Educational Technology

By Dennis Pierce, THE Journal

Google Cardboard lets students experience a virtual excursion as an immersive, three-dimensional event. Google soon will be rolling out a new service, called Expeditions, that could take virtual field trips to a whole new level — and the company is accepting requests from educators to pilot the technology in their classrooms this year. Using Google’s Cardboard, a simple viewing device made out of folded cardboard, with an Android phone, students can experience a virtual excursion as an immersive, three-dimensional event. Reminiscent of the old stereoscopic View-Master devices introduced by Mattel in the late ’30s, Google Cardboard turns a smart phone into a cutting-edge virtual-reality viewer that gives an added dimension to virtual field trips.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2015/09/28/google-seeks-teachers-to-pilot-3d-virtual-field-trips.aspx

By Marie Bjerede, THE Journal

Technologies like single sign-on are convenient, but do they compromise the security and privacy of students’ data? Educators nationwide are rapidly turning to digital learning content from sites and apps, according to the Consortium for School Networking’s report Identity and Access Management: Fundamentals for Securing Student Data and Privacy. According to the report, this move is inspired by “the power of digital media to engage students in learning that is relevant to them in the classroom and beyond.” There are two areas of concern, however. The first challenge teachers and students face is managing and remembering logins and passwords for a large number of applications. The second issue is students’ release of power to third-party software, enabling the software to take actions such as sending e-mails on students’ behalf.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2015/10/08/managing-student-identities-in-the-digital-era.aspx

By Ian Richardson, Creston News Advertiser

The classroom buzzes with the low hum of conversation mixed with concentration. In one corner, senior Jacob Routh works on setting up a 3D printer. In another, sophomore Desi Osterhout and junior Cydney Seley sit on blue-green patterned armchairs, looking through Google Cardboard goggles that use smartphones to create virtual-reality experiences. At a long, markerboard-surfaced table in the room’s center, a group of students builds robots from Cubelets, box-shaped elements that use sensors to perform different functions. Another group builds circuits using a kit with snap-on pieces. These students belong to one of Anthony Donahoo’s Environmental and Spatial Technology classes at Creston Community Schools. Better known by the acronym EAST, these classes combine the use of technology with community service.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/10/09/21st-century-classroom-729/

By C. RAMSEY FAHS and DANIEL P. WOOD, Harvard Crimson

Harvard faculty members have demonstrated an increased interest in the “flipped” classroom model, the practice of moving some material previously taught in lecture to pre-class video recordings, according to faculty involved in pedagogical research. Robert A. Lue, faculty director of the Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, said faculty members interested in an “active learning” model have recently consulted the Bok Center in increasing numbers, though the center does not keep statistics on flipped courses. To support interested professors, the Bok Center holds weekly “Active Learning Lunches.” The ramp-up in faculty interest comes as researchers publish more studies on the active learning model and others internally raise concerns about faculty and student workload under the flipped model.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/10/9/faculty-weigh-flipped-model/

by Nicole Gorman, Education World

Quality Matters, a nonprofit that aims to improve the quality of online education in both the higher education and K-12 sphere, has produced a guide for K-12 schools to follow when creating and offering online courses. How Can Online Education Reflect High Quality Teaching? “When you walk into a classroom, you have an instinctual feel for the quality of teaching and learning happening there, along with standards and expectations that have developed over decades. How can we do the same for online education? ” asks WeAreTeachers.com. Quality Matter’s rubric aims to help strengthen online courses that might otherwise be ineffective busy work through several recommendations that administrators and educators should familiarize themselves with.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_news/essentials-effective-online-courses-k-12-1397811894

by Center for Applied Linguistics

This new self-paced online course from CAL is designed to help teachers and administrators increase their knowledge of research-based sheltered instruction to support the language and content learning needs of English learners. Examples are based on the widely-used and effective SIOP Model.

http://www.cal.org/news-and-events/in-the-news/new-online-course-fsi

By Ian Richardson, Creston News Advertiser

The classroom buzzes with the low hum of conversation mixed with concentration. In one corner, senior Jacob Routh works on setting up a 3D printer. In another, sophomore Desi Osterhout and junior Cydney Seley sit on blue-green patterned armchairs, looking through Google Cardboard goggles that use smartphones to create virtual-reality experiences. At a long, markerboard-surfaced table in the room’s center, a group of students builds robots from Cubelets, box-shaped elements that use sensors to perform different functions. Another group builds circuits using a kit with snap-on pieces.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/10/09/21st-century-classroom-729/

by eSchool News

A new mobile app competition with backing from the Department of Education and the First Lady is hoping to promote enthusiasm for higher education, including career and technical schools. In particular, the challenge is looking for apps that help students learn about various career options and assess their interests. “If students want to learn cutting-edge skills and prepare for successful careers, a four-year university isn’t their only choice. CTE is also an excellent option because students can get all the professional skills they need for a good job in a high-demand field, and they can do it at a fraction of the time and cost of a four-year school,” said First Lady Michelle Obama in a statement.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/10/09/app-challenge-510/

By Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed

Students at Lynn University soon will be able to earn 15 credits by completing a 16-week academic program in technology design at a distant campus of General Assembly, the largest of the coding boot camps. The partnership between the private university, in Boca Raton, Fla., and the upstart, nonaccredited General Assembly will offer Lynn’s students an immersive form of study abroad, university officials said. “The curriculum is designed for university students to supplement the education they receive in school with industry-specific skills,” the university said in a written statement. “The new arrangement with Lynn allows students to pair a strong liberal arts foundation with just-in-time job skills.”

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/09/lynn-university-and-general-assembly-team-credit-bearing-study-abroad

By Leila Meyer, THE Journal

Teachers who participated in a year-long study comparing video-recorded and in-person classroom observations found the video observation process fairer and more useful overall than in-person observations, according to a new report from the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University. The report, “The Best Foot Forward Project: Substituting Teacher-Collected Video for In-Person Classroom Observations,” summarizes the findings of the first year of implementation of the Best Food Forward Project. The researchers studied 347 teachers and 108 administrators at schools in Delaware, Georgia, Colorado and California.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2015/10/07/report-teacher-controlled-video-observations-improve-teacher-assessment-process.aspx

By Dino Flammia, New Jersey 101.5

Online learning, from classes to homework to exams, has become a more viable option for students in New Jersey and across the country. John B. Wilson, head of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in New Jersey, said most members are jumping on board with degrees achieved via the Web. “It has become much more popular,” Wilson said. “Of course, technology has changed as well to make the delivery more effective.”

http://nj1015.com/online-degrees-in-nj-more-schools-offering-web-only-programs/

by Sally Rummel, Tri-county Times

While traditional classroom settings are still the norm for most students in the U.S., especially in K-12 schools, online learning has become a mainstream reality for most college and university students today. The trend toward online learning prompted the Michigan Legislature to pass a law in 2006 to require all Michigan high school students to take at least one online course during their high school career, with the goal of preparing students for this virtual style of learning. Today, more than 80 percent of public universities and half of all private colleges offer at least one fully online program

http://www.tctimes.com/living/featured_sections/learning-online/article_0d9442c2-6cf6-11e5-865e-539d74713191.html

By Barbara A. Popp, eSchool News

It’s no secret that virtual education has become more and more widespread, with new online schools popping up regularly and brick-and-mortar institutions adding a blended component. With that in mind, certain strategies, tips, and guidelines have been proven to help instructors begin what can seem like an overwhelming task—teaching a course without ever even needing to physically see her students. Throughout my years of experience, I’ve compiled a list of ten best practices and tips that I believe can help save instructor time.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/10/08/online-educators-585/

by eSchool News

A new resource aims to share tips on how to establish a collaborative environment in classrooms, and it also provides relevant and engaging lessons, organized by subject matter and grade level. Available for download at http://news.mimio.com/collaborate-to-the-core-2015-pr at no charge, the 36-page guide includes “7 Tips to Your Collaborative Classroom Makeover,” which discusses how teachers can arrange their classroom to promote more collaborative learning.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/10/07/guide-collaborative-672/

By Stephen Noonoo, eSchool News

Discovery Education will host another annual virtual conference for educators later this month, featuring live presentations from various educators across the continent. Fall VirtCon, as it’s known to distinguish it from a spring counterpart, will take place on Oct. 24.Centered around a theme of “Literacies for the Digital Age,” the event will take a deep dive into Kathy Schrock’s 13 Literacies for the Digital Age, which empower educators with instructional strategies to prepare students to become well-rounded 21st-century citizens.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/10/08/virtcon-digital-123/

by Anne Niccoli, EDUCAUSE Review

As of 2014, 63 percent of colleges reported using e-textbooks, while 27 percent planned to in the near future.1 But what drives these digital book policies and practices in higher education — technology or research? Considering the pervasiveness of digital devices, the lack of sufficient guidance for educators to make informed decisions about instruction and learning is disconcerting. Despite the widespread adoption of tablets in schools, ranging from elementary through higher education, research about the effects of tablet use on student learning has obvious gaps. Rapid technological advances and changing features in electronic devices create challenges for those who study the effects of using them; specifically, researchers face limitations in understanding the effects of digital reading on student recall and comprehension. More important, increasing our understanding of the influence of electronic devices on learning will inform educators about the implications of test scores and performance.

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/9/paper-or-tablet-reading-recall-and-comprehension

by David Shipley, EDUCAUSE Review

A flurry of cyber security incident headlines this summer is illustrating a growing threat facing nearly every higher education institution in North America. Notable incidents included news this spring that Penn State University’s entire Engineering School had to be taken offline for an extensive investigation and clean-up of its network and systems. That incident was followed in August with similar news from the University of Virginia (UVA) of a targeted cyber attack against two officials whose work was connected with China. The news this summer that Harvard University suffered a modest hack affecting user credentials in eight schools caused little surprise, nor did news recently that Rutgers University is spending millions this year to strengthen its security in the wake of a series of denial of service (DoS) attacks against its networks and servers.

http://er.educause.edu/blogs/2015/9/the-cyber-siege-of-higher-education-in-north-america

by Perry J. Samson, EDUCAUSE Review

A while back, I was asked to teach my department’s introductory course. It was called “Weather & Climate” and averaged about 30 students per semester. Over time I changed the curriculum to focus more on extreme weather and climate issues, and I retitled the course “Extreme Weather.” Now it averages about 200 students per semester. (Here is a marketing tip: add “extreme” to the title of whatever course you’re teaching if you’d like to increase the number of students in your class.) Faced with that many students, I soon realized that I would not know what they didn’t know until after the first exam and that my learning management system (LMS) did not provide me any information about what was happening in my classroom.

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/8/promoting-engagement-in-larger-classes

By Graphite by Common Sense Media

Across the world, educators are turning to personal learning networks to get inspiration and trade best practices. Here are four that offer great resources for teachers at no cost. Graphite is a free service for teachers from Common Sense Media that helps educators find the best digital learning tools by presenting them with independent ratings and reviews based on rigorous rubric that evaluates learning potential.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2015/10/06/4-fantastic-and-free-professional-learning-networks-for-teachers.aspx

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

The University of Michigan is expanding its MOOC presence. The institution, which was a founding partner in Coursera, will now be offering its massive, open, online courses on edX too, the first to begin in April 2016. The university also has ties to a third MOOC platform, NovoEd, which runs both educator and corporate operations. Under the edX agreement, U Michigan will launch “MichiganX,” and promises to deliver “at least” 20 courses on the platform over the next two years. Three of the early ones will cover finance, learning analytics and data science ethics. The institution is also anteing up on Coursera at the same time, asserting that it will grow from 20 MOOCs on that platform to “more than 50” by December.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/10/07/u-michigan-scales-up-mooc-missions.aspx

By Georgia Simmonds, Red

Accepted wisdom: curiosity is the key to success and happiness. Learning new things is good for you, and doing it online is super convenient. Whether you want to immerse yourself in a six week course, or let your mind snack on short instructional videos on unfamiliar subjects, the online destinations below have you covered. The great bit? It won’t cost you a thing and anyone can engage – it’s a delightfully egalitarian way to educate yourself. All you need is interest, internet access, and a willingness to have a go.The greater bit? The self-directed nature of the courses means you can fit them around your lifestyle and learn at a pace that suits you. Linked at the URL below are five great starting points. What are you waiting for?

http://www.redonline.co.uk/health-self/the-5-online-learning-destinations-you-need-to-bookmark-free-courses