Educational Technology

BY ERIC NIILER, Discovery News

Technology jobs are changing so fast that some believe traditional four-year degrees may be out of date by the time the college graduate starts drawing a paycheck. One firm is hoping to reverse this trend by offering “nanodegrees,” short, focused courses of study tailored the needs of individual tech firms. Silicon Valley-based Udacity was started four years ago by Sebastian Thrun, a former Google executive who kickstarted Google’s self-driving car program as well as the Google Glass wearable computer. Now he’s focused on a new platform that links the needs of tech firms with the abilities of students. Udacity offers online courses in computer-related fields like Web development, software engineering, data science and a full master’s degree in computer science from Georgia Tech.

http://news.discovery.com/tech/apps/microdegrees-boost-tech-learning-150916.htm

by Valerie Vogel, EDUCAUSE

NCSAM 2014National Cyber Security Awareness Month is just a few months away. Summer is the perfect time to start planning events and activities for your campus. Join EDUCAUSE and NCSA as we celebrate the 12th annual NCSAM this October. Linked below are a few ways you can show your support and help us make NCSAM 2015 the most successful yet!

http://www.educause.edu/blogs/vvogel/lets-get-ready-ncsam-2015

by KARL MOORE, The Globe and Mail

This is Karl Moore of the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, Talking Management for The Globe and Mail. Today I am delighted to sit down with my McGill colleague Henry Mintzberg to talk about his new GROOC. So Henry, what is a GROOC? HENRY MINTZBERG – Come on Karl, everyone knows what a GROOC is, you don’t know? No, actually I am just kidding. It is a term we invented – it is a MOOC for groups. A MOOC is a Massive Open Online Course, you know one of these things where, you know, 150,000 people sign up and 26 finish or something like that, but not quite. So we are doing one for groups. It’s not the first time people have tried to do one for groups, but it is the first one called a GROOC so we are laying claim to the term.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/transcript-why-this-new-phenomenon-will-help-you-change-the-world/article26369313/

by University Business

The White House today announced that Arizona State University will lead the National STEM Collaborative, a consortium of 19 institutions of higher education and postsecondary and non-profit partners committed to supporting girls and women of color in STEM fields. The announcement by the White House Council for Women and Girls reflects the national recognition earned by ASU’s Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology (CGEST) and the Center’s Executive Director, Dr. Kimberly A. Scott, in encouraging greater access to STEM for women and girls of color. Among other achievements, Dr. Scott founded the nationally lauded CompuGirls program.

http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/white-house-taps-asu-lead-national-stem-collaborative

By Joy Nelson, Edudemic

Teaching is a constantly evolving profession; new ideas and new techniques that may help you become a more effective educator are constantly emerging. However, ongoing training for teachers often comes in the form of expensive conferences that are beyond the district’s budget. What’s more, too much PD can feel like a distraction and a chore when balanced with your significant teaching load – all the more so when you finally schedule time for it, only to find the course you’ve chosen isn’t as useful as you would have hoped. How can you both find a way to make time for professional development and ensure you’re finding the best courses out there? The list of resources linked below may help.

http://www.edudemic.com/professional-development-resources-teachers/

by University of Kansas

A new study based on longitudinal data confirms a college degree provides an advantage in lifetimes earnings, but a related decision once students make it to college could prove to be even more crucial. The study that includes a University of Kansas researcher found large lifetime earnings gaps depending on a student’s field of study. For examples, men who major in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM fields, and earning a bachelor’s degree achieved roughly $700,000 to $800,000 higher 40-year lifetime earnings from ages 20 to 59 than social science or liberal arts majors. Related to gender, college degrees no matter the field of study seem to benefit women with higher earnings compared with women who only graduated high school. For men in some fields of study, the earnings return would not be as high as a woman over her high school counterparts. “This is not because college-educated women earn more than equally educated men,” Kim said, “but because labor market opportunities for less educated women are so scarce.”

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/uok-coc091115.php

By Dennis Pierce, THE Journal

From the outside, Barrow Elementary School in Athens, GA, looks like any traditional school building built in the 1920s. Inside, it looks completely different. Instead of desks arranged in tidy rows, the classrooms have tables that can be reconfigured in seconds by the students themselves, depending on what an assignment calls for. There are spaces where students can work together in teams, and comfortable chairs for individual study. Nooks tucked off hallways enable teachers and students to gather in small groups, and wireless access points allow them to use portable digital devices anywhere in the building. According to Philip Lanoue, the superintendent of Clarke County School District, where Barrow is located, “Our goal is that, when you walk into our buildings, you’re inspired to learn.”

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/08/25/3-ways-mobile-technology-is-transforming-learning-spaces.aspx

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

Spaces for makers, hackers and coworkers on campus could support better learning, and entrepreneurial, outcomes. But what do they look like? Designated spaces for “tinkering” at some of the country’s most prestigious institutions may not only spur lifelong learning habits, but also produce social and technological innovations critical to today’s economy, says a new report. Thanks to more broad access to the internet, as well as “breakthroughs” in manufacturing, innovation has been democratized, says a new research report by HermanMiller, in turn creating a “new driver for the economy.” And it’s the forward-thinking institutions who understand this driver that have begun to implement spaces for makers (tinkerers), hackers (deconstructors), and coworkers (networkers).

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/innovation-spaces-campus-572/

By Dennis Pierce, eSchool News

Teaching digital citizenship as a “one-off event” doesn’t lead to changes in behavior, experts say. When author and IT director Mike Ribble talks about the importance of teaching students appropriate online behavior, he likes to share a few eye-opening statistics. According to Common Sense Media’s study “Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America,” the percentage of children ages eight and under who’ve used a mobile device nearly doubled from 2011 to 2013, from 38 percent to 72 percent. What’s more, about two in five children under the age of two have used a mobile device.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/09/15/digital-citizenship-curriculum-226/

by WhaTech

Language learning during the past couple of years has gained momentum. Among numerous languages spoken worldwide, English has emerged as the most preferred language to learn, after the Chinese Mandarin. The Report “Global Online Language Learning Market” has been prepared on the basis of an in-depth Global Online Language Learning Market analysis with inputs from team of industry experts. It Includes Global Online Language Learning Market growth prospects along with market landscape in upcoming years. The report also covers discussion on the key vendors operating in the Global Online Language Learning Market Space.

https://www.whatech.com/market-research/consumer/93125-new-report-explores-the-global-online-language-learning-market-that-is-estimated-to-grow-at-a-cagr-of-10-04-from-2014-to-2019

by eSchool News

At Poudre School District Global Academy (PGA), a hybrid school in Fort Collins, Colo., students attend blended classes on campus and take online courses from home, and district educators say a personalized learning solution has had a positive impact in a number of academic areas. Scores for grades 2-8 in math and reading on year-to-year Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments show 140 to 240 percent growth, with the highest scores in grades 6-8—when students typically see a slight decline.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/09/14/hybrid-personalized-853/

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

President Obama’s College Scorecard, a shadow of the college rating system he first proposed, went live late Friday with an incredible amount of data. While supporters are happy to see new data previously unavailable to students and families researching schools, critics point to a complete lack of context for any of it, especially for schools that serve primarily nontraditional or minority populations. NPR reports the scorecard covers the old basics like cost and graduation rate, as well as new data about how much students make 10 years after entering school, what portion of first-generation students are at a school, and what percentage of students pay at least $1 of principal on their federal loans within three years of leaving school.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/obama-administration-unveils-college-scorecard-to-praise-and-criticism/405545/

By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times

Students around the country — and often their parents — have racked up so much college debt since the recession that it now threatens the nation’s economic growth. The debt weighs down millions of Americans who might otherwise buy homes or start businesses. And the financial horror stories of debt-saddled students, combined with continued increases in tuition, could deter others from attending college and could produce a less-educated workforce. “The impact on future (economic) growth could be quite significant,” said Cristian deRitis, who analyzes consumer credit economics for Moody’s Analytics. The amount of outstanding student loans has skyrocketed 76 percent to almost $1.2 trillion since 2009 as college costs have shot up and graduates have had difficulty finding good-paying jobs.

http://swtimes.com/nationworld/soaring-student-loan-burden-poses-risk-economic-growth

by RAMONA BARBER, DesMoines Register

Free college classes! Sound too good to be true? Investigate the possible opportunities through your local high school, community college and state schools. Take the time to research dual credit classes, Advanced Placement credit, online college classes, high school college credit options at local community colleges, and the College Level Examination Program (CLEP.) These options allow high school students to receive college credit for very little or no money.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/education/2015/09/13/explore-tuition-free-college-classes/72029800/

By Jenn Smith, Berkshire Eagle

John Smolenski stood up to his challenge on Thursday morning — trying to convince a crowd of dozens and dozens of Pittsfield High School students seated in a steamy, semi-lit auditorium at 8 a.m. to enroll in and stick with rigorous college-level courses of the Advanced Placement program. And to help them, there will be intensive practice and study sessions offered, on select Saturday mornings. As a senior field director for the Mass Math + Science Initiative, a Mass Insight Education program, Smolenski may not convince all high school students to challenge themselves, but he and his colleagues have been traveling across the commonwealth this fall to host kick-off programs to rally schools around AP classes. A kick-off was also held at Taconic High School on Thursday

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/local/ci_28802130/pushing-college-readiness-through-ap-courses

By Meg Lloyd, Campus Technology

Tying together timelines, note-taking, geolocation and multimedia, The Traveler provides a cutting-edge mobile journaling experience for students working in the field, starting with the ability to record and visualize their pathways. In order to analyze field experiences effectively, students needed to make more detailed records of their in-the-field observations. They needed a way to collect thoughts and discussions in the field and be able to link them to photographs, notes, sketches and other documentation. Recognizing that mobile technology could provide a useful tool to meet those needs, Ball State’s Information Technology team developed The Traveler, an Android app that allows students to create a record and visualization of their pathways, based on timelines, effective note-taking, geolocation and annotated multimedia curation.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/09/08/mobile-journaling-app-helps-students-document-field-learning.aspx

by Kristyna Zapletalova, TIME

Forget overpriced schools, long days in a crowded classroom, and pitifully poor results. These websites and apps cover myriads of science, art, and technology topics. They will teach you practically anything, from making hummus to building apps in node.js, most of them for free. There is absolutely no excuse for you not to master a new skill, expand your knowledge, or eventually boost your career. You can learn interactively at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home. It’s hard to imagine how much easier it can possibly be.

http://time.com/4032036/best-websites-learn-something-new/

By Leila Meyer, THE Journal

More than 75 percent of school districts are using blended and online learning for credit recovery and to expand course offerings, according to a new report from the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), but the type of program and method of implementation has an effect on its success. The report, “Using Online Learning for Credit Recovery: Getting Back on Track to Graduation,” is intended to provide districts with guidance on how to help at-risk or returning students earn the course credits required for high school graduation. Topics covered in the report include the effect of credit recovery programs on students, various approaches to delivery of credit recovery and case studies and lessons learned from those case studies.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/09/11/report-online-credit-recovery-programs-benefit-from-personalized-blended-learning-approach.aspx

By Jeremy Cunningham, eCampus News

Technology is driving dramatic transformation in writing and publication. The production of content is growing exponentially. In addition, rate of publication is faster than ever. Being the first to say something is vital to ensure being heard. Grammar and style is valued less; sourcing is valued less. Furthermore, unique content is still important, but commentary and opinion have risen to prominence. Articles are a more collaborative process than in the past. Pieces will have multiple authors bouncing ideas off several other formal and informal works. This changes composition at its core. Recently, my institution was looking to update a composition course. It was already offered online, so the format reflected that. As I was updating the course, I added a lesson where students learn how to use online review tools to peer edit. With these tools, students can send papers to one another, mark and respond to them, and then return the paper. I was excited to add this lesson and felt it really engaged the students in the idea of online writing and editing.

By Katherine Long, The Seattle Times

More than any other subject, math trips up students who might otherwise thrive in college, especially those who don’t plan to go into technical careers that require proficiency with numbers. Failing the state’s math test keeps hundreds of students from graduating from high school each year, even when they’ve met every other requirement. Math is the reason why half of Washington’s high school students who enter community college must take remedial classes — which few ever pass, even after years of struggle. A lot of effort has gone into thinking — and arguing — about how best to teach math, hoping to keep it from being such a barrier to higher education. But the math problem also has caused leaders of Washington’s community colleges to ask a fundamental question: How much math, and what kind, should be required for a student to earn a college degree? Their answer, increasingly, is that there is no one answer.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/colleges-rethink-math-642/