Educational Technology

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

Technology skills for students and educators are essential for college and workforce success, particularly in an increasingly global economy. But how does technology integration match up with education leaders’ goals? Bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives continue to increase across the nation, and an annual school technology survey reveals that BYOD use or immediate planned use in secondary schools jumped from 60 percent in 2013 to 66 percent in 2014. According to the Software & Information Industry Association’s (SIIA) 2014 Vision K-20 report, 85 percent of secondary, 66 percent of elementary, and 83 percent of K-12 district survey participants said mobile devices will be allowed in schools in the next five years.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/07/23/technology-integration-findings-934/

by Julia Freeland, Entrepreneur

Pegged at an estimated $8 billion in 2013 by the Software & Information Industry Association, the education-technology market is reaching unprecedented heights. According to EdSurge, the ed-ech industry received more than $327 million in venture-capital investment in the second quarter of this year alone. Yet amid the boom in private investment and technology talent migrating into education, entrepreneurs don’t always know how new apps and tools will align with schools’ day-to-day needs. Technology companies would have a better chance of developing products that school systems would actually pay to use, if they had better insight into the market and knew what schools were trying to accomplish as they integrate technology, the variety of tools that schools are currently using and where schools’ demands remain unmet.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235795

by Joe Hirsch, Edutopia

As interest in flipped learning continues to grow, so does its adoption among the educational rank and file. By moving entry-level information outside the classroom — typically (but not exclusively) through self-paced, scored videos — teachers can reframe learning so that students spend more instructional time engaged in deeper discussions, hands-on applications and project-based learning. With a focus on more direct contact between teachers and students, greater application of basic concepts, and increased collaboration between learners, flipped learning provides yet another outlet for 21st century teaching. No doubt, making this kind of change can be intimidating. Before teachers flip out, here are four tips to make the transition smoother — and more impactful.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/4-tips-for-flipped-learning-joe-hirsch

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

As competency-based degree programs gain momentum among colleges and universities led by organizations such as the Council for Adult & Experiential Learning and the Next Generation Learning Challenges, more institutions may be wondering how far off they are from being able to implement this approach to education. Competency-based education (CBE) allows students to advance based on their ability to prove mastery of a skill or knowledge area in order to improve their workforce prospects. Education technology company Pearson has developed an assessment tool that allows schools to gauge their institutions’ readiness to adopt CBE.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/07/17/pearson-launches-competency-based-education-framework-and-readiness-assessment.aspx

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Using games or game play elements in the classroom to drive learning outcomes is sill gaining popularity. Though most teachers aren’t ready to embrace bringing serious games like Minecraft into their classrooms, many are willing to gamify learning or use other types of games. That said, getting an idea of how many teachers are (or aren’t) using gamification (or are interested in doing so) is a somewhat difficult task: Many people define gamification in different ways, when it may be a more accurate description to identify different levels of gamification. The handy infographic linked below takes a look at gamification and more ‘serious gaming’ in organizational learning.

http://www.edudemic.com/gamification-look-like-in-classrooms/

By Phil Hardin, THE Journal

Here’s how a North Carolina district responded to a denial-of-service attack that came from one of its own schools. At 7:45 a.m. on Monday, April 8, 2013, 23,000 network users in the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s 35 schools were accessing their Web-based curriculum resources and administrative applications when suddenly all Internet connectivity stopped. The outage lasted for about an hour. Teachers had to quickly switch their lessons to a Plan B, since most had components that required Internet access. Internet connectivity returned briefly, but suddenly went down again for another hour. The Internet would go down for a third time before school ended.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/07/16/how-to-survive-a-cyberattack.aspx

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

Technology is a necessary part of formal and informal learning today. After all, students will need tech skills as they move into college and the workforce. Using tech in the classroom today will help students develop and build those essential tech skills so that they can compete on a global scale. What does it mean to be a tech-savvy educator? Research and studies point to 10 distinguishing characteristics [2].

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/07/21/tech-savvy-educator-032/

By Frank Portanova, eSchool News

In just one year of becoming all-digital, the Stepinac academic probation rate was cut in half. During the 2013-2014 school year, Archbishop Stepinac High School became an all-digital high school, with each of its 700 students utilizing a fully digital textbook library with more than 40 academic textbooks. This transformation has driven efficiencies in our school, created a more personalized learning environment for our students and, most importantly, has positively impacted student outcomes. I have highlighted three of the most valuable lessons we learned.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/07/22/school-digital-transformation-395/