Techno-News Blog

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

The global lecture capture market is poised to grow 24.1 percent in the next five years, from revenues of $162.0 million in 2013 to $592.2 million in 2019, according to a recent analysis from research firm Frost & Sullivan. The study spanned lecture capture hardware, software and software-as-a-service. “The global demand for LCS [lecture capture solutions] is on the rise, with colleges and schools alike recognizing that digital learning is a must-have feature for modern education,” said Frost & Sullivan Digital Media Industry Manager Avni Rambhia.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/09/04/analysis-lecture-capture-market-to-grow-24-percent-by-2019.aspx

By Joshua Bolkan, Campus Technology

Global sales of phablets, smartphones with screens between 5.5 and 7 inches, will top sales of portable PCs in 2014 and surpass sales of tablets in the next year, according to a new forecast from market research company International Data Corp. (IDC). The company predicted that 175 million of the large smartphones will be sold this year, topping sales of portable PCs by about 5 million units. IDC predicted that next year 318 million of the devices will be shipped, outperforming the 233 million sales forecast for tablets in 2015 by a significant margin. Strong growth will continue throughout the forecast period, according to IDC, as phablet shipments increase from 14 percent of smartphone sales in 2014 to 32.2 percent in 2018.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/09/04/phablet-sales-to-top-mobile-laptops-this-year-tablets-in-2015.aspx

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Getting students actively engaged and learning by leveraging the power of gamification in the classroom is a hot trend these days. The idea of getting students learning, sharing, and laughing by using gamification shows great promise, to be sure. But where should you start in terms of finding the tools that will actually help you out?

http://www.edudemic.com/trying-gamification-classroom-tools/

By Jeff Dunn, Edudemic

Do you know what a flipped classroom requires? How about a 1:1 classroom? If you’re a regular reader of Edudemic, then you probably are more than informed about what these terms mean and how they’re implemented in modern classrooms. That’s probably because we started Edudemic many moons ago on the same day Apple launched the iPad. Since then, a lot has changed in the world of education technology. For one, the edtech vocabulary has expanded quite a bit. As a modern educator, you’ll need to know what a lot of key phrases mean and how they could affect your day-to-day activities. This visual guide from Boundless is just for you, then. The guide is designed to help you understand “the latest trends in educational technology” but really – let’s be honest – it’s a great way to finally figure out what a lot of terms mean before your next staff meeting.

http://www.edudemic.com/brush-edtech-vocabulary-cheat-sheet/

by JACQUES ROUSSEAU, Mail and Guardian

Fears of the ‘digital divide’ are unfounded: a blended mode has proven itself to students. The online mode is arguably a far more natural environment for a student in the 21st century than sharing a room with 400 other students. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds sometimes perform better through online learning, because they can study when they want to and how they want to. This revelation has led to a suite of online courses, launched last month by the commerce faculty at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Called Across Africa, this is an initiative that will allow students from across Africa to earn UCT qualifications by the blended-learning mode – a combination of face-to-face and online instruction. Across Africa is a partnership with GetSmarter, an online education company that works with both universities and industry. The company has developed an immersive and pedagogically rich virtual learning environment that, when paired with UCT’s content and quality assurance, ensures the highest-quality online education.

http://mg.co.za/article/2014-09-08-online-learning-enhances-success

By Norman Rozenberg, Tech Page One

While technology has transformed K-12 education for the better — including innovations that go beyond conventional PowerPoints and Smart Boards and novelties that help children with autism communicate — it is a luxury for many districts. But perhaps technology can be leveraged to lower the costs of education. Blended learning, which combines traditional brick-and-mortar schooling with online education, could help stem these rising costs and ease the burden on schools.

http://techpageone.dell.com/technology/can-technology-solve-k-12-budgetary-deficits/

by Alissa Gulin, Associated Press

The majority of participating students and faculty reported an overall positive experience and said they’d work with open-source materials again, according to the system’s recent review of the program, which was launched in collaboration with Lumen Learning LLC, an Oregon-based provider of open-source educational materials. Students saved a cumulative $130,000 in textbook costs, based on the prices of books that would have been assigned for those 11 courses. “Higher education needs to be more efficient at handling resources and course materials,” said Zachary McGee, a senior at Towson University and president of the University System of Maryland Student Council, which developed the idea for the MOST Initiative. “And I think this is the answer.”

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/09/07/open-source-texts-take-root-at-md-colleges/

by Haley Dover, Journal Courier

Purdue University on Thursday introduced a competency degree program, putting students in control of their education. The College of Technology program allows students to progress at their own rate as they demonstrate mastery of specific skills, rather than performance measured only at fixed calendar intervals of classroom time. Instead of letter grades serving as a general indicator of classroom accomplishment, competencies will indicate to employers what graduates can do.

http://www.jconline.com/story/news/2014/09/04/purdue-creates-competency-degree-program/15069165/

By Kimberly Wiggins, Fox Orlando

The race is on for the class of 2015. This year’s Florida seniors are the first who must complete an online course to graduate, but numbers show many students still need to squeeze in the class. Call it a sign of the times. Sanjana Pratti is logging on for her school lesson. The 16-year-old is taking three courses at Florida Virtual School or FLVS. “Chemistry, Physics, Latin,” said Pratti. The Freedom High School senior enrolled in her first online course three years ago.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/26462837/class-of-2015-is-first-required-to-pass-a-digital-learning-course

by Alan Henry, Lifehacker

Institutions like Yale University, MIT, Stanford, Monash, Macquarie and many more are all offering free online classes that you can participate in from the comfort of your dorm room, office, couch or computing chair-of-choice. Because we’re all about helping you improve your life at Lifehacker, we put together a list of courses available right now that will inspire you, challenge you, open the door to something new, and give you the tools to improve your life. Grab your pen and paper and make sure your battery is charged — class is in session!

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/09/plan-your-free-online-education-at-lifehacker-u-fall-semester-2014/

by JESS BOLLUYT, Tech Cheat Sheet

In today’s classrooms, stacks of heavy paper textbooks, battered notebooks, and worn-down pencils are giving way to e-readers, tablets, laptops, and a multitude of digital tools, apps, and software that are completely changing the way that students learn. These new tools don’t just change the delivery of the same material, though. Instead, they’re kicking off an array of changes to how students engage with what they’re learning, how they collaborate, how they receive feedback from teachers, and even how they learn to think and interact with the huge amount of information available to them. Here are five big ideas about how technology is disrupting education, and some of the resources pushing them ahead.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/technology/5-ways-technology-is-disrupting-education.html/?a=viewall

by Daryl Yarrow, Post Independent

New technologies have changed today’s classroom – at all levels – in ways unimaginable two decades ago. Students can reach for their iPad to access texts or reading material. They can connect with others in another city via video or web conferencing. And what’s more, they can create their own classroom at their home computer, completing courses or entire degrees online. What might be the most surprising element of online learning is that it is highly engaging – and may in fact provide more opportunities for engagement than the face-to-face class. Consider the shy student who won’t speak up in class but will open up at the keyboard. Discussion boards provide a venue for teacher-to-student as well as student-to-student interaction. Teachers and students can also easily share timely and relevant information that supplements their discussions by posting links to news articles, streaming video, photos and more.

http://www.postindependent.com/news/12891888-113/online-learning-face-students

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Not too long ago, I read a post written by a teacher that said “Our students get younger every year”. While this is obviously not true unless you’re measuring their age in relation to yourself, as you move further and further away from being a student, your students may be harder to ‘get’. Every year, the re:fuel agency College Explorer does a huge study among all types of students in the 18-24 and 25-34 year old age groups. The key findings have been summed up in the handy infographic linked below that they’ve made to accompany the study. Keep reading and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what college students are looking like these days – in so many different aspects!

http://www.edudemic.com/college-students-really-obsessed-with-technology/

By eduglasses, Edudemic

Today I am going to highlight the four main large companies in the mix of SmartGlasses, along with their estimated release dates. The following companies have patented, finalized, and developed working prototypes of their smartglasses and have presented their technology at recent summits. This means that within the next year or two these technologies will be over inundating the market…. so as educators we need to be ready to meet the needs of the students. (Not to mention these will be priced within reason for the modern consumer).

http://www.edudemic.com/smart-glasses-just-google-glass/

By Reannah Sartoris, Edudemic

What is a blended classroom? The blended classroom learning model combines face-to-face teaching with technology enhanced instruction. This includes having students use Apps, QR codes, websites, surveys, and videos integrated into the lesson. Effectively and efficiently blending the classroom with these technologies can increase student engagement, motivation and build a sense of community as students collaborate more together. Fortunately, if the students are using a school’s wireless network, many inappropriate sites are blocked; however, for students with 3G and 4G capabilities, unblocked content and social media access is still a concern. So, before you have your students take out their phones or devices, consider these suggestions to seamlessly turn your classroom into a blended classroom.

http://www.edudemic.com/top-5-tips-blended-classroom/

by Stuart Dredge, the Guardian

The training company claims the school coding curriculum will improve England’s digital literacy – but it all depends on the skill of teachers. When US-based website Codecademy was founded in 2011, its emphasis was on adults taking online courses to learn programming skills. Three years and 25m users later, the company has found that it is not just useful for adults. In fact, one of its big pushes in 2014 is around children and coding. That is partly because it realised lots of children were taking its existing courses but also through partnerships with schools. Particularly in England, where from this month, coding is part of the new computing curriculum for children as young as five. “What’s going on here is unprecedented. It hasn’t happened in any other G8 or major economy: forcing an entire country to learn programming,” says Zach Sims, Codecademy’s chief executive.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/05/codecademy-coding-schools-education-apps

By Barbara Palmer, eSchool News

A written note home can get lost, “eaten by the dog,” or sit on the kitchen counter to be used as a coaster for weeks on end. eMails get sent to spam, accidentally deleted, or aren’t read in a timely manner. And, honestly, how often do people pick up the phone anymore? Students touch their cell phones 43 times a day and send about 60 texts, showing that mobile technology is the best way to reach them. And with 91 percent of adults owning cell phones, texting is actually the most efficient means of communication with parents, too—especially for schools. Here are six ways that SMS texting can help improve your school’s communication with both parents and students.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/09/03/texting-school-communications-392/

by Paige Francis, eCampus News

Somewhere along the line, it seems that higher-education technology leaders hit a development gap where the KISS principle [2] was routinely ignored. The “Keep It Simple Stupid” adage states that “systems perform best when they have simple designs rather than complex ones.” It appears this gap has coincided with significant advancements in technology, leading to near-immediate obsolescence—and resulting in an overabundance of clunky technology and an over-outfitting of space. In a nutshell, more has resulted in less. We oversupplied and over-indulged, and now many institutions are forced to maintain these cumbersome environments … or are they? Here are five suggestions for getting back to the basics and streamlining campus technology.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/streamline-campus-technology-329/

by eCampus News

Dozens of Fresno State classes have introduced a new interactive tablet curriculum that began Aug. 21 when fall semester classes began. The first 1,200 students have enrolled in the university’s DISCOVERe program and 33 faculty members will teach a variety of courses incorporating tablet technology. Fresno State had been preparing to launch the DISCOVERe program since President Joseph I. Castro arrived on the campus a year ago, and on Thursday, Castro officially launched the program with a scissor-free, virtual ribbon cutting at the new DISCOVERe Hub, a technology help desk similar to Apple’s Genius Bar, located on the first floor of Fresno State’s Henry Madden Library.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/tablet-integration-fresno-436/

By Gabriel Kahn, Slate

This summer, Chad Mason signed up for online general psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. This spring, Jonathan Serrano took intro to psychology online at Essex County College in Newark, New Jersey. Though the two undergraduates were separated by more than 600 miles, enrolled in different institutions, and paying different tuitions, they were taking what amounts to the same course. That’s because the course wasn’t produced by either school. Instead, it was a sophisticated package devised by publishing giant Pearson PLC and delivered through a powerful online platform called MyPsychLab.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2014/09/online_college_classes_textbook_companies_offer_courses_with_minimal_university.html

by Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

In simple terms, EdCast is a service provider built on top of Open edX, the Cambridge, Mass.-based MOOC provider’s open-source initiative. The company will help institutions — and particularly groups of institutions working together — build their own online education platforms where they can run multiple instances of the same courses, removing the need for institutions to do the coding themselves. On Wednesday, the United Nations-backed Sustainable Development Solutions Network unveiled one example of what an EdCast-powered platform may look like. The network, which has more than 200 university and organizational members, now has its own online education portal: SDSN.edu.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/09/04/online-education-platform-edcast-puts-universities-charge-their-content