Techno-News Blog

by Catherine Shu, TechCrunch

Creating lesson plans, learning about teaching methods, and finding new educational material are all part of a normal workday for teachers, but it can be difficult because most educators have extremely tight schedules. TeachPitch.com wants to help by bringing teachers around the world closer together so they can find and share the best resources on the web. The site, which launched officially in October, now has around 2,000 teachers from 55 countries on its platform, most from the U.S. and Asia. TeachPitch hopes to build traction in South American countries—including Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, and Peru—by partnering with local educational organizations like Fundación Fidal and launching a Spanish version of the site.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/17/teachpitch/

By Mark Wilson, Beta News

Microsoft shares its view of which areas of technology are going to be of the greatest importance for businesses in 2015. Corporate Vice President, Enterprise and Partner Group, Susan Hauser believes that security will continue to be strengthened, the Internet of Things will grow, and predictive tools will be more heavily utilized. With the general focus on the cloud, the increased interest in the Internet of Things is hardly a surprise. Once regarded as something rather nebulous and ethereal, businesses and customers are now starting to see the potential for the IoT. Hauser predicts that what will help to accelerate growth here is increased cooperation between partners, as growing numbers of sensors provide access to “nearly unlimited amounts of data”.

http://betanews.com/2014/12/17/microsofts-view-of-2015-internet-of-things-security-and-machine-learning/

by Nick Morrison, Forbes

Technology has already transformed education, but there is an increasingly widespread belief that the process is only just getting started. In one scenario, we are heading towards a paradigm shift that will mean fewer teachers and more data in the schools of the future. According to a new report by two respected educationalists, we are on the verge of a historic change in the way schools operate. In this model, huge quantities of data will finally make personalized education a reality, while large numbers of teachers will be replaced by support staff.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2014/12/18/fewer-teachers-more-data-in-the-schools-of-the-future/

By Dennis Pierce, Campus Technology

Although assistive technologies and other supports can help, too few students who need them take advantage. The transitioning of students with learning disabilities from high school to college “is a very important issue, and it often gets overlooked,” said Tracy Gray, managing researcher for education at the American Institutes for Research. A nationally known expert in improving opportunities for students with disabilities, Gray used to head the now-defunct National Center for Technology Innovation, which supported researchers and entrepreneurs in creating new assistive technologies to help all students learn.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/12/18/how-colleges-can-better-serve-students-with-learning-disabilities.aspx

By Zulma Whiteford, eSchool News

Just 15 percent of U.S. engineers are women. Here’s how to correct that statistic and get girls invested in STEM.  Engineering is empowering. It encompasses the ability to create whatever you can imagine and thereby change the world for the better. But in the United States, fewer than 15 percent of working engineers are women, despite comprising half of the population. There are a number of possible reasons for this inequality, but a variety of contributing factors take effect at an early age.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/differentiating-learning-terms-464/

By Meris Stansbury, eCampusNews

“Providing clarity for educators as they look for innovative new ways to connect with students and improve outcomes is critical,” said Cherron Hoppes, chief academic officer at Helix Education, which produced the white paper. “There is no doubt that CBE is gaining momentum in the industry, yet educators still have a lot of questions about how they can best plan for and execute on a successful strategy.” Based on what Helix Education notes is their own experience, as well as the expertise of academic insiders and industry coverage, here are the differences between—and tips for implementation of—personalized learning, adaptive learning, and CBE.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/differentiating-learning-terms-464/

By Roger Riddell, Education Dive

From the make-up of student bodies to the way materials are delivered, higher ed is rapidly changing — and largely due to technology. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, that statement isn’t particularly shocking. Online learning has empowered non-traditional students, almost to the point that they’re the new “traditional,” and mobile devices have all but guaranteed the end of the textbook as we know it. Technological disruption isn’t so bad, though. For as much as it impacts the traditional business model for institutions and corporations, it also improves access and cost issues for students while opening new paths to revenue for those wise enough to see them. To get an idea of what the future of higher ed might look like in 2015 and beyond, Education Dive examined three emerging technologies that could facilitate some of the space’s biggest shifts in years. And the future looks bright, indeed.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/3-emerging-technologies-reimagining-higher-ed-in-2015-and-beyond/344103/

By Ian Barker, Beta News

Higher education institutions with their rapid turnover of students’ devices each year present particular problems when it comes to protecting data. A new infographic from enterprise security and backup specialist SysCloud looks at the risks higher education bodies face and how they can improve their levels of protection. Amongst the findings are that there have been over 500 security breaches at more than 320 higher education institutions since 2005 — that’s around one a week. Also 35 percent of all breaches take place in higher education.

http://betanews.com/2014/12/17/35-percent-of-all-security-breaches-take-place-in-higher-education/

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

As textbook prices soar, tuition skyrockets, and educators are more pressured than ever to provide innovative courses and lectures packed with multimedia and current materials, the open education movement and its open education resources (OERs) have never been more critical for success than now. What began in the ‘90s has now evolved into massive national, state, and university repositories that can be accessed by anyone, anytime…and the best part is, almost all OERs are free. What makes these current repositories worth investing time, however, is that thanks to decades of feedback, many are vetted by educators and are organized into highly-accessible repositories. Many of these OER resources also provide step-by-step guides and OER tools to make multimedia, such as videos and tutorials.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/oer-resources-educator-555/

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

Some of the year’s top ed-tech tools include a free slideshow creator, a reading tool with embedded assessments, and an adaptive math practice game. How many of 2014’s top tools have you used? During an edWeb webinar, Ruth Okoye, a Common Sense Graphite Certified Educator, offered insight on five of the top ed-tech tools from Graphite, a free service from Common Sense Education that helps educators choose tools and resources for students. Okoye also is the Communications Chair for the ISTE Ed Tech Coaches Professional Learning Network and is a technology resource teacher for Portsmouth Public Schools in Virginia.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/12/16/tech-tools-2014-823/

by Wendy Drexler, eSchool News

Imagine what would happen if hospital leaders announced to surgeons late on a Friday afternoon that when they came to work on Monday they would no longer be doing surgery using the tools they have always used—such as scalpels, scissors and clamps—and all procedures would be done using new high-tech laser tools, with which they may or may not have familiarity. Of course, a change of this magnitude would never be implemented in such a haphazard way in medicine–lives are at stake! I would argue that lives are also at stake in education, and the scenario described above is analogous to the transition to mobile learning in schools. Oftentimes, school leaders announce that the school community is making the switch to mobile learning, pass out devices to everyone, and expect not only that will things continue as they have been, but that the learning environment will be transformed and student achievement will soar.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/12/16/tool-hand-pd-372/

by Brookings

Buzz about the potential of digital learning abounds. Despite the excitement, relatively little is known about how many students are actually taking advantage of digital learning opportunities. This is partly due to online learning tools having numerous forms, rendering them difficult to track. In addition, policies also vary greatly across states. A new report, Keeping Pace with K-12 Digital Learning, helps to shed light on the state of online learning in the United States.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/techtank/posts/2014/12/15-online-learning-update

by Christine Sobek, Daily Herald

In the last two decades, few things have changed our lives more than the Internet and mobile technology. Whether in classrooms, boardrooms or living rooms, the advent of our mobile and online existence has transformed how we work, how we learn and how we all interact with one another. As unimaginable as a life without telephones or televisions would have been to generations raised in the latter half of the 20th Century, so too life without constant connectivity is unfathomable to the new generation of students emerging from high schools and colleges across our country and our world.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20141215/submitted/141218987/

by Stefanie Botelho, University Business

National concern about the high cost of higher education typically focuses on higher tuition costs. However, in a recent national survey of college students, Nebraska Book Company|Neebo, found that more students (55 percent) worry about textbook costs than worry about the cost of tuition (50 percent). While almost all students surveyed (95 percent) aim to find a way to save on textbook costs this Spring, with most (74 percent) saying they will buy used books and just over half (54 percent) planning to rent their textbooks, some students will turn to less honest methods of saving, with nearly half (47 percent) intending to look for pirated book copies online and many (25 percent) simply photocopying required texts themselves.

http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/survey-finds-students-worry-more-about-book-costs-tuition

by Justin Pope, Technology Review

Indeed, for all the focus on the role of MOOCs in higher education, they might have a significant role to play in high schools and below. Teachers are already a big audience (a study of 11 MOOCs offered by MIT last spring found that nearly 28 percent of enrollees were former or active teachers). This is particularly promising because teachers pass what they learn on to their own students: when they make use of edX and other resources in their classrooms, they multiply the effect. As Coursera moves explicitly into teacher training, its classes could have as much impact by reaching a few hundred teachers as they would with thousands of other students.

http://www.technologyreview.com/review/533406/what-are-moocs-good-for/

by Dean Florez, the Bakersfield Californian

What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? Governor Jerry Brown — a longtime proponent of low-priced college — and UC President Janet Napolitano — politically adept agency manager and public college advocate — are at loggerheads over whether UC can raise its tuition 5 percent per year for the next five years. Though seemingly a routine budget battle, at issue are fundamental questions about the “public” part of public higher education. Should UC focus on maintaining prestige or keeping tuition down? In an educational landscape with vastly more educational options for students, what obligation does the UC have to enable choice?

http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/opinion/hot-topics/x1524581698/The-Governor-versus-The-Board

BY TIM STEERE, Laramie Boomerang

The studio physics model is a hybridization of nearly the entire physics education process. In other words, the approach combines the traditional lecture, lab and discussion period into one comprehensive session. Most of the time, students work in small groups of three or four to solve conceptual problems or experiment with lab equipment. As a result, both Dale and Kobulnicky see improved attendance, material retention and fewer students seeking help outside class. “We’ve got some dramatic attendance numbers,” Kobulnicky said. “My attendance average is well over 90 percent and that’s remarkable for an introductory physics course at a state university. I had everybody there today. I would not want to go back to a traditional lecture where students are sitting there falling asleep. That’s no way to learn physics.”

http://www.laramieboomerang.com/articles/2014/12/14/news/doc548d204e44586192174651.txt

By Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

Technology can address some of the financial and organizational challenges facing public flagship universities, according to a new report, but those challenges have to be solved with input from the entire institution — not just a “coalition of the willing.” Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit research organization, last academic year traveled to 10 institutions in the Public Flagship Network, a group of 17 such institutions, to learn how the universities are using technology to respond to shrinking state funding and changing student behavior. Ithaka’s researchers interviewed 214 senior administrators, directors of online learning, department chairs and staffers at those universities, finding similar concerns: The institutions are struggling to perform the traditional functions of a research university as outside forces — politicians and students among them — urge them to make higher education more affordable and accessible.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/12/15/report-recommends-public-flagship-universities-plan-incentivize-technology-classroom

by Gregory Ferenstein, Venture Beat

Soft-spoken education revolutionary Sal Khan has a few ideas for how to radically overhaul higher education. First, create a universal degree that’s comparable to a Stanford degree, and second, transform the college transcript into a portfolio of things that students have actually created. Khan is the founder, executive director, and faculty member at the Khan Academy, an online education provider. Speaking at the Atlantic’s Navigate tech conference, Khan said that the online education providers and independent technology “boot camp” schools will end up playing an important role in pressuring legacy universities to change their outdated ways.

http://venturebeat.com/2014/12/14/khan-academy-founder-has-a-couple-of-big-ideas-for-overhauling-higher-education-in-the-sciences/

By HELEN STORMS, Purdue Exponent

The amount of online classes available to Purdue students has continued to grow in recent years. Currently, there are about 135 undergraduate courses that can be taken online each semester, and this number will only increase in the future. In fact, according to statistics from Purdue’s spring 2015 graduating class, about 51% of the graduates have taken at least one online course throughout their time at Purdue. Some of these classes are almost entirely online, whereas others still conduct the course partially face to face. This type of course is becoming the preferred format because it allows students to listen to the lecture before coming to class to make better use of class time.

http://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/article_95bbc052-f949-56f4-a377-878dc0fd4d5a.html

by Before It’s News

The program — called Project Engage — increases access to computer science classes in high school; increases college readiness of Texas high school students and tackles the hard problem of the shortage of computer science teachers. Project Engage is especially focused on reaching girls and underrepresented minority students. Project Engage offers the schools a computer science principles course called “Thriving in our Digital World,” which encourages students to actively learn by solving problems. This is in direct contrast to traditional, lecture-based classes that relegate students to the role of passive recipients of instruction. “Thriving in our Digital World” introduces students to the big ideas in computer science that exist across disciplinary boundaries.

http://beforeitsnews.com/science-and-technology/2014/12/educational-program-helps-students-thrive-in-a-digital-world-2737148.html