Educational Technology

By Chris Riedel, THE Journal

With ever-increasing opportunities for online learning, educators must find new ways to engage their students and create a sense of community in a virtual world. But just how do you, as an educator, do that? “Whether it’s in the classroom or in the virtual space,” said Dean Shareski, community manager for Discovery Education Canada, “educators need to actively engage the question ‘how do we really create this notion of community?’… How do we engage our students [and inspire them to engage one another]?”

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/02/12/9-tips-for-creating-a-sense-of-community-for-distance-learners.aspx

By Bridget McCrea, THE Journal

Working with limited budgets and a seemingly endless pipeline of new technology tools, applications and equipment to test out and possibly implement, today’s K-12 IT directors have a lot on their plates right now. Add Common Core State Standards and growth of mobile devices on campus to the equation and the task of balancing student and teacher needs with available resources becomes that much more daunting. “Nothing is static around here when it comes to IT; everything is changing all the time,” said Steve Young, CTO at the Judson Independent School District in San Antonio, TX. “Half of the tools and applications we’re talking about today didn’t even exist a few years ago. At this point, change is the only thing we can count on.”

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/02/13/it-directions-change-is-the-only-thing-we-can-count-on.aspx

by Angie Cullin, THE Journal

Teaching methods today are not the same as they were even just a few years ago. Technology as a teaching tool has come a long way. While overhead projectors and bulky desktop computers used to complement classroom instruction, iPads and mobile games are now being used to deliver teaching material in a way that was never before possible. Both students and teachers benefit from using technology in the classroom. From the captivating curriculum on mobile devices that keeps kids engaged to the immediate feedback about their performance, educational games help students better prepare for the always-evolving virtual world they live in. Instead of being intimidated by today’s technology tools, some teachers are embracing these resources to enhance teaching and learning.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/01/16/using-mobile-games-in-the-classroom-and-living-room.aspx

By: Ellen Lee, CNBC.com

Massive online open courses (MOOCs) are supposed to change the face of higher education. Early success, though, has been easier to find among corporations.Yahoo! employees can take any classes from Coursera’s “Signature Track”—not even limited only to specific job function edification—from macroeconomic principles to genetics and evolution. Yahoo! employees can be reimbursed for the cost, around $30 to $100 per course. Udacity launched its “Open Education Alliance” last fall, partnering with businesses such as Google and AT&T to develop skills-based classes.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101415252

by Oregon State University

Oregon State University is helping its faculty members develop textbooks in their fields that will be freely accessible online to any student in the world. The open textbook initiative is a collaboration between OSU Libraries, OSU Press and OSU Extended Campus that provides financial, technical and editorial support for faculty members to create “open” texts that aim to reduce costs for students and further position Oregon State as a leader in research and teaching. “I can’t remember a single year where I haven’t had a student advocacy group come to me and say we need to do something about the cost of textbooks,” said Faye Chadwell, the director of OSU Press and the Donald and Delpha Campbell University Librarian. “That’s really the driving factor here.”

http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2014/feb/osu-open-textbook-initiative-aims-reduce-student-costs-enhance-learning

By Dawn Casey-Rowe, Edudemic

It’s been less than two years since I started my edtech journey. Before that, I was just a teacher looking for ways to give my students the technology they demanded without having a tech budget. Today, I’m in love with edtech. I’ve crossed the line. I’m one of them now. In my pre-tech mind, students using smartphones to take pictures of assignments on the board, or kids setting alarms for projects would have been a tech revolution. I had no idea what lie ahead. I didn’t even have a vocabulary to express what I wanted. I’d never heard the word “edtech,” and I had to look up what a “start up guy” was. I was totally green. A friend introduced me to Learnist after I began searching for “teachers who used computers but didn’t have any in the classroom.” It was all my techless vocabulary could handle.

http://www.edudemic.com/edtech-addiction/

by Barry Levine, Venture Beat

What does Microsoft have in mind for the Internet of things? That question pops to mind following news that the tech giant is beefing up its Internet of things team. A report from ZDNet on Tuesday said that the team, formerly known as Microsoft Embedded, appears to be broadening its focus beyond it previous scope of enterprise/industrial customers to now include consumers — a sector research firm IDC predicts will reach $8.9 trillion by 2020. The evidence includes movement of the former Embedded team from the Windows Server group to the operating system division. Hints also come from the LinkedIn profiles of several new team members, including the Internet of thing team’s director of program management (as of December), Steve Teixeira who noted in his updated profile that the team’s role is to develop Internet of things software for “industry devices, wearables, automobiles, consumer electronics, etc.”

http://venturebeat.com/2014/02/11/microsoft-suits-up-for-the-internet-of-things/

By Nancy Caramanico, School CIO

What is the early research telling us about the benefits or drawbacks of the Flipped Classroom? Flipped Learning is a popular trend discussed in many classrooms and faculty rooms today. With access to technology expanding daily, it is easy to understand the appeal of having students learn independently outside of class, with help from video-based lessons, and then collaborate and interact more directly with peers and teachers during classroom time. However, as with any new endeavor, it is important to ask questions: What does the research say? Are these learning models a surefire way to make learning more effective? What features are found in successful rollouts of ‘flipped learning’? What are the benefits? Are there any drawbacks? Here we take a look at a few studies, from both K-12 and higher ed settings.

http://www.k12blueprint.com/content/flipped-education-worth-flipping

By Miguel Guhlin, CIO Advisor

Team leaders, I’m told, take responsibility for their team’s failures. You know, when the Titanic hit the iceberg, and it sank, the Captain went down with the ship. I recently found that I fumbled on a project. Here are some tips I came up with to avoid having it occur again. As I read these, I realize that they are obvious. I can’t help but ask, Why didn’t I do this in the first place? The reality is that everyone missteps and other factors can force your hand.

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&entryid=7157

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

When schools need technology and districts can’t provide it, sometimes the only way to find the funds is to get creative. The Tech Search Party was one parent’s idea for generating the money his kids’ schools needed to get their hands on technology. But it’s not the only way that people are raising the funds they need to buy new gear and training to add technology into the classroom. A teacher in Oregon used crowdfunding site DonorsChoose to generate some of the funding she needed to bring Chromebooks into her fourth grade; and a seventh grade English teacher in Memphis used PledgeCents, a lesser known crowdfunding site, to raise the money to buy a new classroom projector. In each case the district couldn’t provide the technology budget needed for these acquisitions, so individuals took on the job of doing it themselves. The lesson they’ve all learned: If they can do it, the rest of us can too.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/02/12/3-ways-to-raise-money-for-tech-in-the-classroom.aspx

by Telegram Towns, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

The Westborough Public library, as part of its Discover Your Next Chapter: Lifelong Learning program, is offering class discussions to parallel the Coursera course “Age of Jefferson” for six weeks beginning Feb. 17. The free “Age of Jefferson” online class is taught by Professor Peter Onuf from the University of Virginia and provides an overview of Thomas Jefferson’s work and perspectives. It is presented by the University of Virginia in partnership with Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Each week, a new online video class will be posted on the Coursera website for you to watch. Participants can then attend the accompanying discussion of that class at the library.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20140212/TOWNNEWS/302129839&TEMPLATE=TOWNPORTAL

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

There are a ton of resources floating around out there about connected learning. Connected learning brings together all of the various experiences, interests, technology, academics, people and communities that learners are a part of in order to make all of these scenarios and experiences learning opportunities. Many teachers naturally do this to some degree in their classroom already, without perhaps the official ‘name’ attached. The handy infographic linked below, from Mia MacMeekin, takes a deeper look into connected learning, and highlights what is so great about it! Look with a critical eye – do you already try to incorporate all or some of the elements? Do you value the same ideas in your teaching?

http://www.edudemic.com/connected-learning-infographic-mmm/

by Megan O’Neil, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Students arrive on college campuses with multiple mobile electronic devices. And a quick scan of the Apple Apps store turns up hundreds of note-taking, assignment-sharing, and textbook applications. In this ocean of options, what education technologies are students actually using to help them navigate their studies? The Chronicle sat down with a trio of graduate students in the communication, culture, and technology program at Georgetown University, and quizzed them about the technology tools that keep their academic lives humming.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/video-tech-tools-students-say-they-cant-live-without/50343

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Educators today often use a variety of pedagogical styles. Some are old, some are new(er), and some folks are out there innovating and trying new stuff of their own creation. While most teachers out there are probably piecing together a little bit of something with a touch of something else – different strokes for different folks, right? – There are some folks out there that we have to thank for some of the more common concrete pedagogical styles. So who are these folks? Many of us are familiar with the pedagogical concepts, but the people behind them are often less well-known. Take a look at the handy infographic linked below – it highlights six individuals that have made major contributions to what we modern folks know as pedagogy.

http://www.edudemic.com/how-to-teach/

by Andrew Hoag, VentureVillage

Do university graduates lack the hands-on skills they need to succeed in the world of startups? Are MBAs too traditional to keep up with fast-paced technology companies? Is Berlin suffering from a talent drought? Andrew Hoag, managing director, Europe at career accelerator Startup Institute, tackles these questions and more.As startups in Berlin continue to thrive, demand for jobs in the city’s startups is projected to soar over the coming years. According to a recent study by McKinsey, 100,000 jobs will be created in the city by 2020. Without the right talent, however, the lifeblood of these exciting startups will dry up.

http://venturebeat.com/2014/02/11/are-career-accelerators-the-solution-to-the-startup-skills-gap/

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Technology is pretty much exploding these days. As a pretty average person who has a job and a life, it can be hard to keep up with all the cool stuff happening out there. Computers are getting faster and faster – that we all know. Our desktops and laptops do so much more today than they did just a couple of years ago. The handy infographic linked below takes a look at the top 10 fastest supercomputers in the world. The amount of data that these computers can handle is absolutely mind boggling. So whether you’re speeding through your computer based work on a shiny new, super speedy machine or cursing a slow-as-molasses laptop that takes ten minutes to do anything, check out these awesome machines that will definitely put your computer to shame!

http://www.edudemic.com/supercomputers/

by BRUCE EDWARD WALKER, Heartlander

The concept of the traditional library continues to evolve from rooms teeming with musty books, dusty shelves and spinster librarians shushing patrons. The latest evolution involves offering online alternatives to high-school dropouts, allowing them the opportunity to earn a diploma rather than a General Equivalency Diploma (GED). On January 9, Cengage launched its Career Online High School program for public libraries. COHS blends online learning with academic coaches who assist students with career advice and curricula guidance.

http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2014/02/10/online-learning-libraries-targets-high-school-dropouts

By Grant Welker, Lowell Sun

Thanks to a new law, public schools, including charter schools, will be required to ensure that students who are suspended or expelled from school are able to continue learning. Schools will be obligated to provide educational services to those students, and are encouraged to seek disciplinary alternatives to suspension or expulsion. North Adams, a district less than one-fifth the size of Fall River’s, offers students an online “learning lab” in the high school that is mostly self-directed and operates year-round. In Springfield, one of the state’s largest districts, offers two school settings during typical school hours, one for in-school suspensions and the other for out-of-school suspensions. In each of those three districts, students other than those who are suspended take part, including special-education students and those missing class for medical reasons.

http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_25098167/law-ensures-suspensions-dont-stop-learning

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Education

White House staff and tech executives talked about education in social media chats the day after the 2014 State of the Union address. In President Barack Obama’s address (transcript) on Tuesday, Jan. 28, he talked about high-speed broadband, high-tech manufacturing hubs, and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/Social-Media-Ed-Tech-Dialogue-State-of-the-Union.html

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Education

In the virtual environment ProtoSphere, students can create content together, collaborate physically and virtually, and use various forms of media. Science teacher Vikki Smith said this virtual environment will help prepare students for global collaboration, both now and in their future careers. She’s hoping to continue collaboration within her classroom in this environment, but doesn’t plan to stop there. “What this 3-D virtual reality is going to do for me is that we can have students working with other students around the country, around the world and having conversations.”

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/Collaborative-Learning-Spaces-Become-Virtual-Reality.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.”

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