Educational Technology

By David Nagel, Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

Research shows that teachers prefer to rely on one another to get solutions to technology problems than they do on the IT department. By a margin of about five to one, teachers prefer to solve their own tech problems without the help of the IT department. According to a survey of more than 1,300 educators by THE Journal, educators’ top choice for solving their tech troubles is online searches, with 37 percent citing that as their preferred source for help with technology. Coming in second was peers, at 23 percent. The help desk/IT department ranked third at 17 percent, followed by the instructional technologist at 11 percent. Students rounded out the top 5 preferred sources of tech help at 4 percent.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/10/27/where-do-teachers-turn-for-tech-help.aspx

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

A non-profit that promotes competency-based and blended and online learning in K-12 has begun turning its attention to states, where the coming era in education transformation is expected to play out. The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) released a new report with recommendations for state policymakers to support local and statewide efforts to improve student learning. “Meeting the Every Student Succeeds Act’s Promise: State Policy to Support Personalized Learning” points out that the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), enacted in December 2015, places a heavier burden on states and local education agencies to enact and oversee systems for assessments, accountability, educator evaluation and use of federal funding.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/10/31/new-report-advises-states-on-how-to-support-personalized-learning.aspx

by Angela Scott-Briggs, Tech Bullion

Last year, worldwide investment in financial technology totalled US$22.3 billion. As global investment in the fintech market continues to increase, taking fintech courses Online will help you understand and enter the fintech industry. Through classes, you may connect with many start-ups and incumbents alike. The courses will not only give you a free ticket for fintech jobs but also offers you a good understanding of the industry. The following are 10 places to study fintech courses online.

http://www.techbullion.com/10-places-study-fintech-courses-online/

by Roger Riddell, Education Dive

In a Thursday morning session at last week’s Educause conference in Anaheim, CA, Ithaca College Interim Associate Vice President & CIO David Weil and University of Richmond CIO Keith “Mac” McIntosh, Ithaca’s former CIO, discussed how they turned around the New York institution’s IT structure. The session drew a crowd that left standing room only, and while the transformation is still underway, it focused on the following four cornerstones that can serve as a blueprint for other institutions looking to streamline operations across any number of departments.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/4-cornerstones-helped-ithaca-college-transform-its-it-organization-educaus/429343/

by Penn State

So far this year, more than 600 students from 85 countries are enrolled in Penn State through the World Campus. Students are spread across six continents in countries such as Japan, Germany, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea. “I think I wouldn’t have made it without Penn State,” said Fernando Ribeiro, who is pursuing a master’s degree in positive psychology. “Education is one of the most important things, especially in the work that I do.” In the suburbs of Pretoria, South Africa, World Campus student Adriaan Van der Merwe is halfway through completing a bachelor’s degree in turfgrass management while working and being a husband and the father of a 5-year-old son.

http://news.psu.edu/story/433642/2016/10/24/academics/online-learning-furthers-students%E2%80%99-dreams-no-matter-where-they-are

By Dian Schaffhauser, Rhea Kelly; Campus Technology

More than a third of educators in our 2016 Teaching with Technology survey said they lack access to adequate support and training for the technology in use at their institutions. About two-thirds of educators (65 percent) feel sufficiently supported in their use of technology on campus. That leaves a third who aren’t getting the help they need, according to Campus Technology’s 2016 Teaching with Technology survey. The survey polled faculty members across the country about their use of technology for teaching and learning, their wish lists and gripes, their view of what the future holds and more.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/10/26/35-percent-of-faculty-feel-they-need-more-it-support.aspx

by Regina Mihindukulasuriya, Business World

In India, advanced analytics/predictive modeling professionals are paid the highest salaries compared to their analytics peers, that is 12.1 lakhs on average. To meet demand, Udacity launches their first nanodegree on predictive analytics.

http://bwdisrupt.businessworld.in/article/Udacity-Says-32-2-Demand-Increase-For-Analytics-Jobs-In-India/26-10-2016-107450/

by Roger Riddell, Education Dive

From security breaches to sewage floods, tech mishaps can be absolutely frightening. Despite technology’s intention of making things simpler and easier, it’s still susceptible to human error, malice or the adverse effects of dated technology. And when things go wrong, they can often go horrifically wrong. In our research for this series, we asked 8 higher ed CIOs to share their scariest campus IT horror stories. This is what they had to say.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/8-cios-share-campus-it-horror-stories/428749/

by Jarrett Carter, Education Dive

The Washington Post reports on the surge of artificial intelligence in a variety of industries and how the rise of robots could dramatically impact higher education in the near future. More than 80% of experts believe computers with artificial intelligence will be able to process information and react on the level of human beings by the year 2040, which will mean reduced jobs and a reduction in the need for higher education for a large percentage of the population. According to Northeastern President Joseph Aoun, bootcamps teaching specific coding and programming knowledge could be the future of education, as fewer jobs in a range of industries will be available outside of programming and designing artificial intelligence.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/how-artificial-intelligence-could-shape-higher-education/429290/

By Sophie Edwads, DevEx

For some recruiters, online degrees are part of the education evolution made possible by advances in technology, and which brick and mortar institutions are vying to keep up with. This is the view of Gary Lazor, talent acquisition manager at SSG Advisors, who said he is positive about distance learning courses as long as they come from “accredited” schools. “In our industry we owe it to our donors to validate the credentials of the staff we are hiring,” he said. In the development sector, where nowadays nearly everyone needs a master’s or some form of higher education, it is often more feasible for staff to take online courses, he said. Taking classes online offers the flexibility to keep working as opposed to taking out two years midcareer to attend classes, he said. Furthermore, Lazor said the ability to hold down a job while studying shows “good discipline” and the ability to balance one’s time effectively, and so could improve a candidate’s chances of getting hired.

https://www.devex.com/news/what-do-recruiters-think-of-online-degrees-88918

by Clarion

Christopher Blaze and his family celebrate his graduation from Clarion University. For one adult learner, choosing Clarion Online was a way to further his education while serving his country as a Marine. Throughout his 12-year military career, Christopher Blaze has been stationed at many exotic locations around the world including Camp Pendleton, California, Iwakuni, Japan, Parris Island, South Carolina, Twentynine Palms, California, Fort Wood, Missouri, and Silverdale Washington, with stops in Iraq and Afghanistan in between.

http://www.clarion.edu/news/2016/october/clarion-online-student-finds-success-as-a-marine-and-adult-learner.html

by Jarrett Carter, Education Dive

The Strayer Skills Index reveals a striking picture of industries with significant deficits in key positions like information technology and programming. Sectors like financial services and healthcare are growing at a rapid pace, with more than 129,000 jobs added in the last nine months. But tech professionals remain at a premium in these industries. Healthcare is the next industry to expect a boom in workforce needs, as many experts project a 19% expansion increase over the next eight years.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/skills-index-shows-it-talent-lacking-in-the-workforce/429295/

By Jordan Friedman, US News

As overall online course enrollment rises, more undergraduate and graduate online learners are choosing a program near their home, according to a 2016 survey by Aslanian Market Research and the Learning House, a company that helps colleges and universities develop quality online degree programs. The recent survey found three-quarters of online students enrolled in a program within 100 miles of where they live, and 55 percent chose one within 50 miles. Dave Clinefelter, chief academic officer for the Learning House and co-author of the study, says the trend isn’t too surprising as more schools embrace online education. “It’s not uncommon for the community college down the road in the next town over or the state university 35 miles away to now have a fairly robust online program,” says Karen Pedersen, chief knowledge officer for the Online Learning Consortium, a group dedicated to advancing the quality of online learning.

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2016-10-27/4-reasons-to-consider-a-local-online-degree-program

by Jarrett Carter, Education Dive

University of Colorado education professor Scott McLeod writes on his personal blog about the benefits of faculty members blogging as a way to build citations, grow a following in a research area, and potentially, to make the case for tenure. McLeod, who has received thousands of views and hundreds of academic citations of his blog posts, suggests that digital publishing is light years ahead of traditional placement in journals for visibility and regard in the teaching profession. He argues that the lack of teachers publishing online does a disservice to research and industrial communities, and stagnates opportunities for academe to positively influence legislative impact.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/when-is-blogging-part-of-the-academic-conversation/429292/

by Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

Why is it that after decades of sustained investment and excitement in educational technology that we have trouble locating the benefits? Immediately you will object to this statement. You will point to all the advances in online learning (traditional and open), in digital curricular materials, in flipped classes, and in mobile learning. You will talk about adaptive learning platforms and predictive analytics. And everything you say will be correct. But none of our work in digital learning seems to have been able to accomplish the basic goals of bending the postsecondary cost curve, of increasing access to degrees (if not educational content), or of reducing student debt.

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/paradox-digital-learning-innovation

by Udemy

The survey of 1,000 U.S. full-time employees found that boredom isn’t simply a matter of having nothing to do but rather a lack of new learning opportunities and professional growth. Respondents cited limited opportunities to learn new skills (46%), as well as unchallenging work that doesn’t use their education or background (44%), as top reasons they were bored in their current roles and looking for a change. “Companies spend a lot of time and money on retention programs, but they’re missing a key reason why employees pursue new opportunities: they’re bored at work. The majority of those bored employees indicate that the opportunity to learn new skills at their jobs would increase their interest and engagement.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161026005574/en/Udemy-Study-Discovers-Lack-Learning-Opportunities-Leaves

BY NATALIE BURG, West Michigan

“We found some students who were interested in Mandarin Chinese online, and I served as their mentor because I wanted to learn as much about the process as I could,” Bush says. By around 2010, those few students taking a variety of online courses, evolved into about 40 per semester. At that point, Bush designated a staff member to the program. “In the first couple of years we almost had to find things for him to do to justify his full-time position,” recalls Bush, who is now the superintendent of Coloma Community Schools. “But by the time I left Coopersville in 2014, there were nearly 300 students each semester taking online courses.”

http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/features/102716-evolution-of-online-learning-in-West-Michigan.aspx

By Matt Pickles, BBC

A university without any teachers has opened in California this month. It’s called 42 – the name taken from the answer to the meaning of life, from the science fiction series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. They aim to do this by combining an extreme form of “peer-to-peer learning” with project-based learning. Both are popular methods among education researchers, but they usually involve the supervision of a teacher. Students at 42 are given a choice of projects that they might be set in a job as a software engineer – perhaps to design a website or a computer game. They complete a project using resources freely available on the internet and by seeking help from their fellow students, who work alongside them in a large open-plan room full of computers. Another student will then be randomly assigned to mark their work. Like in the computer games the students are asked to design, they go up a level by competing a project. They graduate when they reach level 21, which usually takes three to five years. And at the end there is a certificate but no formal degree.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37694248

By Mary Grush, Campus Technology

Technology advancements have made online learning environments seamless, and our daily and nearly continuous exposure to online modes for communication in almost all areas of our lives seems to have made almost everyone comfortable working online. But is the distinction between online learning and campus-based instruction disappearing? And are all teaching faculty necessarily prepared to teach online? The lines between online learning and campus-based courses might appear to be blurring over time, but it’s important to realize that there are, and always will be, differences. Asking faculty to move their courses online may be deceptively simple. That’s why co-authors Judith Boettcher and Rita-Marie Conrad have refined a list of 14 best practices based on core learning principles to help faculty succeed in creating effective online courses.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/10/25/a-return-to-best-practices-for-teaching-online.aspx

by Nicole Gallucci, Mashable

The days of using Facebook to procrastinate could soon be behind you. In a blog post on Tuesday morning, Aine Kerr, Manager of Journalism Partnerships for Facebook announced that the social network is launching a series of online training courses for journalists. What will the courses focus on? Well, as Facebook continues to make inroads in the media industry, the company is offering users a crash course in how to perfect their social media skills to survive online journalism in 2016.

http://mashable.com/2016/10/25/facebook-online-journalism-classes/

By John K. Waters, THE Journal

“A makerspace is more of a mindset than a toolset,” said Casey Shea, curriculum coordinator for maker education for the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE). “Many of the most successful makerspaces I’ve seen started with very little equipment and a lot of creativity. It’s a fundamental mistake to think that dropping a 3D printer into a room will turn it into a makerspace.” Shea has been involved with the maker education movement almost from its inception. He was teaching math at Analy High School in Sebastapol, CA, north of San Francisco, during the 2011-2012 school year when Dale Dougherty, the publisher of Make Magazine and founder of the Maker Faire, approached him about an experimental maker education project. Shea ended up leading a class of about 30 young makers, who met at the magazine’s nearby headquarters twice a week.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/10/20/what-makes-a-great-makerspace.aspx