Connecting the classroom to the "real world"
Miscellaneous
Amazon is Buying Used Textbooks
2 years ago
by Brenden Schaaf
in Education
This topic is interesting for a couple reasons. First, the strategy of Amazon getting into the textbook buyback business is an interesting business model. Second, many people that read this blog are students that can probably make use of this service. It will be interesting to see how long college bookstores can operated as they have in the past with increased competition on this front not to mention the pressure from Kindle textbooks and the potential of textbooks being replaced by open-source products.
I see that Amazon is paying about $78 for the Horngren textbook we use in Acct 320 and it looks like they will pay the shipping as well. This might be a good avenue for those of you looking to sell books especially if a book you have is an old edition that the bookstore is not buying back.
Here is the link:
Study Habits for the Average Accounting Student | The Student CPA
2 years ago
Strong study habits are not one-size-fits-all for every single student. But there is a “core” of what constitutes the basics for most students…and some of the best advice comes from students that have struggled and found success.
I’ve been reading a blog called The Student CPA for several months now and a new item was posted today that gives advice from a student perspective on what works for accounting students in terms of being successful learners. Similar to a post I made a few months ago that gave tips from the perspective of an accounting professor, I think this blog post (and, actually, the two posts in combination) is probably a great way for students to kickstart their studies in this or any accounting class.
Read more at The Student CPA:
Study Habits for the Average Accounting Student | The Student CPA.
Some colleges charge higher tuition for online classes
2 years ago
I mentioned in class a story I had heard on MPR about the pricing of online courses. I found it interesting that the main issue with the pricing of online courses higher their traditional counterparts seemed to be that nobody could adequately justify the pricing. The author of this pieces is looking through a cost-centric prism that misses a big factor in pricing.
Some colleges charge higher tuition for online classes | Minnesota Public Radio NewsQ.
Because they aren’t tracked, it’s hard to say how much the increased tuition is directly tied to higher expenses.
That bothers Travis Johnson, the vice president of the Minnesota State College Students Association. Johnson also takes classes online from Lake Superior Community College in Duluth.
“While the online piece creates more flexibility, the increased cost is an offsetting barrier. That’s just really a concerning to us,” Johnson said. “There’s campuses that don’t even charge a difference, and then there’s some that charge a lot more.”
How about supply & demand as an argument? Obviously people are willing pay more for an online course than they are for a classroom format. If this weren’t the case, the online courses wouldn’t have people enrolled in them. As long as the demand dictates it (the online section of Acct 320 is nearly always the first to fill) why shouldn’t colleges charge more?
Jan Doebbert, vice president of academic and student affairs at Alexandria Tech, has heard from students who’ve noticed the difference. But he said they’re getting more value — specifically extra technical support.
Mr. Doebbert accurately makes the case that students get more value. I find it debateable to think that the extra technical support creates the most value, though. I would guess that most online students choose that format for the flexibility it offers. They can work from home in their pajamas or from across the country on a business trip. If the roads are bad because of a blizzard they don’t need to risk their life to get to class. If they work inconsistent hours or have childcare concerns, the online format allows them to more easily take classes. Those should be the arguments to charging more for online courses.
As discussed in class, it doesn’t matter what the cost of something is to the company when it comes to setting the price. Cost is just one of many factors that enter into the pricing equation. If every company could just add up their costs and add 10% to top as a profit margin we would all be paying much more for goods/services than we do now.
Ace Your Accounting Classes: 12 Hints to Maximize Your Potential « The Summa
2 years ago
I follow a blog called The Summa in Google Reader. The Summa is written by an accounting professor named David Albrecht at Concordia College in Moorhead. I’ve only recently been reading the new posts that come across the RSS feed, but happened to stumble upon a link to an older entry that contains excellent advice for every accounting student.
It echoes much of what I’ve thought about but have been unable to express myself so I’m happy to be able to share with you the link in the hopes that this reinforces some things I’ve said to you in class such as:
- “be a scholar, not a student”
- “don’t memorize facts, learn how to think”
- “know your learning style and take advantage of the tools I provide to design your own learning plan”
- “leverage your classmates by studying with them — you will learn more from them than you will ever learn from me”
To read the post, visit this link:
Ace Your Accounting Classes: 12 Hints to Maximize Your Potential « The Summa.
Choosing a major in this economy
2 years ago
An interesting piece in the Baltimore Sun about projections for job growth in various industries, but the best advice is always to do what you love to do and the money/opportunities are secondary. There is nothing worse than dragging yourself out of bed each day to go to a job that you dread. So if accounting is exciting to you, go into accounting. If computers are your thing, major in a field that focuses on technology. Also realize that the average person changes careers (not just jobs) several times during their working years. Just keep an eye on the future and keep learning throughout your life and you will be successful.
Choosing a major in this economy. Gene Trainor, McClatchy Newspapers.
Bean-Counters No More
2 years ago
As you have undoubtedly figured out in your studies thus far and in Acct 320 in particular, accountants and other business professional require an increasingly broad base of knowledge. There is an interesting piece on the Finance and Commerce website that discusses this need for knowledge.
Chief financial officers interviewed said they expect issues outside of traditional accounting functions to occupy 40 percent of a senior-level accountant’s time five years from now (up from 36 percent currently). More than one-quarter (26 percent) of respondents said these issues would require as much as 50 percent of a senior-level accountant’s time in the coming years.
Metropolitan State’s Grover Cleveland is quoted as well:
As CPAs’ roles have expanded, so has accounting education, said Grover Cleveland, a professor of accounting at Metro State University. “The amount of material accounting students are expected to learn has been getting larger and larger.”
As the economy picks up steam, it seems that those in the know expect the demand for CPAs and other finance professionals to exceed the supply. This should be good news for those of you graduating in the coming year or two.
Read more at Finance and Commerce:
Windows 7 = $29.95 for current college students
2 years ago
by Brenden Schaaf
in Software
Click on the link like the one shown above when you place your order if you need (or want) Windows 7 Professional instead of Windows 7 Home. The price is still $29.95.
Here’s a benefit to being a student — you are eligible to purchase Windows 7 Home or Professional for $29.95, about $100 less than the retail price when it hits the market in a month. This deal works similarly to the Ultimate Steal offer for Office 2007 in that you qualify by entering your metrostate.edu email address on a website and instructions for completing the transaction are emailed to you at your metrostate.edu address. Students that are enrolled in at least 0.5 credit qualify.
Visit the link below to get started:
Google Reader
2 years ago
I mentioned in class that I use a tool called Google Reader. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ll direct your attention to a post I wrote up several months back on my personal blog detailing the uses and features of this great tool. Using Google Reader or a similar program is one way that you can be informed when new things are posted here, for example.
Google Reader @ My Flypaper Mind:
CPA Exam & IFRS Content
2 years ago
For those of you that are planning to take the CPA Exam in the coming years, be aware that International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and related materials will be incorporated into the test starting in few short years, even if adoption/convergence of the standards in the United States is postponed.
For those of us raised on U.S. GAAP, the day is coming that being “bilingual” in accounting standards will be required. This may impact your decision to postpone the exam any longer than you have to because accounting curriculum (including instructors, textbooks, etc.) will need some time to also incorporate the new standards and if you don’t pass the exam my 2012 you may find yourself in limbo for a while while the educational opportunities are available for you learn this new material.
Although IFRS adoption in the U.S. is in a holding pattern, IFRS adoption in other countries marches on. In the end, we face two likely scenarios. Either the U.S. ultimately adopts IFRS or both IFRS and U.S. GAAP coexist (converged or not). Under both scenarios, it will be important for U.S. CPAs to build foundational knowledge of IFRS.
Recognizing this need, IFRS questions will be incorporated into the CPA exam no later than 2012. Colleges are incorporating IFRS into their accounting curricula and accounting textbooks with IFRS content are expected in the reasonably near future.
Read more at the IFRS Blog:
Open Source e-Textbooks?
2 years ago
Maybe I’m just using outdated thinking on this, but I have trouble seeing how e-Textbooks could be widely adopted in a course like ours. Even with a Kindle-like device, the convenience of flipping between pages to quickly look up little nuggets is going to be very hard to overcome in the digital world. Of course I’ve never bought a song online either and still buy entire CDs because I like one song so I’m admittedly not cutting-edge on this kind of thing.
Still, it will be interesting to see where the recent proposal of Governor Schwarzenegger in California for schools there to adopt open-source, electronic textbooks goes. Think of it as Wikipedia for the classroom.
Schwarzenegger’s Push for Digital Textbooks. The Calif. Gov. Wants to Save Money by Dumping Printed Books for Online Texts; Is it Feasible? ABC News. By Michael B. Farrell. June 14, 2009
