Techno-News Blog

By Ian Quillen, US News

The vast majority of two-year schools offer at least some online learning options. And as far back as 2008, a third or more of community college students in states like Virginia and Washington took at least one online course during their studies, according to the Community College Research Center at Columbia University’s Teachers College. But online learning at public two-year schools presents some unique challenges students may not expect. So before students choose a partial or fully online route for their community college experience, they might want to answer the following five questions about any potential program.

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2015/03/18/5-questions-to-ask-about-online-community-college-courses

by JOE PINSKER, the Atlantic

Cornerstone’s researchers found that people who took the test on a non-default browser, such as Firefox or Chrome, ended up staying at their jobs about 15 percent longer than those who stuck with Safari or Internet Explorer. They performed better on the job as well. (These statistics were roughly the same for both Mac and PC users.)

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/03/people-who-use-firefox-or-chrome-are-better-employees/387781/

By Alex Koeberle, Cornell Chronicle

Cornell has joined an effort to teach public garden educators how to use natural assets as a resource for learning and social change within their communities. Crnell has joined a national online education effort designed to help public garden educators transform their natural assets into community resources for scientific knowledge and social change. The first online class co-hosted by Cornell, a free six-week online course called EECapacity for Public Garden Educators, wrapped up last month and is part of an ongoing national environmental education training program. Lectures were delivered as a series of live videos, with opportunities for participants to answer questions and provide feedback on Facebook.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/03/online-course-aims-put-public-gardens-community-mission

by Karen H. Sibley and Ren Whitaker, EDUCAUSE Review

By drawing on direct experience, facilitating learning from peers, and exploring engagement practices, Brown University’s online development team is creating an online learning “adoption wave” among faculty. The online development team continues to introduce ways of helping faculty and senior administrators more fully understand and expand on the opportunities online learning presents. An institution steeped in the traditions of residential education and initially dubious of online education now builds on its early success with online learning.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/engaging-faculty-online-education

By Mary Grush, Campus Technology

The push for “student success” is all around us. Today, new campus IT implementations, software development efforts, and academic program redesigns all seem conceived in the popular context of student success, or they are in some significant way connected to it. But what about the notion of “faculty success”? Michael E. Cottam is Webster University’s Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director of its Online Learning Center. He has moved innovative support programs for online faculty forward there and in his previous posts with very large online programs at higher education institutions including Rio Salado College and Mount St. Mary’s University Online. Michael Cottam: I think faculty are the most important piece in achieving student success. In spite of all the supports we might provide (advisors, success coaches, counselors, tutors, and so forth) I do not believe that student success will happen without really effective faculty.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/03/17/faculty-success-means-student-success.aspx

by Matt Harrell, Edutopia

As you well know, teachers are already stretched pretty thin, and often it seems like there’s just no bandwidth to add something new to a very full schedule. Additionally, some schools have few or no computers and/or tablets for classroom use. But the earlier we introduce children to coding, the more comfortable they will be when presented with more in-depth learning opportunities in middle and high school. Also, early exposure to coding helps teach children how important it is to understand computers as the valuable tools they are rather than merely fun playthings.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/add-coding-elementary-curriculum-now-matt-harrell

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

XYZ, the company that owns .college, is opening the first sales period for its domain today to registered trademark holders looking for matching .college addresses. The “sunrise” period lasts until April 17 and will offer domain registry for free, XYZ announced today. XYZ is announcing its sales push for .college domains as a way to open opportunities for colleges and universities that were previously restricted by the regulations surrounding .edu. Accredited, post-secondary, U.S.-based institutions were the only ones with access to .edu, while .college will be available to higher education institutions, organizations trying to recruit the campus community, and individual professors, departments, or programs, according to XYZ. Back in 2013, XYZ CEO Daniel Negari said he expected .college to supplement .edu, not replace it. That is probably a safe bet as .college sales get underway this week.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/higher-ed-gets-a-new-domain-in-college/375843/

by Cheng Han Lee, Udacity

There are lots of resources out there to learn about, or to build upon what you already know about, data science. But where do you start? What are some of the best or most authoritative sources? Here are some websites, books, and other resources that we think are outstanding.

http://blog.udacity.com/2014/12/24-data-science-resources-keep-finger-pulse.html

by Casey Fabris, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Among today’s students, videos as an educational tool are as expected as textbooks. A new study has found that 68 percent of students watch videos in class, and 79 percent watch them on their own time, outside of class, to assist in their learning. Elisabeth Leonard, author of the study and executive market-research manager for SAGE Publications, said many of the students she spoke with said they couldn’t remember a time when videos weren’t part of their educational experience.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/videos-find-their-place-in-and-out-of-the-classroom/56113

by Lauren Everitt, Forbes

Laurie Pickard started her journey in August 2013 and planned to complete 16 courses over two to three years. Now, a little more than halfway in, she’s completed 20 courses, exceeded the MBA curriculum, and can “graduate” at any time. However, she has no intention of stopping now. “I have to keep my finger on the pulse and keep my skills fresh,” she says. She also has no plans to leave her current job as a development and entrepreneurship specialist at USAID. “I just see this [MOOCs] as a totally new field, and I want to be in it,” she says. Pickard plans to offer a No-Pay MBA community and support package, including a handbook, a regularly updated course guide, a course checklist, support networks, a digital credential, and a web presence where No-Pay MBAs can present their work to potential employers. Pickard plans to launch the program in June 2015 with a tiered pricing structure.

http://fortune.com/2015/03/16/how-to-get-an-mba-education-for-less-than-1000/

By Jennifer Howard, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Mr. Hennessy sounded dubious that online credentials would ever entirely replace undergraduate degrees. Those degrees amount to more than a bunch of courses strung together, he said. But he predicted that online-only professional degrees would continue to grow. To be effective, online learning must overcome several challenges, he said. It has to help students learn better, and it needs to offer a customized experience. “In a live classroom, a good instructor can see what works and what doesn’t,” Mr. Hennessy said. Online instruction might be able to do that using real-time data and analytics on how students are engaging (or not) with the material. “We can get instant feedback,” he said.

http://chronicle.com/article/Stanford-Chief-Wants-Higher-Ed/228505/

by Paul Penders, Daily Commercial

ProCon.org, a nonprofit public charity, released a report weighing the pros and cons of tablets in the classroom. According to the report, some of the benefits of tablet use include: helping students learn more material faster; improved achievements on standardized tests, according to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt which showed students scoring 20 percent higher on standardized tests by using an iPad version of a textbook; and 77 percent of teachers found technology to increase student motivation to learn, according to a Public Broadcasting Service study. The report also listed several downsides to the use of technology.  “Tablets cause distractions; enable students to cut corners or cheat on schoolwork; and shift the focus of learning from the teacher to technology,” according to the study.

http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_bf5ff106-4e7c-5311-b379-186742ee7a40.html

by Emmanuel Lund, AppsZoom

You always wanted to learn web development, but you didn’t know how to begin, right? You can begin by downloading “Learn HTML”. Don’t be scared: unlike all those tedious books you’ve tried to read, “Learn HTML” features a fresh and dynamic way to learn the basics of web development. The course will guide you through different lessons. Each lesson is split in topics and each topic is explained in a clear and concise way in video lecture from the most-known online learning site lynda.com. In order to strengthen the new concepts, a quiz question will show up after each video asking for something related to what you just watched. In addition, at the end of the lesson, you’ll have to pass a short quiz test.

http://www.appszoom.com/android_applications/education/learn-html_hshst.html

By Jennifer Doody, Harvard Gazette

Jonathan Haber earned his bachelor’s degree, in chemistry, from Wesleyan University in 1985. Nearly three decades later, he decided to earn another bachelor’s, this one in philosophy. He also resolved to complete his studies in just one year, entirely online, for free. Haber documented those 12 months on the website Degree of Freedom, detailing his experience completing the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree using Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, and other forms of free learning. As the inaugural HarvardX Visiting Fellow, Haber recently spoke at the Harvard Ed Portal about what he had learned during his year of intense online study. Appropriately, in addition to nearly three-dozen Ed Portal visitors, more than 80 people watched the talk online.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/03/earning-a-bachelors-degree-the-new-way/

By Adam Stone, Military Times

For those who wear the uniform, the appeal of online learning is obvious. Deploy with a laptop and you’re still in school, regardless of where you go. When the marching pace picks up, put the books aside and learn when it’s convenient. Don’t be lulled, though. Just because it’s convenient doesn’t mean it’s easy. Timing matters when chasing a degree. Technology tools can ease the load. And just as when out on maneuvers, it always pays to plan ahead. Here, four military members and veterans share what they’ve learned about making the most of online learning opportunities.

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/veterans/best-for-vets/education/2015/03/14/e-learning-advice-from-4-troops-who-are-succeeding/23224055/

by Mallory Dwinal, Clayton Christensen Institute

As the link between teacher quality and student performance becomes increasingly apparent, education leaders have invested significant time and energy into recruiting high-quality educators. Unfortunately, chronic teacher shortages have undercut these efforts, and many school leaders continue to struggle with staffing each year. A closer examination reveals the causes and characteristics of these teacher shortages, as well as the promise online learning holds in resolving the most challenging teacher vacancies.

http://www.christenseninstitute.org/publications/solving-the-nations-teacher-shortage/

By Michael Hart, Campus Technology

Higher education has been talking about big data for years now. And most schools have come around to the idea that massive amounts of data can be collected, analyzed and used to make recommendations to decision-makers who must determine the best paths for their institutions. Yet, as a practical matter, data analysis and data-driven decision-making are still in their infancy. According to the Education Advisory Board, just eight institutions have a staff member who carries the title of chief data officer — out of 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States. It’s no wonder, really. There are countless pitfalls and obstacles on the way to successful data analytics. Here are nine common mistakes, and what some institutions are doing to avoid them.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/03/12/9-ways-to-doom-your-data-analytics-efforts.aspx

By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, ZDNet

What looks like an ordinary HDD, which could fit into a drive bay on your PC, actually holds 10 terabytes of data. It’s not meant for your PC, though. Its destination is your datacenter. This drive, better known as the 10TB SMR HelioSeal HDD, has been in the works since September 2014. At the show, sources close to the company said it would be shipping in the second quarter of 2015. To access these drives from Linux, a new device manipulation library had to be added: libzbc. With this library, Linux can access Zoned Block Commands (ZBC)-based and Zoned-device ATA command set (ZAC) HDDs, such as the 10TB HelioSeal. The ZBC standard details how to handle devices that require writing to occur at specific locations on their media while allowing random reading of already written data.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/hgst-gets-closer-to-shipping-10tb-hdd/

by LINDA WHITE, Toronto Sun

The virtual trips are but one example of the way education — including online learning — continues to evolve. With information available at the click of a button, there’s really no need to hand students a textbook to “read, memorize and regurgitate.” Instead, savvy instructors are taking advantage of technology to develop critical thinking, observation, collaboration and other skills that are in demand in today’s workplace, says Mouton, manager of distance education at Durham College in Oshawa, Ont.

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/03/12/new-technology-enriches-online-learning

by Bill Ferster, Times Higher Ed

Efforts to enhance education with technology did not begin with the digital age. In reality, educational technology has enjoyed a much longer history, arguably starting in the 15th century with the introduction of horn-covered textbooks, as University of Virginia academic and former technology entrepreneur Bill Ferster argues. The overriding thesis is simple: learning is paramount, and technologies are tools that can support it. Via a series of historical narratives, lucid cultural insights and keen exploration of major theoretical perspectives, Ferster attempts to determine just how effective technology has been in supporting and enhancing learning. His view, as he sums up in the final page, is that “Teaching machines can be only as effective as the pedagogical methods they employ…and how they stay focused on the learner”. And he clearly believes that insights into the educational technology of the future can be found by looking at its past.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/books/teaching-machines-learning-from-the-intersection-of-education-and-technology-by-bill-ferster/2018940.article

By Russ Poulin, WCET

This is the third in a series of three blog posts examining the 2013 IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey and its counts of distance education enrollments. The first blog focused on the 2013 survey statistics and the second compared the growth between 2012 and 2013. The survey also asked if institutions enrolled students from other states or other countries. We examine those statistics in this blog post, especially in relation to state authorization regulations.

https://wcetblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/ipedsstateenrollments/