Educational Technology

Clifford Coonan, Irish Times

China’s Alibaba has filed what is shaping up to be the largest technology debut in history, when the e-commerce giant makes its initial public offering in New York. Analysts estimate the IPO will value Alibaba, which runs 80 per cent of all e-commerce in the world’s second-largest economy, at between €98 billion and €177 billion. In a country where steel production was for so long the yardstick of success, electronics is now the king. Or at least, electronics are now party secretary in this nominally Communist country. At the top of the range of forecasts, the company would rank behind only Google among the most valuable internet companies, outranking Amazon and Facebook.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/technology/alibaba-ipo-to-put-the-likes-of-amazon-and-facebook-in-shade-1.1789860

By Richard Sousa, Forbes

Last month, the College Board, which administers the widely-used college admission Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and the Khan Academy, whose mission is to provide a “free world-class education for anyone anywhere,” agreed to a partnership in which the Khan Academy will cooperate with the College Board to provide free, online SAT prep software. There are many SAT prep courses, books, camps, and tutors but none is cooperating directly with the College Board. The Khan Academy, with ten million users visiting its web site every month, is at the leading edge of digital education. The Khan-SAT partnership will allow for self-paced learning and will level the playing field by providing access to those who are unable to afford proprietary preparation courses.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/05/07/what-lies-ahead-for-digital-education/

by Bubble News

Udemy is a one stop online learning center that offers a wide variety of courses, covering a diverse range of topics from Photoshop training to learning to code, how to play the guitar, to cake decorating, design, yoga, Spanish, marketing and much, much more. Two of the aspects that I appreciate the most about Udemy are the one-time fee per subject, usually $5 to $250 a course (although most subjects are free) and the fact that you can write and teach courses yourself and gets paid for it. At last count, over 3 million students in over 190 countries have taken online courses (more than 16,000) on the Udemy website and in 10 different languages. Each of the courses offered are designed and taught by a qualified instructor and hundreds of new courses are released every month.

http://www.bubblews.com/news/3328793-learn-and-earn-money-online

by Della Bradshaw, Wai Kwen Chan, Charlotte Clarke, Financial Times

Just how much is online learning on the rise in executive education? asks Wai Kwen Chan. In 2011, 42 per cent of respondents to an FT poll of open-enrolment course participants said that none of the teaching and related assessments was conducted online. That figure stays the same in this year’s poll of more than 470 respondents.

Fifty-one per cent of those whose programmes included online elements said that these accounted for less than 25 per cent of the course. Some 80 per cent of respondents wanted online content in future courses.

The main benefits of online learning cited in the recent survey are flexibility, convenience, cost and time savings. The main drawbacks were a lack of interaction with other participants and teaching staff and fewer networking opportunities. Other concerns were quality of teaching, lack of learning support and the level of self-discipline required.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e8e9051a-cca2-11e3-ab99-00144feabdc0.html

BY TANYA ROSCORLA, Government Technology

Students wrote a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama that advised him on how to handle foreign policy in Syria. A study on competency-based education in New Hampshire demonstrates that policy changes don’t always result in uniform change on the ground, and technology isn’t always ahead of schools. In a May report from the Clayton Christensen Institute, education research fellow Julia Freeland studied how competency-based education is changing in a state that’s adopted the motto “live free or die.”  The report, “From Policy to Practice,” shows a variety of practices at different schools, an emphasis on personalized learning, technology infrastructure gaps, and increased state support for schools that are moving to competency-based learning.

www.govtech.com/education/Tech-Tools-Lag-Behind–Competency-Based-Learning.html

by Carey Lodge, Christian Today

2,000 young people between the ages of 11 and 17 were asked to share how often they connect to the internet, and their responses reveal a generation of online junkies. “The internet nearly always controls my actions. I have been told that I am addicted to the internet, and prefer its company rather than being with other people. I feel lost without the internet,” one Year 8 girl admitted. “I seriously have withdrawal if someone takes my tablet away. I walk around the house with it even though it’s not even turned on, I just like being with it!” said another girl currently in Year 9.

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/are.generation.z.internet.junkies/37328.htm

By Michelle McConnaha, Ravalli Republic

A classroom wired to support online learning allows a Darby teacher to simultaneously teach students in Darby and in Moore. “I teach Spanish to two classes in Montana,” said Karen Perlinger, foreign language teacher at Darby High. “It is a crazy schedule, but it works to provide an opportunity for the students in Moore to learn a foreign language.” Located on U.S. Highway 191 in Fergus County, near Lewistown, Moore has a population of 193, according to the 2010 census, and a school enrollment of 38, according to the Montana Office of Public Instruction. Jennifer Burdette, principal of Darby High School, explained how the cooperative classroom came about.

http://ravallirepublic.com/news/local/d7c865be-d891-11e3-bd06-001a4bcf887a.html

By PHIL ATTINGER, Sebring News-Sun

Teachers and community leaders got a basic understanding this week on how teachers could become more like facilitators and school districts might start sharing courses. Lorie Layfield, online education teacher with the Highlands County School District, told the District Schools Advisory Committee that area high schools have spent three years teaching a workplace technology application and online etiquette course. It teaches students how to operate in an increasingly digital world, Layfield said. All students are required by state law to have completed a least one online course for graduation. Layfield said course completion rates have been good: 677 out of 785 students. There is a move to add to the online course offerings with a civics course.

http://www.newssun.com/news/article_62d00f3e-fc66-50ce-9bd2-14d7184dfe38.html

By Samantha Whitehorne, Associations Now

The Smithsonian’s strategy is definitely something for association learning and meeting teams to have on their radars as they plan upcoming events and education offerings. First off, associations will face additional competition as more well-known institutions like the Smithsonian offer content taught by well-known experts to an audience that many associations typically engage and market to: college-educated lifelong learners. How will your organization make its offerings stand out among a new set of competitors that may have a highly recognized name and brand, and how will it keep these online learning opportunities from eroding its onsite meeting attendance?

http://associationsnow.com/2014/05/smithsonian-dives-deeper-online-learning-now-associations/

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Periodically, I find it interesting to see what’s new over at TED Talks. While not every video they have really floats my boat, there is generally a wealth of inspiration and interesting stories shared there. We’ve shared a number of these inspiring talks in the past – some relate specifically to teaching, others cover more general life lessons or inspiration. So it is finally May, and even the coldest of climates are emerging out of winter into spring by now, we’re sharing a few more great videos to put some spring in your step. Check them out and enjoy!

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

By Tim Goral, University Business

In a nation that prides itself on scientific achievement, the report reveals, less than a third of women actually enter the field, and even fewer graduate and go on to careers. Laurie Glimcher, the first female dean of Weill Cornell Medical College and the 2014 North American recipient of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award, believes this imbalance stems from societal obstacles that women face in a male-dominated field. “Women in science need role models and mentors,” she says. “That’s why a program like For Women in Science is so important, because it helps women in research develop a network of support globally, and it identifies role models for younger generations.”

http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/closing-gender-gap-science

By Brian Mathews, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Hayden Lee, president of Virginia Tech’s Entrepreneurial Club said that the appeal for him is the opportunity to meet and network with others. He views hackathons as a “high density of intelligent people” and that’s what’s stimulating. When I asked him about the competition between schools he said that “it’s more about the bond between people rather than rivalry—in fact—school rivalry doesn’t matter here at all.” Others echoed these sentiments. While they were all competing for prizes, there was a definite communal vibe. As I reflect on the experience it seemed more like an eclectic conglomeration of arts festive, science fair, tech expo, and conference, all mashed together.

http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/theubiquitouslibrarian/2014/04/28/are-hackathons-the-classrooms-of-tomorrow-my-journey-to-the-frontier-of-education/

By Stephen Noonoo, THE Journal

Nonprofit Mind Research Institute is trying to get students to rethink how to express the math standards they learned this year through its new “game-a-thon,” a K-12 contest that challenges students to create a video describing a game featuring creative or unusual solutions to math problems. Per the challenge’s rules, teams of two or more students, along with a teacher or mentor, invent the game, then upload a nuts-and-bolts video explaining how it works to YouTube (and example video has been posted online). Students can create all manner of games–from card and board games to apps–tackling a wide range of mathematics. All participants will receive prizes, and winners will be honored at a national math fair.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/05/08/k12-math-challenges-students-to-create-new-math-games.aspx

By David Nagel, Campus Technology

Adobe today released a free new app for iPad designed to give “voice” to educators and students who want to create engaging presentations, combining voice, video, motion graphics, still images and music. Adobe Voice, available now for iOS, is a storytelling app that lets users create video presentations without the need to shoot or edit footage. The software is built on technologies found in Adobe’s high-end professional creative tools but is designed to let users create and share their presentations with minimal fuss.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/05/08/adobe-releases-free-voice-app-for-ipad.aspx

By David Nagel, Campus Technology

Microsoft today released a preview version of Office Mix, a new PowerPoint addon that lets teachers create rich media presentations and interactive lessons and share them online. Office Mix includes two components: a plugin for PowerPoint and a site where teachers can share their work and view analytics. The plugin gives educators the ability to record lecture materials directly within PowerPoint and embed multimedia and interactive elements.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/05/08/microsoft-office-mix-turns-powerpoint-presentations-into-online-interactive-lessons.aspx

By Kenneth Corbin, CIO

The White House yesterday issued a series of policy recommendations to better protect individual privacy in the era of big data, calling on Congress to write into law a consumer bill of rights for the digital age and update an electronic privacy statute that’s more than a quarter century old, among other measures. In outlining the new proposals, John Podesta, the counselor to the president who led a three-month study of privacy and big data, took pains to highlight the myriad ways in which data collected from sensors, smartphones and other networked devices and objects can yield valuable social and economic benefits. Big data functions like predictive analytics and continuous monitoring can help stem the spread of infectious diseases or provide advance warning about potential mechanical failures in jet engines, for instance.

http://www.cio.com/article/752302/White_House_Calls_for_Big_Data_and_Cloud_Privacy_Overhaul

By Tim Clark, CIO Advisor

After spending a week observing classrooms at various stages of implementing BYOT, I reflected on how I could encourage the members of those schools to find new ways to learn with their technology tools. I turned to my own Personal Learning Network (PLN) in Twitter in #BYOTchat for suggestions regarding the components necessary for initiating and sustaining a schoolwide BYOT implementation. I’m sure that everyone has different opinions about the order of significance of the following recommendations, but please share your ideas by commenting at the end of this post. This compilation is ordered in the way I received them from my PLN, and I added some of my own ideas about each of the following areas:

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&entryid=7590

by Glenn Whitman, Edutopia

At some point, every parent wishes their high school aged student would go to bed earlier as well as find time to pursue their own passions — or maybe even choose to relax. This thought reemerged as I reread Anna Quindlen’s commencement speech, A Short Guide to a Happy Life. The central message of this address, never actually stated, was: “Get a life.” But what prevents students from “getting a life,” especially between September and June? One answer is homework.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/homework-sleep-and-student-brain-glenn-whitman

by Matt Davis, Edutopia

For most students, Memorial Day means a three-day weekend, one last mini-break before the end of the school year. But the last Monday in May is perfect for engaging projects that honor the men and women who lost their lives in war. Here are some of the best lesson plan resources for Memorial Day, along with some engaging multimedia resources. It’s not always easy to capture student attention late in the school year, but hopefully these resources help. First, this brief video from The History Channel looks at the origins of the holiday, and you might also want to check out their resource page as well.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/memorial-day-teaching-resources-matt-davis

by Patrick Feeney, Edutopia

Last month, the Institute of Play released a 160-page whitepaper on successfully designing and implementing video games as classroom assessment tools. It is widely hoped that the Institute’s study, along with further research by SRI, will prove conclusively that cognitive skills are significantly improved by playing educational video games. This was not news to the math education community, which has known about the benefits of games in the classroom for a long time. Back in 2004, a study by Tisa Lach and Lynae Sakshaug had already shown that middle school students made significant improvements in algebraic reasoning, spatial sense, and problem-solving abilities after playing biweekly sessions of popular tabletop games such as Connect Four, Mastermind, Rush Hour, and Guess Who.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/game-apps-in-math-class-patrick-feeney