Educational Technology

by Scott Hayden, Edudemic

Using video is an efficient use of time and allows you to provide visual examples to illustrate points in more detailed verbal feedback. Securely stored and shared to your students from the cloud eg inboxing or tweeting links from Dropbox OR shared from your Hard Drive. YouTube can be used (ease of access) where you can adjust the settings to Private so no-one but your student can see it. Once students send you work you can assess wherever you are using any video recording device. See the link below for more.

http://www.edudemic.com/video-feedback-with-students/

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

The internet has brought great things to education. Research is easier, for sure. And online learning is bringing education options in varying ranges of affordability to a much wider audience. The handy infographic linked below takes a look at how educational power is shifting away from the hands of the institutions and more into the hands of students.

http://www.edudemic.com/internet-education/

By David Nagel, THE Journal

The rapid growth of interconnected devices making up the Internet of Things will wreak havoc on data security, storage, servers, networks and end user privacy, according to a new report. There will be 26 billion “things” making up the Internet of Things within six years, according to a report released by Gartner. The implications for IT are profound — in particular for data center operations. “IoT threatens to generate massive amounts of input data from sources that are globally distributed,” said Joe Skorupa, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, in a statement released to coincide with the report.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/03/18/what-the-26-billion-thing-internet-of-things-portends-for-it.aspx

by By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

Georgetown University is calling on its entire campus community to explore what the institution of 2030 will look like and to experiment with new ways of educating students. The impact of its discoveries may ultimately end up being felt throughout American higher ed. Introducing innovation in education is easier when the institution is new. Georgetown University, established in 1789, may not necessarily be the first institution to come to mind when thinking about innovation related to higher education. But an initiative introduced in November, called “Designing the Future(s) of the University,” is calling on the entire campus community to explore what the Georgetown of 2030 will look like and to experiment with new ways of educating its students.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/04/01/technology-and-the-futures-of-the-university.aspx

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

Friction, rocketry and alternative energy are some of the projects undertaken by the latest crop of teachers who have been named winners in an annual competition put on by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Vernier, a company that sells scientific equipment for teachers. All of the educators were selected based on their use of data-collection technology in science classes. The six winners in K-12 were honored during this year’s NSTA National Conference and received $1,000 in cash, $3,000 in Vernier products and $1,500 toward travel expenses to attend the event in Boston.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/04/07/teachers-honored-for-the-innovative-use-of-tech-in-science-ed.aspx

By David Nagel, THE Journal

New research indicates virtually all middle and high school students have access to mobile devices and are using them for schoolwork. And nearly a third of them are using mobile devices issued by their schools. According to the report, “The New Digital Playbook: Understanding the Spectrum of Students’ Activities and Aspirations,” issued by Project Tomorrow in an event taking place in Washington, DC today, 89 percent of high school students (grades 9–12) and 73 percent of middle school students (grades 6–8) have access to smart phones. Another 66 percent in both groups have access to laptops. Sixty-one percent of middle schoolers and 50 percent of high schoolers have access to tablets. And 48 percent of middle schoolers and 39 percent of high schoolers have access to digital readers.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/04/08/a-third-of-secondary-students-use-school-issued-mobile-devices.aspx

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Education

In the last five years, disruptive technology has widened the generation gap faster and further than it has in the past. Tech columnist David Pogue from Yahoo Tech talked about disruptive technology that is changing our lives in the closing keynote at the CoSN annual conference on Friday, March 21. Some of the technologies he highlighted include augmented reality, the Internet of Things and self-driving cars. The augmented reality app Word Lens, for example, translates words on a sign through live video, showing the English translation on the device’s screen. And the Internet of Things allows people to remotely control and monitor Web-connected devices like thermostats and security cameras.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/Technology-Disruptions.html

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Ed

If we don’t change the way we teach, we could face a student revolt that will cause seismic shifts in how education works in the United States. Superintendents say this is just one of the things that has them concerned. Several shared their thoughts before and during a panel discussion at the 2014 CoSN (Consortium for School Networking) conference. When it comes to technology challenges, superintendents worry about device selection, student data privacy and helping educators get comfortable with technology tools. Let’s find out what problems they face and how they plan to deal with them.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/5-Education-Problems-that-Superintendents-Face.html

by Michael L. Rodgers and Mary Harriet Talbut, Tomorrow’s Professor

In general, online courses require greater planning, more extensive resources, more formalized communication, and more detailed organization than do face to face courses. But, the work that goes into creating an online course, and the insights forthcoming from comparison of online and face to face versions of the course, can make the face to face course better in many ways.

http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/enewsletter.php

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Education is a huge industry. It touches nearly everyone out there, so it should be. But often times when we think of ‘big industries’ we think of things like banking, cars, or consumer electronics. Well did you know exactly how big of an industry education is? And just how rapidly and how much the industry is changing because of new technologies? The handy infographic linked below, from Knewton and Column Five Media takes a look at some of these questions and more. Learn how digital education is poised to transform the way teachers teach and how students learn.

http://www.edudemic.com/whoa-education-is-a-7-trillion-dollar-industry/

By David Matheson, Edudemic

The need for teachers to develop quality material outside class time is a genuine drain on their limited time and becomes a significant obstacle to the uptake of flipping. In a seemingly unrelated topic research is making an ever stronger case that effective feedback in a clear and timely manner has a significant influence of the achievement of student outcomes. This is especially the case for students facing high stakes examinations toward the end of their school experience. Summative evaluation through examinations is far from a new idea nor is returning papers and suggested answers. However, the merging of flipped classrooms and examination feedback may shed new insights and opportunities.

http://www.edudemic.com/flipped-feedback/

by CNN Wire

There are many things that make you special: Your sense of humor, your dance moves, your personal style, the shape of your ear. That’s right, your ear. The password has had its moment, but those hard-to-remember strings of number and letters are increasingly insecure and clumsy to manage. The next wave in computer security will be biometric authentication, the futuristic practice of using unique behavioral and biological traits such as fingerprints, gait and yes, even ear shape to confirm your identity. You might already have the necessary equipment to detect some of these your pocket.

http://wreg.com/2014/04/05/five-biometric-alternatives-to-the-password/

By Denny Carter, eCampus News

Among TapShield’s most popular features has been the Yank technology, which, when activated, sends an emergency signal to campus authorities if a user’s headphones are pulled from a mobile device. Within 10-15 seconds of the incident, campus police can dispatch responders to the scene. The Yank feature, Johnson said, has proven popular among college students who enjoy an evening run that can find them along on campus late at night. “The problem comes when you’re using headphones on run at night and you don’t have situational awareness around you because one of your greatest senses is diminished. You can’t hear,” he said. “It makes a student very vulnerable.”

http://www.ecampusnews.com/safety-and-security/lights-mobile-apps-523/

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

School funding difficulties show no sign of abating, and school budgets are stretched to the limit. Many educators and administrators rely on school grants to fund important projects and opportunities for students. Each month, eSchool News editors compile a list of the most current education grants expiring soon—from a focus on professional development for arts educators to funding that helps improve school leadership. You don’t want to miss out on these April school funding opportunities for teachers, students, parents, and administrators.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/04/04/april-education-grants-587/

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Cyberbullying poses a problem for students that teachers and parents often can’t help with – because they don’t always know. The internet (and mobile technologies) has brought bullying to a place outside the easy access of adults, who can’t intervene if they don’t know there’s a problem. With over 80% of teens using cell phones and social media sites, technology is connecting our students in ways they may be unable to escape. The handy infographic linked below takes a look at some statistics about cyberbullying, along with some tips for both parents and educators. Keep reading to learn more.

http://www.edudemic.com/cyberbullying-issue/

By Tom Daccord, Edudemic

I would like you to concentrate on the first image that comes to mind. Ready? Here is the question: What does learning look like? Did you picture a classroom? Was there a teacher? What were students doing? Were they working quietly and individually? Or were they noisily collaborating? Were they sitting passively and listening? Or were they actively constructing something? When I pose this question to groups of educators, I’m struck by the diversity of learning visions. For some, there is no teacher with the students, and the students are learning entirely on their own. For others, there is not even a classroom and students are helping students. In a world of ubiquitous mobile devices, where we can connect with information and people anywhere and any time, limiting student learning to a traditional classroom environment seems increasingly shortsighted.

http://www.edudemic.com/learning-look-like-look-physical-digital-spaces/

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Education is a concern to most people around the globe. Whether you’re pursuing your own education, worrying about the education of your child, or educating others, education really is a pretty universal concern. Those concerns, however, vary widely depending on where you are in the world and the background you come from. The last thirty years or so have seen great increases in educational opportunities, participation in education, and the quality of education. But what are the numbers really looking like? Where has the most improvement happened? Or the least improvement? What about the gender gap? The handy infographic linked below (From CourseHero) takes a look at these questions and more. Keep reading to learn more.

http://www.edudemic.com/education-around-the-world/

By Jen Roberts, Edudemic

Education is about communication, but few educators are willing to hand out their personal mobile number. With Google Voice you don’t have to. When you go to Google.com/voice you can set up a new number with Google. It will ask you for a forwarding number. This must be an actual landline or mobile number in the US. (You can turn off the forwarding once you are set up.) With Google voice, incoming calls can forward to multiple numbers; say ring your home phone and mobile phone at the same time. Or you can turn off the forwarding and have all your calls go to Google Voice. All voicemails get transcribed and sent to your Gmail address. Text messages also go to your Gmail.

http://www.edudemic.com/google-voice-in-education/

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

Some teachers in Wyoming are learning how to better use assistive technologies thanks to a new program launched by the University of Wyoming’s (UW) Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND). Dubbed Echo-University of Wyoming (Echo-UW), the initiative builds on the University of New Mexico’s Project Echo by focusing on “the use of technology to leverage scarce resources; improving outcomes by reducing variations in care and sharing ‘best practices’; case-based learning; and monitoring of outcomes,” according to a UW news release.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/03/31/u-wyoming-launches-project-to-improve-assistive-technology-use-at-wyoming-schools.aspx

By Greg Thompson, THE Journal

With more and more students using mobile devices for learning, districts are finding creative ways to provide enough bandwidth for everyone to do their work outside of school. The Internet has reached virtually every American school, but problems of bandwidth and connectivity persist. Despite more than 17 years of government subsidy via E-rate, a recent Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) survey revealed that a whopping 99 percent of districts still “needed more bandwidth.” Rich Kaestner, project director for Washington, DC-based CoSN, attributed the bandwidth shortfall to a relentless need to feed the digital beast. Digital curricula, 1-to-1 programs, bring your own technology (BYOT) initiatives and Common Core textbooks are driving a growing crowd of students and teachers online, both at school and at home. But what can schools do about those homes that don’t have Internet connectivity?

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/03/27/bandwidth-for-all.aspx

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

Introducing innovation in education is easier when the institution is new. Founders can construct their programs however they want to imagine them. That’s not so easy to accomplish, however, when the school has been around for decades or even centuries. Faculty and staff practices and processes tend to get entrenched, and introducing too much change can simply lead to internal revolt. Yet that is the conundrum that must be faced by nearly every university and college in the country that wants to thrive in a new world order where learning can take multiple forms and students have numerous options for achieving formal education. Georgetown University is calling on its entire campus community to explore what the institution of 2030 will look like and to experiment with new ways of educating students. The impact of its discoveries may ultimately end up being felt throughout American higher ed.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/04/01/technology-and-the-futures-of-the-university.aspx