Educational Technology

By Mary Jo Madda, EdSurge

Erin Bown-Anderson: As far as a modern classroom goes, I would say that the biggest factor… has to do with mindset. It has to do with who is controlling the information in the classroom. Truly embracing student agency. Amplifying under-represented voices is incredibly important, and technology helps us to do that. To me, the modern classroom really is a shifting of roles and responsibilities and control.

John Phillips: I think there are two key things that I hope to share as best practices for you all today. First, a modern classroom is actually messy. It’s loud and it’s fun. The other thing that I see that is starting to really cascade around the globe is related to teachers. You may peek in the room, and you may not be able to see them.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-12-21-what-does-a-modern-classroom-look-like-and-what-should-educators-leave-behind

by University Business

Campus technology leaders report significant new investment to come this year in the area of academic tech tools such as lecture capture, AV equipment and active classroom initiatives. It’s the third year in a row academic technology led the list of top significant investments in a UB survey. But while investment in internet/Wi-Fi infrastructure has been the second largest spending area in past years, network/data security grabbed that slot for 2017. Nearly three in 10 respondents say their institution suffered a cyberattack in the past year. Cloud computing/storage tied for second in anticipated spending for 2017, followed by internet/Wi-Fi.

https://www.universitybusiness.com/article/academic-tools-will-top-tech-spending-again-2017

by ZAHL LIMBUWALA, Information Management Online

What’s the average click-through rate of our email campaigns? How did our company website perform this month? These questions show how familiar we have become with analytics in our lives. Algorithms, sensors and smarter data analysis enable us all to monitor our health, assess personal productivity and measure professional performance. Companies such as Amazon have long been analyzing our online and offline behavior, improving our shopping experiences and better understanding their sales. In the workplace, business intelligence and analytics applications are transforming every department.

http://www.information-management.com/news/data-management/interpret-the-future-with-analytics-and-machine-learning-10030549-1.html

by Meng Jing and Celia Chen, south China Morning News

For a five year old, Wu Tianye has a lot on her plate. Besides her regular kindergarten classes, she practises ice skating to keep fit, is learning painting and music to develop an artistic side, and regularly chats online with a US-based teacher to maintain her American-accented English. As if that was not enough, her father has squeezed another activity into her busy schedule – a STEM course designed to teach the basics of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

http://www.scmp.com/tech/china-tech/article/2124936/chinas-tiger-moms-and-dads-drive-demand-online-education

BY MATTHEW LYNCH, Tech Edvocate

Why Should Schools Transition from STEM to STEAM? The answer is a ‘no brainer.’ Sure, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) are basic academic subjects and are important aspects of many careers, but they are subjects that favor the left, or analytical, side of the brain. It is the brain’s right side that adds the ‘A,’ or Arts. to STEAM. This is the side of the brain that deals with spatial awareness, visual imagery, art, music, and creativity – all attributes that support and enhance the application of STEM in the real world. Allen McConnell, in an article in Psychology Today, contends that “creation of strong and effective neural networks is a product of more than just [left brain] focused … lessons.” We need both. A study released on October 4, 2013, for example, found Albert Einstein’s brilliance may be linked to the fact that his brain hemispheres were extremely well-connected. The ability to use right brain creativity and left brain logic simultaneously may have been what made Einstein a genius.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/stem-to-steam-more-than-just-a-good-idea/

By Chris Berdik, Slate

Northport, N.Y., High School seniors look for examples of direct evidence and verified information in news stories. High school seniors in Northport, New York, look for examples of direct evidence and verified information in news stories. When the AP United States history students at Aragon High School in San Mateo, California, scanned the professionally designed pages of minimumwage.com, most concluded that it was a solid, unbiased source of facts and analysis. They noted the menu of research reports, graphics and videos, and the “About” page describing the site as a project of a “nonprofit research organization” called the Employment Policies Institute. But then their teacher, Will Colglazier, demonstrated how a couple more exploratory clicks—critically, beyond the site itself—revealed the Employment Policies Institute is considered by the Center for Media and Democracy to be a front group created by lobbyists for the restaurant and hotel industries.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2016/12/media_literacy_courses_help_high_school_students_spot_fake_news.html

by Klamath Falls News

The Ross Ragland Theater, in partnership with Klamath Community College, is offering a four credit Theater Appreciation course that gives high school students sixteen and up college credit while learning an introduction to theater. This is an online course with a weekly three-hour lab conducted by instructor Jeff S. Press. General topics of discussion in the Theatre Appreciation course will include comedy, drama, and classics with in depth analysis on scripts by Neil Simon, Arthur Miller, and Shakespeare’s sonnets. Working with scripts students will assess their ability to read and analyze play scripts and learn how to conceptualize them to live theatre

https://www.klamathfallsnews.org/news/college-credits-for-high-school-students

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

A four-year project at Pepperdine University will work to establish a network of 12 makerspace clubs in the United States, Europe and Africa. Led by Eric Hamilton, professor and interim associate dean of education at the university, the effort received a $1.72 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, a funding program that “seeks to advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of STEM learning opportunities for the public in informal environments; provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; and advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments,” according to the NSF website.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/12/20/pepperdine-u-to-establish-international-network-of-makerspace-clubs.aspx

by Allan Golston, President, U.S. Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Forward movement in education, like any type of progress, happens in waves. And as we approach the end of the year, I’ve been thinking a lot about how access to good data and smart uses of it can lead us to the next wave of progress.We are fortunate to live in an era awash in information of all kinds. Our challenge is to ensure we are best utilizing that information to close gaps in education and help all students succeed. We’re inspired and encouraged by the work our partners, leading institutions and programs, and educators have done throughout 2016 to make information accessible, actionable, and relevant to improving education for all students, and we look forward to continuing these efforts in 2017 and beyond.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allan-golston-/whats-working-harnessing_b_13721372.html

By A.J. O’Connell, Campus Technology

In June of 2015, leaders in adaptive learning hashed out the definitions of personalized and adaptive learning at a summit in Santa Fe, NM, hosted by WCET (the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education’s Cooperative for Educational Technologies). And now, more than a year later, the adaptive learning community has moved on. The terms have been defined: “personalized learning” is any customization of learning by an instructor, while “adaptive” refers to technology that monitors student progress in a course and uses that data to modify instruction in real time. The formal discussion of what those terms mean, at least among experts, is over.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/12/20/the-blurry-definitions-of-adaptive-vs-personalized-learning.aspx

By Richard Chang, Campus Technology

The global interactive whiteboard (IWB) market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of almost 7 percent from 2016 through 2020, according to a recent report issued by London-based tech market research firm Technavio. The research study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global IWB market for 2016-2020. To determine the market size, the study considered revenue generated from the pre-K–12 and higher education sectors of the market.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/12/20/global-interactive-whiteboard-market-to-grow-7-percent-through-2020.aspx

By Sri Ravipati, Campus Technology

The university’s Innovation Center, which opened earlier this month, aims to enhance the sports viewing experience with attention-grabbing, easy-to-use LCD displays from Advanced, an audiovisual and collaborative communications company based in Orlando, FL. Advanced installed two Planar LCD video walls, one of which hangs as a 6- by 1-panel welcome banner at the building’s entrance. The other serves as the 3- by 3-panel central display fixture in an “entertainment hub” space, according to a press release. Additionally, the company installed a Crestron Control System that allows staff to easily control the displays from a 7-inch touchpanel located at the center’s reception area

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/12/20/u-of-charleston-outfits-innovation-center-with-lcd-video-walls.aspx