Techno-News Blog

by eCampus News

Cornell University’s College of Engineering and ANSYS are training future engineers worldwide to become proficient in engineering simulation solutions. Through the SimCafe wiki, which was developed in part with National Science Foundation support, students at Cornell and elsewhere are preparing themselves for success by learning to use–for free–the same tools utilized by thousands of engineers in virtually every industry. ANSYS donated the simulation software for the development of the site. SimCafe has helped integrate simulation into 12 mechanical and aerospace engineering courses at Cornell.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/cornell-ansys-engineering-756/

by Shelly Palmer Cyber Security

Data Doomsday Preppers should assume that every computer exposed to the public Internet is vulnerable to attack, even if it predominantly attaches to the outside world through a VPN (virtual private network). Remember, Joseph Heller’s famous phrase: “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.” Importantly, Data Doomsday Prepping is not a replacement for vigilant cyber security measures. You should encrypt your data, and use every practical security tool to help keep the amateur bad guys at bay. Data Doomsday Preppers fear weapons-grade super cyber attacks and professional bad guys. After all, you can’t have a serious breakdown of social services and live in a post-apocalyptic world unless something really bad happens. Which begs for the question, “Is Data Doomsday even possible?” Not only do I think it’s possible… I think it’s likely.

http://www.shellypalmer.com/spb/2015/2/20/data-doomsday-preppers

by Seb Murray, Business Because

As they scramble to understand emerging digital threats, business schools are adopting learning technology at a rapid pace. Innovation in education is often a slow and painstaking process but the speed with which business schools are adopting learning technology has become rapid. As they scramble to understand emerging digital threats, big-brand schools Wharton, INSEAD, MIT Sloan and Harvard Business School are all investing in online education. International companies, including Accenture and Google, have also joined the fray. To advocates of learning technology, the future of education is in digital delivery. “Given the increasing importance of online for management education, being a leader is important,” says Peter Zemsky, dean of innovation and strategic initiatives at INSEAD, “especially as business schools are teaching how to adapt to changing technologies and business models.”

http://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba-distance-learning/3117/bschools-bet-on-tech-for-digital-edge

by Veronica Stidvent, My San Antonio

According to estimates by the Texas comptroller, between 2000 and 2010, the younger-than-18 population in Texas grew by 17 percent — a full 6.5 percent faster than the U.S. average. Those 979,000 young Texans could become the most skilled workforce in the nation if even half of them attain some level of education beyond a high school degree. Then there are the more than 3 million adult Texans who have yet to earn a college degree. The right education and core competencies in high-demand fields must be met. Texas has quantity, but we need to ensure that the growing population in Texas also includes high quality college graduates. Traditional two- and four-year college degrees are an important part of the solution for developing a quality workforce in these fast growth fields. But we need state leaders to embrace policies and funding that ensure Texans have access to a variety of affordable and flexible options for education and training.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Innovative-learning-options-can-help-build-6092633.php

by eSchool News

As schools are increasingly fitted with new technology, the classroom atmosphere is changing. Tablets are replacing textbooks, interactive whiteboards are ousting chalkboards and software discs are going the way of the dinosaur. Amidst all of the change, however, there’s one constant: the pursuit of academic excellence and mutual respect. During the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) Convention, experts from the nonprofit foundation Great Expectations shared best practices for fostering productive classrooms in the presence of increased technology integration. Great Expectations is a school transformation model that emphasizes a climate of mutual respect and academic excellence.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/02/19/character-skills-847/

by eCampusNews

Since SUNY New Paltz opened its MakerBot Innovation Center in February 2014, the university has used it to help establish the Hudson Valley Advanced Manufacturing Center (HVAMC) as a premiere hub for advanced manufacturing technology in the Hudson Valley, garnering industry interest and securing funding for further expansion. According to Donald Christian, president of SUNY New Paltz, the MakerBot Innovation Center helped jumpstart SUNY New Paltz’s 3D printing initiative, which has enjoyed “tremendous interest” from students, faculty and the surrounding business community. With the MakerBot Innovation Center, the university forged public-private partnerships with industry to create a “vibrant innovation hub that serves both students and the local business community in unprecedented ways.”

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/sunys-3d-makerbot-765/

by Rebecca Holland, Marshall News

Wiley College, in 2013, created its Center for Excellence in Distance Learning, with four goals in mind. The college wanted its center to be a forum for dialogue on virtual teaching and learning at historically black colleges and universities; to be a network of distance learning decision-makers, practitioners and researchers; to form a partnership between historically black colleges and universities and others with like purposes; and to be a place for research, collaboration, dissemination and innovation in distance learning, faculty development, continuing education and global initiatives.

http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/news/wiley-college-embraces-distance-learning/article_bfa5d617-9448-5db2-8e2b-f7e0cc3a3f81.html

by Webster University

How do you have a dance class online? Webster University students from across the globe are actively addressing that question in the Department of Dance’s flagship online course: Introduction to Global Dance. Adjunct faculty member Betsy Brandt, an interdisciplinary scholar and dancer, choreographer, teacher, dramaturge, and writer, created the eight-week course as the first online and Global Citizenship Program course available from the Department of Dance in Webster’s Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts. “Betsy Brandt’s tremendous work on this course has been an exciting addition to the Department of Dance course offerings,” said James Robey, Department of Dance chair.

http://blogs.webster.edu/webstertoday/2015/02/20/global-dance-online-course-gcp/

by Jonathan Blake Huer, Educause Review

If you are in higher education using technology, you may often feel like your hotly anticipated, recently purchased technology solution is obsolete by the time the delivery person drops it off. If we are truly on “the back half of the chessboard,”1 the rapid pace of technological change will only continue to increase. Depending on your view, this either causes constant disruption or presents constant opportunity. Are you being disrupted? Or are you the disruptor? How should the academy—bound by deep tradition and extensive regulations—manage this increasing onslaught of change?

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/managing-constant-change