Techno-News Blog

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

Digital citizenship has quickly become a cornerstone of a 21st-century education. Today’s students are part of a global school. Many take courses online with classmates from all over the country, and often, the world. A growing and essential aspect of this global education is digital citizenship–a growing concept that aims to educate students about the impact of their online and digital actions. “Digital citizenship is not a bunch of do’s and don’ts–it’s an incredible opportunity to bring to education new perspectives,” said educational futurist Jason Ohler. Today’s educational leaders must acknowledge digital citizenship’s necessary place in schools, classrooms, and homes.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/06/23/digital-citizenship-focus-632/

By Meris Stansbury, eSchool News

Here’s a hint: It’s not really about the technology! Online learning is about changing the delivery of instruction, but if it’s one thing everyone agrees on, it’s that good teaching, just like in the traditional classroom, makes or breaks the course. But what are the other characteristics of a good online course? Surprisingly, recent studies on MOOCs from Duke University, as well as many current articles on the topic of ‘what makes a good online course’ from both educators and students, all agree that the actual technology platform, or the recording technology used, has very little to do with an online course’s success. Instead, common factors like ‘good teaching,’ and ‘good organization,’ often used as keys to a good traditional course, are still the characteristics of a good online course. However, these keys are adapted for an online environment.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/good-online-course-591/

by Avi Wolfman Arent, Chronicle of Higher Ed

First came the mouse, then touch-screen technology. And if Silicon-Valley-based zSpace has its way, the next leap in human-computer interaction will look like something out of your local IMAX Theater. The company calls it “immersive exploration.” In real terms, zSpace’s eponymous flagship product is a tablet-software combination that allows students to view and manipulate hologram-like three-dimensional images. At present, zSpace is marketed as a learning tool. The company’s executive vice president, Mike Harper, says more than 60 universities worldwide have purchased zSpace, which retails for about $2,500. Mr. Harper says zSpace can deliver a “return on investment” in certain academic disciplines. Imagine, for example, a medical school that no longer needs to order cadavers or a biology class that can offer students a frog dissection sans amphibian. Then there are distance learners, for whom Mr. Harper believes zSpace could be a transformative product. “Now an online student can have that laboratory experience,” he says.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/and-a-hologram-in-every-lecture-hall-marketing-3d-tech-to-universities/53499

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

If you’re an incoming college freshman with a limited budget, one way to offset the cost of buying a laptop is to find a university program that offers one as part of its overall tuition package. You should pay careful attention to the language that advertisers use to describe these programs: except for in very rare cases, colleges don’t give away “free laptops” to their incoming students. Rather, these laptops are compensated for in the overall tuition bill that you pay your school. However, since tuition costs can be offset by things like scholarships and need-based financial aid packages, if you receive a full-ride grant to a university that gives laptops to its students (for example), you are effectively getting a “free” computer. Linked below, we have created a list of schools that offer laptops as part of their tuition statements.

http://www.edudemic.com/online-colleges-that-offer-free-laptops-for-students/

by Paxton Geller, Yahoo

What many of us do not realize is that knowledge has a half-life. To understand what this means let us presume that a teacher provides students with 90% of the required knowledge on a subject in the course of an academic year. Suppose the students, on an average, internalize 80% of what they learn. But the half-life of knowledge is, according to new research, between six to eighteen months, on an average. In other words, only half of what was initially internalized is recalled after this period. The most powerful tool available to combat the problem of the half-life of knowledge is that of online learning. The growing understanding of the power of online learning as a tool to combat the half-life of knowledge will carry it into the future. And the entry of new technologies and fields of study that are best suited for online learning will expand the size and power of online education in ways that we cannot imagine today.

http://voices.yahoo.com/the-power-online-educational-resources-12678380.html

By Caroline Winn, Randy Ward & Bruce Braciszewski, U-T San Diego

As the 2013-2014 school year draws to a close, it is clear San Diego County’s schools stand at a threshold. A threshold that marks what is becoming a transformational shift from traditional, “four-wall education,” to one that embraces the digital future. Two-thirds of principals surveyed nationally say online education is critical to keeping our students engaged. Parents agree. Approximately 60 percent in the same survey want their students placed in classrooms where mobile devices are allowed.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jun/21/embracing-online-learning-in-san-diego-county/

by Rahim Kanani, Forbes

“We hope to democratize and reimagine education so that anyone, anywhere, regardless of his or her social status or income, can access education,” explained Anant Agarwal, president of edX, the nonprofit enterprise founded by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to offer courses online. In a wide-ranging interview with Agarwal, we discussed the founding of the organization, key challenges to success, the role of data in measuring student learning, the future of online education and much more.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rahimkanani/2014/06/21/edx-ceo-anant-agarwal-on-the-future-of-online-learning/

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

New study reveals retention rates are all about how students perceive time. There are many ‘practical’ reasons why a student would pick an online course over an onsite course: money, time constraints, travel time, and supplementing education rather than obtaining a full degree. But a new study reveals that one of the major reasons for dropout rates in online learning has a lot to do with the psycho-social profile of the student. It’s an intrapsychological factor called temporal perspective (TP) and it’s pretty much the glass half-full/half-empty scenario, mixed in with some other perceptions. And, say researchers Margarida Romero and Mireia Usart from ESADE, it’s a major reason why many online classes have low retention rates.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/online-students-perception-298/