Educational Technology

by ANYA KAMENETZ, NPR

The U.S. Education Department will make Pell Grants available to 10,000 high school students who are enrolled in courses at 44 colleges. It’s an ambitious experiment aimed at closing the attainment gap between rich and poor students in higher education. The Obama administration wants to give students a head start on college. The new program will allow high school students in 23 states to access up to $20 million in federal money to pay for a semester of college credit. Four out of five of the chosen sites are community colleges. The institutions have proposed programs that offer not just academics, but supports like advising and counseling, plus a “clear pathway” onward to a degree.

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/05/17/478260017/a-first-pell-grants-for-high-school-students-who-take-college-classes

By Kristine Walker, Parent Herald

The world is currently facing a worsening refugee crisis, where roughly 1.1 million people, who fled their homes due to violence, drought and food insecurity, are needed to be relocated this year. Fortunately, United Nations is making efforts to raise awareness about refugees, particularly in refugee education and learning. Previous researches on education technology (EdTech) have underscored its potential to revolutionize the opportunity limits and access of less fortunate students to education through the influence of new digital tools as educational resources. That’s why experts believed that education technology can help transform and improve children refugees’ education.

http://www.parentherald.com/articles/50596/20160622/education-technology-latest-news-updates-how-edtech-revolutionizes-education-for-children-refugees.htm

By Michael and Phil Hill, EdSurge

Just as different students need to learn in different ways, we believe that different faculty (and other educational professionals) will learn best through different forms. To that end, we are pleased to share a prototype of an animated explainer video that we’ve developed to help faculty understand how their content can translate into software and think creatively about the pedagogical opportunities that such a translation could create. In particular, we invite faculty to think about their content as data, drawing on the familiar analogy of locations on a map (content) becoming GPS coordinates (data) and unlocking a wealth of new capabilities in the process.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-05-18-video-putting-the-ed-into-edtech

By: Marby Bustalinio-Tabungar, Business Inquirer

Our country is catching up in global trends when it comes to Training and Development (T&D) practices. This was captured in the recent survey conducted by the Philippine Society of Training and Development (PSTD) Foundation, Inc. where companies from different industries said they treat T&D as one of the business priorities by making it a distinct organization thus the focus and specialization and by allocating budget for T&D initiatives. But we need to up the game further. In this era where information is readily available learning could happen almost anytime, anywhere, and as the demand for engaging learning solutions grow, we have to maximize technology in favor of us. This will help us shift our approach to learning and create new vehicles for enabling individual and business success. Let’s look at these trends in technology that you can incorporate in your strategy.

http://business.inquirer.net/210669/five-5-trending-technology-tips-to-empower-training-and-development-practitioners

by Knowledge@Wharton

What is the blockchain? It is a distributed database of computers that maintains records and manages transactions. Rather than having a central authority (such as a bank), blockchain uses the network to approve “blocks,” or transactions, which are then added to the “chain” of computer code. Cryptography is used to keep transactions secure, and the distributed nature of transaction approval makes the system harder to tamper with. Blockchain technology has been hailed by its VC supporters as having revolutionary promise for all involved. “You should be taking this technology as seriously as you should have been taking the development of the Internet in the early 1990’s. It’s analogous to email for money,” said Masters, according to The Financial Times. And blockchain enthusiasts believe that the application possibilities are endless — improving the way we hold and transfer secure goods from money to deeds to music to intellectual property.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/blockchain-technology-will-disrupt-financial-services-firms/

by Wayne Birkholz, St. Cloud Times

What is the most cost-effective and efficient means of educating high school students in the 21st century? The obvious solution is online learning. Online learning is not something on the horizon. It is already a maturing technology. A model of education that requires a building that accommodates every student, every day, all day is an 18th century model that is outdated and shortsighted. I leave you to find the most recent statistics, but the majority of colleges and universities offer some form of online learning. And there are online high school options available. Online learning allows students to work at their own pace, on their own schedule and with fewer distractions. Most high school courses can be “packaged” programs with recorded lectures. Online learning would also allow year-round learning, allowing early graduation for those with the desire and aptitude.

http://www.sctimes.com/story/opinion/2016/05/28/build-new-school-go-online-instead/84901040/

by Matt Novak, Gizmodo

Chromebooks have surpassed sales of Mac laptops in the United States for the first time ever. And that doesn’t surprise me. Because roughly a year ago I made the same switch. Formerly a lifelong Mac user, I bought my first PC ever in the form of a Chromebook. And I’m never looking back. Driven by the kind of passion that can only be found in the recently converted, I have aided and abetted friends in renouncing the sins of gluttony and pride uniquely found in the House of Apples. I have helped them find salvation with the Book of Chrome. Glory be the Kingdom of Chrome, for your light shines down upon us at a quarter of the price.

http://gizmodo.com/why-i-bought-a-chromebook-instead-of-a-mac-1778403065