Educational Technology

by Bridget McCrea, THE Journal

Consider the two different approaches to using e-portfolios. The first is the student-centered approach, where students take ownership of learning and use their portfolios to maintain a persistent learning record over time. The portfolio helps them set their own learning goals, express their own views of strengths, assess their weaknesses and achievements, and share their work with others. The other type of portfolio is used more or less for formative and summative assessments. This teacher- and institution-centered approach to the development of the portfolios includes an analytic framework that allows teachers or institutions to collect data through the use of rubrics to quantify that data. They can look at the student’s work and then assess that work based on those rubrics and collect quantified data based on that information.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/10/24/a-balanced-approach-to-eportfolios.aspx

by Katie Ash, EdNewsColorado

Since blended learning exploded onto the K-12 scene with promises of personalized and student-centered learning, it has proliferated into dozens of different models, with educators continually tweaking and changing those methods to find the perfect balance of face-to-face and online instruction to meet the needs of their students. Interest in blended education remains high, spurred partly by research offering support for advocates’ claims that blended learning is more effective than either online or face-to-face instruction on its own.

http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2012/10/25/50900-evaluating-what-works-in-blended-learning

by Brad Chacos, Tech Hive

Don’t let clichés about elderly canines and their supposed inability to grasp new concepts fool you; you’re never too old (or too young) to learn, and in this increasingly connected world, scrounging up a free education online is actually a relatively simple affair. What’s that? You don’t have an Internet connection at home? Don’t sweat it! Just head down to your local library and plop down in front of one of their freely available computers. Here, we’ll focus on free online educational resources that offer briefer—yet still highly informative—experiences more conducive to the 45 minute to one hour time limits set by major metropolitan libraries.

http://www.techhive.com/article/2012808/get-a-free-education-online-learning-at-the-library.html

By Eloise Tan, Chronicle of Higher Ed

The label “online lecturer” used to bother me. You didn’t see teachers in a traditional classroom calling themselves “in-the-flesh lecturers” or “face-to-face lecturers.” I feared that if I became an online lecturer, my colleagues might start to question the quality of my teaching or my reputation—as though the “online” bit would make what I did a little less important. Or a little less, well, good. Then I finished teaching my first online course and I switched sides. “Online lecturer” is simply the best way to describe what I do and how I teach, and I now find myself proud of the title.

http://chronicle.com/article/Bitten-by-the-Online-Bug/135260/

By Center for Digital Ed

Thirty-six community colleges earned recognition for using technology to serve their campuses, according to the 2012 Digital Community Colleges Survey. Colleges from 26 states entered the eighth annual survey conducted by the Center for Digital Education. Winning colleges in three different enrollment categories had higher total scores on questions about technology projects and programs they have in place.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/Top-Tech-Community-Colleges-of-2012.html

by NY Daily News

Letting your children bask in the glow of a television or computer in their bedrooms at night doesn’t benefit their sleep or waistlines. Researchers from the University of Alberta in Canada say that electronic devices in kids’ bedrooms are linked with both poor sleep and obesity. Researchers used data from nearly 3,400 students in fifth grade (10-11 years old) in a survey of their nighttime sleep habits and access to electronic devices. Half of the children had a television, DVD player, or video game console in the bedroom, 21 percent had a computer, and 17 percent had a mobile phone. Fifty-seven percent of students reported using their phones, watching television, or playing video games after they were supposed to be asleep. Researchers found that students with access to one electronic device were 1.47 times more likely to be overweight than kids with no devices in the bedroom. That increased to 2.57 times for kids with three devices. Additionally, they found that as little as one hour of additional sleep each night decreased the odds of being overweight by 28 percent and obese by 30 percent.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/kids-technology-bedrooms-fatter-poor-sleepers-article-1.1190892