Techno-News Blog

January 17, 2017

10 predictions and opportunities for virtual and augmented reality in 2017

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by JACOB MULLINS, Venture Beat

2016 was “Year Zero” for the current wave of consumerization of virtual reality and augmented reality, devices are finally shipping, consumers are buying, and applications are earning. Consider what “Year Zero” was for the PC or the mobile waves of technology adoption, and look at where we are today. 2017 is shaping up to be an early and fantastically productive year for the virtual reality & augmented reality industries. Having spent the better part of 2016 diving into the VR & AR industry, here is list of six predictions and four “wishes” for 2017.

http://venturebeat.com/2016/12/31/10-predictions-and-opportunities-for-virtual-and-augmented-reality-in-2017/

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Learning Welsh is getting easier with course that’s ‘blended’ in more ways than one

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by Carolyn Hitt, Wales Online

The “blended” bit refers to the style of course. As well as two hours in the classroom each week at Wales’ National Sports Centre, there is an online element as we log on to the course website – www.caerdydd.ybont.org – to complete both preparation modules before the class and revision activities afterwards. This is suiting me much better than just a weekly stint in the classroom. It feels more immersive. The temptation with a night-class is to forget about it all between gatherings but committing to individual online study ensures the learning continues beyond the lessons. And there’s no chance of digitally winging it either. Like linguistic Big Brother, our tutor is able to track our progress online. This isn’t as sinister as it sounds. It means help is on hand between lessons while getting an email with a “badge” to signal a completed online unit feels like a little reward.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education/learning-welsh-getting-easier-course-12386894

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2017 Guide for Deep Learning Business Applications

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by Mikhail Naumov, Forbes

The promise of artificial intelligence is ubiquitous and often portrayed in Hollywood as a calculating robo-nemesis, disguised as a friend or personal assistant (just see Her, exMachina, and Westworld). Yet, there are few areas better suited for an AI-powered transformation than enterprise & business functions. Thanks to “online learning”, the real time re-training of AI algorithms, the models which get trained first will grow faster and become stronger over time. This will propel early adopters towards producing more consistent results faster, enabling them to rapidly pull ahead of the pack.

forbes.com/sites/mikhailnaumov/2016/12/30/2017-guide-for-deep-learning-business-applications/#6e4e99a77bb8

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January 16, 2017

Online Universities: Five Questions to Ask Before Enrolling

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by Julio Cachila, University Herald Reporter

Online universities provide great learning opportunities that can be taken advantage of by adults who would want to study, but have commitments with family and their jobs. Although online courses are proven to be good career shapers, knowing the best online college to enroll is will ensure that a student’s needs will be met. To help you in choosing the right university, nonprofit online university Western Governors University has released a list of questions that will help narrow down your choices, and lead you to enrolling in the best institution that will meet your needs.

http://www.universityherald.com/articles/57785/20161229/online-universities-five-questions-ask-before-enrolling.htm

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Yes, Free Code Camp Has Low Completion Rates, And That’s Actually A Good Thing

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by Quora, Forbes

MOOCs get a lot of slack for having low completion rates. You don’t have to go all-in and commit to finishing a course before putting money down. It’s good to give people the opportunity to sample learning experiences. When it comes to coding in particular, many students come to coding bootcamps like Flatiron School from very different career paths, doing that initial exploration of free coding resources is hugely important in discovering if you feel passionate about code and want to invest more money/time/energy to learn it. In fact, before Flatiron School released our own free courses (like Intro to JavaScript and Bootcamp Prep), we used to send students to sites like Free Code Camp to make sure they started coding before applying. The question really should be: of students who are invested, how many complete them? And are they successful in their goals beyond the end of these programs?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/12/29/yes-free-code-camp-has-low-completion-rates-and-thats-actually-a-good-thing/#318f8aac1b1e

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Monetization Over Massiveness: Breaking Down MOOCs by the Numbers in 2016

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by Dhawal Shah, EdSurge

In 2016, 2,600 new courses were announced (up from 1,800 last year), taking the total number of MOOCs to 6,850 from over 700 universities. And it seems to be working. The “Big Three” MOOC providers—Coursera, Udacity, edX— combined have potentially made around $100 million in 2016. MOOCs are gradually being transformed from virtual classrooms to a Netflix-like experience. Many courses are no longer offered just once or twice a year, but rather are now available as a self-paced, sign up whenever you want experience Coursera courses are now offered regularly throughout the year, with new sessions starting automatically on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. This switch has led to a significant increase in the number of courses students can register for and start almost immediately. Previously, students were all piled into one giant session for courses that were only offered infrequently.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-12-27-monetization-over-massiveness-breaking-down-moocs-by-the-numbers-in-2016

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January 15, 2017

More colleges are using free educational resources

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By Ellie Ashford, Community College Daily

It’s hard to gauge the extent to which OER are used, as data is not tracked nationally, says Una Daly, director of the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources​. OpenStax, a nonprofit based at Rice University, estimates the OER materials it provides led to savings of $42 million in textbook costs in 2015-16. As the nation’s largest OER provider, OpenStax has created open textbooks for about 25 popular general education courses, allowing students and colleges to order relatively inexpensive printed copies for about $25 to $60 from Amazon or college bookstores. Because there is so much good OER material available, Daly says, faculty are now more likely to adapt OER to their needs – by customizing them or eliminating unnecessary chapters – than to create their own OER from scratch.

http://www.ccdaily.com/Pages/Academic-Programs/More-colleges-adopt-OER-degrees.aspx

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8 Things You Should Realise If You Think It’s Too Late To Start Afresh

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by Vinay Devnath, Story Pick

Your career is never done for, even if you are well past what you think is your “due date”. This wouldn’t have been true a few decades ago. The only way you could get a job was if you went into a specific field and studied and worked hard to gain experience. Any other course other than the one you chose was not really accessible. Today, it is common to see people foray into education they find interesting even when they are in middle age. The truth is, that starting afresh is never too late. Yes, there is always insecurity gnawing in the form of a doubt, but there are many reasons that will put your mind to rest and with resources like edX, the leading nonprofit online learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT, there are plenty of courses and programs from top universities and institutions that you can access for free.

http://www.storypick.com/start-afresh/

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How to Choose the Perfect Laptop for Online Study

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by Carolina, Hack Read

If you’re considering enrolling in an online degree program, the one piece of technology that you will be relying on for the next four or more years is your laptop, so it’s no surprise that many online students will invest in a new one. We’ve put together some top tips to help you pick the right laptop for online study. When it comes to buying a new laptop, the best thing is that the market is now so huge, so you can find excellent laptops in almost all of the price brackets. However, when putting aside a budget for your new laptop, you will need to think in realistic terms about the amount that you should spend. Often, many online students, particularly those taking advanced courses which require a lot of work, will need to invest in a more high-end laptop in order to ensure that it will last them for the duration of their course. When choosing a laptop, you need to be thinking in terms of long-term value for money, rather than the cheapest price that you can pay at the time.

https://www.hackread.com/how-to-choose-perfect-laptop-online-study/

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5 ways you can instantly become more tech savvy

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By Young Entrepreneur Council29

If you building an tech company, it is important to acquire at some tech skills to understand the various processes of your business. With so many amazing resources available online and the growing reliance on technology, there has never been a better time to learn something new. Perhaps you want to widen your reach and turn your brick and mortar business into an e-commerce enterprise; maybe you need to develop new skills for your job or career goals; or, maybe you just want to use technology to make life more convenient and entertaining. Whatever the reason is, skills like programming, gaming, designing and other online applications and processes can be developed through your own self-guided education. As COO of a growing business, I wanted to become more tech savvy in order to help with our web design, social media pages and content creation. I set out to do just that, learning that anyone can develop skills to help them professionally and personally.

https://e27.co/5-ways-you-can-instantly-become-more-tech-savvy-20161229/

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January 14, 2017

Unbundling Higher-Ed Tech: “The Place We Will Go” in 2017

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By Matthew Rascoff, EdSurge

Tis the season of giving, eating and reflecting, a time to look back on 2016 and to make bold predictions about what next year may hold. In our fourth year-end personal statement roundup, we’ve again asked thought leaders to share their outlooks on education, but with a twist. They have to frame their thoughts as a response to some of the finest college application essay prompts, inspired by the very same ones that high school seniors are feverishly working on now! Here’s what Matthew Rascoff, vice president of the Office of Technology-Based Learning and Innovation at University of North Carolina, had to say. The highs and lows are inevitable. It helps just to know, for individuals or for a sector, that they are natural. We are definitely ready for the Boom Bands to start playing in 2017.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-12-28-unbundling-higher-ed-tech-the-place-we-will-go-in-2017

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2017 New Year’s Resolutions For Online Class Students

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by University Herald

It is that time of the year once again where many individuals, professionals, families and even students are wondering how they are going to spend the next year. And it usually starts with making a list of 2017 New Year’s Resolutions. Here is a list of 2017 New Year’s Resolutions that those who are thinking of taking online classes can consider.

http://www.universityherald.com/articles/57548/20161228/2017-new-year-resolutions-online-class-students.htm

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Adults go online for courses to help job prospects

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by Herald Scotland

Around one in six adults have done, or are intending to take, an online course as the programmes become more popular with the public and employers. Many are signing up for “moocs” – massive open online courses – in a bid to further their careers, while for others it is a way of pursuing a personal interest, according to research. The study, by Futurelearn, the Open University and Parthenon-EY, also reveals that employers are increasingly using the courses to differentiate between job applicants. And it shows that graduates would like to have studied for at least part of their degree through online modules.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14991310.Adults_go_online_for_courses_to_help_job_prospects/

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January 13, 2017

The Digitization of Higher Education: Charting the Course

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by Susan Grajek, EDUCAUSE Review

EDUCAUSE has defined an initial eight digital capabilities for higher education and developed corresponding maturity and technology deployment assessments. This article describes those capabilities and provides advice for attaining them. Technology’s value to organizations and individuals increasingly extends beyond productivity to the enhancement of learning, collaborating, and decision making. Organizations thus find it increasingly important to develop and apply digital capabilities in order to survive, let alone thrive. It no longer suffices to think of technology as merely an arms race, in which the winners keep getting faster and cheaper. The fast and cheap of automation and storage form the base of a pyramid rapidly gaining additional layers, with social and mobile new layers that have emerged in just the past decade. Cloud and analytics are newer still, and the Internet of Things layer is still being built.

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/12/the-digitization-of-higher-education-charting-the-course

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Can Gamification Save Struggling Students?

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BY MATTHEW LYNCH, Tech Edvocate

If you aren’t familiar with the idea of gamification, be prepared to thank the Millennials for its inclusion in almost everything. Gamification involves bringing in traits traditionally associated with video games and using them to engage people in other activities. The principle has been used in everything from employee engagement efforts to healthcare objectives about customer wellness. And the educational system is not excluded from attempts to gamify previously uninspiring activities. But why is gamification popping up everywhere? It’s actually pretty simple; because it often works. In fact, it might be the ideal way to help struggling students get back on track.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/can-gamification-help-struggling-students/

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If US won’t pay its teachers, China’s tiger moms will

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by China Daily

Cindy Mi is 33 and founder of a startup that aims to give Chinese kids the kind of education American children receive in top US schools. Called VIPKid, the company matches Chinese students aged five to 12 with predominantly North American instructors to study English, math, science and other subjects. Classes take place online, typically for two or three 25-minute sessions each week. Mi is capitalizing on an alluring arbitrage opportunity. In China, there are hundreds of millions of kids whose parents are willing to pay up if they can get high-quality education. In the US and Canada, teachers are often underpaid-and many have quit the profession because they couldn’t make a decent living. Growth has been explosive. The three-year-old company started this year with 200 teachers and has grown to 5,000, now working with 50,000 children. Next year, Mi anticipates she’ll expand to 25,000 teachers and 200,000 children.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2016-12/28/content_27795511.htm

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January 12, 2017

A top futurist predicts the largest internet company of 2030 will be an online school

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by Chris Weller, Business Insider

Thirty years ago, it was a big deal when schools got their first computers. Today, it’s a big deal when students get their own laptops. According to futurist Thomas Frey, in 14 years it’ll be a big deal when students learn from robot teachers over the internet. It’s not just because the technology will be that sophisticated, Frey says, but because the company responsible for it will be the largest of its kind. “I’ve been predicting that by 2030 the largest company on the internet is going to be an education-based company that we haven’t heard of yet,” Frey, the senior futurist at the DaVinci Institute think tank, tells Business Insider. Frey’s prediction comes amid a boom in artificial intelligence research. Google is developing DeepMind, a complex piece of machine-learning software. IBM is developing Watson-powered robots. Amazon is developing drone delivery.

http://www.thisisinsider.com/futurist-predicts-online-school-largest-online-company-2016-12

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Mapping Higher Ed’s Future: Introducing the Innovation Initiative

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by Dave King, Oregon State; Evolllution

Oregon State University is in the first phase of a year-long initiative to identify innovative ideas that will have a positive impact on learner success and future revenue generation for the institution. In the world of innovation, there are a couple of fundamental ways to look at the process of generating new ideas. Some ideas focus on sustaining innovation, the ideas that are needed to maintain the growth and success of the core enterprise. However, there is an additional form of innovation that tends to be outside the realm of the day-to-day efforts of what can be called the “mothership.” In some cases, these new innovations may be disruptive innovation similar to the ideas described by Harvard’s Clayton Christensen.

https://evolllution.com/managing-institution/higher_ed_business/mapping-higher-eds-future-introducing-the-innovation-initiative/

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The world couldn’t afford engineering degrees without philosophy majors

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by Allison Schrager, Quartz

Though it costs more to educate an engineer, it pays off, according to the paper—at least, for the student who gets the degree. The chart below shows the earnings of past graduates, up to age 45, (controlling for demographic and institutional factors) minus the cost of each degree. The value of each degree is scaled to show how much it pays off relative to an education major (which is set to zero). For example, a business major can expect to earn $78,000 more (after costs) than an education major by the time they reach age 45. At most universities, people pay the same tuition no matter what they study—and what students pay in tuition is less than what the university spend to educate them, no matter what they study. But universities spend different amounts on different degrees, and english and philosophy majors demand fewer resources—which means they essentially subsidize engineers. (interesting charts included at URL)

https://qz.com/884450/which-college-majors-make-the-most-money/

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Could online tutors and artificial intelligence be the future of teaching?

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by Hannah Devlin, the Guardian

As the technology evolves, the interventions could become more sophisticated and the software might play a more active role in teaching, raising questions about the extent to which intelligent software could replace human teachers. Rose Luckin, a professor of learner centred design at University College London, who is collaborating with Third Space Learning on the project, said: “What we are very interested in is the right blend of human and artificial intelligence in the classroom – identifying that sweet spot.” According to Luckin, AI provides a unique opportunity to assess which teaching strategies are working and to individualise teaching.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/26/could-online-tutors-and-artificial-intelligence-be-the-future-of-teaching

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January 11, 2017

More college students taking courses online

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BY MARK PORCARO AND RICK MUMA, Wichita Eagle

More and more traditional-age students are taking online courses and enrolling in 100 percent online programs. The latest figures reported by U.S. colleges and universities show that 70 percent of students are doing so at public institutions. Many of today’s students may have already taken online courses in high school, or even pursued K-12 education completely online, and expect to continue to do so in college. Students wanting to attend college may not be able to afford to stop everything, move to campus and attend courses at times when schools want to offer them. They expect, like with many other things, that learning should be personalized and available on demand. Because of this, institutions that cater to this trend are seeing their enrollments grow.

http://www.kansas.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article122750519.html

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