Techno-News Blog

by Michael A. MacDowell, Times Leader

A consortium of foundations, including Leon Lowenstein, Bill and Melinda Gates, William and Flora Hewlett, Laura and John Arnold, Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics and others have joined with OpenStax College – and innovative arm of Rice University. OpenStax College is dedicated to producing high-quality, online textbooks for courses widely taught in college. The latest free college textbook from OpenStax College is the two-semester introductory course, “Principles of Economics.” OpenStax College also has published online introductory books for physics, sociology, biology, anatomy and physiology and statistics, and is working on books for pre-calculus, chemistry, U.S. history and psychology. College students and their parents know these courses oftentimes are required by the core curriculum at colleges and universities. All these books are fully peer-reviewed. Most of them have been written by outstanding authors, including some who previously authored standard printed textbooks.

http://timesleader.com/news/otheropinion/1347948/COMMENTARY:-MICHAEL-A.-MACDOWELL-Online-textbooks-can-drive-down-cost-of-education

By Leila Meyer, THE Journal

Desktops aren’t dead. Even as schools increasingly implement 1-to-1, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and other mobile device initiatives, many are choosing to retain at least some desktop computers — and others are even upgrading to swanky, top-of-the-line machines. Keeping at least one desktop computer in each classroom is a common practice, and some schools are keeping their dedicated desktop labs, either for general use or for specialized classes. It seems that some classroom needs are still better served by a desktop computer than by a laptop or tablet. Here, school technology leaders from around the country share reasons why you might want to keep at least some desktop computers around.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/04/24/5-reasons-schools-still-need-desktop-computers.aspx

by Duncan Higgins, Huffington Post

The world of the future will be here faster than we think. In fact, we’re already getting a taste of it here and there: a hologram at Coachella, virtual reality simulation with Oculus Rift, 3D printing stores in the centre of London. But while we’re only getting to see these innovations as novelties, soon they will be part of our daily lives, as well as of our workplaces. So how do we prepare the next generation for a future with technology that we ourselves don’t yet fully understand? And the answer is – at school.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/duncan-higgins/connecting-to-the-future-_b_5199450.html

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Technology brings so many awesome things into our lives. A world of information is at our fingertips, not much is out of reach, and there is seemingly a new, awesome, must-have device released every week. We all hear stories of parents who park their kids in front of a TV or computer so they can get things done, and while the kids generally love it, it has taken us awhile to ask important questions about what effect media and devices are having on our kids. The handy infographic linked below takes a look at the effect of media and technology on kids in the US.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/04/23/summer_school_is_for_chumps_take_an_online_class_instead.html

By Katherine Mangu-Ward, Slate Future Tense

Students looking for ways to get a cheaper, faster college degree will inevitably run up against the suggestion that they enroll in summer school. But frugal freshmen aren’t doing themselves any favors by planning to spend their summers flip-flopping through the cool linoleum-lined halls of the nation’s community colleges. Summer school is depressing and wasteful, with a high opportunity cost. Savvy educational bargain hunters should take courses online instead. So go find a haystack to laze in while you keep one eye on the livestock and one eye on your iPad. Graduation rates are low and student loans are high, but a little summer online learning might help you avoid becoming a statistic.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/04/23/summer_school_is_for_chumps_take_an_online_class_instead.html

by Volodymyr Zhyla, Kyiv Post

Coursera, a major online education platform based in the U.S., is set to start giving courses in May to Ukrainian students. Established in October 2013 as Learning Hub in partnership with Bionic University, a special unit of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, Coursera will also enable real time communication with teachers and organize other events. Registration for the hub’s first courses is ongoing. Program mentors expect 20-30 students to enroll. A graduation certificate will cost $49, but it is optional. Sergiy Miroshnychenko, who completed a number of online courses, says employers generally pay serious attention to these certificates. Project coordinator Daryna Sysoyeva stresses that Bionic University encourages students of technical departments to deepen their expertise. “Online learning is a very useful and convenient method. It is a life-long process,” she adds.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/business/leading-american-online-course-provider-now-in-kyiv-344966.html

By Jeffrey R. Young, Slate

Over the past year, a boy genius from Mongolia has been schooling MIT on how to improve the elite institution’s free online courses. When he was just 15, the Mongolian wunderkind Battushig Myanganbayar earned a perfect score in MIT’s first massive open online course, or MOOC. Designers of the course touted him as a poster boy for the power of free courses to spread high-quality education to the farthest reaches of the globe, and the New York Times hailed his story. But leaders of edX, the consortium started by MIT and Harvard University to develop free online courses, also did something else: They offered the star student a job, hoping he could make their MOOCs work better for other high schoolers.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/04/battushig_myanganbayar_aced_an_edx_mooc_then_gave_lessons_to_mit.htm

By Jaccii Barmer, eCampus News

STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects lead the majors with the highest earning potential. Eight out of ten top earning majors are engineering-based, with starting salaries ranging from about $103,00 for #1, Petroleum Engineering, to $61,000 for #10, Mechanical Engineering. According to the 2013-2014 Pay Scale College Salary Report, the top STEM majors earn about three times more than the average for non-STEM graduates. Another PayScale report ranks schools in terms of overall return on investment. Institutions with more STEM degrees were calculated to have higher return on invests in general. 46 schools are listed as having a negative return on investment, including 23 public state schools and 23 private, for-profit colleges.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/colleges-return-on-investment-169/2/

By Matt Zalaznick, University Business

Schools are partnering to give more students remote access to expensive lab equipment. The North American Network for Science Lab Online, or NANSLO, has a lab in the Denver area and another in British Columbia that provide access to community colleges in their regions and as far away as Alaska. The organization, part of the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education, is now developing a third lab in Great Falls, Mont., to serve another three institutions in neighboring states. Using a mix of software and hardware, students in chemistry, physics and biology courses are able to remotely control microscopes, spectrometers and a piece of equipment known as an air track, says Sue Schmidt, NANSLO’s project coordinator. “Basically, the students are doing exactly what they would do in a science lab,” Schmidt says. “They’re collecting real data, they’re looking at real slides and they are manipulating the equipment.”

http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/online-labs-evolve

by Hannah Nyhart, Steve Koppes, Medical Xpress

University of Chicago’s Peggy Mason, professor of neurobiology, will lead Understanding the Brain. Mason designed the 10-week course for people from all walks of life who are interested in the workings of the brain and the nervous system. Enrollment for Mason’s course has reached 27,000 and climbing. Her MOOC students will be able to participate in the memory experiment, which will begin with the second 5-minute segment of the course. “I anticipate that we will get it credited as the largest memory experiment ever performed,” Mason said, referring to the Guinness Book of World Records. “It’s very simple. People just have to listen to one 5-minute segment and then answer an e-mail.” No further participation in the course is required. “In that way the students can contribute to human knowledge. We’re going to learn something from that experiment.”

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-04-neurobiology-online-world-largest-memory.html