Techno-News Blog

by Thomas Arnett, Clayton Christensen Institute

Consider the following example of how education might evolve in the near future. Researchers and casual observers alike recognize that many of the best teachable moments and the best times for learning occur outside of the classroom. Given these realities, education could greatly benefit if we can leverage mobile instruction to foster learning during these out-of-school experiences. With reliable mobile connectivity, many more teachers could implement flipped classroom instruction—where students learn new content at their own pace at home and then come to class to practice and receive feedback on what they learned—without being constrained by unreliable home Internet. Likewise, if students all had reliable mobile connectivity, those who occasionally miss class would not need to be at risk of falling behind because teachers could instruct them and monitor their progress remotely. Additionally, when a class tours a museum or historical sight, teachers could use mobile devices to engage students and help them record their insights.

http://www.christenseninstitute.org/funding-the-internet-pipeline-for-online-learning/

By Joe McKendrick, Smart Planet

A new twist on massive open online courses — a “synchronous massive online course” (SMOC) — is now underway at The University of Texas at Austin. Unlike MOOCs, which are mainly off-campus, the university’s SMOC is offered both to registered students as well as off-campus participants. While many universities offer online courses, these are typically closed to non-enrolled participants. The SMOC, which launched this semester, represents another next phase in the disruption of higher education. The course, Introduction to Psychology, will be streamed two nights a week, live on the internet. Students are encouraged to ask questions and interact with the instructors and their classmates in real time through interactive chat rooms. Participants earn three hours of transferable academic credit that will appear on an official transcript of the university.

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/more-educational-disruption-synchronous-massive-online-course/29050

By DAPHNE KOLLER, NY Times

Finally, while we may all agree that online interaction doesn’t provide exactly the same experience as a physical interaction in a four-year college, that is not always the relevant question. There are many students who have little chance of obtaining a degree from a quality university (or, in the developing world, from any university) because of physical location, health reasons or financial means. For those students, a rigorous online course that allows engagement with other students around the world is a huge improvement over the current opportunities open to them. This free and open access to education is a moral imperative, and one that should not get lost in the discussion regarding how this transformation may affect the on-campus education of those students fortunate enough to have the opportunities that most people in the world would never otherwise have.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/digital-natives-a-defense-of-the-internet-community/

by CHRISTINE TYLER, Daily Cal

At a talk Monday morning during this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt SF, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom discussed how technology relates to the future of higher education. On stage with Newsom was Sebastian Thrun, CEO of Udacity, a MOOC provider.  Thrun said innovation is the key to expanding students’ opportunities in higher education. He argued that there is an educational vacuum that companies like Udacity can fill by providing people with skills. The different learning format presented by online education also can reach a broader base of learners, Thrun said. “It’s been shown that a C-level math student can move to an A-level just by working at their own pace,” Thrun said. “Why can’t education be as fun as video games?”

http://www.dailycal.org/2013/09/09/newsom-lauds-online-courses-at-techcrunch/

By Michael Gorman, Engadget

Udacity’s first partnership with an institution of higher learning might not have turned out as well as it hoped, but a setback at San Jose State University won’t cause the online learning portal to call it quits on college campuses. Quite the contrary, in fact. Today, Udacity announced the creation of the Open Education Alliance to “bridge the gap between the skills employers need and what traditional universities teach.” The alliance is comprised of both Silicon Valley heavyweights like Google, AT&T and NVIDIA and educators including Georgia Tech and Khan Academy. The OEA’s goal is to enlist the help of both companies and educators in building a new curriculum to help students learn what they need to choose and succeed in a modern career.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/09/udacity-open-education-alliance/

By BRIAN ELLISON, MATTHEW LONG-MIDDLETON AND SYDNEY LLEWELLYN, KCUR

Dr. Jennifer Friend tells us that online courses have transformed the way we learn by making the educational experience more individualized and more student-centered. The online component can take many forms in education. Classes can be offered in an exclusively online format in which students connect to the lectures, discussion boards, and assignments entirely online from their home or work. In hybrid courses, students spend part of their time on campus for the face-to-face portion of the class, and the other part of the course online. Also, some classes rely mainly on traditional lectures with additional resources and forums online.

http://kcur.org/post/online-courses-education-future

By David Talbot, Technology Review

For high-security jobs like protecting military plans or corporate secrets, the last line of defense is to keep cryptographic keys and other crucial data on chips covered by elaborate physical protections, such as layers of wire mesh that will destroy the stored data if disturbed. Even this probably isn’t enough, as it turns out. Researchers in Berlin and California have shown that with costly equipment and determination, it’s possible to mill down the back of the silicon on chips and steal the data with microscopic probes. It’s akin to bank robbers digging up from underground to reach a highly protected vault.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/519201/tamper-proof-chips-with-some-work-might-give-up-their-secrets/

by The Physics arXiv Blog

The Tor anonymity network is championed as a tool for freedom of speech and anonymity. But the reality is depressingly different, say Internet researchers who have analysed the network’s traffic using a security flaw. The Tor network is an online service that allows users to surf the web anonymously. Its main benefit is to reduce the chances of network surveillance discovering a user’s location or web usage. For that reason it is championed as an important tool for promoting free speech and protecting personal privacy, especially for people under authoritarian regimes such as that in China. However, Tor is also often criticised for carrying illegal, shady or controversial content such as pornography and “Silk Road” traffic for illegal goods. So an interesting question is what kind of traffic prevails?

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/519186/security-flaw-shows-tor-anonymity-network-dominated-by-botnet-command-and-control/

By Tom Simonite, Technology Review

Efficiency inside: This Fujitsu chip for processing images in digital cameras is the first in production based on a new transistor design that offers significant power savings. A new way of designing chips could solve one of the biggest problems facing wearable computers such as Google Glass and the Samsung smart watch—their batteries generally have to be recharged every day. The novel design comes from SuVolta, which has been working since 2006 to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of transistors, the fundamental component of computer chips. The company has received $62 million in venture funding. At at the industry conference Hot Chips in California last month, SuVolta showed results from an experiment in which its technology was used to make a version of an existing chip. SuVolta’s version consumed half the power of the original while running at the same speed

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/519191/low-power-transistors-may-boost-wearable-computer-battery-life/

By Todd R. Weiss, eWeek

Launched in 2008, Chrome presently holds 41.4 percent of the global Web browser market, compared with 27.7 percent for its closest competitor, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. When Google launched its Chrome Web browser five years ago today in 2008, most users still ran Chrome using a personal computer. Things sure have changed for Chrome’s 5th birthday. Nowadays, mobile is huge and Chrome is a big part of a mobile user’s online arsenal, allowing users of just about any device to browse the Web, conduct quick searches and find the information they are looking for, whether they are at home, at work, traveling or vacationing.

http://www.eweek.com/enterprise-apps/google-chrome-browser-celebrates-5th-birthday.html

By Jon Cohen, Technology Review

I visited cardiologist Eric Topol at the Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, California, one day this summer. He’d had a busy morning seeing patients and, by about noon, was claiming to have already saved the medical system tens of thousands of dollars using his iPhone and a pocket-sized ultrasound machine. Then he pointed to the stethoscope in his pocket and said he hasn’t used it in three years. “I should just throw it out,” he said. “This is basically a worthless icon of medicine.” Topol is perhaps the most prominent advocate in the U.S. of how digital technology can lead to less expensive health care, and he invited me to see the savings in action.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/518881/this-doctor-will-save-you-money/

By Eric Berman, WIBC

Purdue is angling for an edge over other universities with the rollout this week of plans to beef up the value of Purdue research and education. Purdue and other universities are offering more and more classes online. President Mitch Daniels says Purdue needs to take the lead in thinking through the best blend of modern technology with the old-style residential college experience. He’s envisioning a future where students view most large lecture classes online, while reserving classrooms for hands-on work, special projects, team assignments, and areas in which a student is struggling.

http://www.wibc.com/news/story.aspx?ID=2036462

By Leo Kelion and Dave Lee, BBC

“The introduction of the Galaxy smartwatch comes as no surprise to the industry, which has been expecting Samsung to beat the likes of Apple – as well as watchmakers and other consumer electronics companies – to market,” said Chris Green, principal technology analyst at the consultancy Davies Murphy Group. “Consumers might be a bit disappointed to find that the smartwatch is a partner device reliant on being paired with a Samsung Android smartphone or tablet, rather than being the completely autonomous media and communications device many consumers were expecting and hoping for.” The South Korean firm’s approach contrasts with that of Sony, whose forthcoming Smartwatch 2 can be paired with any device running Android 4.0 or higher.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23961692

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

If you haven’t taken an online course yourself, have you ever wondered what online learning is really like? While the online learning platforms used from school to school may differ slightly, online learning offers more than what most people would think. The handy infographic below takes a look at some of the common myths about online learning, following them up with a more accurate representation, as well as some of the things that online learning offers students, regardless of age or the subject that they’re studying.

http://www.edudemic.com/2013/09/online-learning-myths/

by Educators Technology

Attending conferences both virtually and physically is part and parcel of our professional growth plans. They are a great way for teachers to get to meet other educators and exchange their expertise and learn from each other. Personally speaking, each conference I attend I come out of it with a bunch of new ideas to try out or to investigate further. I also always get to extend my professional learning network via adding to it more like-minded teachers and educators. However, the question that is often posed is how and where to find such education conferences. The answer is in the list below. This is a non-comprehensive list that outlines some of the most popular conferences teachers, educators, librarians, and administrative folks need to know about. I am sharing it with you below and I hope you’ll be able to select some to attend for this new school year.

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/09/26-great-conferences-for-teachers-to.html

By Ari Bixhorn, eCampus News

Crack open most massive open online courses (MOOCs) today and you’ll typically find three things – MOOC course documents (syllabi, eTextbooks, calendars), interactive elements (discussions, wikis, assignments, quizzes), and video lectures. Analysts predict that by 2016 lecture capture will become as ubiquitous as eMail on campuses. Video is critical, not only because it distinguishes MOOCs from earlier text-heavy open courseware initiatives, but also because the video lecture is the medium that allows MOOCs to bring a high fidelity in-class experience to massive audiences online. Yet amid the MOOC hype cycle, the issue of cost-effective video capture has largely been ignored. Most MOOCs remain agnostic on the topic, leaving the video choice to their member institutions. For many participating universities, this “bring your own video” approach is unnecessarily ratcheting up their MOOC costs. For example, the University of Pennsylvania recently cited video as one of the top contributors to an $800,000 price tag for developing 16 MOOC courses. European universities at a recent MOOC conference cited similar costs ranging from €30,000 – €50,000 per course.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/video-tech-moocs-006/

By Denny Carter, eCampusNews

College students are scouring social media to find out about perspective colleges more than ever, though students with the highest SAT scores took a slightly different approach to their Twitter and Facebook research when compared to their peers. The education consulting firm Art & Science Group released the results of a study that showed 44 percent of student respondents said they had used some form of social media in their search for a college or university. That’s more than double than 18 percent of students who used social media in their college research five years ago. The preferred social media platforms were hardly surprising, with 36 percent of students using Twitter and Facebook, while 13 percent used Google+. A mere 7 percent used YouTube in their school searches.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/social-media-research-colleges-037/

By Jake New, eCampusNews

Just days after announcing an expansion of a collaboration with Pearson to bring its adaptive learning technology to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses, Knewton has announced it is also expanding its reach to new parts of the globe. Knewton collects millions of data points to create models that can be broken down to help with learning. Since 2008, Knewton’s technology has been fueling adaptive learning for millions of students, but it’s been primarily confined to North America. Now, the company is partnering with Cambridge University Press to power the press’s English Language Teaching products, and opening an office in London to support adaptive learning in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The press’s Learning Management System is used by 250,000 students, and it has a presence in more than 50 countries. “This is really important technology that doesn’t just affect North American students,” said David Liu, Knewton’s chief operating officer. “Students in other countries want it, too. They need it.”

http://www.ecampusnews.com/featured/featured-on-ecampus-news/knewton-cambridge-global-016/

by Virginia Tech News

A new organization dedicated to supporting technology-enhanced teaching and learning throughout the university, is taking shape at Virginia Tech.   Virginia Tech’s Plan for a New Horizon recognizes the universal need for technology enhancements in all types of learning environments, from traditional face-to-face classrooms, to virtual courses where students or instructors might never set foot on the Blacksburg campus.  The realignment helps meet the aim of a networked university, as laid out in the strategic plan. “This intentional reorganization gives the university a better platform to increase quality and growth in distance learning and use of technology in the classroom,” Mark G. McNamee, senior vice president and provost, said. “The collaboration creates efficiencies and provides the prospect to explore new financial and tuition models to enhance enrollment.” Like Learning Technologies and the Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning, Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies will work to incentivize innovation and support the technology needs of distance learning programs, online elements of on-campus courses, and hybrid courses.

http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2013/09/090613-it-tloslaunch.html

by Reeve Hamilton, NY Times

“The territory is so new here,” Mr. Gosling, a tenured professor, said the next morning. “Are we essentially televising a class or are we trying to make a kind of educational TV show?” The answer, he said, is probably somewhere in between, following a trend toward online courses intended to extend the reach of higher education beyond a university’s campus. As the class began, about 800 U.T-Austin students — not including roughly two dozen who had been chosen to be the studio audience — participated remotely, using computers or mobile devices. Students from outside U.T.-Austin were also able to sign up for the course. (The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune.) The structure of the course invites a comparison to the massive open online courses, known as MOOCs, which are offered free — though typically not for credit — to anyone with an Internet connection. U.T.-Austin will launch its first four MOOCs this semester.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/us/in-this-online-psychology-class-the-key-words-are-real-time.html

By Laura Bates, Fractus

There are all sorts of reasons why online learning can be immensely useful and why it is used by so many different students for all types of contexts and purposes. Sometimes it can be integrated into classroom learning, as in the Flipped Classroom model, where online learning is used to enable students to familiarize themselves with topics during homework time. This leaves them free to attempt the more challenging practical task of tackling questions or putting the theory into practice in the classroom with the teacher present to help them iron out any issues and perfect their techniques. In other cases, students may use online learning to gain long-distance qualifications, or to top up existing knowledge and learning.

http://www.fractuslearning.com/2013/09/06/resources-for-online-learning/