Educational Technology

by Ed Bott, ZD Net

How do you compete with rivals that are willing to give away a product comparable to yours? That’s Microsoft’s multi-billion dollar Office dilemma as it tries to compete with Google and its free Google Apps platform. For a generation raised on Gmail, Google Drive and the Google Docs family might be good enough for some potential customers to decide they don’t need the “real” Office after all. In a bid to raise the stakes, Google is making its free Quickoffice suite a standard feature of its latest Android distribution, KitKat. Meanwhile, Apple is stumbling, cutting features as it tries to make its iWork programs compatible across iPads and Macs. All of which explains why Microsoft is evolving its Office Web Apps at breakneck speed.

http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-improves-its-free-online-office-7000022911/

by Violet Blue, ZD Net

Hackers looking to make quick cash just got a new way to grease their bank accounts with the launch of HackerOne’s Internet Bug Bounty. Security high-hats from primary sponsors Microsoft and Facebook, along with volunteers from Etsy, Chrome and ISEC Partners calling themselves HackerOne today announced a bounty program trading cash for bugs in Open SSL, Python, Ruby, PHP, Rails, Perl and “the Internet,” among others. According to HackerOne’s Disclosure, the companies behind the program are not allowed special access or rights to the submitted bugs. Hackers can submit as anonymously as they prefer. Response Teams from affected companies and products are cautioned against taking punitive action against the hackers.

http://www.zdnet.com/new-internet-bug-bounty-holds-companies-accountable-protects-hackers-7000022904/

by Gabriel Sanchez, Huffington Post

“Brick and mortar schools will still exist, and the overwhelming majority of children will attend them, but the schools will be center of individualized learning, with engaging interactive content rather than a series of chalk-and-textbook, grade-delineated classrooms. At high school and potentially middle school, each child will have a computer to work at his or her own pace in customized programs; technology will deliver it to them in ways best suited to their individual needs and strengths.” Ron Packard addresses these important questions in his recent book Education Transformation. In particular, he highlights the specific ways in which technology can provide meaningful educational alternatives, especially for lower-income students in communities with struggling schools.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabriel-sanchez-zinny/ron-packards-education-fo_b_4219682.html

by John Watson, Keeping Pace K12

The best teachers are, of course, hugely beneficial to students, families, and schools. But holding up the best teachers as models of blended learning success may cause problems for the field. Transformation is not going to happen if it requires an extraordinarily time-consuming, voluntary contribution from millions of teachers. But the stories create the impression that perhaps professional learning isn’t really needed; perhaps the time for professional learning isn’t really needed; perhaps all teachers can learn these tools on their own, or within their professional learning communities, and the transformation will occur. The stories are inspiring, but the lessons that may be taken from them are wrong.

http://kpk12.com/blog/2013/11/are-great-teachers-a-problem-for-the-growth-of-blended-learning/

by Gee Kin Chou, edSurge

Judy Beard, principal of Whittemore Park Middle School in Horry County SC, was so convinced that she had to implement “blended learning” to help her students achieve the common core that she started implementing blended learning before they had the funds to purchase the technology. “It’s not about technology. It’s about instructional practice,” Ms. Beard told attendees at this year’s iNACOL conference in a session entitled Panicked about the transition to Common Core? Learn how blended learning is helping some schools address the new rigors of common core. “Start rotating the classroom” the award winning principal told the audience.

https://www.edsurge.com/n/2013-11-05-why-schools-are-blending-learning

by Consumer Electronics Network

Two new surveys reveal that the number of online programs is increasing at many private and public colleges and universities, which can lead to higher enrollment and new sources of revenue. The research by Learning House, which was co-sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), also indicates that currently, state universities have integrated online higher education more fully than private institutions. Forty-eight percent of state colleges offer at least five fully online degree programs, while only 15 percent of private colleges do so. “There has been a lot of discussion about the impact of MOOCs,” said David Clinefelter, Chief Academic Officer at Learning House and a co-author of the reports. “But in these two surveys, we discovered that institutions, private and public alike, are more focused on offering additional online programs.”

http://www.consumerelectronicsnet.com/article/New-Research-Reveals-Public-and-Private-Colleges-Approaches-to-Online-Higher-Education–2903413

by Sandra Miller, Huffington Post

When you think of the 21st-century classroom setting, you have to consider social networking and other online tools as its essential part. Although old-school educators view Facebook and Twitter in a negative light, these social networking tools can be very useful for building and growing relationships among classmates. All online tools can be very useful for educative purposes, but there are some specific networking opportunities that have been created with the purpose to enhance the academic environment and make the learning process easier for both students and educators.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sandra-miller/online-learning-tools_b_4212409.html

By Heidi Clausen, Country Today

While most teens her age were seated behind a desk one recent Tuesday morning, Audree Marcis was finishing up the morning chores on her family’s dairy farm. Shortly before 10 a.m., she logged on to her computer for geometry class, then online lessons in world history and Gothic literature. While she lives a couple hundred miles away from Grantsburg, Audree is one of about 680 students throughout Wisconsin enrolled in the Grantsburg School District’s virtual charter school, iForward. Homeschooled from first through fifth grade, she’s been an iForward student since sixth grade and now is a sophomore. While it can be challenging at times, Audree said she enjoys the freedom virtual schooling provides.

http://www.thecountrytoday.com/front_page/article_59d618f0-4579-11e3-84a6-0019bb2963f4.html

By Megan O’Neil, Chronicle of Higher Ed

The State University of New York’s University at Albany and nearby Hudson Valley Community College have agreed to take the first steps in what officials envision as a long-term, multifaceted sharing of information-technology services and facilities. They are the first institutions in the 64-campus SUNY system to share information-technology resources, and the arrangement could become a model for other colleges, officials say. The first step, in which each institution will house secondary backup servers for the other, involves linking the campuses via a dedicated fiber cable that is to be installed by December.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/u-at-albany-will-share-technology-services-with-community-college/48107

by Mark DiOrio, Observer-Dispatch

In a traditional classroom, the teacher gives a lecture and assigns homework. Now reverse it. Students watch the lesson at home, or on the bus using their smartphone, computer or tablet. The homework? It’s done in class. The idea of the flipped classroom is becoming more and more common, said Patrice Hallock, Utica College Education Department chairwoman. “The students are actively engaged in the classroom under the supervision of the teacher, so they are doing activities that apply the content in the classroom,” Hallock said. “Whenever there is higher student engagement, there’s more learning that occurs.”

http://www.uticaod.com/news/x1783713601/Teachers-use-technology-to-instruct-outside-of-school

by Curtis Kendrick and Irene Gashurov, EDUCAUSE Review

MOOCs give librarians new opportunities to help shape the conversation about changes in higher education and to guide administrators, faculty, and students through these changes. To assume this role, librarians must understand the MOOCs landscape. Numerous stakeholders will have an interest in the massive intellectual property that ultimately resides in libraries’ owned and licensed digital repositories. Studying and adopting technologies to manage and monitor MOOC usage of library resources will be essential to controlling access and tightening Internet safeguards.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/libraries-time-moocs

by Judith A. Pirani, EDUCAUSE Review

Debates about MOOCs and their attendant controversies continue to proliferate. What administrators and IT leaders in higher education need, however, is an overview of MOOCs and information resources to help fathom what they mean for institutions. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) remain higher education’s hot and sexy topic, influencing discussion and media, and creating conjecture and controversy. Nearly every publication and pundit has offered a view on the subject, resulting in an avalanche of information for busy IT leaders and others who want to discern what all this means for their institutions. This compendium attempts to lend a helping hand, recounting perspectives, research, and resources gleaned from a search of EDUCAUSE and other published sources. It is by no means absolute, but rather aims to provide a starting point of discovery for interested parties.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/compendium-mooc-perspectives-research-and-resources

by Julie Schell, Turn to Your Neighbor

During the 2010- 2011 academic year, Peer Instruction Network Members Troy Faulkner and Rob Warneke embarked on a quest to reach this ultimate goal. They were looking for something to help their students chart new paths as mathematically confident and proficient learners. They saw great opportunity in the Flipped 101 Model, where instructors put lectures online for students to watch before coming to class; during class, students work on homework problems with their peers with an instructor close by ready for any critical intervention. When they flipped their classrooms at Byron High School, they were surprised at the results. Rob and Troy were able to improve student achievement by a few percentage points on proficiency exams over lecture. Their transition to flipped teaching took a lot of effort and energy. Seeing their students improve just a bit and not radically, Rob and Troy didn’t throw up their hands and revert back to tradition to make their lives easier after just one try. Turn to Your Neighbor interviewed Troy and Rob at FlipCon13 about what they did next and why they stuck with their Flipped 2.0 version.

http://blog.peerinstruction.net/2013/11/04/from-flipped-classrooms-to-flipping-with-peer-instruction/

by Amanda Hobson, Students First

In the short time since the school year began, there has been a positive shift in school culture. Students have ownership not only of their behavior, but their learning as well. Teachers are working with students to unpack standards and create learning pathways to master those standards. As we continue to implement personal mastery, there will be more project-based and challenge-based learning opportunities, which will provide rigor and meaning to learning. Personal mastery is the future of education, providing a renewed promise that all students will receive the education they need and deserve.

http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/my-schools-path-to-personalized-learning

by Madeline Gottlieb, Pipe Dream

In an effort to combat the rising costs of higher education, SUNY Open Textbooks, a new program to provide textbooks online for free, will be made available in early 2014. In an effort to combat the rising costs of higher education, SUNY Open Textbooks, a new program to provide textbooks online for free, will be made available in early 2014. The SUNY Open Textbooks program is providing textbooks online for students to read, rather than purchase, for their classes. “SUNY libraries have been concerned with the rising cost of textbooks for years. One common strategy, placing textbooks on reserves has high use, but it is a limited and expensive solution. We need to add new strategies that reduce the cost of textbooks,” wrote Carey Hatch, associate provost for academic technologies and information services of SUNY.

http://www.bupipedream.com/news/25094/suny-program-offers-cost-free-digital-textbooks/

By Holly Clark, Edudemic

Crowdsourcing is an important information literacy skill. Jeff Howe was the first to coin the term “crowdsourcing” in Wired Magazine in 2006. In his article, Howe describes how the internet has created a virtual crowd that allows us to share our passions and interests. This is important for students because the idea of crowdsourcing will allow them to utilize personal learning networks to gain a diversity of opinions, find outside experts and use the wisdom of a network or crowd to find more thorough answers and ask better questions. Howe feels there are two important components to crowdsourcing. There must be an “open-call” (you allow everyone to participate), and it must be undefined (let the students ask the questions). The person you think might be the best person, is not necessarily the best person for the job. This forces students to think of each other as potential partners and together, by utilizing the strengths of everyone or the crowd, they can create a much better product or expand an idea. It is what Howe calls “Wikipedia with everything.”

http://www.edudemic.com/crowdsourcing-in-the-classroom/

By Jeff Dunn, Edudemic

They’re not just tweeting, snapchatting, and Facebooking. Okay, maybe that’s what they do most of the time. But modern students are doing some pretty innovative things with technology these days. From blending up all their online and offline courses to integrating iPads into activities outside the classroom, there’s a lot happening that you should know about. The following visual guide from Internet Innovation walks you through a half-dozen ways that you may not have expected education technology to be used.

http://www.edudemic.com/students-using-technology/

By Mike Orcutt, Technology Review

Until we have a better understanding of design constraints imposed by 3-D printers and 3-D-printed materials, the technology won’t reach its full potential in manufacturing.  Drawing on artificial-intelligence capabilities, PARC researchers are developing software meant to help make manufacturing accessible to people without manufacturing expertise. In theory, 3-D printing gives consumers the ability to conceive of and make various products. But designing many objects requires specialized knowledge of geometry, materials, and manufacturing processes. Researchers at PARC are now building software tools meant to automate that kind of judgment. The goal, says PARC CEO Stephen Hoover, is to build programs that enable non-experts to “kind of think their way through a design space” before sending any instructions to the printer.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/520576/automated-manufacturing-for-3-d-printers/

by Education News

One of history’s earliest education disruptions came with the invention of the printing press. The book, of course, followed, and both had huge implications for education — just as new technologies do today. But it is how we use these technologies that really matters most, says Frederick (Rick) Hess of the American Enterprise Institute, who happens to be the author of a new book out this week with Kaplan’s Bror Saxberg. Hess calls the book “a guide to thinking about technology in more powerful and constructive ways,’’ and argues that digital learning is just a variation on an old theme.

http://www.educationviews.org/book-change-education-digital-learning/

By Calvin Hennick, Boston Globe

Paper? Check. Pencils? Got ’em. And — if you’re a Medfield eighth-grader — don’t forget the iPad. At a time when technology is becoming as integral as backpacks and gym shoes for some students, the policy raises the question of whether expensive electronics should be considered “school supplies” like calculators, notebooks, and binder, or whether districts should provide required devices in the same way they hand out textbooks. Nat Vaughn, principal of Blake Middle School in Medfield, said he was “cautiously optimistic” when the district first surveyed parents last winter to determine how they would feel about buying iPads for their kids to use at school. “We said, ‘We feel this is really enhancing our education. Here’s why, and here’s what it looks like,’ ” Vaughn said. “Overwhelmingly, they said they would support this initiative.”

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2013/11/03/become-ipads-devices-great-rigeur-schools-offers-lesson-should-economics-ipads-students-high-tech-gear-schools-call-tablets-high-tech/2AvVcGYtZIlq9YKyTO8TEK/story.html

By JAMIE FORSYTHE — News-Democrat

Freeburg Community High School is the first public high school in St. Clair or Madison counties to launch a one-to-one computer initiative — a plan to have a computer in the hands of every student. Freeburg School District 77 provided a Samsung Google Chromebook to each of its 620 students. “I thought it would give kids access to resources that, without it, they wouldn’t have because of access to the Internet,” said Andrew Lehman, superintendent of Freeburg District 77. “It allows kids to be more flexible in learning, in terms of when they access materials and how.” District 77 acquired the Chromebooks through a lease agreement, at a cost of $90 per student per year, for three years. The lease agreement is with a North Carolina company for about $183,000. To help offset the cost, Lehman said the district increased the registration fee for students by $25 per school year — from $65 to $90.

http://www.bnd.com/2013/11/02/2882361/public-high-schools-struggle-to.html