Educational Technology

October 24, 2011

Tool with Great Education Potential – Reorganize Your Past, Online

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

By Nic Fleming, Technology Review

A Web service developed by Microsoft Research lets people curate their own personal history. Greenwich, a website that helps users assemble and chronologically organize content about a person, event, or any other subject. The site, to launch in beta on October 31, allows users to archive uploaded items, such as photos and scans of objects, alongside links to existing Web content around a horizontal timeline marked with dates. Different timelines can be combined and displayed on the same page or merged. Project Greenwich users attach images, maps, and other visual content, plus accompanying text, to relevant dates on their timelines.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/38931/?p1=A2

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U. of Cincinnati Searches for Affordable Psychology eTextbooks

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

By Tanya Roscorla, Converge

In an advanced University of Cincinnati class, associate professor of psychology Charles Ginn assigned a take-home midterm. Two questions on the test asked students to relate the material they studied to their lives. The third question was objective. In PowerPoints, Ginn clearly covered what they needed to know to answer the question. And he told them what page they needed to study in the textbook. But 30 percent of the students gave the same wrong answer that had nothing to do with the coursework. Ginn asked the class what happened. A student cautiously raised his hand. “I googled,” he said. They copied and pasted an answer without reading it because they couldn’t afford expensive textbooks. As a result, they got an “F” on the midterm. And Ginn started thinking about textbooks. At the University of Cincinnati, Ginn is leading a team this fall that’s searching for more cost-effective textbooks for “Introduction to Psychology” courses.

http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/U-of-Cincinnati-Psychology-eTextbooks.html

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A Survey of the Electronic Portfolio Market Sector: Analysis and Surprising Trends

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

By Trent Batson, Campus Technology

Since I published “ePortfolios Hijacked” in 2007 in Campus Technology, electronic portfolios have moved away from what I, then, considered an over emphasis on institutional tracking of student progress toward learning outcomes in a traditional curricular structure. Now, electronic portfolios offer a more broad-based and exciting architecture. They’ve moved from institution-centered to multi-centered; from assessment-centered to learning and assessment centered, from school-time limited to life-long and life-wide, from installed to SaaS, and from reinforcement of the status quo to supporting new learning and assessment designs. Electronic portfolios once again embody the potential to support education and learning practices that fit with the trends in education toward “high-impact educational practices” (George Kuh) and in life towards building a professional digital identity.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/10/12/a-survey-of-the-electronic-portfolio-market-sector.aspx

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October 23, 2011

Parents Launch Campaign To Teach Kids How To Code

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

by Pam Olson, Forbes

British parent Emma Mulqueeny is launching a campaign, simply called Coding for Kids, to encourage the U.K. government, schools and other parents to teach their kids how to code. Her goal is, simply, to make sure local children aren’t left behind by the rest of the world and the “thriving digital economy that will drive the future.” She’s already appalled, for one, that computer science isn’t taught as standard in U.K. schools. “We are gifting our children irrelevance in the choices the world makes,” she says. Earlier this week Mulqueeny hosted a BarCamp — part of a series of user-generated conferences — at The Guardian newspaper in London to encourage more people to get involved. She’s also set up an e-petition calling for coding to become part of the U.K. primary school curriculum. So far roughly 1,800 people have signed it. She started the campaign a few months ago with a colleague, Katy Beale, to “initiate the community,” and hopes to hold more BarCamps.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2011/10/15/parents-launch-campaign-to-teach-kids-how-to-code/

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Pearson Answers Pointed Questions About Its New Course System, OpenClass

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

By Josh Fischman, Chronicle of Higher Ed

When Pearson, the giant education publisher, announced last week that it was launching a free, cloud-based learning management system called OpenClass, the news prompted tough questions from college technology officials. Would this system accommodate other popular software? Who would have control, Pearson or the colleges? Would it be hard to integrate the product, which will be released later this year, with a student information system? Wednesday at Educause, the higher-education technology meeting, Pearson began answering some of those questions—although some of the answers remained a bit vague. In an early-morning statement, it announced partnerships between OpenClass and Turnitin, the popular plagiarism-detection software, and CourseSmart, the e-textbook and digital course materials company.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/pearson-answers-pointed-questions-about-its-new-course-system-openclass/33783

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Colleges Take Varied Approaches to iPad Experiments, With Mixed Results

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

By Alexandra Rice, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Several colleges that have been trying out iPads in the classroom shared their experiences at the annual Educause conference in Philadelphia. The officials had varied experiences to share about what they’ve learned, though most still say it’s too soon to judge the long-term potential of tablets in teaching. At least four sessions at the conference focus on teaching experiments with Apple’s popular gadget, and The Chronicle caught up with the presenters to get insights on their planned remarks.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/colleges-take-varied-approaches-to-ipad-experiments-with-mixed-results/33749

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October 22, 2011

Education, technology groups collaborate to leverage student data

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

by eSchool News

A partnership will help schools turn data into student achievement. A new collaboration among three prominent education and technology groups will aim to help schools meet growing demands to leverage student data to boost achievement while highlighting best practices nationwide. The American Association of School Administrators (AASA), Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and Gartner Inc., a global information technology research and advisory company, are collaborating to support schools as they move forward in implementing these new systems and practices.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/10/18/education-technologygroups-collaborate-to-leverage-student-data/

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Kingsborough Community College Adds Collaboration Tools to Classrooms

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

By Tanya Roscorla, Converge

In a quest to keep up with student demand, Kingsborough Community College constantly added computers to labs. But the Brooklyn college could never keep up. And increasingly, faculty members want students to do research, build e-portfolios and take assessments in class. While they tried to use wireless laptop carts, they lost 10 to 15 minutes of instruction time just setting them up. By virtualizing desktops, the Brooklyn college will cut back on lost instruction time and provide students with tools to build e-portfolios and take assessments.

http://www.convergemag.com/infrastructure/Kingsborough-Community-College-Adds-Collaboration-Tools-to-Classrooms.html

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Mobile Services Reach Students Where They Are

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

By Tanya Roscorla, Converge

At the beginning of the day, many students check Facebook and their text messages first. And Tompkins Cortland Community College wants to be third on their list. “They’re just really good at reading and keeping in touch with cell phones,” said Marty Christofferson, dean of campus technology. “So we said, ‘How do we take advantage of this?'” By building a mobile site, mobile apps and a mobile messaging system, Tompkins Cortland Community College uses technology students are comfortable with to help them succeed. 

http://www.convergemag.com/infrastructure/Mobile-Services-Reach-Students-Where-They-Are.html

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October 21, 2011

A new teacher’s classroom walls: Steve Jobs’ Enduring Advice to Teachers (and students)

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

By Nancy Caramanico, CIO Advisor

When I first entered the classroom as an elementary school technology teacher in 1997, I was given a set of posters. As any new teacher would be, I was happy to have some posters to decorate my classroom. The posters I found in the box were photos of various innovators, thinkers, doers. Einstein, Ghandi, Jim Henson. It was not what was expecting but I selected some and put them on my classroom walls. Over time, during that first year of teaching, I got the message.

Think Different.

As it turned out, the posters were part of Apple’s 1997 campaign called Think Different. Posters were sent to schools everywhere. As a leader in the technology industry, Jobs pushed for more, for better. With normal market competition in place, innovation was the goal for not just Apple but for all.

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&EntryId=3252

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District sees increased math scores with visual math program

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

by School CIO

The non-profit MIND Research Institute and the Anaheim City School District (ACSD) announced that district students increased math proficiency on the CST state standardized math assessment. Anaheim elementary teachers have steadily increased student math achievement over the last five years while gradually rolling-out MIND’s visual math education software program to K-5 elementary grades district-wide. Serving more than 19,000 students, the district’s K-6 schools have improved math proficiency every year since the initial launch of MIND Research Institute’s visual math program in 2006.

http://www.schoolcio.com/article/district-sees-increased-math-scores-with-visual-math-program–/51829

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Choosing a Student Information System

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

By Nancy Caramanico, CIO Advisor

In the age of information, schools truly must have a quality means of tracking, sorting and reporting on student data. A quality student information system can support student achievement thus enhancing the programs you offer. This function is offered in various forms by software designated as ‘Student Information Systems’. These decisions for choosing the software used are often made by school Technology Directors and School CIOs. Whether you are an individual school or a district looking to make a decision such as this, it helps to have a checklist handy before you begin. This helps to make your decision a strategic one and one that you can stand behind.

https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/recording/playback/link/meeting.jnlp?suid=M.63E7CEA323F2AEA3D5169444F26104

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October 20, 2011

In Victory for Open-Education Movement, Blackboard Embraces Sharing

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:39 am

by Jeffrey Young, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Professors who use Blackboard’s software have long been forced to lock their course materials in an area effectively marked, “For Registered Students Only,” while using the system. Today the company announced plans to add a “Share” button that will let professors make those learning materials free and open online. The move may be the biggest sign yet that the idea of “open educational materials” is going mainstream, nearly 10 years after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology first began giving away lecture notes online. Blackboard made the change after college officials complained that the company’s software, which more than half the colleges in the country use for their online-course materials, was holding them back from trying open-education projects.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/in-victory-for-open-education-movement-blackboard-embraces-sharing/33776?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

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iPads benefit young learning at school

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

By ANDREW POTTER, Times-Republican

Give a kid a new type of technology and it seems they’ll take to it like fish in water. This has proven to be the case at one area elementary school for children as young as 5 years old. Gladbrook-Reinbeck Elementary School started offering Apple iPads for students to use in the classroom this fall and so far the response has been positive. The iPads are used for extra math work, taking accelerated reading tests and other activities that would ordinarily tie up an entire computer. “I can get things done in 20 minutes instead of two hours,” said kindergarten teacher Nicole Creswell.

http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/543662/iPads-benefit-young-learning-at-school.html

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Umtech shines as dual mode university

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

by the Borneo Post

University of Management and Technology (Umtech), formerly known as Unitar Pintar Campus, is actively positioning itself as a comprehensive dual mode university with a flexible delivery paradigm. Umtech teaches and researches as a dual mode university with double options of learning approaches -– students can study full-time on-campus or through distance-learning. The university’s programme structure is designed to run via full-time, part-time and distance-learning modes to cater for secondary school leavers and working adults. Students will have the option to migrate from full-time on-campus to distance-learning and vice-versa. Umtech hopes to boost its presence in the global education market and offer its students a higher quality education experience.

http://www.theborneopost.com/2011/10/16/umtech-shines-as-dual-mode-university/

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October 19, 2011

Educators Dream Up Their Ideal Mobile Device

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:39 am

by THE Journal

We asked educators to let their imaginations go wild and conjure up visions of the future of the mobile device in the classroom. Here are a few of our favorites. It’s been just a couple of years since the first mobile device hit the market. Yet, it is already a foregone conclusion that it will become an indispensable tool for learning in the future. In the October issue of T.H.E. Journal, we asked a number of educators to let their imaginations go wild and conjure up visions of the future of the mobile device in the classroom. Compiled below are a few of our favorite ideas. To check out the complete collection, pick up a copy of our print issue, or read the full article online.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/10/11/mobile-learning.aspx

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iNACOL Revs National Standards Guide for Online Learning

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

By Kanoe Namahoe, THE Journal

A new report released today by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) outlines new standards for online learning courses in K-12. The report, National Standards for Quality Online Courses, Version 2, was formulated by a committee of experts to give K-12 schools, districts, and organizations a common benchmark for evaluating and implementing courses for their online programs. “By offering up a set of guidelines to promote quality online courses, it is our hope that all students engaged in online and blended learning programs will be given the opportunity to access a world-class education,” said Susan Patrick, contributor to the report and president of iNACOL, in a prepared statement. The new national standards–based in part on the original standards, plus results from research and surveys–focus on aligning online course content to state academic standards, instructional design, technology, student assessment and course management. The goal, Patrick said, is to ensure that each course supports the academic growth and critical learning experience of K-12 students in online and blended learning environments.

Please see the iNACOL report here:

http://www.inacol.org./research/nationalstandards/iNACOL_CourseStandards_2011.pdf

Please see the THE Journal report here:

http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/10/12/inacol-revs-national-standards-guide-for-online-learning.aspx

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Getting At-Risk Teens to Graduation: Blended learning offers a second chance

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

By June Kronholz, Education Next

Online K–12 education made its appearance in the mid-1990s, largely as a resource for bright students who had no access to accelerated classes. It moved next into core high-school courses where districts found themselves with teacher shortages—math, science, foreign languages—and has been growing bumptiously, and in a dozen directions, ever since. The International Association for K–12 Online Learning, which goes by the acronym iNACOL, estimates that 82 percent of school districts now offer at least one online course. Thirty-two states have virtual schools where online offerings range from one class to an entire high-school curriculum, according to an annual report on online learning published by the Evergreen Education Group, a Colorado consultancy. At the Florida Virtual School alone, students collectively took 220,000 classes online in 2009–10 (see “Florida’s Online Option,” features, Summer 2009). Twenty-six states have at least one full-time online school, and perhaps 225,000 youngsters were full-time online students this year, says John Watson, editor of the Evergreen report.

http://educationnext.org/getting-at-risk-teens-to-graduation/

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October 18, 2011

The Flipped Classroom

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

by Bill Tucker, Education Next

It’s called “the flipped classroom.” While there is no one model, the core idea is to flip the common instructional approach: With teacher-created videos and interactive lessons, instruction that used to occur in class is now accessed at home, in advance of class. Class becomes the place to work through problems, advance concepts, and engage in collaborative learning. Most importantly, all aspects of instruction can be rethought to best maximize the scarcest learning resource—time. Flipped classroom teachers almost universally agree that it’s not the instructional videos on their own, but how they are integrated into an overall approach, that makes the difference. In his classes, Bergmann says, students can’t just “watch the video and be done with it.” He checks their notes and requires each student to come to class with a question. And, while he says it takes a little while for students to get used to the system, as the year progresses he sees them asking better questions and thinking more deeply about the content. After flipping his classroom, Bergmann says he can more easily query individual students, probe for misconceptions around scientific concepts, and clear up incorrect notions.

http://educationnext.org/the-flipped-classroom/#.To9Qeut76-E.email

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What Private Sector IT Can Learn From Education IT

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

By David Gardner, Fast Company

David Dodd, CIO of Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, discussed his commitment to 21st century learning and being user-centric–doing what is in the best interests of the students. He is concerned about what students will experience once they leave Xavier and believes that the real world should drive the student information technology experiences while at Xavier. His model for making decisions is (1) operational integrity, (2) strategic preparedness (how is change occurring), and (3) agility and adaptability (constantly reassessing and realigning). One of the key areas where Dodd’s team adds value is in strategic information resources–creating a culture of evidence. As David expressed, “There’s nothing quite like having fact-based discussion.” His team does this through analytics, business intelligence, dashboards, and key performance indicators. In terms of the moving applications and data to the cloud, he believes this is financially-driven and he is thinking about it carefully before leaping into it.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1784655/what-private-sector-it-can-learn-from-education-it

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Ray Kurzweil On The Future Of Innovation At Singularity University

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by Ted Greenwald, Forbes

Kurzweil’s audience is the latest Executive Program class at Singularity University, an institution he co-founded with Peter Diamandis of X Prize fame. The school’s mission is to prepare the world take advantage of exponential change rather than being crushed by it. Drawn from C suites around the world — including Fox Filmed Entertainment co-chair and CEO Jim Gianopulos, SunPower CTO Tom Dinwoodie, and representatives of IBM, Investec, and the Brazilian military — students will spend the coming week learning how to think in exponential terms. Kurzweil begins plotting technological progress in the early ’80s and soon determined that progress, from the discovery of fire through today’s headlines, follows a steady exponential curve. The curve originates, he says, from the fact that we use the last generation of technology to build the next, multilpying past gains with each advance. The cycle inevitably brings smaller hardware, greater capability, and falling prices in a ladder of interlocking s-curves.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tedgreenwald/2011/10/12/ray-kurzweil-on-the-future-of-innovation-at-singularity-university/

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