Educational Technology

by Manya Koetse, What’s on Weibo

China’s rapid digital developments have greatly impacted people’s lives in many ways. It has not only changed how people talk, shop, pay, or even date – it has also changed how they learn. The increasing popularity of cyber schools is bringing about major changes in China’s education system. What’s on Weibo covers the latest developments in the booming business of e-learning in China, and introduces the 10 hottest players in the field.

http://www.whatsonweibo.com/10-hottest-chinese-online-education-companies-2016/

by Business Wire

Students at Kansas Virtual Academy (KSVA), an accredited, tuition-free, online public school, will begin their 2016-2017 school year on August 16 in a safe and engaging educational environment. The school is a program within the Spring Hill School District, however, is open to any student residing in Kansas. KSVA’s mission is to help students discover, develop and achieve their maximum learning potential. The individualized learning approach gives students in grades K through 6 an exceptional learning experience. The online environment allows students to work at their own pace within parameters, giving them time to progress faster in subjects at which they excel, while spending more time on subjects and lessons where they need more help.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/kansas-online-school-offers-students-205700806.html

by RK Prasad, ATD

Recall a course in college that made a lasting impact on you. What was so unique about it? Was it because it was very useful? Or was it because the instructor was very good? Or did the interaction with peers make it meaningful? If you really think about it, you will identify certain elements that make any learning experience memorable, useful, and enjoyable.

https://www.td.org/Publications/Blogs/L-and-D-Blog/2016/08/Back-to-Basics-5-Essential-Elements-of-Effective-E-Learning

By Dan Gordon, THE Journal

In two years on the job as deputy superintendent of educational services for the Santa Ana Unified School District, David Haglund has helped usher in a new era of “anytime, anywhere access to learning.” The high-poverty district, in which more than 90 percent of students are eligible for free and reduced lunch, is embracing BYOD as it emphasizes competency-based, project-based and blended learning. The centerpiece is the Advanced Learning Academy, a dependent charter school for elementary and middle school students that opened last fall with a focus on a high-tech, project-based and STEM curriculum. The district has also begun using Lightspeed classroom audio systems to allow teachers to be heard clearly and to be able to listen in on small-group discussions.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/08/10/ensuring-anytime-anywhere-access-in-a-high-poverty-district.aspx

by Building Design and Construction

The construction industry has welcomed e-learning with companies, suppliers and construction sites registered with the Considerate Constructors Scheme undertaking 3,600 courses so far. The construction industry’s online platform for sharing best practice, the Best Practice Hub, has launched a number of free e-learning courses which are designed to help raise industry standards. Companies, suppliers and construction sites of all sizes registered with the Considerate Construction Scheme can undertake the e-learning courses, which are designed to improve their knowledge of the scheme in order to meet and exceed the expectations outlined by the scheme’s Code of Considerate Practice. The e-learning courses are eligible for CPD and were launched to all users registered with the Best Practice Hub during May.

http://www.bdcmagazine.com/property-development/education-healthcare/e-learning-hit-construction-industry-12470

Diogo Costa, Tech.co

The Internet is an amazing tool that can make our lives much easier and put us in contact with the entire world. At the same time, it’s also an excellent way to procrastinate with lots of memes and jokes to look at. But, if we want to, we can take advantage of the Internet’s best features to our personal improvement. The web can be used to learn about investment, to enhance technical skills, learn a new language, complement studies and develop a hobby, or even focus on entrepreneurial skills. The advantages are – just like the possibilities – endless. Here are some ways to learn a new skill online right away.

http://tech.co/ways-learn-new-skill-online-2016-08

by eSchool News

When Luke Greiner quizzes high school students about Minnesota’s labor market, there’s one question that always stumps them: What college major–and type of degree–leads to the highest salary two years after graduation? “Students pick chemical engineering, anything with computers,” said Greiner, who works for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The correct answer? A specialized plumbing and water supply program.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/08/05/data-and-salary-trackers-are-helping-students-pick-better-careers/

by eSchool News

When the first day of school rolls around in August, Webster math teacher Lori Wagner won’t be heading back to the classroom. Instead, she’ll be heading to her basement. Wagner is one of nine new teachers hired by the Center for Statewide E-learning at Northern State University with a $1 million budget increase. The money is courtesy of the Blue Ribbon Task Force and, more specifically, a half-cent sales tax increase passed during the legislative session. The bulk of the new money is to increase K-12 teacher pay at public schools, but the distance learning center is also a beneficiary, able to increase services. Wager has set up a virtual classroom in her basement. She’ll be teaching Algebra II and possibly pre-calculus to students across the state.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/08/05/distance-learning-fills-core-gaps-at-rural-school/

by eSchool News

The Missouri Research and Education Network (MOREnet) and Gaggle have announced that K-12 schools throughout Missouri are now eligible for a consortium discount on Gaggle Safety Management. Gaggle Safety Management ensures the safety of students through early warning detection of cyberbullying, self-harm, drug or alcohol use, pornography and other harmful situations. By combining machine learning technology with expert Safety Representatives, schools and districts can create safe digital learning environments for communication, collaboration and learning.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/08/08/missouri-schools-get-help-preventing-cyberbullying/

by Carlos Rivers, Evolllution

A major issue that we have seen for current innovative educational models, particularly for Competency-Based Education, is that we have not agreed upon a common framework to measure the effectiveness of these programs. At the Institute for Competency-Based Education, we are currently building a Metrics Framework for our CBE program in Organizational Leadership at Texas A&M-Commerce (TAMU-C). Our framework analyzes three key components since program inception: 1. Student Demographics 2. Program Performance 3. Program Efficiency. The landscape of higher education comes with immense complexity. There can be no one-size-fits-all approach, and therefore we believe this is the perfect starting point to which you can then adjust your parameters to meet the specific needs of your program(s).

http://evolllution.com/programming/program_planning/competency-based-education-the-importance-of-metrics-and-data-collection/

by Christina Sax, Evolllution

The number of unique professional job postings in the higher education sector with “innovation” in the title or description rose 211 percent from 2010 to 2015 (from 75 postings in 2010, to 233 in 2015, according to Burning Glass Labor InsightTM). In addition, it appears that a new interdisciplinary field of academic innovation is also emerging within higher education.[2,3] As a provost or dean, is your institution ready to take on an innovation agenda?[4] And if so, where do you start when it comes to building an innovation engine? This article provides a set of five first steps to establish, nurture and sustain an engine of academic innovation.

http://evolllution.com/managing-institution/operations_efficiency/five-steps-to-building-an-academic-innovation-engine/

by Study International

Dr. Bart Rienties, director of the learning analytics program at the Open University, told The Guardian: “We’re trying to use data to improve our understanding of how students learn. We want to understand the story behind that data.” Rienties added that with the use of learning analytics, universities are able to “provide a more personal learning experience, rather than a one-size-fit-all solution”. In a recent study involving data collated from more than 113,000 students at the Open University, a student’s usage patterns of online learning resources can help predict their overall academic performance. Despite the potential advantages of learning analytics, experts are also wary of its potential abuses, especially when it comes to students’ privacy. The Higher Education Policy Institute’s director, Nick Hillman, said it was still too early to say what effect this approach would have in the long run.

https://www.studyinternational.com/news/learning-analytics-orwellian-or-helpful

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

New software from researchers at MIT could make even the most complex databases easier for non-experts to use. The program’s home screen looks like a spreadsheet, and it allows users to create database queries and reports by combining functions familiar to spreadsheet users rather than forcing them to learn SQL or some other data scripting language. The research project, underway in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, lets people use drop-down menus to pull data into the tool from multiple sources; then they can sort and filter that data, perform integration and tuck away unneeded columns and rows. From those activities the program generates the database queries that deliver results.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/08/05/mit-software-greatly-simplifies-tough-database-querying.aspx

By Michael Hart, Campus Technology

Qlik, a company that primarily makes data analytics tools for business, has added a new component to the free digital course materials it offers to universities. The company has added a new data analytics curriculum to its Qlik Academic Program. The program, which the company has offered to higher education institutions since 2012, offers digital tools that students and professors in all academic disciplines can use to visualize and analyze data and then share findings with one another.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/08/01/qlik-expands-portfolio-of-free-data-analytics-tools-for-universities.aspx

By Leila Meyer, Campus Technology

Technology leaders from universities with large lecture capture implementations share their advice for rolling out the technology at scale. Today’s students increasingly expect ubiquitous lecture capture so they can review lectures to improve their understanding of the material or catch up on a class they missed. “Lecture capture in general is becoming very quickly an expectation of students,” said Chris Edwards, assistant vice president at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. To meet this demand, colleges and universities are scaling up their lecture capture deployments to more classrooms and providing faculty the option of recording lectures outside of the classroom.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/08/03/7-best-practices-for-deploying-lecture-capture-campuswide.aspx

by ELIZA DEWEY, Miami Herald

Miami-Dade has made efforts to make its real world phys ed classes more enticing, adding a variety of options more fun than jumping jacks. There is a learn to swim program for middle schoolers and up that includes a water sports component such as sailing, kayaking or snorkeling. There is a new “geocaching” unit for middle schoolers that resembles a scavenger hunt in public parks with various fitness challenges along the way. There are “wellness centers” in all but three middle- and high-schools that have a mix of traditional fitness equipment like treadmills and outside-the-box offerings like Dance Dance Revolution.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article94121427.html

by Shobita Dhar, the Times of India

Thanks to online courses and the initiatives of a few individuals, youngsters from underprivileged backgrounds are learning to crack the code. Helping some of them do so is Francesco Stasi, an Italian national who heads India operations for CodersTrust, a Danish learn-and-earn platform for freelance coders. “Coding doesn’t need formal education. Anyone can learn it. This makes it attractive to students from poorer backgrounds who often haven’t completed their formal education,” says Stasi. “A cook in urban India earns up to $50 (about Rs 3,000) a month while a coder can earn around $15 (Rs1,000) an hour,” points out Stasi, who set up the trust’s India arm in Gurugram in March. It has enrolled more than 1,000 students from both privileged and underprivileged backgrounds and subsidizes education for bright students from poor families.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/Cook-to-coder-How-low-income-youth-are-writing-a-better-future/articleshow/53575603.cms

By Amelia Hamilton, Education Watchdog

As the popularity of online charter schools continues to grow, so do concerns over their efficacy. The Fordham Institute has three recommendations to improve online charter schools. First, policymakers should fund e-schools based on performance metrics. Second, Fordham recommends the fit between students and e-schools be improved. Finally, policymakers should allow students to take online courses without enrolling full-time in e-learning.

http://watchdog.org/272748/3-ways-improve-online-charter-schools/

by Marilyn Siderwicz, MIT

Improving educational delivery is a core focus of MIT, and also a priority for training new generations of teachers in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). On July 19, about 30 postdocs and graduate students attended a Workshop on Digital Education hosted by CEE to learn about digital education tools available to them as they prepare to teach undergraduate and graduate students, both at MIT and elsewhere. The instructor, Dipa Shah of the MIT Teaching and Learning Lab (TLL), was invited by the CEE Postdoctoral Committee to provide an overview about the latest online technologies and their use for delivering content to students and providing students with practice and feedback.

http://news.mit.edu/2016/using-educational-technology-enhance-student-learning-0805

http://www.wbrc.com/story/32694126/tuscaloosa-county-schools-introducing-fully-online-high-school-program

By David A. Kostival, Reading Eagle

The Gov. Mifflin School District has unveiled a new online learning program that will also allow students to participate in all district activities. Administrators conducted an informational meeting Thursday night to a handful of families to explain the new program known as Governor Mifflin GOLD. Dr. Steve Gerhard, superintendent, said the program is a shift to a more robust and responsive approach to online learning. “It’s important for families to have options when providing the best education for their students,” Gerhard said. “I think up until now, our families had an either-or option – online or in school.” Gerhard said he doesn’t believe that was the best response from the district. “We view this as an ‘and’ option combining online programming with the in-person programming you can find in our schools,” he said. Governor Mifflin GOLD is available tuition-free to students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

http://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/gov-mifflin-launches-new-k-through-12-online-learning-program