ADAPTING TO AND DELIVERING REMOTE INSTRUCTION: INTERVIEW WITH PROF. SUSAN GAER

Susan Gaer is a Professor Emeritus of Santa Ana College, California. She has an MA in English with emphasis on Teaching English as a Second Language and an MA in Educational Technology from Pepperdine University. She is the President-Elect CATESOL 2018-2020. She is also a Google Certified Innovator, Kahoot Ambassador, Thinglink Educator and Quizlet Teacher Educator. Prof. Gaer has developed a web page https://www.susangaer.com/ that helps teachers to engage students with technology. In this interview, Prof. Gaer shared her viewpoints and some examples on remote instruction.

The unmaking of Video Symphony: personal ethics, business decisions, and management practices

Synopsis In the 1990s, Mike Flanagan foresaw video moving from analog to digital and developed an equipment rental business to meet the needs of the entertainment/media production industry. By 1996 he established a second company to offer training in the use of Avid, a digital video-editing program. Flanagan sold the rental business in 1998 and by 2002 expanded the training away from a business model to a full-fledged college business model. By 2014 what started as a successful training program developed into a negative interaction with the US Department of Education and Flanagan found himself being forced out of business. Research methodology This case was originally a client-based project conducted real time in an MBA-level marketing course at the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Relevant courses and levels The case is well suited for a variety of business and law courses that integrate ethical decision making in their curriculum at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The case allows for a greater understanding of the implications of managerial behavior tied to ethical beliefs and the possible outcomes that may result. It also allows for a stronger grasp of the integral nature of management, staff, consumers and outside organizations on the pervasive impact of non-ethical behavior. Last, this case creates a framework for students to assess how ethics influence managerial behavior that will affect an organization’s success. Theoretical bases What ethical duties and obligations does a business owe to its customers and other stakeholders? Is ignorance an excuse for failing to meet those ethical obligations?

Beat the Market II

Nowadays, technical analysts are called quants. Being overly impressed by computers, we are overly impressed by quants using computers instead of pencils and graph paper. Quants do not think about whether the patterns they discover make sense. Their mantra is, “Just show me the data.” Indeed, many quants have PhDs in physics or mathematics and only the most rudimentary knowledge of economics or finance. That does not deter them. If anything, their ignorance encourages them to search for patterns in the most unlikely places. The logical conclusion of moving from technical analysts using pencils to quants using computers is to eliminate humans entirely. Just turn the technical analysis over to computers. A 2011 article in the wonderful technology magazine Wired was filled with awe and admiration for computerized stock trading systems. These black-box systems are called algorithmic traders (algos) because the computers decide to buy and sell using computer algorithms in place of human judgment. Humans write the algorithms that guide the computers but, after that, the computers are on their own. Some humans are dumbstruck. After Pepperdine University invested 10 percent of its portfolio in quant funds in 2016, the director of investments argued that, “Finding a company with good prospects makes sense, since we look for under valued things in our daily lives, but quant strategies have nothing to do with our lives.” He thinks that not having the wisdom and common sense acquired by being alive is an argument for computers. He is not alone. Black-box investment algorithms now account for nearly a third of all U.S. stock trades. Some of these systems track stock prices; others look at economic and noneconomic data and dissect news stories. They all look for patterns. A momentum algorithm might notice that when a particular stock trades at a higher price for five straight days, the price is usually higher on the sixth day. A mean-reversion algorithm might notice that when a stock trades at a higher price for eight straight days, the price is usually lower on the ninth day. A pairs-trading algorithm might notice that two stock prices usually move up and down together, suggesting an opportunity when one price moves up and the other doesn’t.

Corporate Entrepreneurship At GE And Intel

This is the first of three planned articles concerning Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE). The author is a former entrepreneur practitioner who secured an earned doctorate from Pepperdine University in 2008, and who now teaches at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. In this article the author explores the concept of Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) using case study methodology to connect previous scholarly research with data collected from successful companies. The paper discusses the problem of sustaining CE as organizations mature using Hayek’s Theory of Cultural Evolution as a framework. The author suggests that corporate entrepreneurship, often called intrapreneurship, while critical for sustaining competitiveness and increasing stakeholder value, often poses a dilemma for large organizations. The different processes and strategies these companies use to attempt to sustain CE are outlined together with suggestions for integrating corporate entrepreneurship into any organization’s culture, strategy, and management process. Finally, recommendations are provided as to how organizational leaders can successfully integrate corporate entrepreneurship into any organization’s strategy and management systems.

Commuting the "Distance" of Distance Learning

A primary determinant of the success of an online distance learning program is its ability to develop a sense of community among its online participants. As a participant in the Pepperdine University Educational Technology Doctoral Program, we have firsthand knowledge and experience of the impact deliberate creation of community has on learning outcomes. A vehicle for the cultivation of this community can be found in principles of knowledge management.