo.

Apparently, Fresno State is embarked on an effort related to the Red Balloon Project:

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/10/28/2137148/fresno-state-brainstorms-to-re.html