Techno-News Blog

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

As part of a two-hour workshop, students pop on a virtual reality headset (most recently, that’s the $199 Oculus Go) and attend a virtual meeting that brings together a small group of people from the United States, China, India and Singapore. In the opening scene of “First Impressions,” the user observes a global business meeting taking place in an office in China. It’s apparent as the meeting progresses that the interactions among the various characters are leading to tensions. All of the students see the same thing, remove their headsets and go through a bit of discussion. They’re asked simply to be observers first, “and not apply any judgment to what’s going on,” said project lead Ilin Misaras, assistant director for the university’s Global Training Initiative (GTI). “Don’t tell me that [somebody] is weird. Tell me what he said.” Following that, the headset is pulled on again to watch the same scene repeated. But this time, each user has been assigned to one of three people in attendance at the global meeting and assumes his role from a first-person point of view.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/08/21/using-vr-to-help-students-understand-cultural-differences.aspx

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology
According to our 2018 Teaching with Technology Survey, while some faculty still see technology as a hindrance, most think it has had a positive impact on teaching and learning. In a recent survey of faculty members at colleges and universities across the country, nearly one in five respondents (19 percent) reported that technology has made their jobs “harder” or “much harder.” That’s up from 17 percent who said the same last year. Still, many more faculty members said that technology has made their jobs “easier” (44 percent) or “much easier” (29 percent). And a mere 8 percent of respondents said tech hasn’t had much of an impact either way.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/08/22/1-in-5-faculty-members-say-technology-makes-their-job-harder.aspx

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology
Students in Generation Z would rather learn from YouTube videos than from nearly any other form of instruction. YouTube was designated as the preferred mode of learning by 59 percent of Gen Zers in a survey on the topic, compared to in-person group activities with classmates (mentioned by 57 percent), learning applications or games (47 percent) and printed books (also 47 percent). A majority (55 percent) believe that YouTube has “contributed to their education.” In fact, nearly half of survey participants (47 percent) reported spending three or more hours every day on YouTube.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/08/21/gen-zers-look-to-teachers-first-youtube-second-for-instruction.aspx

By Rob Marvin, PC Week

Attorneys general from 22 states, led by New York AG Barbara Underwood, filed a new brief in an ongoing lawsuit to reverse the FCC’s net neutrality rollback.  Led by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, the group includes AGs representing California, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and numerous other populous states comprising more than 165 million Americans. The brief states that the FCC’s order to roll back net neutrality rules is “arbitrary and capricious” because it puts consumers at risk of abusive practices, and that the order unlawfully preempts state and local regulations. The fight to bring back net neutrality is far from over, but in the meantime, you might want to invest in a VPN.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/363246/22-states-ask-court-to-restore-net-neutrality-regulations

by LESLIE RUBI, Fox 11

It’s hard to believe, but today’s first-graders will go on to be the Class of 2030. The class already has an iPad for each student, but the future could look a lot different. A study by educational policymakers looking at possibilities by the year 2030 said there is a 62 percent chance that students will be carrying around artificial intelligence devices. There is a 70 percent chance that face-to-face instruction will give way to online courses. Textbooks will be a thing of the past and teaching robots could be a real thing.

https://wvah.com/news/local/todays-first-graders-prepare-to-succeed-as-the-class-of-2030

by Chelsea Jones, University Affairs (Canada)

If we are serious about accessible online learning, we must talk openly about disability as if it is right here, right now – because it is. As online learning becomes the norm across Canada, faulty conversations about making online learning accessible are cropping up in higher education conferences. These conversations fall short when they fail to uphold standards of inclusivity that are at the heart of basic, proactive Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies – that is, when they do not include gestures of access such as transcripts, live captioning, or American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation. Or, when they present disabled people in stereotypical ways.

Accessibility must be more than an add-on to online pedagogy

By Dieter Holger, PC World

JavaScript is the language of the web. It makes websites interactive, creates animations, draws data-driven graphics, and more. It even runs natively in your web browser so you don’t have to install it and you can get to coding right away. Alongside HTML and CSS, JavaScript is an essential language for any aspiring or current web developer.  In any case, if you want to create for the web you’re going to need JavaScript. Because of the close relationship between HTML, CSS, and the web, it’s useful to have a well-rounded skill set, and fortunately, most of the courses we recommend will have you code HTML and CSS as you learn JS. There are a ton of online courses where you can get experience coding websites and apps. I’ve put together some of the best out there from a variety of sources. Some courses I tried myself, but others I selected based on their customer reviews, popularity, and breadth of material. With various lengths, difficulty levels, and specialization, you’re sure to find one that meets your particular needs.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3297962/application-development/learn-javascript.html

by Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

Second Life is many things, but among them is an attempt to build a virtual world that works more like the web (where anyone can add a site or a page) than a finished product that can only be modified by the corporation that manufactured it.  Higher ed institutes around the world built islands in Second Life for virtual instruction, and some of these are still online, seemingly paying $300/month to keep them alive. Splinter’s Patrick Hogan toured the remnants of the higher ed campuses in Second Life, finding them utterly abandoned and haunting — vaulted halls and manicured gardens, and whimsical classrooms in forests or on pirate ships, designed for throngs, empty save for the odd 2D cutout of a person.

Touring the haunting ruins of abandoned Second Life university campuses

by Business Standard, New Delhi

In a country with a relatively greater proportion of younger people who aspire to be an entrepreneur, companies are actively working to create ease in the jumbling lives of youth. The millenial generation is so hard at work that they always feed on platform that can add comfort and structure to their future planning’s. This year’s World Entrepreneur Day is the perfect occasion to draw attention to the wide variety of challenges that today’s entrepreneurs face in their daily lives. Here are few platforms that are important for today’s Entrepreneurs to be future ready.

https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/5-platforms-helping-entrepreneurs-to-be-future-ready-118082100773_1.html

The Obvious (and not so obvious) Benefits of Online Employee Training and Development
by Nikos Andriotis, eLearning Learning
Interactive whiteboards were big news when they arrived on the training scene because they replaced the old chalk and duster as a key tool for teaching and learning. In the 21st century, the importance of online learning tools might just be making traditional classroom training a thing of the past. Today, the benefits of eLearning in the workplace are taking the world by storm. It’s no wonder, then, that this industry reached over $56 billion in 2015 and is expected to hit $200 billion by 2024. Keen to know more? Well, you’re in luck! Because we’ve put together an all-inclusive list of the benefits of online learning that apply to all organizations and their employees.

http://www.elearninglearning.com/edition/weekly-microlearning-developing-elearning-2018-08-18?open-article-id=8763857&article-title=how-to-incorporate-self-directed-learning-in-your-online-course

by Emily Alford, ClickZ

Here’s why knowing the difference could set your company apart.  Bots, chatbots, robots, and AI are some of the most buzzed words in the industry right now, but even insiders are sometimes unclear on their differences. We get to the bottom of some common myths around new technologies. So far, 2018 has been all about new technology, and that’s a really good thing. If predictions around the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) are correct, new technology is on track to revolutionize every industry from healthcare to finance. However, while other industries are still imagining future uses for machine learning, the martech industry is currently booming with automated solutions to common problems. As we rush to throw AI at all our pain points, myths and misconceptions abound. Here are some of the most common misconceptions, explained.

Bots, chatbots, robots, AI! Here’s why knowing the difference could set your company apart

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

The cornerstone of the American dream is the ability to succeed in life regardless of one’s family of origin. And, for most people, that requires a college education. Unfortunately, recent research shows that the most reliable ticket to the middle class—a college degree—is rather difficult for students from low-income families to obtain. While this problem has many dimensions, open educational resources (known as OER) can help overcome the higher education equity burden.

How OER Can Help Overcome the Higher Education Equity Barrier

by Glassdoor Team

With college tuition soaring nationwide, many Americans don’t have the time or money to earn a college degree. However, that doesn’t mean your job prospects are diminished. Increasingly, there are many companies offering well-paying jobs to those with non-traditional education or a high-school diploma. “When you look at people who don’t go to school and make their way in the world, those are exceptional human beings. And we should do everything we can to find those people,” said Google’s former SVP of People Operations Laszlo Bock. “Academic qualifications will still be taken into account and indeed remain an important consideration when assessing candidates as a whole, but will no longer act as a barrier to getting a foot in the door,” added Maggie Stilwell, Ernst and Young’s managing partner for talent. Google and EY are just two of the champion companies who realize that book smarts don’t necessarily equal strong work ethic, grit and talent.

https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/no-degree-required/

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal
A study undertaken jointly by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and education technology companies Blackboard and VitalSource found that early activity with digital tools is a “strong predictor” of passing a class — even more so than the grade point average a student enters the class with. The organizations used student activity data from the university generated through Blackboard’s learning management system and VitalSource’s digital course materials and combined with the use of the Caliper Analytics standard from IMS Global Learning Consortium. IMS Caliper Analytics enables a variety of learning tools to return data that can be analyzed in aggregate.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/08/09/combining-data-from-multiple-digital-learning-tools-produces-better-predictions.aspx

By Chip Williams, WMC
Employees of the FedEx Memphis World Hub can earn a tuition-free online degree through the University of Memphis, the university announced in a press release Saturday. The program–Learning inspired by FedEx, or LiFE–will allow the more than 11,000 hub employees to earn one of the 60-plus graduate and undergraduate online degree programs offered by Memphis.

http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/38912873/university-of-memphis-to-offer-tuition-free-online-degrees-to-fedex-hub-employees

by Neil J. Rubenking, PC Mag

When your PC slows down or acts weird, you don’t always know the cause. Most often, it’s probably just a glitch. But it could be an outward and visible sign of an inward and terrible malware infestation. Review the seven warning signs below. If any of them match your experience, malware may well have compromised your system’s security. The fact that you’ve got malware protection installed doesn’t mean you can ignore these warning signs. Software isn’t perfect, and sometimes a brand-new malware attack can slip past your security.

https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2416788,00.asp

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News
A new survey reveals that vendor research is widely read, but most educators feel they can’t depend on it.  Although many educators rely on vendor-supplied reports for information on education technology tools, most educators have doubts about vendors’ ability to perform reliable research, according to a new survey. Ninety-one percent of educators in the Education Research Perspectives Survey say they rely heavily on general web searches, and almost half of those surveyed say they rely on vendor reports, for information on education technology tools.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2018/08/17/educators-report-low-confidence-in-ed-tech-research/

by American Staffing Associations
A majority of Americans (62%) agree that apprenticeships—or “earn while learning” vocational opportunities—make people more employable than going to college, according to the results of the latest American Staffing Association Workforce Monitor® survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults conducted online by The Harris Poll. About seven in 10 U.S. adults say learning a specific trade is better for finding a job than a bachelor’s degree (68%) and that college degrees aren’t worth as much as they used to be (69%). A majority disagree that completing an apprenticeship will limit one’s future employment options (71%) and that earn-while-learning programs generally lead to a lower salary than occupations requiring a college degree (60%).

by Adi Gaskell, Forbes

Sadly, few organizations seem to be adopting MOOCs as a way to provide employees with an easy and affordable way to keep their skills up to date, but one who most definitely are is the tech startup C3 IoT.  The company, which was founded by technology heavyweight Tom Siebel, offers employees over $1,000 for each MOOC they take. The aim is to provide employees who have been recruited in large part because of their desire and their willingness to learn, with the tools they require to keep their knowledge up to date. “In order for us to stay ahead of this, when we interview people we tend to self select for people who are well educated and who are challenged by interesting problems,” Siebel told me recently. “People who have a book in their hand. We like to think of our people as self learners, and this is part of our core values to be inquisitive and always learning.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adigaskell/2018/08/17/the-tech-legend-that-pays-staff-to-upskill/#8e63f697fc34

by Rockel Mundy, Royal Gazette

Bermuda College is offering a convenient way to boost your professional skill set in the digital age by providing short online professional development certificates. The college has seen online cources become increasingly popular with locals. It has been offering the courses for about four years after conducting a survey involving local professionals. “The survey was asking people what they are looking for in regards to courses and most people said that they needed something short, precise and to the point,” said Tawana Flood, director, division of professional and career education. “We found that most people wanted basic office skills such as business writing, Instagram for businesses, PowerPoint and Excel courses,” she added.

http://www.royalgazette.com/business/article/20180816/college-sees-digital-age-learning-advancing

By James Paterson, Education Dive
Amazon is the latest big tech company to help graduate students with the skills that employers want, training some experts say private firms can most easily and effectively provide, according to the Los Angeles Times. Amazon Web Services is partnering with a group of community colleges in the Los Angeles region to offer a 15-credit certification in the broadening field of cloud computing program. Planners expect the program will be expanded to a two-year degree program soon. A pilot program was offered last year through a local high school and Santa Monica College, which helped write the curriculum. Amazon also has begun offering a cloud computing program at Northern Virginia Community College.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/amazon-to-train-community-college-students-in-cloud-computing/529995/