Techno-News Blog

By Michael Meotti, EdSurge

Colleges are clearly caught between a fascination with the potential of data analytics and the constraints of finances and internal expertise. This conflict explains why a recent survey by KPMG found that less than half of colleges (41 percent) currently use data for predictive analytics. The same factors that give rise to new education technology also drive an increasingly complex world continually raising the premium for learning. New analytical tools offer the potential to improve learning and increase the value of education even further. That rising value draws the attention of many new players, including those outside of academia. It should come as no surprise that the arrival of new entrants will spark a debate over who should control the field of learning analytics.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-05-17-why-colleges-should-take-the-lead-in-learning-analytics-development

By Michael and Phil Hill, EdSurge

Just as different students need to learn in different ways, we believe that different faculty (and other educational professionals) will learn best through different forms. To that end, we are pleased to share a prototype of an animated explainer video that we’ve developed to help faculty understand how their content can translate into software and think creatively about the pedagogical opportunities that such a translation could create. In particular, we invite faculty to think about their content as data, drawing on the familiar analogy of locations on a map (content) becoming GPS coordinates (data) and unlocking a wealth of new capabilities in the process.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-05-18-video-putting-the-ed-into-edtech

by Kevin Currie, Evolllution

Distance learning has been a part of education in the United States for over a century—whether it meant the individual coming to the institution or the institution going to the individual. In addition to remote/satellite campuses, there were correspondence courses delivered via US Mail, microwave courses sent dish-to-dish and then bounced off satellites, videotape/CD/DVD courses sent through overnight delivery (courtesy Federal Express), and finally—the blockbuster of them all—online/internet course delivery. Where other distance education vehicles serviced hundreds or thousands of students per year, online now serves nearly 6 million per year according to the most recent IPEDS data.

http://evolllution.com/revenue-streams/distance_online_learning/what-form-does-online-take-in-your-institutions-future/

By Travis Grandy, Inside Higher Ed

Whether you want to supplement instruction for your in-person class or you teach a fully online course (like me), you’re probably looking for effective ways to deliver content and maintain student engagement. Online learning is a different landscape thanks to sites like Khan Academy, the rapid adoption of MOOCs, and digital pedagogies (including blended and flipped classrooms). While online lectures aren’t the only medium for online instruction, they can be a powerful one, and can play a strategic part in how you teach. Short, focused discussions of key concepts or ideas can be a great way to support student learning when they’re working independently or at a distance. For example, if you want to share content quickly in a condensed format, micro-lectures can help cut out excessive verbiage. Beyond creating a good learning experience for students, being conversant about effective online teaching can be a big help when you’re doing a job search.

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker/take-your-teaching-online-micro-lecture

by: Marby Bustalinio-Tabungar, Business Inquirer

Our country is catching up in global trends when it comes to Training and Development (T&D) practices. This was captured in the recent survey conducted by the Philippine Society of Training and Development (PSTD) Foundation, Inc. where companies from different industries said they treat T&D as one of the business priorities by making it a distinct organization thus the focus and specialization and by allocating budget for T&D initiatives. But we need to up the game further. In this era where information is readily available learning could happen almost anytime, anywhere, and as the demand for engaging learning solutions grow, we have to maximize technology in favor of us. This will help us shift our approach to learning and create new vehicles for enabling individual and business success. Let’s look at these trends in technology that you can incorporate in your strategy.

http://business.inquirer.net/210669/five-5-trending-technology-tips-to-empower-training-and-development-practitioners

By Adrian Sannier, EdSurge

Make no mistake—college still works for most who attend; it remains the most reliable gateway to a successful future. But the numbers speak volumes about how higher education must improve to meet the burgeoning demand. When more than 40 percent of first-time, full-time students will not graduate within six years, if at all, it’s clear we must find better ways to help students succeed. With tuitions at four-year colleges more than double what they were 30 years ago, it’s also clear we must find new models to make higher education more affordable, as well as more effective.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-05-27-how-to-set-up-students-to-succeed-in-online-learning

By Roger Riddell, Education Dive

Predictive analytics are now widely used in higher ed, but which administrators and departments oversee their use can vary quite a bit from one institution to the next. University Innovation Alliance Executive Director Bridget Burns tells University Business that the number of traditional administrators, like vice president of undergraduate affairs, taking ownership of these efforts is particularly interesting. Providing further context to University Business’ question of who is overseeing analytics and what that job entails are Excelsior College Assistant Vice President for Analytics Lisa Daniels; University of Kentucky Senior Vice President of Analytics and Technologies Vince Kellen; Sarah Lawrene College Vice President for Administration Thomas Blum and Washburn University Director of Success, Evaluation and Retention Elaine Lewis.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/who-has-ownership-of-campus-analytics/419928/

by Knowledge@Wharton

What is the blockchain? It is a distributed database of computers that maintains records and manages transactions. Rather than having a central authority (such as a bank), blockchain uses the network to approve “blocks,” or transactions, which are then added to the “chain” of computer code. Cryptography is used to keep transactions secure, and the distributed nature of transaction approval makes the system harder to tamper with. Blockchain technology has been hailed by its VC supporters as having revolutionary promise for all involved. “You should be taking this technology as seriously as you should have been taking the development of the Internet in the early 1990’s. It’s analogous to email for money,” said Masters, according to The Financial Times. And blockchain enthusiasts believe that the application possibilities are endless — improving the way we hold and transfer secure goods from money to deeds to music to intellectual property.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/blockchain-technology-will-disrupt-financial-services-firms/