Educational Technology

by Kevin Case, Information Week

Strengthen your IT skill set on these in-demand topics. New online classes make it easier than ever to bolster your portfolio. That whole constant learning thing can be done, at least in part, without leaving your couch. An explosion in online learning opportunities, offered by prestigious universities and Internet startups alike, shrinks the list of available excuses for folks who swore they’d never again set foot in a classroom. Better still, many of these opportunities are offered free, eliminating another popular excuse. And if you’re lucky, you work for a smart boss at a company willing to invest in its internal IT skills. If that’s the case, you can likely make the case for taking online courses on company time.

http://www.informationweek.com/strategic-cio/team-building-and-staffing/5-online-classes-to-pump-up-it-careers/d/d-id/898915

by UC San Diego

Four renowned scientists from the University of California San Diego and Scripps Institution of Oceanography are offering a free online climate change course starting in January 2014. “Climate Change in Four Dimensions: Scientific, Policy, International and Social” is one of the first massive open online courses (MOOC) being offered as a non-credit course by UC San Diego. The course is being taught by professors Charles Kennel, Naomi Oreskes, Richard Somerville and David Victor, with a special lecture by Veerabhadran Ramanathan. Students will view climate change from a variety of perspectives at the intersection of the natural sciences, technology, the social sciences and the humanities. The course also introduces new topics currently confronting the science and policy communities, such as geoengineering. The course provides the same quality learning and instruction that UC San Diego is known for, including complete video lectures and online activities to enhance learning and instruction.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1609032

By Holly Clark, Edudemic

Digital Student Portfolios are becoming more important now than ever! Students are creating and remixing information like never before – and where is all that amazing work going? At my old school it was wiped off the devices at the end of the year – a heart-wrenching idea that I was personally against. This is why we need to publish student work in one place and let it serve as a home of student reflection, and a become a destination to unleash student pride and curiosity. There are many reasons to begin the journey to digital portfolios – here are just a few.

http://www.edudemic.com/digital-student-portfolios/

by  – Siu-Man Raymond Ting and Laura M. Gonzalez, JOLT

This explorative study provides a few findings. First, the counseling students perceived online learning and interactions as beneficial. Second, the useful online learning tools included e-mails, discussion boards, virtual meetings, and narrated slides. Third, the effects of interactions online on learning process appeared to be positive and enhancing, and enriched the students’ career counseling knowledge. However, the results also show some student concerns on the use of technologies. It takes time for some students and instructors to adjust to the technological learning environment. Fourth, student relationships were enhanced through online learning in the hybrid class. Fifth, most students think that interactions among students and instructor were adequate and enriching in both the hybrid and F2F learning environment. The current study has provided some ideas of online learning elements, concepts, and practices for further studies in counseling or related fields.

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol9no3/ting_0913.htm

By John Raucci Jr., Inside Higher Ed

An article in these pages last week, “We Are Not Luddites,” by Brooks Kohler, argues that being skeptical of online learning does not make one a Luddite. Very well, then. I think most academics would agree. If his article had gone on to critique the tendency of tech folks to alienate skeptics of online learning by labeling them backward or hopelessly outdated, I would have been on board. But Kohler takes a curious turn when he writes that liberal arts instructors who welcome online learning are in a state of “technological hypnosis.” Students, according to Kohler, are in a “fixative trance.”

http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/11/26/rejecting-foragainst-dichotomy-about-online-learning-essay

by Sarah Speight, UK Campus

Dr Sarah Speight: “In spring 2013, I led a pilot project to foster a sense of community amongst students and staff across our three campuses through learning together. Working with Learning Technologist Helen Whitehead, we constructed the first ‘NOOC’ or Nottingham Open Online Course, called ‘Perspectives on Sustainability’. “Helen and I came to the project initially with different priorities. I wanted to use the NOOC to encourage cross-campus interaction between students of different disciplines. My aim was to grow interest in, and knowledge of, sustainability and I was determined that the NOOC should appeal to students from all areas (e.g. Humanities as well as Environmental Sciences). Helen was interested in the ‘disruptive’ pedagogies associated with ‘MOOCs’ (Massive Open Online Courses). Helen had experienced MOOCs as a student and wanted to try out other means of creating meaningful and collaborative learning online. We were hoping for 100 students. We got 850 – although only about 200 of these remained active throughout the course.

http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/talkingofteaching/2013/the-sustainability-nooc/

By Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

The job of a educational technologist, be it a learning designer (you know how people learn and how to collaborate with faculty to create effective learning environments) or educational technologists (you know some about learning and course design, and also spend time running and improving technology platforms and negotiating with vendors), is the best job on campus. Our goal in the edtech profession is to figure out how to bring more resources to teaching and learning. More resources to faculty. More resources to students.

http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/lets-talk-about-your-edtech-career

by Mukond Mohan, Best Engaging Communities

With the advent of MOOC (Massive Online Open Courses) I personally believe it is only a matter of time before many of the 4500 colleges shut down. I personally think 50% of colleges in the US will close down in 10+ years. Similar for Indian colleges – over 50% of colleges in India will shut down in 20 years. Most private colleges make money from endowments, grants, and then from tuition – in that order. Most of the moneyed institutions have “rich” students who then become alumni and donate to the college, many of the smaller colleges don’t.

http://bestengagingcommunities.com/2013/11/24/the-coming-20-year-disruption-in-higher-education/

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Sometimes it is important to take the time to examine how we work and how we can do better. Professional development is somewhat about that, but I’m talking more about personal development. We’re all human – we can get stuck in our routines before we know it, and pretty soon those habits are hard to break. The TED talks below are three that we’ve selected because we think they’re important reminders to us as humans. They talk about inspiring, leading, believing, and feeling. They’re applicable to teaching but they’re not always about teaching specifically. They’re about being human, and interacting with other humans, and we think they’ll give you a little inspiration in your life and in your classroom.

http://www.edudemic.com/ted-talks-for-teachers/