Educational Technology

By Lee Shearer, Athens Banner-Herald

Students and teachers in some University of Georgia introductory biology courses experimented with using a free digital textbook instead of expensive paper texts in fall 2013 courses, and liked it. About 86 percent of nearly 700 students surveyed after the courses said their online textbook was as good as or better than a traditional paper textbook. But that experiment was just a fraction of what’s coming, according to Houston Davis, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer of the University System of Georgia.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/future-digital-textbooks-563/

by Edutopia

Grade-level and subject-specific resources for Common Core-aligned lessons. This collection of blog posts highlights lesson plans, ideas, and other useful resources to help you bring Common Core-aligned lessons into your classroom. We’re actively building this repository of ideas every week, so make sure to bookmark this page. You can also follow #CCSS or #CCSSChat on Twitter for the latest updates.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/common-core-in-action-series

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

New legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate would support innovative methods to give students access to the internet and digital tools outside of classrooms. The Digital Learning Equity Act of 2015, introduced by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), would support pilot initiatives that increase student access to digital resources, increase student, parent, and educator engagement, and improve students’ chances to participate in new learning models. It also provides for a national study of data related to the digital divide, including barriers to students’ home internet access, how educators confront that reality in their classrooms, and how no at-home internet access can impact student engagement.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/06/23/bill-internet-plans-784/

by eSchool News

On a typical day at Lee Mathson Middle School in East San Jose, California, students can explore the inside of a volcano via a three-dimensional, holographic image. The Mathson students are just completing their first year learning with the zSpace STEM lab, which includes a set of student virtual reality stations and a teacher station, each outfitted with an interactive stylus as well as a wide variety of educational software ranging from science and physics to engineering. Virtual-holographic images can be “lifted” from the screen and manipulated with the stylus. The impact of zSpace for students and teachers is exciting, particularly because many students using the system have special needs, and have experienced frustration learning in the traditional way.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/06/24/san-jose-virtual-093/

by Marketwatch

Conducted over a two-year period across four community colleges, the study found that access to online tutoring had a significant impact on retention rates, and student performance within selected courses. Over 1,600 students enrolled in college algebra, introductory statistics and introductory English composition courses participated in the research. College completion has gained nationwide prominence in recent months, with an intense focus from the White House and lawmakers, as community college completion rates hover at just 20%. According to the study, the use of online tutoring had a significant impact on student persistence, cutting in half the percentage of students who failed to return in the subsequent semester. The study also found that that Tutor.com’s effect on retention persisted beyond just one semester. After one year 61% of students who used Tutor.com sessions returned, while only 51% of those students who did not use Tutor.com sessions returned.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-research-links-online-support-with-increased-course-completion-and-better-retention-for-community-college-students-2015-06-23?reflink=MW_news_stmp

by Noelle Phansalkar, Outer Places

Since the recent surge in virtual reality development, experts from all fields have been eager to study its potential impacts. Most recently, Conrad Tucker, Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Design at Penn State, conducted a study to test whether using virtual reality would have a significant impact on online learning. Tucker selected the Oculus Rift for his purposes, undoubtedly due to its relative inexpensiveness and accessibility. He also fitted participants with a haptic glove, which allows the wearer to simulate the feel of virtual objects. The participant sample consisted of 54 undergraduate engineering students who were tasked with assembling a virtual coffee pot from a number of disparate pieces. Half undertook this task with the help of the virtual reality hardware, while the other half used a simple computer program. The results were unsurprising; the mean completion time for the control group was 49.04 seconds, while the mean time for the group using V.R. was 23.21 seconds – less than half the time.

http://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/9154/virtual-reality-helps-bridge-the-gap-between-online-and-in-person-learning

by Marketwatch The MOOC’s market is exhibiting great potential to grow exponentially over the next few years. In 2015, the technology is poised to see substantial uptake due to the growing number of connected devices, high enrolment rates in MOOCs, the increasing acceptance of MOOCs based training in enterprises around the globe and the increasing demand for low cost, high quality and globalised education. Consumer devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearable gadgets and eReaders are currently enjoying high adoption rates across the globe. With the ever increasing number of connected devices, MOOCs has the potential to disrupt higher education through widespread uptake of distance learning. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/massive-open-online-course-mooc-market-2015-2020-meducation-distance-open-e-learning-in-higher-education-enterprise-2015-06-22

by Don Wettrick, Edutopia

More technological tools exist in education today than at any time in history. We have great apps such as Skype and Google Hangouts for collaboration, literally hundreds of educational games for learning, and YouTube videos and blogs for gaining and sharing knowledge. In my class, students are encouraged to use all of these tools to explore their passions and test their ideas. Using technology, they learn independently and in small groups, very often without my guidance. For some educators, the fearful question is: “Could those apps and tools ever replace teachers?” The answer lies in how we define teaching. Or learning. Or innovation.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/creative-destruction-ongoing-relevance-teachers-don-wettrick