Techno-News Blog

January 31, 2014

30 Search Engines Perfect For Student Researchers

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:24 am

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

When you need to research something, where do you start? Most of us answer this question with “Google“, and “Wikipedia“. But if you’re researching online with Google and Wikipedia as your main tools, you’re only hitting the tip of the iceberg. While these offer some great basic information on a huge variety of subjects, if you want to delve deeper, you need a wider variety of sources to choose from. The handy infographic linked below takes a look at different methods of online research, and gives a flowchart flush with a number of different web search options for you to try out.

http://www.edudemic.com/research-search-engines/

Share on Facebook

10 Tips For Effective eLearning

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:20 am

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Teaching online involves all the difficulties of teaching in person, with a few extra wrenches thrown in. Navigating the path of online learning can sometimes be rough, so the makers of the handy infographic below put together ten ‘links’ that make the ‘chain of e-Learning’ to help guide you on the online teaching path. These ten ‘links’ are basically some step by step tips to ensure that your teaching time is well-planned, dynamic, efficient, and effective. Many of these carry over to the physical classroom as well, so don’t skip over them just because you’re not teaching online (for now!).

http://www.edudemic.com/elearning-tips/

Share on Facebook

A Look into the Near Future (of the Virtual Classroom)

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:14 am

by Rick Reis, Tomorrow’s Professor

“What can institutions, instructors, and their students expect to see over the next few years as online learning becomes an even greater part of not only the academy but the K-12 world as well? Although there continue to be no certain answers to these questions, we suspect that we will see more changes in the following areas: technology, course, and program quality and development; professional development; the ways in which faculty and students interact; and increased research into online education.”

http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/posting.php?ID=1291

Share on Facebook

January 30, 2014

TiVo, Roku, and Sling: Catching up with modern-day TV pioneers

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:26 am

by Ross Rubin, CNet news.com

Time-shifting, streaming, and place-shifting have become a part of the modern television experience. All were pioneered by retail electronics products — TiVo and the DVR in 1999, the Slingbox in 2005, and the Roku TV streamer in 2008. Over the past few years, we’ve seen televisions pile on and refine video features and the rise of cloud video services such as Aereo. But the three video pioneers are not just alive, they’re expanding their businesses with new features and devices.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57617322-93/tivo-roku-and-sling-catching-up-with-modern-day-tv-pioneers/

Share on Facebook

The Teacher as Leader: Effect of Teaching Behaviors on Class Community and Agreement

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:20 am

by Beth Rubin and Ronald Fernandes, IRRODL

This article examines the effects of teaching behaviors in online university classes, focusing on the agreement among class members. Literature on group leaders’ effects on group agreement about workplace climate is reviewed. Hypotheses are generated about the effects that teachers of online courses, as class leaders, have on both the level and agreement about the community of inquiry. They are tested with a sample of 874 students in 126 online courses. The aggregate class level and strength of agreement about the teaching presence have significant effects on the level and agreement about cognitive presence and social presence. Although the aggregate levels and agreement about community of inquiry are related, different patterns emerge.

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1510/2707

Share on Facebook

An Investigation of Practices and Tools that Enabled Technology-Mediated Caring in an Online High School

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:16 am

by Andrea Velasquez, Charles R Graham, and Richard E West, IRRODL

The ethic of care has been an important part of the dialogue related to learning in traditional K-12 learning environments particularly because emotional relationships and caring pedagogies have been shown to be particularly important for adolescent learners. However, as online learning has become increasingly popular, there are concerns about the perceived impersonal nature of the online medium, and how this might particularly affect adolescent learners. The purpose of this study was to examine technology choices when experiencing caring interactions in the online schooling context of Mountain Heights Academy (formerly Open High School of Utah). The caring experience of two teacher participants and four of their students was examined through interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results suggest that teacher choices regarding technology use are an integral part of creating caring relationships with students online. The ethics of caring is an essential model in understanding the communication of caring interactions in the online setting.

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1465/2713

Share on Facebook

January 29, 2014

George Siemens: A New Lab for Research on Technology and Digital Networks

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:23 am

By Mary Grush, Campus Technology

This spring, George Siemens will make the move stateside to the University of Texas-Arlington, where he will base his research on how technology and digital networks influence the knowledge development process within society, and related implications for the future of higher education institutions. Siemens is an internationally known and highly respected researcher, currently based at Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada, an author of books on connectivism and knowledge processes, and a highly active collaborator with global research organizations. His work at the new LINK lab [Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge Research Lab] at UTA will include both local UTA initiatives and collaborations with other institutions and research organizations worldwide. Siemens also plans to create a global research network to evaluate online learning and digital learning and how they impact the role of the university in society.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/01/15/george-siemens-a-new-lab-for-research-on-technology-and-digital-networks.aspx

Share on Facebook

Report: Most Teachers Use Social Media, Worry It Will Cause Conflict

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:20 am

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

Eighty percent of K-12 teachers use social media for personal or professional reasons, yet the same number worry about conflicts that may arise with their students or their parents as a result, according to a new survey from the University of Phoenix College of Education. “Students are engaged daily in social media, so it presents a great way to connect with them,” said Kathy Cook, director of educational technology for University of Phoenix College of Education, in a prepared statement. “Social media can also help tie classroom learning to real-world scenarios, which can enhance student learning. Many teachers see the value of using these tools in the classroom, but may be reluctant to engage without clear guidelines and training.”

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/01/15/report-most-teachers-use-social-media-worry-it-will-cause-conflict.aspx

Share on Facebook

The 10 Biggest Trends in Ed Tech

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:15 am

By David Raths, THE Journal

The one guaranteed constant in educational technology is change, and the pace of that change is definitely accelerating. So as we approach the new year, T.H.E. Journal pauses to survey the ed tech trends on the horizon. As in previous years, we have assembled a distinguished panel of five experts, including several from our advisory board. We asked them to consider 10 topics related to instructional technology and predict whether each topic will be HOT ⇧, LUKEWARM ⇔, or LOSING STEAM ⇓ in 2014. We compiled their responses to come up with an overall trend line. There was unanimous agreement on some topics and less consensus on others, but taken together, their responses paint a compelling picture of what to expect from ed tech in 2014.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/12/13/the-10-biggest-trends-in-ed-tech.aspx

Share on Facebook

January 28, 2014

Printed Eye Cells Could Help Treat Blindness

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:25 am

By Mike Orcutt, Technology Review

Retinal degeneration is a leading cause of blindness. Ink-jet printing technology could be a way to build new tissue meant to restore vision to people suffering from common forms of blindness due to retinal degeneration. Researchers at the University of Cambridge used a standard ink-jet printer to form layers of two types of cells taken from the retinas of rats, and showed that the process did not compromise the cells’ health or ability to survive and grow in culture. Ink-jet printing has been used to deposit cells before, but this is the first time cells from an adult animal’s central nervous system have been printed.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523301/printed-eye-cells-could-help-treat-blindness/

Share on Facebook

Current And Non-Traditional Students To Gain More Through Online Courses

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:25 am

by Saratoga Today

State University of New York Chancellor, Nancy L. Zimpher, announced this week that SUNY Empire State College will play a leadership role in the system’s introduction of Open SUNY, offering two of the first degree programs to be powered by this signature online initiative. “Open SUNY will provide our students with the nation’s leading online learning experience, drawing on the power of SUNY to expand access, improve completion and prepare more students for success,” said Zimpher. “In addition to these new, fully online degree programs, Open SUNY will take every online course we offer at every SUNY campus—now upwards of 12,000 course sections conducted by 35,000 faculty—and make them easy to find and accessible for every SUNY student.”

http://saratogatodaynewspaper.com/index.php/today-in-saratoga/education/item/2956-current-and-non-traditional-students-to-gain-more-through-online-courses

Share on Facebook

A Telepresence Machine to Watch the Kids or Visit Grandma

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:20 am

By Tom Simonite, Technology Review

The number of elderly people is growing, and it’s unclear how they will be looked after and monitored. When Scott Hassan went to Las Vegas for the International Consumer Electronics Show last week, he was still able to get the kids up in the morning and help them make breakfast at his California home. Hassan used a remote-controlled screen on wheels to spend time with his family, and today his company, Suitable Technologies, started taking orders for Beam+, a version of the same telepresence technology aimed at home users. This summer, it will also be available via Amazon and other retailers.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523541/a-telepresence-machine-to-watch-the-kids-or-visit-grandma/

Share on Facebook

January 27, 2014

Online learning presents big future for ProctorU

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:25 am
by Yann Ranaivo, Birmingham Business Journal
Birmingham’s Proctor U will play a large role in the University of Florida’s new fully online undergraduate program. The future continues to look bright for Hoover-based ProctorU. I reported about two weeks ago that the company, which partners with colleges nationwide to proctor online exams, was kicking off 2014 with some aggressive growth plans that consist of the addition of about 50 employees in the Birmingham area, the relocation of its Hoover office to a bigger space and the relocation of its Livermore, Calif., office to accommodate the hiring of 30 to 40 more employees there. Add to all that the opening of ProctorU’s third office in Folsom, Calif., last year, and you have a company that has experienced rather remarkable growth since 2011. ProctorU that year employed about a dozen employees, or a tiny fraction of the nearly 250 employees working for the company now.
Share on Facebook

Online Higher Ed’s Profit Potential Aids in Driving Push Toward ‘Innovation’

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:20 am

by Susan Meisenhelder, Huffington Post

Profit potential and bottom lines — not increased access for students — are the underlying motivation behind the recent push toward online higher education, according to research by the Campaign for the Future of Higher Education. Private companies and investors have exploited the money-making potential of this latest trend in higher education, partnering with both public and private universities to offer factory-farm-type courses that often fail to do much more than make money for the corporations behind them, according to “The ‘Promises’ of Online Higher Education: Profits,” one of three research papers released by the group and available online.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-meisenhelder/online-higher-ed_b_4613191.html

Share on Facebook

Study Finds Elite Universities’ Verified Certificate MOOCs a Smart Ed Buy at $49

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:15 am

by MOOCs University

For students wanting to showcase their MOOC courses and achievements to employers, schools and others, a new optional type of paid “Verified Certificate” credential verifying the identity of the person who took and completed the MOOC is now available. The new Verified Certificate MOOCs will verify your identity through a variety of means that can include webcam, keystroke analysis, valid photo identification, and/or test centers. Each MOOC provider can require different methods of identification in order to grant the Verified Certificate. Make sure to read the MOOC’s requirements closely prior to enrolling in the course because most Verified Certificate fees must be paid at the beginning of the course and are not refundable. While most of these Verified Certificate MOOCs do not yet offer credit, some institutions may provide cost-savings incentives if you enroll in one of their related existing online degree programs.

http://news.gnom.es/pr/study-finds-elite-universities-verified-certificate-moocs-a-smart-ed-buy-at-49

Share on Facebook

January 26, 2014

Computer Science education is critical knowledge

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:25 am

by ALBERTO M. CARVALHO, Miami Herald

Steve Jobs once said, “Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer…because it teaches you how to think.” Statistically speaking, Jobs had it right. Studies have shown that students who learn introductory computer science demonstrate improved math scores. But the reality is that computer science courses are fading from the national landscape.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/09/3808803/computer-science-education-is.html

Share on Facebook

Adobe introduces support for 3D printing to Photoshop, brings a glut of new features to its Creative Cloud apps

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:20 am

By Ken Yeung, The Next Web

If you’re a subscriber to Adobe’s Creative Cloud, you’ll be happy to know that the platform has received some significant updates. Included in the latest release is support for 3D printing within Photoshop CC, the addition of Typekit integration in Illustrator CC and InDesign CC, and new intuitive and seamless tools for designers to take advantage of. With the popularity of 3D printing, Adobe sought to help make it more appealing to the mainstream so anyone can design and print their own creation. The new feature allows users to do is take objects they find online, from a 3D scanner, or from a modeling tool and import it directly into Photoshop. This will enables designers to implement automated mesh repair and support structure generation in order to protect the quality of the models so when it’s ultimately printed out, it’s exactly how its envisioned.

http://thenextweb.com/dd/2014/01/16/adobe-introduces-support-3d-printing-photoshop-brings-glut-new-features-creative-cloud-apps/#!smIUs

Share on Facebook

From zero to working server in 10 minutes—trying out managed hosting

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:15 am

by Steve Young, CIO Advisor

In an earlier blog I mentioned my requirements for a great help desk for our organization. After a lengthy search, trial, and selection process, a winner was picked. As it turned out, while the help desk used standard software that we support, it used a database version that we did not yet have running in our organization. We were not able to upgrade our current databases, because other vendors’ systems required older database versions. We talked about options such as starting another database server, and our help desk vendor mentioned that they had a lot of customers starting to run their software in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. Like many districts, while we have had many cloud-based software applications, we had never tried managed hosting, which has gained a huge amount of traction in recent years, with a huge number of players , now increasingly dominated by heavyweights such as Rackspace, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Verizon, and IBM.

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&entryid=6988

Share on Facebook

January 25, 2014

iPhone 6 rumored to get 4.7 and 5.5-inch displays

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:25 am

By Jason D. O’Grady, The Apple Core

One of the most frequent criticisms of the iPhone is that its screen is too small and Apple might finally be addressing the iPhone’s puny screen size relative to other competing smartphones. The current iPhone 5s ships with a 4-inch display with 1136-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 PPI. By comparison the Motorola Moto X ships with a 4.7-inch screen and the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Google Nexus 5 ship with 5-inch displays. And they’re getting even bigger. The forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 is rumored to ship with a 5.25-inch display. The Galaxy Note 3 comes with a larger 5.7-inche screen pushing it into “phablet” territory.

http://www.zdnet.com/iphone-6-rumored-to-get-4-7-and-5-5-inch-displays-7000025210/

Share on Facebook

The Current State Of MOOCs

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:18 am

By Katie Lepi, edudemic

MOOCs are still eliciting buzz in the academic world. But MOOCs are about more than just education – they are a huge social presence and inhabit a network of their own. Big name universities have signed on to back many of the courses, lending some credibility to the land of online learning. With MOOCs gaining traction quickly and millions of learners signing on, the appeal is quite powerful. The handy infographic linked below takes a look at some interesting facts and statistics about MOOCs.

http://www.edudemic.com/state-of-moocs/

Share on Facebook

2 Pros And 2 Cons To Education Technology

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 12:16 am

By David Johnson, Edudemic

Use of education technology is a somewhat problematic premise, because it has generated a heated debate on whether it helps or hinders learning. Recent dramatic increases in technology in our society have led to proliferation of technology in the learning institutions (from elementary school to the graduate school) at a rapid rate. Integration of technology in schools has changed today’s education and also the way teachers and students use their classrooms. These changes have both positive and negative impact on learning. Here is how technology helps and hinders education.

http://www.edudemic.com/education-technology-pros-cons/

Share on Facebook
Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress