Techno-News Blog

By SARAH GRIFFITHS, Daily Mail

You might imagine the brain to be divided into specific areas responsible for processing different senses. But researchers have now shown how we can ‘supercharge’ our minds and break down its barriers so it becomes more flexible. Scientists taught sighted people to read Braille and found the complex tactile task surprisingly activated the visual cortex, as well as the tactile one. ‘Our findings tear up that view, showing we can establish new connections if we undertake a complex enough task and are given long enough to learn it.’ The study, published in the journal eLife, could have allow us to learn how to ‘bend’ different sections of the brain to our will by learning other demanding skills, such as playing a musical instrument or learning to drive.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3491899/Learning-complex-tasks-SUPERCHARGES-brain-Difficult-skills-make-minds-flexible-powerful-linking-regions.html

by SADHANA CHATHURVEDULA, LiveMint

Thanks to the enormous number of online courses which teach programming today, anyone can gain the right computer skills to execute the next big idea. Programming needn’t always be reams of boring text. You can get started with visual programming languages that abstract the text, and let you explore the fundamentals using visual elements like blocks. A popular example is Scratch , developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to help kids to get started with computer programming.

http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/NK0dRMtVGPsiW5kCYeEfxK/Stop-worrying-and-start-coding-sites-to-get-started.html

by eSchool News

The University of Washington’s Information School‘s 2015-16 undergraduate cohort in informatics is not only the school’s largest yet with 210 students, it also includes more women students than ever before — about 40 percent. Students in informatics learn to design information systems, user interfaces, mobile technologies and social media. The curriculum draws upon the computer and information sciences, sociology, psychology and information management. Increasing participation of women in informatics has been an iSchool goal for several years, “and many have worked hard to help us get there,” said Scott Barker, UW lecturer and program chair, by hiring female faculty and actively recruiting women applicants.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/stem/uw-gender-gap-366/

by Monica Burns, Edutopia

There are tons of quick and easy ways to integrate technology into your instruction — with powerful results. I’ve been a fan of Quick Response (QR) codes in education for years and even wrote a book all about how they can be used to promote deeper learning in your classroom. When speaking to teachers about these black-and-white squares, it’s so much fun to see the “aha” moments as we explore different ways to use scannable technology in the classroom. This list of five things that you may not know about QR codes contains some simple ideas that definitely pack a punch.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/qr-codes-can-do-that-monica-burns

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

In order to close the growing achievement gap, higher education institutions need to focus on innovation, scale and diffusion, according to Bridget Burns, executive director for the University Innovation Alliance, a coalition of 11 public research universities committed to improving graduation rates and sharing best practices. And most important, institutions need to communicate about what works and what doesn’t. “Otherwise we are sentencing other universities to repeat our mistakes and our failures — and students deserve better,” she exhorted.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/14/7-things-higher-education-innovators-want-you-to-know.aspx

by Matthew Rascoff and Eric Johnson, Evolllution

Within the University of North Carolina system, where 47 percent of our students took at least one online course last year, we’re starting to think more carefully about how to keep high-quality online coursework within reach of working adults. That means being creative and thoughtful in shaping the student experience. Consider library services. It’s easy to assume that all of our students can easily access digital textbooks, especially for online courses. But adult learners may live in a house with a shared computer, or in a rural area where internet access is spotty, or work a job where they can’t carry around a laptop

http://evolllution.com/attracting-students/retention/rethinking-student-services-to-support-adult-learners/

By Rhonda Tracy, Community College Daily

Colleges, universities or systems should not back away from competency-based education if they can’t immediately implement some of the hallmarks of CBE: freedom from the credit hour, authentic assessments, self-paced progression, etc. Rather, a plan should be developed that allows for transitioning to the more impactful components of CBE. As states and colleges evolve in their adoption and implementation of CBE, some are finding it challenging to fully implement a strictly non-credit hour, direct assessment model. As such, a plan that provides a scaffold for both transitioning to competency-based practices and scaling the model beyond a small group should be considered. In short, CBE exists along a continuum with evolving adoption that ranges to classroom-based, competency-based instructional practices to a fully developed program-level CBE model that impacts instruction, delivery, services and policy.

http://www.ccdaily.com/Pages/Workforce-Development/Is-there-a-continuum-for-competency-based-education.aspx

By: Paula M. Bigatel, Faculty Focus

During the past year and a half, our faculty development unit has been gathering data from students about how engaged they felt in their online courses. We wanted to use this data to develop a variety of strategies for faculty to use to better engage their students. Research provides evidence for the connection between higher student engagement and persistence and retention in online programs (Boston, et al., 2010; Wyatt, 2011). Encouraging student engagement is especially important in the online environment where attrition rates are higher than in the face-to-face setting (Allen & Seaman, 2015; Boston & Ice, 2011). We gained valuable insights from students when we asked: “Define what it means to you to be engaged in a course.” Below are student quotes for each theme that emerged and some strategies for encouraging engagement.

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/student-engagement-how-to-help-students-succeed-in-the-online-environment/

By The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board

The announcement that the University of Southern California will charge a staggering $51,442 for tuition in 2016-17 — bringing it to a rough tie with Vassar as America’s most expensive university — was presented by USC administrators as the inevitable result of their ambitious push to make USC the West Coast equivalent of an Ivy League school. As college costs — and student loan debt — keep ballooning, we wonder if Quick and other tuition-hiking university leaders realize that they are making it more likely that higher education faces the same sort of technology-driven cataclysm that destroyed travel agencies, hollowed out newspapers and buffeted so many industries. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) — free or inexpensive classes that use YouTube lectures, podcasts, interactive learning and many other tools of the Internet age — are increasingly refined, accessible and attractive.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/mar/12/soaring-college-tuition-mooc/

by eSchool News

K-12 educators and admins to earn university professional development units with badge and micro-badge courses.  Under a new partnership, PD Learning Network (PDLN) and University of the Pacific’s Center for Professional and Continuing Education (CPCE) will let K-12 educators earn university professional development units for skills they develop post-degree. “We feel privileged to enter into this partnership to offer educators more opportunities for recognition of their professional growth,” said Jennifer Gibson, CEO and co-founder of PDLN. “University of the Pacific’s CPCE is a natural match for educator micro-credentialing because of its emphasis on learners setting their own educational goals and their interest in credentialing educators in this rapidly changing environment.”

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/03/11/badging-partnership-to-offer-teachers-college-credit-for-pd/

By Michael Hart, Campus Technology

Finding your own “unicorn” and other ways to create healthier relationships between academia and the IT department. The relationship between academia and technology is notoriously complicated. Faculty often view IT staffers as gadget-mongers eager to roll out new tech regardless of its value to teaching and learning, while technology specialists are certain they could make life easier for those on the other side — if they’d only listen! “We’re talking a similar language,” said Rovy Branon, vice provost for educational outreach at the University of Washington, “but sometimes we’re talking past each other.”

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/10/6-ways-to-bridge-the-gap-between-faculty-and-it.aspx

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

The University of Maryland University College is the largest institution in the country to go “commando” on textbooks. As of this academic year undergraduates don’t have to lug them around or spend a dime on them — and the benefits don’t end there. Here’s how UMUC achieved an amazing goal. If you’re waiting for the day when open educational resources (OER) have truly arrived on campus in a big way, you’re late to class. As of fall 2015, the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) no longer expects any undergraduate to spend money on textbooks. By next fall, the same will be true for its graduate students. The conservative estimate of savings for the university’s 84,000 students is somewhere north of $10 million per year. And more importantly, the university has reason to believe that student learning is improving under the new strategy.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/09/textbook-free.aspx

By Toni Fuhrman, Campus Technology

Recent Educause research indicates that faculty are not adopting mobile as fast as students are demanding it. Higher ed IT executives and faculty are still struggling with the ongoing job of catching up and keeping up with student expectations regarding mobile devices and mobile infrastructure. “Faculty is not adopting mobile as fast as students are demanding it,” commented diFilipo in a recent interview. “We’re dealing with 17- and 18-year-olds that live, breath and literally sleep with their mobile devices. This is a whole ecosystem. The mobile device is their power base. It is, in effect, their ‘car’ — a source of freedom, mobility, and identity in an age when kids are not as free to roam about as they once were.”

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/08/faculty-alert-you-cant-put-the-mobile-genie-back-in-the-bottle.aspx

By Joshua Bolkan, Campus Technology

Detachable tablets will nearly quadruple, as a share of the tablet market, from 8 percent to 30 percent in 2020, according to a new forecast from International Data Corp. (IDC). Overall, tablet shipments will drop 5.9 percent from 2015 to 2016, falling to 195 million sales this year, according to the company, but IDC expects the segment to rebound to positive, single-digit growth, largely on the strength of detachable devices, which it predicts will grow from 16.6 million shipments in 2015 to 63.8 million in 2020. “Beyond the growing demand for detachable devices, we’re also witnessing an increase in competition within this segment that will help drive design, innovation, and a decline in average prices,” said Jean Philippe Bouchard, research director for tablets at IDC, in a prepared statement.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/10/report-detachable-devices-to-drive-tablet-growth-through-2020.aspx

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

In the past few years, the thinking around 3D printing has shifted, as the technology has become more or less intertwined with the idea of makerspaces and the maker movement. The “stuff” that students create in makerspaces, via 3D printing or other technologies, is now less important than the overall “maker” experience — interdisciplinary collaboration, hands-on problem-solving, digital literacy, entrepreneurship and more. As the 2016 NMC Horizon Report noted, “Regardless of what they encompass, the general purpose of makerspaces is to provide a place for users to engage in self-directed activities that spark their curiosity, help them identify passions, and build a habit of lifelong learning. By participating in hands-on design and construction in makerspaces, students engage in creative problem-solving and higher-order thinking.”

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/10/its-not-about-making-stuff.aspx

by Ingrid Lunden, Tech Crunch

Back in 2013, Amazon acquired (and continued to operate) online math instruction company TenMarks to gain a foothold in the online education space. Now it looks like Amazon is taking those learnings to the next level. The e-commerce giant plans to launch a free platform for schools and other educators to upload, manage and share educational materials. Signs indicate that the platform will be based around open educational resources (OER) and will come with a ratings system and interface that will resemble the commercial Amazon.com many of us already know and use. Earlier this month, Amazon Education quietly opened an “Amazon Education Wait List,” where educators could sign up to get an alert for when a new, free platform opens for business.

http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/11/amazon-eyes-up-education-plans-a-free-platform-for-learning-materials/

By Samiha Uddin, Daily Illini

Technology is constantly moving forward — from hoverboards to virtual reality. Ten years from now, will campus look the same? Brian Quick, University communication professor since 2007, said students’ communication techniques will continue to change. “Students have generally remained the same since 2007,” Quick said. “We attract strong students here at the University. However, in regards to technology, how students communicate continues to evolve as technology rapidly changes.” Along with the technological changes, Quick sees a bigger emphasis on online education. “The other large change I would say is the immense amount of online education. For the past several years I have taught an online health campaign class,” Quick said. “As instructors, I remember back in the day when we entered grades in paper grade books. Today, we enjoy sites such as Compass, Blackboard and Moodle to assist with course management.” Quick has a specific image that he envisions for the future of the University — one that includes experiencing campus culture no matter the format.

http://www.dailyillini.com/article/2016/03/what-will-campus-be-like-in-2026

By Jordan Friedman, US News

Some online programs use projects to give students constant feedback and help them master specific skills.​ ​For online students looking to develop a specific set of skills, or competencies, project-based learning might be the way to go. Some online programs and classes offered through colleges and universities, as well as companies like Udacity, allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of a subject through the creation of ​large products​ instead of taking exams in some cases. Programs and courses vary on how and to what extent they incorporate project-based learning and assessment into curriculums​, experts say. But often​, this form of education involves constant feedback from an instructor and may allow for multiple attempts if a student initially falls short of meeting certain criteria.

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2016-03-11/explore-project-based-learning-in-online-education

BY EMELY KRANSVIK, the Concordian

Concordia has put in extra effort this year to boost interest in summer school by offering brand-new classes, flexible online options and a large selection of courses. This summer, Concordia will offer over 100 classes, the largest number of summer classes the college has ever offered. Dr. Cynthia Carver, chair of Division of Professional Programs at Concordia, said that the number of online classes, accelerated classes and summer-only classes, have doubled from last year. She said she has noticed that students actively discuss summer school, and is excited to see the enrollment numbers after registration is complete. Also, according to Carver, a lot of students want to take online classes because they understand that employers want to see students who have done some learning in an online environment, because much of the training and development in companies happens online.

http://theconcordian.org/2016/03/10/concordia-adds-new-summer-school-courses-online-options

by UConn Daily Campus

Every year the University of Connecticut adds 35 to 40 new online courses offered over the summer, according to associate director of UConn eCampus Desmond McCaffrey. The online courses are workshopped for five to six months by eCampus in order to transform the curriculum to become more technology-friendly rather than simply posting the syllabus online. Instructional designers work with the faculty to facilitate this process to streamline the curriculum for the shorter summer terms. While there is certainly something to say about the pitfalls of online classes compared to traditional face time with a professor, there are appreciable benefits to online classes, particularly during intersessions.

http://dailycampus.com/stories/2016/3/9/editorial

the Daily Bruin

Improving the quality of these run-down classrooms is valuable, but expanding lecture halls to fit more seats is a step in the wrong direction. Instead, the university should focus on expediting the expansion of online and hybrid courses to accommodate the growing class size. Having so many students in one room is not conducive to learning. Large lecture halls hinder active discussions and prevent students from fully understanding the lecture content due to poor visual and auditory conditions. Though online classes have faced some controversy, when properly implemented they actually have numerous advantages that help mediate the issues caused by overcrowded classrooms. For instance, online classes allow students to replay lectures and see what the professor is writing on the board. Online classes also provide a host of other benefits, such as added flexibility. Online classes help students avoid class conflicts, so they can take more of the classes they desire or participate in extracurricular activities.

http://dailybruin.com/2016/03/10/editorial-ucla-should-add-online-classes-to-accommodate-higher-enrollment/