Techno-News Blog

February 28, 2015

Achieving the (Often Delicate) Balance between Technology and Information Security

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by Ronald L. Vaughn and Tammy Clark, Educause Review

Higher education leaders today face mounting pressure to compete for dwindling numbers of college applicants, account for learning outcomes, embrace technology innovation and disruption, and make key decisions regarding whether to move enterprise applications and infrastructure to the cloud. In the midst of this, there is an equally compelling need to ensure that the balance between information technology and information security is continually adjusted to provide adequate protection for the vast amount of information that is collected, processed, and stored across the institution. Objective assessments of security risks, needs, and considerations must be made clear to institutional leaders who make key decisions affecting strategic planning, budgeting, technology, and data security. The focus of this column is to highlight the advantages that can be gained by achieving that balance.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/achieving-often-delicate-balance-between-technology-and-information-security

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Enrollment in MITx MOOCs: Are We Educating Educators?

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by Daniel Thomas Seaton, Cody Coleman, Jon Daries, and Isaac Chuang, Educause Review

Surveys of 11 MITx courses on edX in spring 2014 found that one in four (28.0 percent) respondents identified as past or present teachers. Of the survey respondents, nearly one in 10 (8.7 percent) identified as current teachers. Although they represent only 4.5 percent of the nearly 250,000 enrollees, responding teachers generated 22.4 percent of all discussion forum comments. One in 12 of the total comments were made by current teachers, and one in 16 were from teachers with experience teaching the subject of the MITx course in which they enrolled.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/enrollment-mitx-moocs-are-we-educating-educators

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Are Digital Schools the Wave of the Future?

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by Suren Ramasubbu, Huffington Post

What is the verdict then? Is digital schooling better than conventional schools? The question is ideological and is built on the encompassing argument of what education itself is. Although it is easy to denounce the digital school (or brick and mortar school) with compelling reasons, we should be wary of outweighing the interests of technology over other social, cultural, and political concerns (or vice versa). Given that the conventional academy has existed over centuries and withstood the travails of time, there is no reason to believe that “digital schools” would overturn the conventional face-to-face schooling system in the near future, but will undoubtedly serve to complement it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/suren-ramasubbu/are-digital-schools-the-w_b_6710854.html

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February 27, 2015

How to Get Your Class Online & Maintain Student Privacy

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By Amanda Ronan, Edudemic

Hackers, phishing, pharming, spam, adware, spyware, worms, and viruses. With everything that can go wrong online, it’s a small miracle that the Internet is still such a popular resource. Schools are charged not only with educating students, but also with keeping them safe—and nowadays that means protecting them online. Some schools have very tight restrictions about online use, including firewalls that block nearly every potentially interesting website imaginable and content filters so sensitive that “a” and “the” have become bad words. The excessive policing around information accessible only online has many tech-friendly teachers frustrated—sure they understand the importance of protecting student information, but they feel stifled by seemingly inane rules about online use.

http://www.edudemic.com/how-to-get-your-class-online-maintain-student-privacy-have-fun-doing-so/

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One vision of tomorrow’s college: Cheap, and you get an education, not a degree

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by Kevin Carey, Washington Post

Higher education — increasingly unaffordable and unattainable — is on the verge of a transformation that not only could remedy that, but could change the role college plays in our society. Can you imagine the benefits of colleges having little bricks-and-mortar overhead, of each student being taught in ways scientifically tailored to their individual needs, of educators, students and researchers being able to capi­tal­ize on global intelligence? In “The End of College: Creating the Future of Learning and the University of Everywhere,” Kevin Carey, director of the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation, a public-policy think tank in Washington, lays out a provocative history of how the university system got to this point and one vision of the revolution that’s beginning because of digital innovation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/one-vision-of-tomorrows-college-cheap-and-you-get-an-education-not-a-degree/2015/02/11/7b2ed78c-8617-11e4-9534-f79a23c40e6c_story.html

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The Web’s About To Get Faster

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By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

Hypertext Transfer Protocol version 2 is a done deal. According to the chair of the HTTP working group within the Internet Engineering Task Force, the draft specification for HTTP/2, as it’s known, was sent off to the Request for Comments (RFC) Editor, where it will officially become an Internet standard. The same delivery included the draft specs for HPACK, the format for header field compression to be used in HTTP/2. Currently, the most common version of HTTP in use is HTTP/1.1. The HTTP/2 standard is expected to speed up loading of Web pages by transporting data between browser and server. The new protocol is backward-compatible with the older protocol.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/02/19/the-webs-about-to-get-faster.aspx

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February 26, 2015

Drexel and TechGirlz to Create Online Game Design Class for Teens

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by Drexel Now

Recent higher education reports have raised questions about the persistence of inequality in gender representation among college students in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines in the last decade. Employment in the technology sector continues to reflect this disparity. Two local groups are taking steps to reverse this trend by increasing access to tech workshops that encourage young women to pursue careers in STEM-related fields. The idea is to make a set of self-contained online instructional videos and educational materials that will guide middle-school and high-school age students –and their teachers- through a basic game design curriculum. Drexel University’s Entrepreneurial Game Studio is working with the Philadelphia nonprofit TechGirlz to create a virtual game design class that will be made available, free-of-charge, to schools and students nationwide.

http://drexel.edu/now/archive/2015/February/ESA-TechGirlz/

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UK online course provider FutureLearn reaches million

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By Sean Coughlan, BBC

The provider of so-called Moocs (massive open online courses) says interest has been rising sharply, with 20% more UK students in the last three months of 2014. FutureLearn carries free online courses from universities including Warwick, King’s College London and Sheffield. “We’re just at the start,” said chief executive Simon Nelson. FutureLearn has reached the million-student milestone after launching in September 2013. Set up by the Open University, it offered a UK platform for online courses in a field that was becoming dominated by US university networks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-31533681

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Distance learning taps in to virtual reality technology

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by Lucy Jolin, the Guardian

New technology – such as forums, online lectures and interactive study experiences – is enhancing today’s online learning experience, and there are plenty of innovations in the pipeline. Dominic Micklewright, dean of academic partnerships at the University of Essex, believes mixed reality teaching and learning environments (MiRTLEs) – which enable online students to enter a real face-to-face lecture virtually – will become an increasingly popular facet of online degrees. “The online student can view the lecture, lecturer and other face-to-face students from a first-person perspective via a webcam. In the lecture hall, distance-learning students will appear either as an avatar or as themselves – via their webcam – on a large screen that the face-to-face students and the lecturer can see.”

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/feb/19/distance-learning-taps-in-to-virtual-reality-technology

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February 25, 2015

Addressing the data skills gap with bootcamps

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by eSchool News

Bootcamps focusing on data science aim to set students up for workplace success. NYC Data Science Academy is conducting a series of training it calls data science “bootcamps.” These full-time bootcamps accept talented students from a wide range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) backgrounds and equip them with the skills they need to hit the ground running as data scientists on day one. Data science bootcamps are separated from universities by offering more hands-on skills, real work experience, industry connections, and job placement. MGI reports a predicted shortage of 190,000 skilled data scientists, and 1.5 million managers capable of implementing big data insights by 2018 (Big Data: The Next Frontier).

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/data-skills-gap-894/

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Higher Ed Tech Talent: Get ‘Em, Keep ‘Em (If You Can)

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by David J. Hinson, EDUCAUSE Review

The hiring search for technically skilled employees to join institutional IT departments encounters multiple challenges, including the disparity in salaries for technology jobs between higher education and industry. One solution is to hire new staff upon graduation and train them in the skills needed, benefitting the institution’s IT department and the individual’s career development. The best approach is to know your market, know your job, understand your staff, make staff success your success.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/higher-ed-tech-talent-get-em-keep-em-if-you-can

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Engaging Students: Online and Offline

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by Mariappan Jawaharlal, Huffington Post

How do we define engagement, and how do we engage students? Engaging is an overused word these days. Many researchers have studied student engagement and developed instruments to measure various level of engagement. As an educator, I define engagement as action. It’s that simple. Engagement manifests itself when:

Something captures your attention

You feel compelled to do something

You are self-motivated

You are involved in hands-on activities….

You make a connection between what you are being taught and it’s applications in the ‘real world’….

It feels personally meaningful….

There is drama and dilemma….

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mariappan-jawaharlal/engaging-students-online-and-offline_b_6685622.html

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February 24, 2015

Online classes are effective and beneficial for today’s busy students, offering an innovative option that helps many

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BY RUDY CHINCHILLA, Daily Titan

One of the best and most novel innovations of the online age has been the creation of online classes, otherwise known as distance education courses. This alternative type of education offers advantages not found in the traditional, in-person classroom. 12.5 percent of the U.S. student population were enrolled exclusively in distance education courses in the fall of 2012, according to a 2014 report by the U.S. Department of Education. A further 13.3 percent enrolled in at least one distance education course, bringing the total of students enrolled in at least one online course to 25.8 percent. For many students, distance education courses offer the distinct advantage of being flexible to their personal schedules.

http://www.dailytitan.com/2015/02/online-classes-are-effective-and-beneficial-for-todays-busy-students-offering-an-innovative-option-that-helps-many/

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School within a school provides a different approach to learning

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by Fox 13

It’s online learning with a human touch, minus the “herd mentality.” “We have the kids all day with us, even though they switch from class to class, we’re still able to meet with them whenever we want,” Kailin said. Twelve-year-old Casey Harkins loves it. “Now I’m getting better grades, and I’m really good at it,” Casey said. This type of blended learning where high-tech meets human interaction is all the buzz in education today. “It keeps me above pace and lets me do my best,” says student Shelton Reid. They all have assignment deadlines, and going above and beyond is common.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/28122658/2015/02/16/school-within-a-school-provides-a-different-approach-to-learning

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New wave of students wants to design own college plans

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By Lauren Williams, University Business

According to the “Portrait of Generation Z” report released by Northeastern University, nearly two-thirds of Gen Z-aged respondents said they want to learn about entrepreneurship in college, including how to start a busi­ness. More than four in 10 expect to work for them­selves at some point—nearly four times higher than the current per­centage of self-​​employed Amer­i­cans. According to the Northeastern study, Gen-Z students want colleges to:

…offer practical skills such as financial planning (85%)

…integrate internships and other professional experience into their programs (79%)

…allow them to design their own majors (72%)

…teach entrepreneurship (63%)

http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/new-wave-students-wants-design-own-college-plans

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February 23, 2015

MOOCs transform learning experience

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by Steven Mintz, Daily Texan

Established by the Board of Regents in 2012, the University of Texas System’s Institute for Transformational Learning has a bold mandate: to leverage technology to make a UT quality education more accessible, affordable and successful, especially among populations that higher education has too often failed. The ITL has supported a number of initiatives at UT Austin including innovative online delivery of a large number of “gateway” classes and development of nine massive online courses, or MOOCs, that have reached nearly a quarter of a million students globally. Right now, ITL’s energies focus on ways to better serve non-traditional students: low-income students, first-generation college students, part-time students, commuting students, working adults, family caregivers and students with some college and no degree.

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2015/02/15/moocs-transform-learning-experience

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New partnership supports online learning for special education students

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by eSchool News

Fuel Education and PresenceLearning team to give schools innovative, flexible special education solution.  Across the country, schools and districts are leveraging digital learning to overcome staffing and resource challenges to improve outcomes and to address the many needs of their K-12 students—whether to expand course options, to provide assistance to those who need additional help, or to provide an alternative learning environment.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/02/16/special-ed-partnership-753/

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What Employers Think of Your Online Master’s in Education

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by Devon Haynie, US News

As online programs have grown in popularity, online master’s in education degrees have become more acceptable, experts say. But some programs are more respected than others. As a result, prospective students looking to use the credential for a pay bump or career switch should do some investigating before they enroll. When it comes to choosing the right online master’s degree in education, experts say the reputation of the program matters more than the mode of instruction, regardless of specialty. “I think we’re still in a space where the institution granting the online degree continues to have some sway in at least its perceived value,” says Catherine Horn, associate education professor at the University of Houston, ranked the No. 1 online graduate education program by U.S. News in 2015.

http://news.yahoo.com/employers-think-online-masters-education-140000758.html

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February 22, 2015

Harvard, MIT sued over lack of captioning on video courses

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By Michael Levenson and Steve Annear, Boston Globe

The class-action suits accuse the universities of violating the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and the 1973 Rehabilitation Act by denying people who are deaf and hard of hearing access to thousands of videos and audio recordings that the universities make available free to the public. The association is targeting Harvard and MIT because both are globally recognized leaders in offering massive open online courses, known as MOOCs, that provide educational content to the public that was traditionally available only to enrolled students. In 2013, both Harvard and MIT launched edX, a pioneering nonprofit partnership that offers online classes.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/02/12/advocates-for-deaf-sue-harvard-mit-over-lack-captioning-free-online-courses/kRyh3K7VNje9vhOSvjro6N/story.html

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Bill Gates envisions a future with `world-class education` centres accessible online to `developing world`

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by DNA India

In his foundation’s 2015 annual letter, Bill Gates has envisioned a future where “world-class education” would be just a few clicks away, and online classes would not merely help a few exceptional students, but the developing world at large, a report said. In his foundation’s 2015 annual letter, Bill Gates has envisioned a future where “world-class education” would be just a few clicks away, and online classes would not merely help a few exceptional students, but the developing world at large, a report said. Stressing on the role that technology could play in future, in improving the rate of literacy in developing countries, Gates said that if a child has access to a smartphone, even before they get enrolled in a primary school, they could learn letters and number,s which would give them “a big headstart,” reported The Verge.

http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-bill-gates-envisions-a-future-with-world-class-education-centres-accessible-online-to-developing-world-2060387

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Harvard, MIT sued over lack of captioning on video courses

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By Michael Levenson and Steve Annear, Boston Globe

A national advocacy group filed federal lawsuits against Harvard and MIT on Thursday, accusing the universities of discriminating against people who are deaf and hard of hearing by failing to caption their vastly expanding array of online courses.“Just as buildings without ramps bar people who use wheelchairs, online content without captions excludes individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing,” said the lawsuits filed in US District Court in Massachusetts by the National Association of the Deaf. The class-action suits accuse the universities of violating the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and the 1973 Rehabilitation Act by denying people who are deaf and hard of hearing access to thousands of videos and audio recordings that the universities make available free to the public.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/02/12/advocates-for-deaf-sue-harvard-mit-over-lack-captioning-free-online-courses/kRyh3K7VNje9vhOSvjro6N/story.html

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