BY: Amy Murin, Keeping Pace

There is one common theme to each Keeping Pace report in recent years: K-12 student access to digital options is still dependent on zip code for students in most states. While the broad and deep amount of activity in a state like Florida gets a lot of attention from the media, there are many more states where access is spotty. The Single-District section of Keeping Pace 2012 (pp. 20-21) looked at four different surveys / reports from 2010-2012. The National Center for Education Statistics released the first report in late 2011, the California eLearning Census reports from 2011 and 2012 , a survey from the Southern Regional Education Board, and a survey of blended learning activity in rural Colorado facilitated by our team here at Evergreen (link). All three made similar discoveries:

http://kpk12.com/blog/2013/12/student-access-to-digital-options-is-still-determined-by-zip-code/

by the National Science Foundation

Jan Cuny, NSF program manager for computer education and broadening participation says “The challenges of underproduction of degrees, lack of a presence in K-12, and underrepresentation for computer science are significant and interrelated. The computing community has an unprecedented opportunity to affect K-12 education with its enthusiasm and experience, together with its best ideas on curriculum, pedagogy, and ways to engage a broader, more diverse group of students.” Central to NSF’s efforts is the CS 10K Project, which focuses on making computer science accessible in high schools. CS 10K is a nationwide effort to get engaging, rigorous academic computer science courses into 10,000 schools taught by 10,000 well-prepared teachers. The project pays careful attention to the inclusion of women and minorities–groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in computing.

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=129882&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

By Jennifer Carey, Edudemic

Live Blogging is a popular medium to convey information as it is announced. Unless you’ve been privileged enough to get an invitation to the latest Apple or Google Event, then you have likely seen the release of information via Twitter or other live blog platforms. Live Blogs include not only writing, but images, video, links, and more. In essence, they are multimedia publications. Most conferences have access to wireless, and their inherent nature and culture – engaging, interactive, and open – lend to a live blog platform.

http://www.edudemic.com/live-blogging-tips-for-teachers/

by Ariel Schwartz, Fast Co-exist

Want a new skill? Now you can channel flip at any time of day, just like on TV. Walk into CreativeLive’s airy San Francisco studios and you could be forgiven for thinking you’re in just another snazzy software startup office. That is, until you open one of the closed doors and notice the cameras, producers, presenters, and live studio audience. Co-founded by photographer Chase Jarvis in 2010, CreativeLive offers free, live online workshops taught by experts. You won’t learn how to code in CreativeLive classes (online education startups like Udacity and EdX can help with that), but you could learn about photography, design, the music business, e-mail marketing, and other hands-on topics. Think of it more as a replacement for enrichment classes at a community college than high-level classes at a university.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3023392/the-next-phase-of-online-education-24-7-digital-video-channels

by Fred DiUlus, ExpertClick

According to futurist and online education pioneer, Dr. Fred DiUlus PhD, higher education is on an accelerated course headed for revolutionary change. Universities which formally fought against adopting any online protocols are now adopting hybrid programs (online and class based) at a staggering conversion rate. Schools offering online degree programs increased 700% in the past ten years while student enrollment in online degree programs is advancing an average of 12% a year. Thousands of colleges from among the 17,000 accredited universities worldwide are anxious to get onboard and grab their piece of the global education market.

http://www.expertclick.com/NRWire/Releasedetails.aspx?id=50325

by K. WALSH, Emerging EdTech

In this article, we offer a curated set of resources that can equip any educator to better understand how Blended Learning (a.k.a. “Hybrid Learning”, “Mix-Mode Instruction”, “Web-enhanced Instruction” and other terms) works and why it is increasingly understood to be an optimal approach to teaching and learning. Additionally, the tools and insights offered in these articles and videos can help the early adopter get up to speed and the experienced educator evolve their approach. Whether you are just beginning to learn about Blended Learning, or already ‘get it’ but want to learn more, you’ve come to the right place.

http://www.emergingedtech.com/2013/12/7-excellent-free-blended-learning-resources-understanding-the-whys-and-hows-of-mixed-mode-instruction/

by Lawrence Biemiller, Chronicle of Higher Ed

A study comparing traditional and “flipped” versions of a pharmacy-school course at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that students much preferred the flipped course and got better grades on the final examination. The flipped course replaced in-class lectures with videos that the students watched before they came to class to take part in a series of activities—assessments, presentations, discussions, quizzes, and “microlectures.” The study is to be published in February in Academic Medicine, the journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, but it is available online now (it can be downloaded using the “Article as PDF” tool). It reports on the 2011 and 2012 versions of a first-year course for graduate students, “Basic Pharmaceutics II.”

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/study-measures-benefits-of-a-flipped-pharmacy-course/48749

by eLearning Industry

The availability of excellent, free web-based resources has led millions of instructors to incorporate online content into their online courses. The problem is that these resources are not permanently available. Copyright violations and repository changes often lead to video and other resources links getting broken. What are instructors, faculty and trainers to do?

http://elearningindustry.com/how-to-handle-broken-links-in-online-courses

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

PBS LearningMedia is seeking teachers who are using innovative digital media in their classrooms to apply for membership in a corps of digital innovators. Those who make the cut will provide feedback to the organization, which provides a free media-on-demand service to educators nationwide. They’ll also participate in a year of professional development activities, including virtual training and events focused on using digital media and technology. Fifteen recipients will attend an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. in 2014 for a summit at PBS’ headquarters. The 2014 PBS LearningMedia Digital Innovators Program requires candidates to submit a one- to two-minute video and answer two essay questions describing how they’ve become “digital superstars” within their schools. The online application is available at pbslearningmedia.org.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/12/12/pbs-learningmedia-seeks-digital-superstar-teachers.aspx?admgarea=News1

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

A University of Colorado Boulder team has launched a tutorial to help students, teachers and others create a 3D video game in an effort to generate interest in computer programming. The “game-building program allows people with zero experience coding to design their own 3-D worlds by ‘inflating’ hand-drawn 2-D icons and then programming those objects to interact in defined ways,” according to a CU Boulder news release. “Programming should be easy and exciting,” said Alexander Repenning, CU Boulder computer science professor and lead on the project, in a prepared statement. “But that’s not where we are. The perception of the public is that it’s hard and boring. Our goal is to expose a much larger as well as broader audience to programming by reinventing computer science education in public schools.”

http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/12/11/u-colorado-boulder-tutorial-uses-video-games-to-teach-coding.aspx?admgarea=News1

By Leila Meyer, THE Journal

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett have launched plans to elevate computer science to a core subject in the district. According to information from the mayor’s office, every CPS high school will begin offering a foundational course called “Exploring Computer Science” within the next three years. Exploring Computer Science was originally developed for the Los Angeles Unified School District through a K-12/university partnership and has been available through CPS’s Career and Technical Education program since 2010. In the next five years, the initiative will also introduce an Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science course to at least half of all CPS high schools and offer K-8 computer science courses at one quarter of CPS elementary schools. The district also plans to allow computer science to count as a graduation requirement within five years.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/12/11/chicago-public-schools-makes-computer-science-core-subject.aspx

by Keith Hampson, Management and Strategy in Digital Higher Ed

Design is having its moment. Apple’s Jonathan Ive, Philippe Starck and Michael Graves are among a growing number of designers enjoying rock-star status. Businessweek, Fast Company and other pubs now dedicate entire issues to design. Enrollment in college design programs has spiked. But what role does – or should – design play in education, specifically digital higher education? A lot, it turns out. As we move from the classroom to the screen, design matters more than ever. The qualities that create great design are also the qualities needed to create great online learning experiences. The relationship of design and higher education is the theme of a series of posts we’re kicking off. This first post highlights what great design and great educational experiences have in common. The parallels are many.

http://higheredmanagement.net/2013/12/11/why-design-matters-in-digital-higher-education/

by Online Learning Insights

There are patterns within the trend predictions for 2014 that are worthy of paying attention to. There is strong, if not overwhelming evidence that behaviour patterns of students, educators, employees and professionals are moving towards the use of social tools for learning, working and teaching. Collaborating seamlessly face-to-face and at a distance, bringing the human element to virtual interactions, and personalized learning will prevail in 2014; each facilitated by technology. But it’s not going to be about the technology, it will be about making connections by voice and/or visual, contributing to new knowledge, and learning with and from others—all mediated through social media. It will be the behaviours of students, lifelong learners and educators—their use of technology, specifically social media applications that will influence education in the upcoming year.

http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/three-social-trends-that-will-influence-education-in-2014/

by Technology Review

Twitter’s footprint is growing fast, although English speakers in the U.S. remain thelargest demographic. Smiocast has detected twees in 61 languages, sent from most countries in the world. The trick now is to turn its global presence into advertising dollars.

http://www.technologyreview.com/graphiti/522376/the-many-tongues-of-twitter/

by Before It’s News

MOOCs are going to need a bit of work, but was that really a surprise?  Sebastian Thrun himself noted in his blog: “There remains so much more that needs to be improved. The summer pilot was the second iteration of a new approach. To all those people who declared our experiment a failure, you have to understand how innovation works. Few ideas work on the first try. Iteration is key to innovation. We are seeing significant improvement in learning outcomes and student engagement. And we know from our data that there is much more to be done.” Before complaining about the completion rate of online courses,traditional college advocates should keep in mind all those folks they’ve turned away.

http://beforeitsnews.com/libertarian/2013/12/are-the-poor-completion-rates-of-online-college-courses-really-a-problem-2541252.html

By dianeravitch

“The experiments are far-reaching. Currently, there are roughly 275,000 K-12 students from 31 states who are taking classes online. School administrators all over the nation are handing out iPads and asking teachers and students to come up with new ways to learn with them. Some schools are experimenting with flipped classrooms, in which kids read or watch videos of a lecture for homework and work through problems or questions with an instructor during class time. “Other schools, including a rapidly expanding chain of charter schools that serve low-income children, are employing what they call a “blended learning” model. It works like this: The classroom is broken down into small groups. Some kids work with a qualified, credentialed teacher, while others are shepherded to a computer room, where, under the watchful eye of a paid-by-the-hour supervisor, zoom ahead or redo a lesson using interactive, adaptive software.

http://dianeravitch.net/2013/12/08/do-ipads-improve-learning-and-raise-test-scores/

By Ellen Ullman, K12 Blueprint

“You have to remember that technology is not a magic bullet. You just need to let teachers see its value and the magic that can happen,” says Robert Baker. One key to the magic, according to Robert Baker, is having the right technology tools. At CCDS, those tools are Windows 8 Tablet PCs. “If you purchase tablet PCs you really can have it all,” he says. “Tablets are the hands-down best way to affect teaching and learning. They create an open, powerful learning environment because they give teachers the option to use whatever tool makes the most sense, whether it’s touch, keyboard, pen, or a combination. That’s powerful.”

http://www.k12blueprint.com/content/tablet-pcs-transform-learning-cincinnati-country-day-school

By Christina Inge, Edudemic

Even in a traditional classroom setting, today’s students expect an online space to complement their classes, and more and more, they expect that space to be social and collaborative. For my students, I’ve found that tools, from simple file-sharing like Dropbox to something more elaborate like journaling applications, are something they increasingly ask for, since their comfort zone is to communicate online as well as in person. For educators, it’s an added tool in the arsenal to use collaboration technologies, from dedicated platforms to existing social media, to engage students, especially in higher ed.

http://www.edudemic.com/online-collaborative-spaces-for-students/

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Education has been around for a long time. Many things have changed, and others have stayed remarkably similar over a number of years. As of late, there have been a lot of innovations and technological advancements that have really changed the educational landscape. In order to understand where education is heading, Boundless decided to take a look at where education has been in the past – to see how far it has come, or hasn’t in some cases. They’ve put together this handy infographic that shows some of education’s bigger historical milestones. From education in the ancient world to projecting what things will look like in 20 years, they’ve covered it all!

http://www.edudemic.com/past-present-future-education/

by Lauren Hepler, Silicon Valley Business Journal

Coursera, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provider, today debuted a free iPhone app designed to let students access course content from their smartphones. Coursera seeks to extend its offerings to meet demand and, hopefully, generate more revenue. GigaOm notes that the new mobile offering fills a void, as third-party apps previously charged students to access MOOC content. The new app, GigaOm adds, “is more of a bare-bones version of [Coursera’s] browser offerings.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/12/10/coursera-iphone-app-pushes-online.html