Educational Technology

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

How three institutions are championing collaboration through interactive and streaming video across the academic world. Integrate with your LMS, go mobile-friendly and, above all, make sure it’s user-friendly. These were just three common must-haves when implementing a video platform across campus, cited by three massive universities during Internet2’s 2015 Global Summit on the topic “Collaboration through interactive and streaming video across the academic world.” Purdue University, Arizona State University, and University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill all utilize different video platforms, but their basic requirements are the same: integrate with the university LMS, allow for all device, have a user-friendly structure, and allow for collaboration on campus and off-campus.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/university-video-internet2-281/

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

Spartanburg School District Seven has teamed with a local housing authority and two private partners in a project that will provide home Internet access for students living in public housing. For two years, the district has been providing students in grades 3-12 iPads or MacBook Airs. Following a survey, the district estimated that half its students didn’t have home Internet access and began partnering with local organizations such as businesses and churches to provide Wi-Fi access in the community for those students. Some students, however, were not even able to access those locations. As a result, Spartanburg School District Seven, Spartanburg Housing Authority, Novatel Wireless and Kajeet have partnered to launch a pilot project that will “provide students in public housing with filtered Internet connectivity to access online textbooks, apps, emails, documents and Web sites, as well as communicate with their teachers,” according to a news release.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/05/01/south-carolina-district-taps-partners-to-launch-home-internet-access-pilot.aspx

By Bridget McCrea, THE Journal

Internet-enabled school buses keep students connected on the road, in school parking lots and in their own neighborhoods. School buses used to serve one purpose: getting students to and from school. But driven by a mandate to provide Internet connectivity to all students, some creative districts have deployed mobile wireless technology to transform their buses into moving WiFi zones, stationary hotspots or both. Among the students at Coachella Valley Unified School District (CA), 24/7 Web access is not a given. According to Superintendent Darryl Adams, “Only about 60 percent of the student population has Internet access at home.” To solve the problem, he put his own spin on the concept of mobile learning. “They’re putting WiFi in cars now,” he said, “so I thought, ‘Why not put it on a school bus?’ ”

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/04/30/wifi-on-wheels.aspx

By Brittni Brown, Edudemic

Geographic information systems are essentially large databases that are able to connect entered data to a geographical reference point. More than that though, the program can be used to display data visually, which allows scientists and GIS specialists to quite literally see connections that were previously hidden in the data. It isn’t just a classroom tool used to aid in teaching the subject matter; GIS professionals can be found in almost every modern industry ranging from police departments using map data to find crime hot spots, to epidemiologists tracking diseases like Ebola in Africa, to insurance companies determining natural disaster risk. Integrating GIS into a STEM curriculum enables students to learn professional job skills before ever graduating.

http://www.edudemic.com/data-sleuths-geographic-systems/

By Pamela DeLoatch, Edudemic

We live in a high tech world—with high tech classrooms. We embrace the benefits of using iPads during class, integrating tweets during presentations, and teaching students while using smart TVs. We know the many benefits of incorporating technology while teaching, such as adding diversity to lessons, increasing student interaction, and to bringing new perspectives and knowledge to the class. But there can be a negative side resulting from inappropriate or overuse of technology, and that negative side can have serious and long-term consequences. To make the best out of tools of technology, teachers and parents must also recognize their downsides and how to avoid them.

http://www.edudemic.com/the-4-negative-side-effects-of-technology/

by Chris Sloan, Literacy Daily

English language arts teachers have long recognized the critical role meaningful feedback from peers has in process-writing classrooms. However, one limitation of traditional face-to-face peer response I noticed in my own teaching is that I never knew who was engaged with others and at what level. I didn’t have an efficient way of knowing who was giving (and who was getting) good feedback. Over the past few years, peer feedback has been integrated into learning management systems like Canvas, Blackboard, and Turnitin. Stand-alone applications like Peerceptiv and Eli Review are online peer review systems that provide data never possible in traditional face-to-face settings. I’ve recently begun incorporating Eli Review into my teaching and am excited about the potential for learning and literacy development.

http://www.reading.org/literacy-daily/classroom/post/engage/2015/05/01/online-peer-reviews-improve-literacy-instruction

by IT Business Net

Juan Garcia today was recognized as the first McDonald’s graduate of Cengage Learning’s Career Online High School (COHS), a unique education program being offered to qualifying employees working in company-owned and franchise-owned restaurants. A graduation ceremony honoring the achievement was held at McDonald’s during a district manager’s meeting. Through its partnership with Cengage Learning, up to 1,000 employees of McDonald’s or its independent franchisees are expected to complete an elective course and move on to complete the entire Cengage Learning COHS diploma program. “We are so proud of Juan and his achievement, which marks the first of many celebrations to come here at McDonald’s,” said Rob Lauber, Chief Learning Officer at McDonald’s. “As part of our Archways to Opportunity education strategy, we are pleased to be working with Cengage Learning’s Career Online High School to make a high school diploma possible for our people — along with our other robust education and life skills building opportunities.”

http://www.itbusinessnet.com/article/McDonalds-Celebrates-First-Employee-Graduate-of-Cengage-Learnings-Career-Online-High-School-3875230

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

Corinthian Colleges Inc. will close its remaining campuses in California, Arizona, New York, Hawaii, and Arizona, effective today, on the heels of fines levied against it by the U.S. Department of Education. After already shuttering or selling nearly a hundred campuses last year, the for-profit college chain had 28 remaining under Heald, Everest, and WyoTech names. The Associated Press reports that a statement from Corinthian issued Sunday said the company would help current students continue their educations elsewhere.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/final-28-corinthian-colleges-to-close/391108/

By PG Veer, Watchdog Arena

Technology has “creeped in” everywhere these days, including the classroom. To many this is a good thing, because breaking technological barriers means that education is more accessible and also personalized.The Foundation for Excellence in Education, founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in 2010, aims at showing our politicians the benefits of such a transformation because “access to high-quality, customized learning experiences should be available to all students, unbounded by geography or artificial policy constraints,” as they state in their just-released report, which looks at 2014. This year, Idaho ranks 23rd, tied with New Mexico and Arkansas, at the lower end of the C grading. While not stellar, the classification is an improvement from last year.

http://watchdog.org/214649/idaho-online-education/

by EdSurge Newsletters

Starting in the 2016-2017 school year, all public high school students in Alabama will have the option to take courses online, if Gov. Robert Bentley signs a bill passed by the state legislature. Over 27,000 Alabama high school and middle school students currently take online courses through the ACCESS distance learning program, which uses live video feeds of teachers and web-based assignments. Schools will have the option to offer ACCESS programs or contract with outside vendors.

https://www.edsurge.com/n/2015-04-28-alabama-to-offer-online-courses-to-all-high-school-students

by  Sonoran News

A new report says online learning has the potential to give Arizona students access to world-class teachers and classes, but that the state laws governing online schools and classes are woefully out of date. “Online learning provides educational flexibility and customizes learning by giving families access to the best teachers and coursework available, regardless of where they live or the quality of public schools in their neighborhood,” said Jonathan Butcher, the education policy director at the Goldwater Institute. “This past session, lawmakers considered a number of reforms to the state’s education laws. A growing number of students aren’t attending a brick-and-mortar school at all, and next legislative session, more should be done to improve the governance of and access to online learning.”

http://www.sonorannews.com/archives/2015/150429/news-goldwater.html

By Julie Anderson, World-Herald

Before he began “flipping” his classroom several years ago, Contreras would have begun class by delivering a classroom lecture, then launching students on a lab activity, and, finally, sending them home with homework. Instead, the students this day quickly broke into small groups and rotated among microscopes trained on samples of different tissues, from bone to cartilage. Students consulted with one another about what they were viewing. Contreras worked the room. He pointed out that fat cells look clear because they resist stains used to make structures visible and praised a student who compared loose connective tissue, the hardest to identify, with a fishnet.

http://www.omaha.com/news/education/flipping-learning-around-students-watch-lectures-online-at-home-do/article_a40947e0-f7fa-5cd5-8307-c146e36a848a.html

By Sarah Muthler, Edudemic

Grading assignments can be one of the most tedious parts of teaching, but there are ways you can make it easier. Rubrics improve your efficiency and fairness by providing clear learning goals. They help you recognize exactly what you’re looking for as you read through that science report or history essay. Even better, rubrics help students know the purpose of each assignment. By sharing your rubric, or even having students help you write it, you are teaching them to think through and plan their work before they begin. We’ve gathered the best free websites for creating rubrics. Some of these sites allow you to build a rubric from scratch, and others offer ready-made rubrics that you can borrow or tweak. If you’re struggling to outline or explain an assignment, search for inspiration here. The more clear that you can be with students, the more likely that they will rise to your expectations.

http://www.edudemic.com/online-rubric-makers/

by Education Technology and Mobile Learning

In today’s post we are sharing with you a terrific resource we uncovered through Open Culture. This is especially useful for philosophy teachers and students but is also ideal for anyone interested in learning more about the ‘mother of all sciences”: philosophy. Open Culture has this extensive list of free courses provided by a wide variety of leading universities and covering everything related to philosophical thought from philosophy of mind to Kant’s epistemology. The courses come in different downloadable formats that includes: video, audio and iTunes audio. You can browse through the selection and download the courses you are interested in and watch or listen to them at the comforts of your own couch.

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2015/04/tons-of-free-online-philosophy-courses.html

by Martinsburg College

It is increasingly important to stay aware and on the offense for cyber threats. The use of mobile technology in the virtual classroom of online learning has completely changed the way students access resources and educational services and enhanced collaboration with instructors. A recent survey conducted by Campus Computing and WCET found that almost 88% of the surveyed higher education institutions had begun offering online courses. Since internet-based learning, depends on the use of the internet for its execution, it unfortunately includes all of the internet’s inherent security risks as well. That’s why it’s critical to remain vigilant. Protect personal information even when doing the most common web activities like online banking, shopping or updating social media accounts with the following tips:

http://martinsburgcollege.edu/internet-security-tips-for-online-learning/

By Michael Hart, Campus Technology

The University of Arizona is preparing for a massive initiative to implement active learning in several courses next fall. With a grant from the Association of American Universities, the Tucson, AZ campus is overhauling several classroom spaces to accommodate active learning in environments that will vary in size once the fall semester begins. Once construction that begins in May is completed, a classroom space in the Science-Engineering Library will have a capacity for 260 students while another in the Biological Sciences West building will accommodate 112 and two more in the Integrated Learning Center will provide room for 60 students each. A fifth space is being scouted as well.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/04/29/u-of-a-preps-classroom-spaces-for-active-learning.aspx

By Keith Krueger, eSchool News

A CoSN survey reveals CTO concerns about privacy, budgets, and assessment readiness. For the past three years, CoSN—the Consortium for School Networking—has conducted the K-12 IT Leadership Survey seeking to identify major trends and challenges, and provide a picture of these leaders. What are the key technology trends in education according to leadership in our school systems? What do the data tell us? Assessment readiness is again the No. 1 priority for IT Leaders. The growing imperative about being assessment ready isn’t likely a surprise for those living in states adopting the Common Core. However, regardless of where you live, all states are increasingly moving their high-stakes assessments online. And, they are doing it quickly. Yet less than 30 percent report they are fully prepared for online assessments.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/04/28/it-leaders-survey-693/

By Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times

Cheating-friendly technology is becoming more common in competitive higher education settings, some say. Stanford University’s honor code dates to 1921, written by students to help guide them through the minefield of plagiarism, forbidden collaboration, copying and other chicaneries that have tempted undergraduates since they first arrived on college campuses. Exams aren’t proctored and students are expected to police themselves and speak up when they see others committing violations. But there appears to have been a massive breakdown during the recent winter quarter culminating in “an unusually high number of troubling allegations of academic dishonesty” reported to officials, according to a letter to faculty from Provost John Etchemendy.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/cheating-digital-age-652/

by Dan Gordon, THE Journal

At the beginning, technology was a tool that we would bring in, use and then put away. Now it’s embedded in everything. About four years ago, we implemented Google Apps for Education. We went from a district of 30 Chromebooks to now having nearly 22,000. We have 10-gig connectivity for every school, and on top of that we have a Student Interoperability Framework (SIF), where you have a centralized server and, for any programs that you connect to it, information is replicated immediately. We have our own assessment tool, and now that we have Chromebooks the students are taking assessments with that as well. That SIF integration is something we’re really proud of as a district. And I think having data back immediately has transformed the classroom as well. What you’re needing to reteach can be done right there in that class session rather than waiting to grade over the weekend and then bringing it back in the next week.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/04/28/innovator-kirsten-wright.aspx

By Morgan Jacobsen, Deseret News

Utah is leading the nation in the way it uses technology to enhance learning among students, according to a national education advocacy group. In a report released Tuesday, Digital Learning Now gave Utah a grade of A- in its overall digital learning efforts. Utah was the first state to earn an A on the report and has done so every year for three years. Florida is the only other state to earn an A this year. The report also praises a Utah program known as the Student Achievement Backpack, which, when fully implemented, will give parents and teachers access to information to better personalize instruction for students.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865627432/Report-Utah-is-one-of-the-best-examples-of-quality-digital-learning.html

by Citrix

The rapid evolution of technology is changing the way we learn, work and educate. Students want the freedom to learn and study using the latest software or applications on any device, in the location where they feel most productive and inspired. Great data in this infographic.

https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/images/info-graphics/infographic-student-mobile-workspaces.pdf