Techno-News Blog

By Samantha Pell, Cronkite News

Whether it is football, basketball, soccer or gymnastics, student-athletes have the added pressure to perform not only on the field but in the classroom. Practices, workouts, film sessions and travel days take up chunks of their weeks and demand creativity to build schedules with full-time academic loads. Enter online classes. At Arizona State, athletes are able to learn on an equal playing field with their in-class peers. Athletic department time commitments can’t be blamed for missing lectures or quizzes. Taking multiple online classes is common. This semester, ASU men’s basketball player Shannon Evans has all but one class online. During her senior year, former ASU women’s soccer player Lucero Lara had all online classes. The exception is freshmen athletes, who are expected to take all classes in person.

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2017/05/15/online-classes-asu-athletes/

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News

Students reveal their favorite technology learning preferences and talk about where digital learning can take them. Although technology changes at a rapid pace, one thing is constant: today’s students have a deep desire to learn using digital tools and resources that engage them and help them develop real-world skills. From mobile devices to gaming and online learning, students are ready to take charge of their learning, often outpacing their schools in their use of these digital tools for learning. More than one-third of middle school students say they have already taken an online class in math, science and English. But they want more options, and said they would take more courses, and take a variety of subjects, if possible.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/05/15/students-digital-schools/

by MERIS STANSBURY, eCampus News

A major generational clash is underway, says a foremost expert, and it’s affecting all industries, including education. The clash is coming from so-called Gen Z, the first generation to be considered fully “phigital”—unwilling or unable to draw a distinction between the physical world and its digital equivalent. So what does that mean for educators? Well, buckle up and hold on. In an article published in, of all places, Delta’s Sky Magazine, writer Allison Kaplan details her interview with generational expert and author David Stillman on how Generation Z will begin graduating from college this year and what businesses should expect. Here’s a hint: Don’t expect Millennials.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/campus-administration/education-gen-z-phigital-student/

by eMarketer

Most executives agree that a digital transformation is necessary to remain competitive, keep pace with disruptive technologies and evolve with shifting consumer expectations. Still, many are unsure of how to start the process, or even what it entails. eMarketer defines digital transformation as the process by which business leaders harness the capabilities and advances of emerging technologies to digitally reinvent their company’s operations, products, marketing, culture and goals for future growth.

https://www.emarketer.com/Article/What-Digital-Transformation-What-Require/1015854

by Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate

Technology is changing the landscape of teaching and learning. Textbooks are being phased out, makerspaces are becoming increasingly common, and communication between teachers and students has never been easier or more abundant. Technology is unavoidable, and while some teachers may still feel hesitant about the changes that are coming fast and furiously in the wake of these advancements, most teachers want to embrace the potential. Teachers that are successfully integrating educational technology in their classrooms are beacons for their peers – and there is much they can teach us.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/ten-characteristics-teachers-successfully-use-edtech/

by Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

My theory is that the reason that Google feels less present in higher ed is the LMS (learning management system). The LMS may be, as Phil Hill has so memorably opined, the minivan of education. A lack of glamour, however, does not mean that the LMS has lost its place as the central edtech platform. Every online course – and many residential courses – depends on the LMS. Google does not have an enterprise level LMS. Google platforms do not integrate with the SIS (student information system). Google – for all its centrality to the lives of students, faculty and staff – has done little to advance the learning in higher ed.  Imagine…

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/how-google-has-not-taken-over-higher-ed-classroom

BY MICHAEL PENN, JAPAN TIMES

Education in Japan, within the nexus of business, science and internationalization, is currently developing progressive initiatives. One such trend is to move university teaching out of brick-and-mortar classrooms and into the online sphere. This could be, in its more modest form, simply supplementary resources for the classroom experience that students can use to study while at home or commuting on the train, but potentially it could evolve into a more common form of long-distance learning as well. Staff members at elite Japanese universities are already developing full-scale online courses through a process of trial and error.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2017/05/14/issues/liberating-young-minds-technology/

by Dan Scalco, Entrepreneur

There’s never been a better time to be in business. As the world has grown increasingly interconnected, the internet has become a veritable treasure trove of information on how to run a successful company. No matter your industry or experience level, there’s always something new you can learn. Here are five online resources to help you take your business acumen to the next level.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/292835

By Jordan Friedman, US News

Experts say many prospective online master’s students – who often plan to balance their education with a job – wonder about how much time they will spend earning a degree as they aim to move up in their current role or switch careers. “They want to know how long they should plan on a degree taking as they will be working it into their lifestyle,” says Vickie Cook, director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois—Springfield. The simple answer: It depends on the program, among other factors including how many courses a student takes each term.

https://www.usnews.com/higher-education/online-education/articles/2017-05-12/us-news-data-how-long-it-takes-to-earn-an-online-masters-degree

by Amy X. Wang, Quartz

If you took a math class at some point in the US, there is likely a bulky $100 calculator gathering dust somewhere in your closet. Enter Desmos, a San Francisco-based company that offers a free online version of TI’s graphing calculator. Users across 146 countries, most of them teachers or students, are currently logging 300,000 hours a day on the platform—and today, Desmos announced a major partnership with testing consortium Smarter Balanced, which administers academic exams in 15 US states. Beginning this spring, students in those areas will use the online tool in math classrooms and on statewide performance assessments. “We think students shouldn’t have to buy this old, underpowered device anymore,” Desmos CEO Eli Luberoff tells Quartz. “It’s a huge source of inequity, and it’s just not the best way to learn.”

https://qz.com/977987/thanks-to-the-startup-desmos-the-reign-of-the-texas-instruments-100-graphing-calculator-in-schools-is-finally-ending/

by Elyse Dupre, DMN

Not every interaction generates an immediate return. Brands often have to engage target audiences multiple times to establish relationships and get them to perform desired actions. Take the University of Chicago, for instance. The school is exploring the benefits of engaging former students through an online learning community to drive donations later down the line. Emily Bembeneck, associate director of pedagogical innovation for the University of Chicago’s Graham School, said the school’s alumni weren’t “super connected” to their alma mater. Bembeneck wanted to re-engage the university’s alumni and create an “enduring” learning community that would remind them of the positive experiences they had on campus, which would, ultimately, help the University of Chicago meet its long-term fundraising goals.

http://www.dmnews.com/social-media/the-university-of-chicago-re-engages-alumni-through-online-learning/article/655450/

by Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate

In a nod to the increasing ubiquity of technology in our world, the American Academy of Paediatrics announced in October last year that it is beginning the process of revising its guidelines for children and screens. The academy says it has realised that in a world where screen time is becoming simply “time”, its policies must evolve or become obsolete. The new formalised guidelines will be published later this year and many expect screen time allowed to be lengthened. It is unrealistic for high school students to only spend two hours per day on screens, particularly when school work obliges them to do that or more. Time is also not necessarily the best measure to ensure children’s screen use is part of a healthy and balanced approach to life.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/screen-time-limits/

by Justin Blanchard, Forbes

Last year wasn’t a great year for security on the web. Every month, the media reported another major breach, many of which had an impact at the corporate and even state level. Online criminals want to remain hidden — if they’re discovered, it’s game over. They invest significant resources into hiding their presence, but it’s impossible for them to hide completely. There are always tell-tale network and usage patterns. But those patterns are constantly changing and obscured within massive quantities of genuine user interactions. Discovering those patterns is like looking for a needle in the world’s biggest haystack, and you have no idea what that needle looks like. It’s beyond the ability of humans, but it’s within the scope of what can be achieved with machine learning, which is capable of spotting patterns without being told exactly which patterns it should look for.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2017/05/08/how-machine-learning-will-impact-online-security-this-year/

by Greg Toppo, USATODAY

Young people these days live most of their lives online, so why shouldn’t they be plotting graphs and performing advanced calculations there as well? For the first time this spring, students taking basic skills tests nationwide will be using a free, online, embedded graphing calculator that its developer says may finally bring the tool into the 21st century. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium was set to announce on Monday that it will embed the online calculator into math tests that millions of students use. The tool, developed by San Francisco-based Desmos, is being tested by students this spring, with plans to use it widely in classrooms in the fall. Students in the College Board’s “SpringBoard” math program are already using it, the company said.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/08/online-graphing-calculator/101412372/

by Sheila Hagar, Union Bulletin

In 30 minutes, teacher Erika Montgomery has wrapped up the weekly “live lesson” over the computer connection. Preston, 7, leaves his seat at the kitchen counter in the family’s home in Walla Walla to find a spot on one of several couches in the living room. Preston is a first-grader enrolled in Washington Connections Academy online public school. The no-tuition, virtual school was approved in Washington state for grades K-12 in 2016 and currently serves grades K-10; grades 11 and 12 will be added later. The parent organization, for-profit Connections Education, was founded in Baltimore in 2001. The program is currently available in 28 states.

http://www.union-bulletin.com/news/education/home-based-k–schools-on-the-rise-in-washington/article_a0815962-32de-11e7-a376-3381c51b2868.html

by Associated Press

Some Illinois school districts are revamping their summer school programs this year with virtual programs designed to allow students to complete lessons outside of the classroom. But education experts are worried that online learning programs aren’t the best approach for younger students, the Chicago Tribune reported (http://trib.in/2oX6GV1 ). They are questioning whether the move is due to the school districts’ desire to cut costs and redirect money at a time when the state is $13 billion behind in allocating school funds due to the budget impasse. “They’re thinking it’s cost-effective, but it may not be learning-effective,” said Rena Shifflet, an associate professor at Illinois State University’s School of Teaching and Learning. “Illinois has kind of backed school districts into a corner. They’re doing the most with what they have.”

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois/articles/2017-05-07/illinois-schools-opt-for-virtual-summer-learning-programs

by Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

Harvard University is issuing certificates for anybody who passes one or more of the same online courses that are also taken by incoming students prior to starting their Harvard Medical School curriculum and used by the institution’s faculty to “flip” their classrooms. The courses make up the university’s new “HMX” program, consisting of online instruction for medical education. The HMX classes each last 10 weeks and cover physiology, immunology, genetics and biochemistry. Rather than using “traditional lectures and PowerPoint slides,” these programs introduce real-world scenarios, animation, concept videos, notetaking guides, assessments, interactive components and videos that take participants into clinical settings. The price of each course is $800, or $1,000 when taken two at a time, or $1,800 when all four are taken simultaneously.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/05/05/harvard-hmx-offers-dose-of-medical-school-training-in-online-format.aspx?admgarea=news

by Maya Miller, Chicago Tonight

When it comes to innovation in digital learning, Chicago is getting noticed. A program developed by the Chicago Public Library and the nonprofit Peer 2 Peer University won a 2017 Digital Inclusion Leadership Award on Tuesday in the category of “most innovative.” Chicago was one of six cities to be recognized by Next Century Cities and Google Fiber. The program, called Learning Circles, brings together online students to take free courses and study the material in a group setting. Peer 2 Peer University says you can think of it as “a book group for learning.”

http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2017/05/05/chicago-public-library-recognized-digital-leadership

By Steve Ranger, ZDNet

More details of how the UK’s new surveillance law will operate have been revealed, in details about the use of encryption. Under draft regulations to support the new Investigatory Powers Act, the government will be able to issue ‘technical capability notices’ to companies with more than 10,000 UK users to make it easier for police, spy agencies and other government bodies to access their customers’ communications. In particular, the regulations require companies to provide and maintain “the capability to disclose, where practicable, the content of communications or secondary data in an intelligible form and to remove electronic protection applied by or on behalf of the telecommunications operator to the communications or data, or to permit the person to whom the warrant is addressed to remove such electronic protection.”

http://www.zdnet.com/article/are-we-heading-for-a-new-encryption-war/

by Andrew Nodell, LA Times

Diane von Furstenberg became the person she wanted to be and now she hopes to teach others how to do the same. With over four decades running her fashion label, the designer is replete with life lessons and business acumen that she will impart as the latest instructor being added to the roster for MasterClass. The online education company also includes video lectures from Kevin Spacey on acting, Christina Aguilera on singing and David Mamet on dramatic writing. “I spoke [on-camera] for three days,” the designer explained in a call from her New York City office. “As I now have Jonathan [Saunders] handling the rebranding, I’m focusing a lot of my time on mentoring and philanthropy. I hope this lesson is nice. I made the director cry, so I think it was good.”

http://www.latimes.com/fashion/la-ig-wwd-dvf-online-courses-20170504-story.html

By Madison Noordhoek, UMKC

Are technological resources in the classroom a student’s best friend, or worst enemy? While universities like UMKC grant students the convenience of online classes, some students who enroll in physical lectures face the inconvenience of online resources that are required to complete the course. “I think online classes are a great way to earn course credit without having to go to class at a set time during the week,” recent KU graduate student David Sukenik said. “They save money and are generally easier than a normal course.” Being able to study a lecture and do homework from the comfort of your couch seems to give students more motivation to enroll in online classes. They also provide an opportunity to knock out required credits during the summer. Students are able to learn at their own convenience while still receiving an equal quality of teaching.

http://info.umkc.edu/unews/umkc-students-haggled-into-online-learning/