Techno-News Blog

By BENEDICT CAREY, NY Times

Storytelling happened, and now scientists have mapped the experience of listening to podcasts, specifically “The Moth Radio Hour,” using a scanner to track brain activity. In a paper published Wednesday by the journal Nature, a research team from the University of California, Berkeley, laid out a detailed map of the brain as it absorbed and responded to a story. Widely dispersed sensory, emotional and memory networks were humming, across both hemispheres of the brain; no story was “contained” in any one part of the brain, as some textbooks have suggested.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/29/science/this-is-your-brain-on-podcasts.html

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

The Tech Entrepreneur Nanodegree from Udacity represents a Google-designed curriculum that focuses on creation, development, implementation and marketing apps. Academia Apps reports the program is designed for a non-technical user, which could open the door for educators to take the MOOC and develop apps for their courses. Like Udacity’s other nanodegree offerings, the MOOC content is free but completing the program for a certificate costs $199 per month, and a 50% rebate goes to any student who can do so in one year.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/google-udacity-partnership-teaches-mobile-app-development/418366/

By Casey Newton, TheVerge.com

The rise of smartphones has transformed the way students communicate and entertain themselves. But the classrooms they spend so much of their time in remain stubbornly resistant to transformation. Bill Gates is working to change all that. Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft’s co-founder and chairman has invested more than $120 million to date in a developing field known as “personalized learning.” It’s a diffuse set of initiatives, led mostly by private companies, to develop software that creates individual lesson plans for students based on their performance, coaching them through trouble spots until they have mastered the subject at hand. Teachers still play a central role in the classroom, but they do less lecturing and more one-on-one coaching.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/25/can-ai-fix-education-we-asked-bill-gates.html

By Liam Tung, ZD Net

Never mind the world’s shrinking smartphone market, Google CEO Sundar Pichai foresees a time when devices will completely vanish, to be replaced by omnipresent artificial intelligence. Machine learning, task automation and robotics are already widely used in business. These and other AI technologies are about to multiply, and we look at how organizations can best take advantage of them. “Looking to the future, the next big step will be for the very concept of the ‘device’ to fade away,” Pichai said in his first letter to shareholders on Thursday. “Over time, the computer itself, whatever its form factor, will be an intelligent assistant helping you through your day. We will move from mobile-first to an AI-first world,” he continued.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-ceo-pichai-says-devices-will-fade-away-but-launches-new-hardware-division/

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

With the average student bringing as many as seven wired or wireless devices to campus, Dee Childs, CIO and associate provost at the University of Alabama Huntsville, sees a new era to which campuses have had to adapt. EdTech reports Childs sees massive implications for the shift, which is tied to student preferences for socializing, learning, collaborating, and communicating. This shift requires colleges to step up bandwidth management and consider widespread wifi coverage. While 2013 to 2015 marked a new trend in ResNet funding with a move away from student fees, Childs finds one of the biggest changes identified by the 2016 State of ResNet Report to be in funding models because now schools are going back to a hybrid model that relies on central and departmental funding along with student fees.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/higher-ed-cio-says-student-devices-shifting-the-digital-landscape/418364/

By Liam Tung, ZD Net

Microsoft accidentally announces Flow, a new tool for business users to automate messaging and data-sharing between Microsoft and third-party business apps. Microsoft appears to be close to launching Flow, a tool that allows users to automate actions from various web accounts such as Salesforce, Twitter and OneDrive. Microsoft has accidentally revealed what could be a nifty tool for non-programmers who want to automate actions between online accounts. The Flow tool’s announcement appeared briefly on the Microsoft.com site before being taken down. As MSPoweruser noted, Flow is similar to IFTTT, a popular tool that lets users create simple If-Then commands called recipes for various smart devices.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-leaks-flow-its-ifttt-like-tool-for-automating-actions-across-apps/

by Times of India

In a study that compared MOOC student use of the course’s Facebook groups to use of the built-in course message boards and forums, researchers said students were more engaged on the Facebook groups and also admitted to the researchers that they preferred interacting more on the social media site than through the course tools. “In previous studies we found that the real challenge for MOOC developers and instructors is trying to keep students engaged and enrolled in the course,” said Saijing Zheng, a former doctoral student at Pennsylvania State University in US. “In this study, we are finding that social media tools may be one way to keep students engaged in a MOOC,” said Zheng, who is currently a research scientist at Microsoft.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/social/Heres-how-Facebook-helps-students-to-study-online/articleshow/52029192.cms

by Carol Trehearn, Inscriber Magazine

Not only is online learning just as credible as classroom learning, in some cases it can be even better. When you’re learning in a traditional classroom setting, you’re a part of an often large class who the teacher or lecturer has to divide his/her time amongst. Contrary to popular belief, many employers often look favorably upon those who have completed an online-only degree. Why? Well, when you think about it, completing an online degree can often require a lot more self-study, discipline and determination than completing a traditional classroom based course. No matter what you may have heard, online degrees are worth exactly the same as traditional classroom based degrees. Just because you are not attending in-person lectures and seminars doesn’t mean that you’re not fully studying all of the learning materials and completing the set assignments.

http://theinscribermag.com/insc/living-can-an-online-education-actually-land-you-a-job.html

by Akanksha Sharma, ATD

One of the most common concerns about the evaluation of collaborative learning is that even though all participants do not contribute equally, their efforts are grouped with those of their team members in a single score. A solution to this genuine concern is to assess participants at both the individual and group level. Additionally, as recommended in the previous post in this series, group rewards should be based on individual learning. This reward interdependence helps emphasize individual accountability. It also compels participants to support the learning process of their team members. When is the right time to evaluate a collaborative learning program? The assessment of the transformation in knowledge (cognitive domain) or social behavior (affective domain) should be done throughout the collaborative process, while keeping the participants motivated, and not just toward the end.

https://www.td.org/Publications/Blogs/L-and-D-Blog/2016/04/Assessing-Online-Collaborative-Learning

by Tom Lindsay, Forbes

Online education has been and continues to be the subject of hot debate. On the one hand, the U.S. Department of Education’s analysis of 44 separate studies of online education found its learning outcomes to be as good and—in its “hybrid” form, which combines online with traditional learning—at times superior to traditional education. I should confess that, as someone who taught Plato and Aristotle at the university level for two decades, I approached the subject of online education with similar reservations. But my own experience over the past three academic years teaching political philosophy in a doctoral-level, fully-accredited program has overcome most of my concerns.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomlindsay/2016/04/28/game-changer-first-ever-online-social-gaming-platform-for-education/#7bae8c405d50

by Deb McMahon and Laurent M. Jean-Marius, Chief Learning Officer

With the rapid growth of e-learning comes an exponential rise in the number of tools, technologies and flavor-of-the-month market trends that appeal to chief learning officers looking for ways to weave new tools into their development strategies. Consequently, the information technology department is on the receiving end of requests for a variety of new online learning apps, gamification software, social, microlearning or adaptive learning. So, how does a CLO get all of the features they want from new e-learning technologies without completely disrupting — or, worse yet, replacing — the current infrastructure? There are definitive steps a learning leader can take to help their IT peers prepare a learning ecosystem for transformation, while minimizing business risk and cost.

http://www.clomedia.com/2016/04/29/will-your-e-learning-be-ready-for-the-future/

by Daphne Koller, Huffington Post

Coursera’s goals and priorities are very well-aligned with those of our partner institutions – that’s a large part of the reason that we’ve been able to partner with over 140 of the world’s best universities. Every partner brings a slightly different perspective and strategy to their open online programs, and the primary motivation varies across institutions, but there a few major motivations that most have in common. Global impact: On Coursera, an instructor can teach more students in a single course than they might teach in an entire career on campus. For someone who’s passionate about their area of expertise and about sharing their ideas with others, this is an incredible opportunity. Instructors on our platform are often people who have spent their lives achieving mastery in a very specific topic, and Coursera allows them to reach the largest possible audience of learners who are interested in that topic and can benefit from the knowledge that an instructor has to share.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/quora/the-secret-benefits-of-on_b_9795420.html?ir=Education

By Mary Grush, Campus Technology

“There is a difference between being digitally native and digitally literate. My new students find out quickly that their high degree of facility with cell phones and social media is simply not enough.” — April O’Brien The transition from print to digital modes is going on all around us, changing how we work, teach, and learn. Colleges and universities are re-examining their digital literacy strategies, hoping that students who come to college steeped in consumer technology will be transformed into able producers and contributors of digital content by the time they graduate from their technology-supported academic programs. Leaders at Clemson University’s Center of Excellence in Digital Creativity have taken an all-or-nothing approach: Nearly 30,000 students and faculty all have access to all the software tools in the Adobe Creative Cloud, along with an impressive collaboratory filled with high-end hardware, collaboration tools, and expert guidance.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/04/26/scaling-up-digital-literacy.aspx

By Emmett Dulaney, Campus Technology

For better or worse, the flash drive has become a ubiquitous tool for transporting data on campus. Here’s how to keep that data secure. An interesting development has quietly transpired over the past decade: The flash drive has become a staple for instructors everywhere. They carry one into each classroom and use it to hold slides, papers, grades, backups and almost everything else imaginable. Part of the reason for it gaining such momentum can be traced to the universal acceptance of USB technology — it is hard to find a computer anywhere that does not have USB capabilities — and another part is the increase in the capacity of the drives coupled with their decrease in price. Ten years ago, you were doing well to have a drive that could hold 1GB of data, and today you can purchase a drive that holds between 32GB to 256GB for a fraction of the cost you previously paid.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/04/28/how-to-protect-sensitive-student-data-on-flash-drives.aspx

By Frank DiMaria, Campus Technology

The range and variety of sensitive data in higher education make it difficult to secure. In the event of a breach, this six-phase incident response plan will help guide your institution through the crisis. Like corporations, universities and colleges have copious amounts of data to protect. But campuses are not corporations. They’re more like little cities, providing an array of services and functions. “We have an enormous range and variety of confidential information and that makes it very challenging to secure,” said Michael Corn, deputy CIO for Library and Technology Services and CISO at Brandeis University. IT must protect not just the identity of students, faculty and staff but also the intellectual property and sensitive data generated by hours of research. When a cyber-attack does occur, the incident response team needs a plan that guides it through the crisis.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/04/28/6-steps-to-survive-a-cyber-attack.aspx

By Arpan Chakraborty, Udacity Blog

The excitement around our Machine Learning Nanodegree program has been amazing to witness, and the vitality and dynamism in the space right now is pretty incredible. There are so many fascinating storylines in the world of Machine Learning, it’s sometimes hard to even know what to focus on. But unquestionably, the people working in this field—those individuals at the cutting-edge of these new technologies—are a critical part of the Machine Learning narrative. One of the things I find personally really exciting is how many women are shaping the future of Machine Learning. My former colleague Katie Malone is a wonderful example of this, and I’m very grateful she was able to take some time recently to talk Machine Learning with us!

http://blog.udacity.com/2016/04/women-in-machine-learning-katie-malone.html

By Michael Hart, Campus Technology

Many are familiar with the Southern New Hampshire University story — how Paul LeBlanc, in the depths of the recession, transformed a financially troubled but otherwise unremarkable brick-and-mortar New England institution into one of the fastest growing not-for-profit online educators in the world. However, LeBlanc, SNHU’s president, was not willing to stop there. He started an innovation lab called Pathways that eventually morphed into College for America, which provides low-cost, high-quality education for adults and became the first competency-based program to grant associate’s degrees eligible for federal financial aid in 2012. Fast-forward to late 2015, and the ever-restless LeBlanc was ready for the next phase in Southern New Hampshire’s growth and development — which would be what? Good question, and one he has hired Michelle Weise to help answer.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/04/27/incubating-innovation-at-southern-new-hampshire-u.aspx

By David Nagel, THE Journal

Virtual and augmented reality are often touted as the next big thing in education. How big? Not nearly as big as textbooks, but heading toward the billion-dollar mark inside of 10 years. Virtual and augmented reality are often touted as the next big thing in education. How big? Not nearly as big as textbooks, but heading toward the billion-dollar mark inside of 10 years. The numbers for education aren’t as staggering as for some other industries. According to investment bankers Goldman Sachs, VR and AR technologies will generate $700 annually from the education sector by 2025. That pales in comparison with videogames in the consumer market ($11.6 billion), events ($4.1 billion) and video entertainment ($3.2 billion). Other professional sectors are expected to dwarf education in the use of VR and AR as well, including healthcare, the largest user, projected at $5.1 billion, followed by engineering ($4.7 billion), real estate ($2.6 billion), retail ($1.6 billion) and military ($1.4 billion).

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/04/27/virtual-and-augmented-reality-poised-for-explosive-growth.aspx

by Hicks Crawford, Elite Daily

As Millennials enter the workforce in large numbers, they’re increasingly realizing the benefits of education and experience in the careers they’ve chosen. Even if they recently earned a college degree, they may quickly notice they fall short of their older peers who have been in the business world for a while. Fortunately, thanks to the many online learning platforms now available, they have the option of getting extra training that could give them an edge when it comes to promotions and future job opportunities. Here are eight of the top online education platforms that Millennials can use to further their education.

http://elitedaily.com/life/sites-brain-active-after-college/1470500/

By Tyler Collins, Newswire

Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine Poses Five Must-Ask Questions to Ask Before Choosing an Online College. Hispanic higher education students looking to simplify their search for the right online degree program need to look no further than the May issue of Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine, which features a list of five essential questions students should ask before investing in any online program. This issue also spotlights 10 notable online programs for students pursuing an MBA degree. “Online learning is very attractive alternative route for Hispanic students seeking degrees. It can be less expensive than traditional brick and mortar options and afford them the flexibility of fulfilling family obligations and work commitments while pursuing higher education,” says Mary Ann Cooper, editor in chief of Hispanic Outlook Magazine. “That’s why we felt it was important to give Hispanic students the information and tools they need to make the best possible choice among online learning options.”

http://newswire.net/newsroom/pr/00092466-hispanic-outlook-magazine-lists-online-learning-options.html