Techno-News Blog

November 10, 2015

The 5 Best Resources for E-learning Through Gamification

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by Greg Nunan, Tech Co

You know this feeling. You came across e-learning and jumped on the bandwagon with a big promise to yourself to finish a full year of coursework. But now, your initial energy is flagging. How do you revive your enthusiasm? The answer: gamification. In recent years, edtech companies have been looking into gamifying the process of learning and making it fun via games, missions, and playing. Gamification is perfect for engaging students and creating a self-learner attitude. Here are some of the good examples of gamification in e-learning.

http://tech.co/5-best-resources-e-learning-gamification-2015-10

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Embracing high-tech for higher learning

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By Carey Sweet, San Francisco Chronicle

As Stanford University students watched Professor John Taylor present his “Principles of Economics 1V” study course during the 2014 summer session, they weren’t just learning the basics of global economics. They were making history. While perhaps wearing their pajamas. Debuted as Stanford’s first completely online credited course for undergraduates, the experience offered students the opportunity to participate from the comfort of their own homes. As students watched at their computers, Taylor expounded on the nuances of the supply and demand model versus the competitive equilibrium model.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Embracing-high-tech-for-higher-learning-6601032.php

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November 9, 2015

Online classes bringing U of I money during budget crisis

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By Amanda Porterfield, Illinois Home Page

The University of Illinois is making cuts as the state continues to operate without a budget. They’re also making additions that will help bring in more money. It’s typical for U of I students to cram as many credits into two semesters as they can. University officials say it was such a success this year they’re offering 17 credits, predicting the online semester will bring in about a million dollars.

http://www.illinoishomepage.net/news/local-news/online-classes-bringing-u-of-i-money-during-budget-crisis

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Overcome 5 Obstacles of Live Online Classes

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By Bradley Fuster, US News

While there are benefits to live online learning, such environments are not ideal for all students. Here are five things to watch out for when considering live online classes. Online students should carefully consider prior to enrollment if they are the type of learner who is set up for success in a live online class​. While the opportunities for lively interaction are plentiful, the obstacles might be overlooked.

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-learning-lessons/2015/10/30/overcome-5-obstacles-of-live-online-classes

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Udacity, Online School From Google X Founder, Crosses Milestone After Switching Direction

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By Mark Bergen, Re/Code

Udacity now concentrates on “nanodegrees,” certificates from its online courses that are transferable to big-name tech companies. Udacity announced it has graduated 1,000 students from the program. Why did Sebastian Thrun give up on self-driving cars and Google Glass, which he once led, for the messy, political world of education? It was “a calling,” he told Re/code in an interview earlier this year. Perhaps, also, the minds behind the economic shift toward artificial intelligence know best the technical skills it will demand, and the job displacement it will bring. “I direct my work not towards what I’m best at, but where there’s impact,” Thrun said. “If you can build a self-driving car, that’s great. But if you can teach people to build a self-driving car, that’s even better.”

http://recode.net/2015/10/30/udacity-online-school-from-google-x-founder-crosses-milestone-after-switching-direction/

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November 8, 2015

Online Courses Better Route than Public Funding To Cut College Costs

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By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

The delivery of online classes is viewed by most people as a way that colleges and universities are keeping expenses down for their students. In a recent survey, 65 percent of respondents identified those more than anything else a school can do to reduce student costs. The idea of backing public funding for education to lower tuition and loan costs was specified by only half as many (34 percent).

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/10/29/survey-online-courses-use-of-tech-better-route-than-public-funding-to-cut-college-costs.aspx

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How Online Classes Can Help Your Career

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by Turner Cowles, Time

Want to get ahead in your career? Join the crowd. Fifty-two percent of Coursera students are taking online courses to improve their career, according to president and co-founder Daphne Koller. Of those students, 87% get benefits from online education, she says. “That benefit comes in many different flavors, some of them just find themselves doing better at their current jobs,” Koller says. At least 34% get what she calls a tangible benefit, like a raise, a higher paying job, or starting a new business. Employers are looking for more than people with more than just a specific skill-set; they’re also looking for people who are motivated self-starters.

http://time.com/money/4086509/online-classes-help-career-coursera/

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Public Health ‘Blended’ Online Degree Draws Praise

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By C. RAMSEY FAHS, CRIMSON

Launched with its first cohort in June, the blended degree program combines on-campus and online courses: two three-week residencies in Boston in June 2015 and June 2016, online classes otherwise, and a final two-week residency in May 2017 to present a capstone project before program completion. The School of Public Health’s program joins several online MPH programs already offered by peer institutions. Johns Hopkins University first began its online MPH in 1999. Currently in its first year of a three-year “test” period approved by Provost Alan M. Garber ’76, the program will undergo regular evaluations.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/10/28/public-health-blended-degree/

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November 7, 2015

Flatiron’s Enbar talks bootcamp accreditation, jobs, for-profit concerns

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By Roger Riddell, Education Dive

The coding bootcamp’s 99% job placement rate is verified by an independent audit. Coding bootcamps and other alternative credentialing programs have boomed in popularity since arriving in the higher ed space, largely on the promise of a more cost-effective and efficient path to a career. With that rapid ascent, particularly as various fields have taken their graduates’ credentials increasingly seriously, has come questions of oversight and accreditation. At the end of the day, who guarantees quality and outcomes? And should these programs be eligible for federal aid? The U.S. Department of Education recently took the first step in answering those questions with the announcement of its Educational Quality Through Innovation Partnerships (EQUIP) program, a pilot that will provide Title IV funding to partnerships between higher ed institutions and nontraditional programs.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/flatirons-enbar-talks-bootcamp-accreditation-jobs-for-profit-concerns/407994/

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Online learning success depends on student effort

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by Beth Rubin, the Miami Student

Online learning is not for everyone — not for all students nor all faculty. It takes the ability to motivate oneself and the expectation of doing work on your own. Some researchers have identified a trait they call “learning presence,” which is a combination of self-efficacy and self-regulation, and found that it is needed for students to succeed in online classes. Students need to begin an online class with the expectation of doing at least the same amount of work as they would in a face-to-face course. The standard is that students should spend two to three hours per week outside class for every hour in a class. So for a three-credit hour course, students should be spending nine to 12 hours per week in total. The same standard is used for online classes; even though there typically is no “class time,” students should expect to spend approximately 10 hours each week on the class in a regular term.

http://miamistudent.net/?p=17013380

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Google Latest Tech Company To Edge Into Online Business Education

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by Seb Murray, Business Because

Google has become the latest big tech company to edge into business schools’ territory with the recent launch of a mini online degree for tech entrepreneurs. The search giant’s push into the nascent educational technology market follows the recent $1.5 billion purchase of online learning company Lynda.com by LinkedIn, which could see management courses hosted on the social network. It also comes as business schools strive to offer a market to entrepreneurs. Google’s partnership with Udacity, one of the top Mooc or massive open online course providers, will bear a four-to-seven-month long digital course on how to design, validate, prototype, monetize, and market a tech start-up. It is priced at up to $1,400.

http://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba-distance-learning/3563/google-edges-into-business-education

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November 6, 2015

No More Pencils, No More Books

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By Will Oremus, Slate

The students in Whelan’s class are all using the same program, called ALEKS. But peek over their shoulders and you’ll see that each student is working on a different sort of problem. A young woman near the corner of the room is plugging her way through a basic linear equation. The young man to her left is trying to wrap his mind around a story problem involving fractions. Nearby, a more advanced student is simplifying equations that involve both variables and fractions. At first glance, each student appears to be at a different point in the course. And that’s true, in one sense. But it’s more accurate to say that the course is literally different for each student. Just a third of the way through the semester, a few of the most advanced students are nearly ready for the final exam. Others lag far behind. They’re all responsible for mastering the same concepts and skills. But the order in which they tackle them, and the pace at which they do so, is up to the artificially intelligent software that’s guiding them through the material and assessing their performance at every turn.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2015/10/adaptive_learning_software_is_replacing_textbooks_and_upending_american.html

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3D Online Course on Engineering

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By India Express News Service

For the first time in India, engineering education content is available in 3D on the internet. The web portal is aptly named LearnEngg.com. It delivers visual-based engineering content for the entire degree course. A total of 214 subjects across different branches of engineering are available now. Further, the product is customised for the syllabus of Anna University to offer direct benefit to the students. According to S Srikanth, MD, Infoplus Technologies, “LearnEngg.com will revolutionise engineering learning in classrooms as well as home. It is a pathbreaking initiative in delivering visual engineering content directly to the students.” The course level contents are named as 3DM Classroom because of its 3D visuals across the subject.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/3D-Online-Course-on-Engineering/2015/10/26/article3096947.ece

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Managing Macs & PCs in Online Courses

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by Anastasia Salters

As universities often think of online course delivery as entirely web-based, the requirements to take an online class are often minimal and list Windows and Mac OS as equivalent choices. This will continue to present challenges for any project-based class that takes advantage of the computer as a tool, and not just a web browser. The web browser has served as a great cross-platform equalizer for the delivery of many types of content, and in-browser production tools (such as the Twine 2.x) are growing in sophistication. However, downloadable software still provides levels of interface and capabilities not yet easily replicated on the web. I believe bringing project-based learning to online courses is an essential part of making them meaningful for students who are engaging in a technologically-mediated educational environment. However, until true cross-platform support for software becomes standard, we must take into account these different platforms and knowledge levels when designing any such content.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/managing-macs-pcs-in-online-courses/61219

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November 5, 2015

The Online College That’s Helping Undocumented Students

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by Claudio Sanchez, NPR

Federal law does not prohibit undocumented students from enrolling in college, but it does something nearly as effective, banning them from receiving government aid. In recent years, though, some undocumented students have stumbled upon a little-known, nonprofit online university that doesn’t charge tuition and doesn’t care about students’ legal status. University of the People certainly got the attention of Miguel Angel Cruz. The 27-year-old entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico a decade ago. He settled near Tampa, Fla., where he now shares a small trailer with his father. Cruz learned English and earned his GED. But his dream of going to college was just that — a dream — because of the high cost. Then, he started searching online. “I was Googling, not for free but for cheaper universities, and I found the University of the People,” Cruz says.

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/10/26/449279730/the-online-college-thats-helping-undocumented-students

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#Infographic 5 Easy Ways to Create an Engaging Online Course

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by eLearning Editorial Team

Learn the best and easy ways to create an engaging online learning course through this wonderful infographic. Make the content relevant to students: The purpose of a course should be to provide students with relevant content that is packed with useful information, it’s easy to understand, and helps students reach their learning goals.

Make the content visually appealing: An e-learning course should include a variety of elements that make it more appealing and keeps the students engaged. Make sure that the content is clean, easy to follow, and includes resources such as pictures, videos, and other multimedia files.

Use gamification: Students enjoy gamified elements such as leaderboards, earning points, and badges because they make the learning experience more enjoyable and drive participation.

Allow students to collaborate….

http://edtechreview.in/e-learning/2167-how-to-create-an-online-course

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University takes 4 Steve Jobs steps to engage students

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by Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

A California school successfully improved enrollment thanks to a human-centered design system. Now, multiple others are following suit. When students have negative interactions with a school’s online systems, it hurts the brand and the bottom line—problems that are all too common in higher education. Luckily, there’s a relatively painless design fix that’s proven to increase enrollment. Steve Jobs built a corporate empire around the concept that tech products should be elegant and easy to use. Unfortunately, higher education didn’t get the memo. That’s what California State University, East Bay (CSUEB) Continuing Education (CE) discovered when it embarked on an ambitious program to overhaul the user interface of its existing systems. The problem wasn’t the systems per se—it was the way students were forced to interact with them.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/human-centered-design-771/

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November 4, 2015

Google Designs Low-Cost Degree On Building Startups, Gives Business Schools Competition

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by Gregory Ferenstein, Forbes

Next on Google todo list: teach everyone how to build a tech startup. The search giant recently announced a partnership with online course provider, Udacity, for a 4-month long curriculum on how to build, monetize, and manage their very own business. All of the courses are free, with project feedback and coaching for a monthly fee of $200. Why would Google get into the business of business school? Google is vying for the same “app economy” as Apple. It needs countless developers to build amazing applications for their smartphone software, Android, web browser, Chrome, and various other products. The more developers build for Google (as opposed to Apple or Facebook), the more attractive their native products are to users.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregoryferenstein/2015/10/25/google-designs-low-cost-degree-on-building-startups-gives-business-schools-competition/

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Harvard Provost Lauds EdX, But Questions Its Financial Sustainability

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By MEG P. BERNHARD and MARIEL A. KLEIN, Harvard Crimson

Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 reiterated the challenges of sustaining edX’s current financial model in a document released Friday and pointed to potential areas where the non-profit virtual education platform could improve, such as developing mobile platforms and accommodating students from different backgrounds. The 33-page “white paper” summarizes edX’s three-year history after its initial founding by Harvard and MIT and emphasizes the company’s three main goals: to improve on-campus learning, expand college-level course offerings to the world, and conduct research on learner behavior. Garber, though, projected that the current models for funding HarvardX—Harvard’s branch of the massive open online course provider—are unsustainable, given the high cost of generating online material and the time investment of professors producing the online courses.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/10/26/garber-edX-financial-sustainability/

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Colleges study successful students

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by Lekan Oguntoyinbo, University Business

For decades, colleges and universities have used big data to track high-risk students and intervene as needed. Now a growing number of institutions are using data tools to track and analyze another group: successful students. It is a radically different approach that many campus administrators believe will help them understand what makes students successful—developing a profile of success that can be used to help keep vulnerable students focused and ensure positive outcomes for all. One example: If the most successful students use the library or computer lab frequently, interventions for at-risk students could involve strongly encouraging them to take advantage of these resources.

http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/colleges-study-successful-students

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November 3, 2015

Start learning programming early

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by Andrew Fraser, St. Cloud Times

Coding is an important skill for students of all ages, but, like other languages or disciplines, an early start can be a boon to a young mind. Coding teaches problem solving and analytical thinking. Programmers are often tasked with thinking about the “why”: Why does something happen here or why does this program have an error there? In addition to honing logic skills, thinking in the “why” can be helpful for students who need help focusing on how their actions (or any actions) affect other people or things. Programming is also a great skill for learners interested in creation. With programming, students can see the results of their code play out in front of them. Games like Minecraft with building or user-generated content are very popular with kids. Coding is a deeper version of that concept, with students able to see and experience the fruits of their mind’s labor.

http://www.sctimes.com/story/money/business/2015/10/24/start-learning-programming-early/74357136/

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