Educational Technology

March 31, 2016

Teachers want to ban Wi-Fi in the classroom

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:39 am

by LLOYD ALTER, Mother Nature Network

In Kingston Ontario, two teachers unions want to have Wi-Fi turned off because they believe the signals post a health risk. Ashely Csanady writes in the National Post: “We’re concerned because Wi-Fi and microwave communications have not been determined to be safe, and we’ve never received any training about the hazards such as all the warnings that come with your cellphones or wireless devices.” A few years back there was a campaign to remove Wi-Fi from a school district north of Toronto. But thousands of studies and most reputable scientists suggest there’s little risk, primarily because the energy output of a router is so low. As Dr. Steven Novella of the NeuroLogica blog noted, From a basic science perspective, there is little plausibility to the notion that Wi-Fi radiation would have any health effects. The amount of energy that is absorbed by a person living in a Wi-Fi field is negligible — less than 1% of exposure from a typical cellphone and well below current safety levels.

http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/computers/blogs/teachers-want-ban-wifi-classroom

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Deeper Learning Demands Deeper Leading—and Technology Can Help

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

by Barnett Berry, EdSurge

Teachers feel disconnected from decisions relevant to their jobs, and their working conditions do not encourage ongoing professional growth. How can we then expect them to exercise energy and enthusiasm as they engage students in deeper learning?It is time for policymakers and practitioners to create an effective system of teacher learning and leadership. For deeper learning to spread, teachers must be able to evaluate the impact of new practices on student learning and broaden their own reach. To borrow Elmore’s terms, growing numbers of teachers will need to “go public” with their practices and expand their “web” of influence, no longer thinking of themselves as “solo practitioners.” And schools will need to take new organizational approaches that develop teachers as leaders and create the conditions that allow (and encourage) their expertise to be tapped and spread.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-03-26-deeper-learning-demands-deeper-leading-and-technology-can-help

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Redefining the art of learning

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

by Cindy Mosedale, Rutland Herald

We teachers have joined together to stretch our comfort levels and expand our expertise by employing artistic media to foster higher-order thinking and understanding in science content. In our classrooms, learning is centered around a growth mindset and the habits of mind that allow students to develop: persistence, listening with understanding, questioning, and communicating with precision and accuracy. Participants are taught to constructively critique and craft their products and performances as an infinite process. The team uses phrases such as, “I notice that…” and, “I wonder what would happen if…” with each other and students, with a goal of providing additional information and building on what the students have already mastered, rather than destroying what they’ve created by implying that it is lacking and suggesting a need to start over.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160327/OPINION06/160329566

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March 30, 2016

Universities embrace a new credentialing system

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:39 am

by Stefanie Botelho, University Business

Six of the nation’s top universities have come together to offer a new credentialing system that may become the standard in career-focused, skills-based training. Georgia Tech Professional Education, UCLA, University of California, Davis Extension, University of California Irvine Division of Continuing Education, University of Washington Professional and Continuing Education and University of Wisconsin-Extension today launched the University Learning Store, enabling job seekers and working professionals to earn industry-validated micro-credentials in a range of business and technical skills.

http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/universities-embrace-new-credentialing-system

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Barry University CIO: Managing The Mobile Security Load

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:36 am

by Curtis Franklin Jr, Information Week

In higher ed, CIOs have to deal with ultra-connected students and faculty whose devices increase the security burden on IT, while managing the growing use of online video as an educational tool. Here’s how the CIO of Barry University in Florida handles it all. Londono said that the university’s IT operations are highly centralized in a single Miami location. He described the 64 people in the department as working in “a classic IT shop” with traditional client services, communications, training, and information security within the group. The centralization isn’t simply the way things have always been, Londono said. It’s the result of conscious planning and decisions made over the years.

http://www.informationweek.com/strategic-cio/security-and-risk-strategy/barry-university-cio-managing-the-mobile-security-load/a/d-id/1324714

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Big data offers path forward for retention initiatives

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

Only about half of students who enroll in a post-secondary program actually graduate in six years, but big data offers an opportunity to tailor retention programs to unique student populations. EdTech reports that Helix Education’s new guide, “Predictive Student Retention: The Power of Data Coaching,” urges colleges to tie student information to data about how they actually do in their programs, creating predictive models that help counselors and academic coaches do their jobs. Helix Education is part of a growing market of predictive technology solutions, which have received attention from, among others, President Barack Obama, businessman and investor Mark Cuban, and the Robin Hood Foundation.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/big-data-offers-path-forward-for-retention-initiatives/415996/

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March 29, 2016

Funding Technology: E-rate Reboot Removes Broadband Hurdles

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:39 am

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

It has been more than a year since the FCC modernized E-rate. Here’s how the latest developments are affecting schools. According to the latest “State of the States” report from Education Superhighway, 77 percent of districts are meeting the FCC’s minimum Internet goal of 100 Kbps per student. That’s more than double the number of districts meeting the same goal in 2013. However, if you’re in one of the 23 percent of school systems still not meeting even the minimum, the vision of delivering personalized digital learning opportunities to students may have the composition of a mirage — always on the horizon and never within your grasp.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/03/24/funding-technology-erate-reboot-removes-broadband-hurdles.aspx

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Texas Extends Use of Adaptive Math Program

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has extended an agreement with a software provider to make a digital math resource available to all public and open-enrollment charter school students across the state through December of 2017. The agency chose to extend state-wide access of Think Through Learning’s Think Through Math (TTM) to five years following an existing relationship going back three years. Available to students in grade 3 math through algebra, Think Through Math is a Web-based system featuring adaptive instruction, a motivation system and access to state certified math teachers for students in need of tutoring. Since its original adoption in202, students at 5,700 schools and 89 percent of the state’s public schools have used the program.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/03/24/texas-extends-use-of-adaptive-math-program.aspx

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Go Big or Go Small: The Future of AV Displays

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

by Dennis Pierce, Campus Technology

Today, students are interacting with content on large touchscreen flat panels. Soon, they could be using immersive head-mounted displays. The way students view and interact with information on digital displays has evolved quite a bit over the last few years — and it’s poised for even greater change in the months ahead. Many schools and colleges have invested in interactive flat panels (IFPs) that students can use as standalone systems without needing an externally connected device. New features and improvements have kept the technology relevant in today’s classrooms. But in the future, audiovisual systems on campus easily could include head-mounted displays (HMDs) that immerse students in fully interactive 3D learning environments.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/23/go-big-or-go-small-the-future-of-av-displays.aspx

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March 28, 2016

How Game-Based Learning Can Help Students of All Ages Learn

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

By Melissa Nott, Edudemic

In school, kids play during recess and work during class. But some of the biggest names in psychology, including Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner, believe that play is a child’s work. The best way to teach kids, they say, is through hands-on, active learning. But with state benchmarks and performance-based teacher evaluations hanging above our heads, it’s hard for educators to imagine spending precious academic time playing games with kids. That’s where game-based learning (often confused with gamification, which isn’t quite the same thing) comes in. With this approach, learning and play aren’t at odds with each other; in fact, games are the vehicle and environment for learning.

http://www.edudemic.com/game-based-learning-help-learn/

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MOOCs move from free to fee as skills demand grows

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

by Natalie Marsh, PIE News

Career development continues to be a large motivation for students to enrol in MOOCs, meaning demand for credit certification is growing. In response, a number of providers have introduced fees for a handful of course certifications and assessment services.Implementing a business model that charges a small fee for certain courses is, “a move that is slowly redefining MOOCs’ role in the global marketplace of online education” according to “State of the MOOC” , an article by Online Course Report, a content and resource base for online courses. “MOOC providers realised early on that they could offer more for less by marketing courses from top-tier schools as much cheaper than universities could market a traditional college degree,” it states. Citing data from Class Central, the feature found 4,550 MOOCs were made available in January this year, over twice the number offered in January 2015 (2,150).

http://thepienews.com/news/moocs-move-from-free-to-fee-as-skills-demand-grows/

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Sought-after Duo Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel Are Now Offering Online Courses on the Ukulele, Exclusively Through ArtistWorks

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:32 am

by Business Wire

Renowned duo Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel have partnered with ArtistWorks exclusively to launch online Video Exchange® ukulele lessons for the first time. Known for their ability to make the ukulele accessible to players of all interest levels, and for their combined experiences teaching, Chee and Maisel offer lessons geared towards all levels and abilities, beginning today on ArtistWorks.com. When they’re not teaching, the couple can be found performing around the globe, and headlining some of the largest ukulele festivals in the world.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160324006043/en/Sought-after-Duo-Craig-Chee-Sarah-Maisel-Offering

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March 27, 2016

Higher ed’s digital shift not as fast as some hope

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:39 am

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

The shift from paper to digital resources in higher education has affected virtually all levels of operations, and it is transforming the way students learn and faculty teach — but perhaps not as quickly as some might hope. An inaugural survey on the state of digital media in higher education by VideoBlocks finds overwhelming support for digital materials by faculty and students. Fully 91% of faculty or administrator respondents said digital media in lectures improves student learning outcomes, and about three-quarters of student respondents said multimedia elements make them more engaged in lectures. But faculty report frustration with levels of institutional support, including for technology resources as well as training. The VideoBlocks report includes responses from about 150 students and 150 educators across a diverse higher education landscape that makes generalities difficult.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/higher-eds-digital-shift-not-as-fast-as-some-hope/416102/

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The Key to Better IT Communication

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

by David Raths, Campus Technology

In an October 2015 Campus Technology article, Hilary Baker, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at California State University, Northridge, described her approach: “Who knew that a CIO was in the marketing business? But I am — and my team is — so much so that I now have a director of communications reporting to me that I did not have in other times in my CIO career.” For this article, we interviewed Mayra Solano, CSUN’s director of planning and communications, about her position, which she has held for the past two years. Solano said that before her position was created, the IT group was not developing marketing plans around new initiatives. “People think of IT as a service organization. One of my goals is to begin to think about services as products for our students, and explaining the overall benefits.”

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/24/the-key-to-better-it-communication.aspx

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Machine learning is reshaping security

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

by Leslie K. Lambert, CSO

At the recent RSA Conference it was virtually impossible to find a vendor that was not claiming to use machine learning. Both new and established companies are now touting “machine learning” as a major component of the data science being used in their products. What the heck is machine learning anyway? And is it really going to reshape cyber security in 2016? For brevity’s sake, I’ll define machine learning as the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed. Over the past decade, machine learning has enabled self-driving cars, practical speech recognition, effective web search, and has vastly improved our understanding of the human genome. Machine learning is so pervasive today that we use it dozens of times a day without knowing it. Many researchers also think machine learning is the best way to make progress towards human-level Artificial Intelligence.

http://www.csoonline.com/article/3046543/security/machine-learning-is-reshaping-security.html
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March 26, 2016

As tax day looms, online class offers help making good financial choices

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:39 am

By Public Affairs, UC Berkeley

Nothing says “time to pay attention to your personal finances” better than April 15, the annual tax deadline in the United States. Coincidentally, the big day also is the jumping off point for a new online course, “How to Save Money: Making Smart Financial Decisions.” The class that is free and open to the public. Terrance Odean, the Rudd Family Foundation Professor of Finance at the Berkeley Haas School of Business and an authority on investors’ behavior, is leading the course, which is designed to help people manage their money and fret less about personal finances.

https://news.berkeley.edu/2016/03/23/as-tax-day-looms-consider-a-class-on-making-good-financial-choices/

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New Coursera Core CS Specialization

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:33 am

by iProgrammer

What Coursera used to offer as free courses it now offers as a paid for Specialization. The latest across our radar is Data Structures and Algorithms and the first course in the series has just started. The Data Structures and Algorithms Specialization, which is at Intermediate level so you need some programming experience before you join it, comes from UC San Diego and Higher School of Economics (HSE), one of Russia’s top research universities and has Yandex and Computer Science Center as its industry partners.

http://www.i-programmer.info/news/150-training-a-education/9557-new-coursera-core-cs-specialization.html

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Harvard offers online business fundamentals course to incoming students

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:29 am

by National Jurist

Incoming Harvard law students are learning about business concepts, thanks to an online program launched by the Harvard Business School. HBX Credential of Readiness (CORe) teaches business fundamentals and is available to incoming Harvard law students for $300. Last year, 89 percent of students said the program increased their confidence in discussing business topics. “I thoroughly enjoyed my HBX CORe experience and found that a fresh background knowledge in business analytics and financial accounting helped me to better understand the decision-making factors managers often consider in domestic and international trade,” said Abraham Williamson, a first-year student at Harvard Law School and a participant in the pilot offering of CORe last summer.

http://www.nationaljurist.com/content/harvard-offers-business-fundamentals-course-incoming-students

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March 25, 2016

19 Atlanta students suspended for cheating in online classes

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

By Molly Bloom,The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Nineteen students accused of cheating on online courses have been suspended froman Atlanta high school. An Atlanta Public Schools spokeswoman called the case “an isolated incident.” The alleged cheating comes after staff at the same school warned the school board that students in online classes were awarded grades they did not earn. And it comes a year after students at another Atlanta high school used a teacher’s account to change online course grades. In Atlanta, as in many districts nationally, more students are taking classes online as part of regular instruction and to make up credit for failed classes. Atlanta’s expanding use of online classes includes the use of “blended learning” at Crim, which entails online coursework supervised by in-person teachers.

http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/atlanta-students-accused-of-cheating-in-online-cla/nqqk8/

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The future of learning: Technology coupled with human interaction

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:34 am

By Amit Nagpal, Forbes India

Although technology helps scale up the process, it also dehumanises certain factors. People need to interact with one another, impart and learn from each other’s experiences. The stories we share with each other, the successes and the failures will change the way we learn. In my experience, a blended approach that includes both digital and classroom methods, is the future of learning. According to a leading research company, Markets and Markets, Smart Education & Learning Market will be worth $446.85 billion by 2020. Another research data presented by Docebo research organisation states while the worldwide market for Self-Paced E-Learning reached $35.6 billion in 2011, the five-year compound annual growth rate is estimated at around 7.6 percent, so revenues should reach some $51.5 billion by 2016.

http://forbesindia.com/blog/technology/the-future-of-learning-technology-coupled-with-human-interaction/

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Arkansas leading way on computer classes, Texas left in dust

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

By Brian Fanney, Arkansas Online

Texas was the first state to require that all high schools teach computer science, but Arkansas schools catapulted ahead in the past year after a mandate from the governor backed by millions in funding, said state and national advocates. In Texas, a single state school board member pushed to require high schools to teach the classes. But few schools are following the policy and Texas has put up little if any state money to train teachers. In Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson made computer coding a state priority and pushed a bill to provide funding for teacher training and to mandate that high schools offer the courses. It also requires that the classes count as math or science credits instead of an elective.

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/mar/20/state-leading-way-on-computer-classes-2/?news-arkansas

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