A Note on the Categories of Unemployment in a Principles of Macroeconomics Course

This note articulates that the commonly‐used term “structural unemployment” due to a decrease in labor demand in an industry or region essentially means “sectoral shift” – an extreme case of frictional unemployment, by definition. It suggests that structural unemployment be defined based on job rationing when the wage rate is downward rigid. This note also strives to spell out a logical sequence to bring in concepts of natural rate of unemployment and cyclical unemployment when these two terms are usually introduced together in a Principles of Macroeconomics course. Finally, it presents an exercise that instructors can utilize to clearly demonstrate to students how the cyclical unemployment rate can be measured

The Infotechnology Gap: Are Students Ready for Innovative Uses of Technology in Learning?

A presumption exists that students in classroom and hybrid courses which integrate effective, innovative uses of technology possess the infotechnology skills to benefit from these uses. There is anecdotal information, however, which suggests students aren\u27t as comfortable with infotechnology as would be expected in an innovative learning environment, which makes the adoption of effective, innovative uses of technology in classroom and hybrid courses difficult, if not unworkable. This session shares the results of a survey to assess whether there is a gap between the innovative learning technology capabilities which exist in the classroom, how wide the gap is if it exists, and students\u27 ability and willingness to interact with the innovative technology in the learning process. It also provides a quick assessment tool for evaluating the infotechnology skills of students and suggests possible innovative techniques for bridging the infotechnology gap in an innovative classroom