Educational Technology

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Ed

More than two dozen colleges and universities are examining whether a different business model for textbooks works for their institutions. One of them is a two-year technical college. These higher education institutions are joining an expanded e-textbook pilot organized earlier this year by Internet2 — an advanced networking consortium — and EDUCAUSE — a nonprofit higher education association. The first pilots, based on Indiana University’s e-textbook pilots, happened in spring 2012 at five universities.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/More-US-Universities-Enter-the-E-Textbook-Fray.html

By Joseph Daugherty, Kansan

University textbooks are getting a 21st century facelift. The University’s new e-book pilot program, sponsored by the Information Technology department and the KU Bookstore, will allow students to express their opinions on whether professors should require digital or traditional materials for the classroom. This program will conduct a study with four pilot classes this semester, including PHIL 160, HSES 330, HSES 260 and BIO 246. The pilot only uses one section in each class and includes about 700 students. “The goal of this pilot is to be able to provide faculty with information that will help them make informed decisions about what materials to use in their class,” said Paul Farran, chief of staff for The University of Kansas Chief Information Officer.

http://kansan.com/news/2012/09/09/e-book-pilot-program-surveys-students-satisfaction-of-digital-textbooks/

By Catherine Owers, the Observer

Apparently, technology can be a teacher’s best friend. Using webcams, chat, and a virtual whiteboard, tutors at InstaEDU, an online tutoring portal, assist students with their studies through a computer. InstaEDU CEO Alison Johnston said she was inspired to create the company after working as a tutor herself. In her role, she realized private tutoring could be both expensive and exclusive. “Our general goal is to make high-quality, one-on-one tutoring universally accessible to any student … to let any student work with a tutor at any time,” Johnston said. “Also, we realized that the time when many high school students are in need of homework help, say 11 p.m., is when many college students are available.” Sophomore InstaEDU tutor Jordan Stella started tutoring in high school and also tutors at the First Year of Studies Learning Resource Center.

http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/news/online-tutoring-expands-to-nd-1.2896083#.UE8sarJmRl8

by School CIO

To overcome the costs and time constraints associated with speech language pathologists (SLPs) traveling to the district schools’ remote locations, and to lessen the case load for current SLPs, Union County School System in northern Georgia has adopted PresenceLearning to provide online speech therapy services. After a successful pilot of PresenceLearning’s services in May 2012, the district will start using live online speech therapy this fall for a number of the district’s students receiving speech language services. “We received great feedback from students, parents, current SLPs and district staff after piloting PresenceLearning last school year,” said Kristy Chapman, special education director of the Union County Board of Education. “Given our rural location, the virtual access to SLPs, in addition to the privacy, availability and ease-of-use of the services, makes PresenceLearning a great fit for our district.”

http://www.schoolcio.com/article/rural-district–implements-online-speech-therapy/52867

by Teaching and Learning Advisor

These apps are incredibly engaging and meet the needs of our diverse learners. They allow learners to interact with the plot, characters, and even design of the story. They also support multiple learning styles because they are visual, have sound, and animation. Students can even begin to craft their own stories using their voices, drawings, images, videos, and so much more! Check out each of the apps in the playlist I created with a really cool free tool, Mentor Mob, which helps educators organize online learning content into a simple Learning Playlist platform.

http://www.techlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67&EntryId=4622

by Online Universities

Education is already seeing some major changes in light of new, cutting-edge technologies. Students can now access educational information from virtually anywhere at any time, and mobile devices are influencing some to flip their classrooms, changing the educational experience altogether. While current technologies are making waves, further changes linked to upcoming technologies may be on the horizon. One of the most hyped and anticipated devices over the past year has been Google’s soon-to-be-released glasses. These glasses will enable users to get real-time information about the places, people, and objects around them, right on the lens of the glasses. While it will be a long time before these glasses ever show up in the classroom (they currently cost $1,500 and are available only to developers), when they do, educators and students can expect to see some of these amazing changes to the educational experience.

http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2012/09/8-amazing-ways-google-glasses-will-change-education/

By ANDY WRIGHT, Bay Citizen

Want to learn cryptography, take a class in finance or a “crash course” in creativity? These are all online classes being offered for free this fall by Stanford University. The university is offering 16 free courses this year on three platforms, including Coursera, which helps colleges create online classes. Coursera was created by two Stanford computer science professors with $16 million in venture capital. No, you will not get course credit or a degree for taking the classes, though Stanford President John Hennessy told NPR that he could “see moving in that direction.” Stanford is not the only elite university to offer free online courses. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offer them as well.

http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/pulse-of-the-bay/take-free-class-stanford-home/

By: Meredith Whelchel, Dayton Flyer News

Starting this fall, the University of Dayton School of Law will become a pioneer in digital lawyering, implementing more online components for courses and new technology training sessions, according to law professor Vernellia Randall. To align with advancing technology, the UDSL formed an online learning committee two years ago to consider employing online components with traditional coursework, Randall said. Former law students who have been working in the digital lawyering field approached the committee to consider digital technology training, she said. “Legal education is about 100 years behind in terms of distance learning, because it is very traditionally based,” she said. “We want to develop a quality approach and be on the forefront of a blended, online education.”

http://flyernews.com/2012/09/07/law-school-integrates-digital-learning-in-classes/

by Leonie Haimson, Huffington Post

The Daily News has a story about a new negative evaluation of DOE’s much vaunted “School of One” program. This study, which found no significant achievement gains from the program, was quietly placed on the Research Alliance website in the middle of summer with no apparent outreach to the media or the public. This contrasts with the huge publicity machine promoting this online program that has operated since its inception as a pilot started in the summer of 2009. The School of One is an online, or “blended,” learning math program, combining online with small group instruction.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonie-haimson/the-reality-and-the-hype-_b_1859859.html

by Neha Prakash, Mashable

A high school student’s plate isn’t just filled with classes, but also sports, clubs, SATs and a social life of proms and pep rallies. Don’t head into the classroom unarmed — turn to your phone or tablet. There are plenty of apps to help keep your hectic life organized. In high school, your courseload will tip the scales and the pressure of college apps and AP classes will challenge every moment. Use these 10 apps to make sure you’re on top of homework assignments, ensuring studying is effortless and efficient rather than stressful and unproductive.

http://mashable.com/2012/08/27/apps-for-high-school-students/

by Jeff Wright, Mashable

With today’s dependence on electronics for work, play and just about anything to do with productivity, you may often find yourself staring at screens for more than 10 hours a day. With this in mind, it’s important to protect your eyes by minimizing harsh whites and enlarging text size in common programs, regardless of how old you are or how good your eyesight might be. To lessen the long-term damage computer screens could cause to your eyes, or if your vision isn’t strong enough to read tiny text on your screen, try these tips for PC or Mac computers to make things easier on your oculars. Most of these tricks are simple enough that you won’t have to reinvent (or buy) the wheel. Running Windows 8? These tips apply as well.

http://mashable.com/2012/08/27/reduce-computer-related-eye-strain/

By Aliya Sternstein, Next Gov

Reports that students suspected of hacking Sony Corp.’s Web assets were simultaneously participating in cyber defense contests suggests, to some, a need for young cyberwarriors to learn Cybercrime 101 at an early age. Federal agencies need tens of thousands of computer whizzes educated in network protection and offensive techniques who are able to exploit flaws in an adversary’s networks, as well as detect weaknesses in the government’s own networks. But some trainees may choose to become attackers themselves, as evidenced by the two men who apparently stole data from a Sony website while studying network security at the University of Advanced Technology in Arizona. So some cybersecurity programs have set out to immunize kids against harmful hacking before they reach the fork in the road.

http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2012/09/stop-computer-prodigies-they-hack/57884/

By Stacey Roshan and Wendy Roshan, CNN

Stacey Roshan is the daughter of Wendy Roshan. Stacey is a math teacher at the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland. Wendy is a math teacher at the Madeira School in McLean, Virginia. When I began teaching AP calculus, I was 58, and I had been teaching the same way my entire life. Since Stacey and I were teaching the same course, we often spent time in the library together planning our lessons. During these “library sessions,” Stacey would tell me about the video lectures she was using to flip her classroom and how her students were significantly less stressed because of it. I was keeping a very close eye on what she was doing, and I could see her glow with excitement as she talked about flipping, but I didn’t have interest in flipping my class. Using technology has allowed me to bring compassion back into an otherwise overly stressful classroom environment.

http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/24/my-view-its-never-too-late-to-begin-flipping-your-classroom/

by Dara Kerr, CNet

As back to school kicks off in the U.S., new data claims that Apple’s iPad is outpacing traditional PCs in sales to students and schools for the first time ever. Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Company, wrote to investors today that the iPad is now “cannibalizing” PCs in sales to the K-12 market, according to Apple Insider. “Clearly, a significant portion of iPad sales represented an expansion of the market,” Wolf wrote, according to Apple Insider. “But in view of the fact that Mac sales held steady at around 520,000 units but overall PC sales declined by 265,000 units from 1.90 million to 1.64 million units, we believe the inescapable conclusion is that the iPad is beginning to cannibalize a material portion of PC sales in this market.”

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57506171-37/apples-ipad-overtaking-pc-sales-in-schools/?tag=nl.t720&s_cid=t720

By Eric Lai, ZDNet

Even the best technology can’t overcome poor planning and lack of follow-through. Nothing’s perfect. In creating my map of the 120+ back-to-school iPad and tablet deployments this fall, I learned a few things about what can cause trouble for schools and students. These are good lessons for businesses and other types of organizations thinking about going mobile.

http://www.zdnet.com/four-reasons-why-school-tablet-rollouts-can-stumble-or-fail-7000003582/

by Gerry Bayne, EDUCAUSE blog

In this podcast, we talk with Chief of Staff for the Khan Academy, Jessica Yuen. In our conversation, she discusses the Khan Academy’s use of analytics, attitude toward affordability for students, and the future of higher education.

http://www.educause.edu/blogs/gbayne/ero-podast-chief-staff-khan-academy-jessica-yuen

by Justin Douglas, Policy Mic

As we have moved away from the industrial age that dominated much of the last century into this new technological age, it would be a failure not to not begin familiarizing our children with technology from an early age. It may be too soon to consider the full integration of virtual learning as a distinct learning option for some, but those who accept (or can afford to accept) this option, may be doing their children a favor. There needs to be additional resources provided to make the “choice” of online education more accessible to multiple populations of students. This way, a child’s knowledge of computers, access to technology, and parents’ knowledge and socioeconomic class level does not hinder their choice to participate in virtual education courses. In attempting to be egalitarian by offering virtual education to all students, we will inadvertently be segregating children by socioeconomic status. Students who do not have access to computers at home will be at a great disadvantage and parents who cannot afford to stay at home with their children or afford to pay for a babysitter, would not be able to choose that option. In the end, online education is where we must go in order to progress and better prepare future generations, but we must give our children equal opportunities to succeed.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/14110/education-reform-in-america-why-online-education-could-lead-to-greater-equality

by Digital Arts Online

The University of Cambridge has launched a free online course for aspiring programmers, offering guidance on how to write an operating system for the Raspberry Pi computer. The course, aptly named “Baking Pi – Operating Systems Development,” introduces pupils to the basics of assembly language programming and OS building. It consists of a series of 12 lessons, each of which includes a combination of theory and practical exercise.

http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/news/?NewsID=3379417

by Simson L. Garfinkel, Technology Review

Can a $35 computer persuade kids to put down their smartphones and try their hands at programming? You can get a lot for $35 these days. It bought me what looks like a credit card-sized James Bond gadget prototype, but is actually a fully functional computer. It has an ARM processor like those in many cell phones, 256 megabytes of RAM, a wired network connection, two USB ports, an HDMI video connection, and a graphics coprocessor able to decode a Blu-ray DVD. It’s powered by a cell-phone charger and is intended to revolutionize technology education by helping to create a new generation of hackers and makers (see “An Ultracheap Computer”).

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/429048/review-raspberry-pi/

By Center for Digital Education

Mobile apps and optimized websites have been on the rise for a number of years. But the quality of student services in these formats could use some upgrading, university students and administrators said in a report. Oracle did online interviews in May with 1,003 U.S. college and university students and 181 U.S. higher education administrators to find out more about their experience with student services.* These services were found to have a direct impact on 66 percent of students’ and 89 percent of administrators’ overall satisfaction with a college or university.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/college-career/Student-Mobile-Services-User-Friendly.html

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Education

Busy schedules are one reason why educators don’t collaborate and connect through social networking platforms. But a lack of time isn’t the main issue. It’s priorities. And because this month is Connected Educators’ month, this is a good time to share why educators need to get connected, said Derek McCoy, the new principal of Spring Lake Middle School in North Carolina. “The Connected Educators Month is a great movement, and it’s not about big grand gestures,” McCoy said. “It’s about doing something that you normally have not done and reaching out and making new connections.” Keep reading to find out why two educators make digital connections a priority and how they do it.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/training/Why-Educators-Should-Spend-Time-Daily-on-Social-Media.html