By Brittany Hawes, Uloop
Students already have limited time so sometimes, the best way to learn new skills will be through online courses. So, which online courses are really going to give you the skills to give you a leg up in the job hunt? Read on to find out! (Note: You won’t have to pay thousands of dollars or search through dozens of YouTube tutorial videos to learn these skills!)
Share on Facebookthe Daily Mail
Education in America will need to adapt to prepare students for the next generation of jobs – including ‘data trash engineer’ and ‘head of machine personality design.’ Careers that used to safely dodge the high-tech bullet will soon require at least a basic grasp of things like web design, computer programming and robotics – presenting a new challenge for colleges and universities. A projected 85 percent of the jobs that today’s college students will have in 2030 haven’t been invented yet. The coming high-tech changes are expected to touch a wider variety of career paths than ever before. Many experts say American universities aren’t ready for the change because the high-tech skills most workers will need are currently focused just on people specializing in science, technology, engineering and math
Share on Facebookby Jackie Bischof, Quartz Africa
A number of universities across Africa are creating free online courses in the hope that they will democratize access to education, inspire more collaboration and networking between African institutions, and support access to education for women, among other benefits. Last year, Wits University became the first African university to offer MOOCs (massive open online courses) on edX, a platform established by MIT and Harvard. The University of Cape Town has a range of sessions on Coursera, from academic writing and social change, to the ethics of organ donation. Nigeria has experimented with creating MOOCs specifically for high school graduates who didn’t get into university on their first try.
Free online courses that teach skills for Africa’s most in-demand industries
Share on FacebookBY JIBU ELIAS, PC Mag
Many of these ed-tech startups are not just focused on building a successful business, but are trying to address a serious problem that has been fundamental to the progress of our nation. Power technology startups, such as Toppr, are trying to bridge the gaps in our broken public education system, as India is ranked 92 in education among 145 countries, according to Legatum Prosperity Index. “Through the application of machine learning, it has opened up transformative possibilities to personalize learning in a country with over 315 million students, and a skewed student-teacher ratio. With the government’s aid, it can further bridge the gaps in the public education, and considerably improve its health,” said Zishaan Hayath co-founder and CEO of Mumbai based e-learning startup Toppr in an exclusive interaction with PCMag India.
Share on Facebookby VIVEK MOHTA, The Next Web
You probably use computer vision every day and don’t even think about it. Enjoy checking out the latest Snapchat filters? That’s computer vision. Unlock your iPhone with your face? That’s computer vision, too. Use your phone to deposit your latest paycheck and get some cash in your bank account? Well, that’s also computer vision. Computer vision as we know it is at a tipping point. Thanks to industry-wide development efforts and advances in deep learning algorithms and graphics processors, we’re doing things that were unimaginable just a decade ago.
https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2018/12/25/2018-proved-that-computer-vision-is-the-most-powerful-manifestation-of-ai/
Share on FacebookIdentifying the reasons for the dearth of women in the tech industry has provoked a substantial amount of debate among academics and industry analysts. Yet efforts to address the situation, unfortunately, seem to be reaping only the most modest success thus far. Jodi Tims and the organization she currently chairs, the Association for Computing Machinery’s Council on Women (ACM-W), are among those who have worked tirelessly on many different levels to confront these circumstances and effect positive change. Her position with ACM-W, and her experiences as a woman in computing, bring both relevance and value to her insights regarding the problem.
http://www.centerdigitaled.com/Why-is-the-Number-of-Women-in-Computing-so-Low.html
Share on Facebookby Matthew Lynch, tech edvocate
Some education experts now say that digital equity could help to provide a level playing field for all students. If all students have access to the same technology, it could help to close the achievement gap. It has already been established that students without access to technology have trouble completing homework assignments. While more than half of teachers assign homework that requires internet access, there are millions of children who live in homes where they can’t get online. In theory, closing this digital divide could have tremendous effects for low-income students. Giving students from poverty access to technology certainly improves outcomes. Researchers at Stanford have found that, when used correctly, technology does indeed help boost test scores for low-income students.
http://www.thetechedvocate.org/can-digital-equity-close-achievement-gap/
Share on FacebookBy Roger Riddell, Education Dive
No matter how many extra letters get added to the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) acronym, the primary takeaway should be the need for equal consideration of all subjects and the importance of critical thinking and literacy across all areas, according to EdTech: Focus on K-12. Noting the recent inclusion of an “R” for reading alongside the “A” for arts (to create “STREAM”), K-12 education strategist Amy Brown writes that literacy’s importance is just as much (if not more) about being able to write, speak, analyze arguments and communicate effectively than it is about simply being able to read. Additionally, STEM should focus on teaching students to think critically and solve problems, so that they’re adaptable to any situation — a trait that will only become more important in an economy where the fields they enter could be disrupted and many of the jobs they’ll eventually hold don’t even exist yet.
By Bart Perkins, CIO
The AI revolution is hungry for personal data. The U.S. needs to pursue federal privacy legislation before machine intelligence and surveillance intersect. Unfortunately, the large amounts of data required to unlock the benefits of these tools also makes consumer and employee surveillance much easier. Launched in 2014, China’s social credit system is expected to be fully operational by 2020. The system aggregates payment history, medical information, legal records, along with other data to create an individual profile. In addition, it is widely believed that the system uses facial recognition to track where every individual travels and with whom she interacts. Cameras are so widespread in major cities that people joke that the government can find anyone in seven minutes.
Share on Facebookby Harvard University
Harvard Medical School will offer online education to doctors-in-the-making and practicing clinicians affiliated with a pediatric cancer hospital in Egypt, the 57357 Children’s Cancer Hospital in Cairo. The coursework, part of Harvard Medical School’s innovative online learning program HMX Fundamentals, offers access to the knowledge and acumen of some of Harvard Medical School’s top physician-scientists and focuses on foundational subjects deemed fundamental for all frontline clinicians, not just specialists. “We are taking our knowledge beyond borders—a central tenet in the School’s philosophy—and are truly excited to offer access to a new group of learners,” said David Roberts, dean for external education at Harvard Medical School. “The materials and course work are ideally suited to help medical students and physicians in Egypt on their quest to improve pediatric health.”
https://hms.harvard.edu/news/beyond-borders
Share on FacebookBy Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZD Net
Now, I’m not going to try to fool you into thinking that I’m some “fixing guru” or “tech ninja.” I’m not. While I have a pretty high success rate when it comes to resuscitating things, I’ve had plenty of failures, too, and I’ve been responsible for letting the magic smoke out of a lot of devices by doing something daft. But, over that time, I’ve built up a set of rules that I keep in mind when fixing things. I call them the “Prime Directives,” not because I’m a huge Star Trek fan, but because they’re important, and bad things tend to happen when I violate them.
I present them here in no particular order.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-ten-prime-directives-of-repairing-and-upgrading-tech/
Share on FacebookBy W. Brian Arthur, McKinsey Quarterly
We are creating an intelligence that is external to humans and housed in the virtual economy. This is bringing us into a new economic era—a distributive one—where different rules apply. Technology can also help companies break out of the “teacher and classroom” (facilitator and workshop) model that so many still rely on, maximizing the value and organizational impact of what is taught and learned. Fast-paced digital learning is easier to embed in the day-to-day work flows of managers. Every successful leader tells stories of how he or she developed leadership capabilities by dealing with a real problem in a specific context, and our survey provides supporting evidence for these anecdotes: companies with successful leadership-development programs were four to five times more likely to require participants to apply their learnings in new settings over an extended period and to practice them in their job.
by Rob Marvin, PC Mag
Security experts discuss the trends to watch next year, from cryptocurrency hacks and ransomware to potential vulnerabilities in IoT devices and connected cars. This was another rough year for online security. From the Equifax breach to full-on election hacking by a foreign government, major security problems affected nearly every industry, institution, and consumer in the country. We spoke to security experts from across the industry and rounded up 10 of the most prevalent security threats and trends to watch out for in 2018.
https://www.pcmag.com/feature/357913/security-in-2018-buckle-up-this-isn-t-getting-any-easier
Share on FacebookBy Ben Dickson, PCMag
The game lets you collect, raise, and breed unique digital cats on the Ethereum blockchain. No, that’s not a joke. Benny Giang DMed me on Twitter in early October about CryptoKitties. “We put the first breedable kitties onto the blockchain,” Giang wrote, adding “This may sound like an ICO scam or a joke but it’s neither.” Although I’m still having a hard time finding value in this modern-day Tamagotchi, I believe the viral growth of CryptoKitties might have positive effects on the evolution of the blockchain industry. Pokemon Go was a silly fad too, but it brought mainstream attention to smartphone-based augmented reality (AR), which had, up to that point, been a fringe technology.
https://www.pcmag.com/commentary/358018/can-digital-kitties-teach-the-world-about-blockchain
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