Educational Technology

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

While it may seem like almost everyone has internet access, a shocking number of families lack fast or reliable internet connections. There are roughly 5 million households with school-age children who don’t have broadband internet access at home. That means millions of students are being left behind. There are many ways that a lack of internet access can affect a student’s academic performance. Students without internet can’t connect with teachers or classmates, do independent research, or get online homework help. For families, not having internet access can mean missing out on information or losing out on a direct line of communication with schools and teachers. One of the biggest problems faced by students without internet access at home is their inability to complete homework.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/the-absence-of-internet-at-home-is-a-problem-for-some-students/

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

University of Maryland University College students and graduates can sharpen their coding skills at no cost thanks to a new partnership with technology talent development company Revature. Revature’s online training program is designed to provide a pathway to successful software development careers regardless of a student’s major or technical experience, according to a press release. “Through this partnership, students with non-technical academic backgrounds can expand their career options by mastering the latest software programs and computer platforms,” said Nikki Sandoval, associate vice president for alumni and career services at UMUC, in a statement.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/03/29/umuc-to-offer-free-online-coding-program-for-students-and-grads.aspx

By Sri Ravipati, Campus Technology

Imagine folding up a tablet and putting it in your pocket or purse after using it. This may be a possibility for the next generation of touchscreen devices, wearables and other items, thanks to a flexible and stretchable touch sensor being developed at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada.  A recently published paper in the journal Science Advances explained that the sensor works by using stretchable and ionically conductive hydrogel electrodes. A highly conductive gel is squeezed between layers of bendable silicone (created through a simple molding process to generate films). It projects an electric field above the sensor to detect different types of touch — even while it is bent.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/03/29/canadian-researchers-design-bendable-sensors-for-next-gen-touchscreen-devices-wearables-and-more.aspx

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

High schoolers will have the chance to learn solar energy design, cryptography and chemistry in three new courses added to the offerings by the Virtual High School (VHS). VHS is a Massachusetts-based non-profit that offers online courses to students in any state and many countries for a fee. The new classes being offered are all part of the summer school program, intended for credit recovery and enrichment.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/03/29/virtual-hs-adds-solar-energy-design-cryptography-classes.aspx

By Courtney Rubin, US News

New online master’s degree options offer students paths to business, engineering and more. Online graduate education, once a caveat emptor Wild West of questionable quality, has come a long way. “The online degree market is pretty well established, especially in terms of acceptance in the employer community,” says Sean Gallagher, executive director of the Center for the Future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy at Northeastern University and author of “The Future of University Credentials,” published last year. The ability to deliver instruction online has opened up a world of possibility beyond traditional degrees. Both for-profit companies and universities – including elite ones – are racing to market with a range of options, from traditional academic degrees to occupational credentialing and professional development.

https://www.usnews.com/higher-education/online-education/articles/2017-03-29/jump-start-a-career-with-an-online-graduate-degree

by Feng Shuang, Ed., ECNS

Su Dekuang, a math professor at Zhejiang University, became an online celebrity in China recently after he started a calculus class online and attracted more than 13,000 participants. According to some reports, Su was already very popular among the students in Zhejiang University. When his calculus class opened for registrations, over 3,000 students lined up even though there were only 150 places. So we can see it is quite natural that the professor’s online course would appeal to a lot of students. However, the popularity of his online course reveals the difficulty university students have in taking the courses they are interested in. Such open online courses offer the opportunity for students to take a course they would otherwise not be able to take.

http://www.ecns.cn/voices/2017/03-30/251460.shtml

by Ashley Hiruko, Lynden Tribune

The internet continues to transform various areas of our day-to-day life, from online banking to cable-free television streaming. Add online education to the list. Washington Connections Academy is one of many providers of online learning. This is the program’s first year in the state, with grades 9 and 10 to be added next year. Enrollment for 2017-2018 just began. Among the reasons for enrolling children in an alternative form of education, flexibility is always high on the list.

http://www.lyndentribune.com/news/online-education-it-s-happening/article_57d13d96-1488-11e7-b58e-cf144e6c9f45.html

by HEATHER NGOMA, eCampus News

In the digital age, teacher discomfort in using some social media can have a direct effect on students’ digital literacy skills. Here are some solutions. Despite clear advantages to advancing digital literacy, schools often experience considerable roadblocks to implementing digital literacy initiatives. Interestingly, accessibility often isn’t the biggest factor blocking this process—more often than not, it comes down to a teacher’s own comfort with social media. Teachers with little to no training on how to integrate digital literacy exercises into the classroom run the risk of compromising their students’ development of valuable soft skills that can produce educational and professional career advantages.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/03/30/3-twitter-problem-teachers/

by Jeffrey Pomerantz, EDUCAUSE Review

The job of chief information officer (CIO) has a scope and influence across campus that makes it — according to some, anyway — the best job on campus. Not everyone aspires to the CIO role, however, considering the time, attention, and tolerance for uncertainty required by that level of leadership. Some have argued for eliminating the CIO role entirely and folding its responsibilities into other C-level positions. Yet research has shown that the CIO role is more prevalent and more important in higher education than ever. Data collected by the EDUCAUSE Core Data Service show that 68 percent of institutions of higher education have a position titled CIO; the highest-ranking IT officer at the remainder of institutions may have a different title but performs similar functions. This ubiquity makes it critical for us to understand the nature and scope of the CIO role.

http://er.educause.edu/blogs/2017/3/cios-do-it-all

By Sri Ravipati, THE Journal

In an effort to close the gap between available jobs and qualified workers in the computer science field, Discovery Education and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Tuesday launched a multi-million dollar initiative to reshape American education by making computational thinking a foundational skill for all students. Ignite My Future in School aims to train more than 20,000 teachers to implement computer science into other subjects and engage one million students over the next five years. The program enables administrators, teachers and students to become “ambassadors of a trans-disciplinary approach and introduce computer science within the context of core subjects, such as English, mathematics, social studies and the arts,” according to a news release.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/03/28/initiative-aims-to-introduce-computational-thinking-in-cs-education.aspx

By Sri Ravipati, THE Journal

In the greater Houston area, an estimated 133,000 families do not have a computer at home. To help bridge the digital divide, the nonprofit Comp-U-Dopt has delivered more than 8,600 refurbished computers to Houston students from underserved communities. Comp-U-Dot celebrates 10 years of providing technology access and education training. Its Computer Adoption Program, for instance, involves taking in lightly used, donated corporate computers; converting them to a Linux operating system; loading freeware education programs; and distributing the devices to applicants who demonstrate a need for a computer.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/03/27/houston-nonprofit-delivers-refurbished-computers-tech-education-to-thousands-of-underserved-youth.aspx

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

An all-girls team from Hartland, MI — the Pink Eagles — has won the grand prize for the 9–12 age group in the Wonder League Robotics Competition. A team from Bangalore, India (Team X-PLODE) took first place for the 6-8 age group. Wonder Workshop, the company behind Dash and Dot robots, hosted the competition, which challenged more than 20,000 students from around the world to compete in collaborative teams by designing solutions to real-word challenges in science and technology. The competition launched in October, and the finalist round was held in January. The latest competition focused on rescue animal habitats on “Bear Byte Island.”

https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/03/28/all-girl-team-takes-first-in-wonder-league-robotics-competition.aspx

by Tanya Vaughan, ACER

The common myth for learning styles as an effective teaching and learning approach is that students will improve their learning if they are taught in their particular learning style (Evidence for Learning, 2017a). There is a range of different types of learning styles, for example auditory, visual, tactile or kinaesthetic styles (Hattie, 2009). There is very limited evidence for any consistent set of learning ‘styles’ that can be used reliably to identify genuine differences in the learning needs of young people, and evidence suggests that it is unhelpful to assign learners to groups or categories on the basis of a supposed learning style (Evidence for Learning, 2017a).

https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/article/tackling-the-learning-styles-myth

by Phys.org

Researchers at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences found a majority of first-year medical students changed their online behavior after participating in a social media and professionalism course. The study results show that a formal education on responsible social media use is beneficial to medical students as they develop professional habits that are inclusive of social media, and look to avoid behavior that would be detrimental to their careers. The study, published in Teaching and Learning in Medicine, includes analysis of social media and professionalism courses hosted in 2012-2014. A six-month follow-up survey found 94 percent of students reported increased awareness of their social media behavior as it relates to their careers and 64 percent made changes to their social media behavior as a result of the session.

https://phys.org/news/2017-03-social-media-impacts-online-behavior.html

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

There’s a big push in education right now to teach kids how to code. Coding is undoubtedly an important skill that will help students in the job marketplace. It’s an in-demand skill and a useful one. But can coding help students in other areas? Some are now suggesting that coding can help improve students’ writing skills.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/can-coding-improve-your-childs-writing-skills/

By Sri Ravipati, Campus Technology

A new facility at the University of Florida (UF) hopes to design, develop and test state-of-the-art Internet of Things (IoT) systems. The Warren B. Nelms Institute for the Connected World will facilitate collaboration between resident expert research faculty in the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research and industry professionals in the IoT space. The institute is supported by a recent $5 million gift from the children of Warren B. Nelms, an alumnus of UF’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) who built a solar “smart” house in which he raised his family. Another ECE alumnus and Japanese telecommunications mogul, Sachio Semmoto, put up a $1.5 million gift in July to establish a term professorship within the institute.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/03/24/u-of-florida-to-open-iot-institute-for-future-engineers.aspx

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

Not all students enjoy reading, nor are all students visual learners. Using audiobooks in conjunction with hard copies has long been a practice in classrooms to engage all students. However, podcasts offer something more. For example, English teacher Michael Godsey used the popular podcast Serial in his classroom because “he was impressed by the critical thinking and engagement he saw from students. He also liked that students were having deep discussions about the stories with other adults who were listening to the same podcasts” (source). By using podcasts in conjunction with their transcripts, or by finding engaging podcasts that discuss books benefit students’ different learning styles. Podcasts bring together reading, writing, analysis, listening, language and many other ELA Common Core Standards (source). Here is a list of 10 podcasts that promote reading.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/10-podcasts-that-promote-reading/

BY JESSICA SUOTMAA, Beijing Kids

In the three years I’ve lived in Beijing, I must confess that I haven’t once attended a Chinese class. Admittedly, my Mandarin isn’t that bad to begin with (thanks to my mother’s homeschooling and a year of Chinese classes in first grade), but taking the HSK (standard for measuring your Chinese proficiency in China) has crossed my mind more than a few times. Now, as I’ve been getting busier (what with children and all), I really doubt I’ll ever drag myself to a legit Chinese class. Here’s a roundup of FREE university Mandarin courses we could all potentially benefit from (if we can just make ourselves do it). The benefit of these courses is that they’re all “verified” and thereby trustworthy sources of information (which is more than we can say about some private tutors):

https://www.beijing-kids.com/blog/2017/03/25/5-free-online-university-courses-for-learning-mandarin-chinese/

by Emma Crawford, Djournal

The Tupelo Public School District began its one-to-one technology initiative in 2009, with the introduction of laptops for seniors at Tupelo High School. All students in sixth through 12th grades received devices the following year, and the district later introduced one-to-one laptops in third through fifth grades. Starting in the fall, second-grade students also will have the devices. Jason Harris, who became principal of THS in 2011, said the initiative was still a work in progress when he arrived. Now, though, Harris said the technology has become an integral part of day-to-day life at school.

http://djournal.com/news/one-one-learning-area-schools-embrace-technology-educational-tools/

by Swathyr Iyer, TNN

Latest data collected by the Indian wing of the Silicon Valley-based edu-tech startup, Udacity, Hyderabad, shows a rise in terms of the demand for specialised online tech courses.Artificial intelligence, deep learning, android development, machine learning, data analyst, full stack developer are some of the courses people in the city are now taking up. “This increased interest in learning specialised skills is a result of changes happening in the IT industry now and the slow recruitment and appraisal season across the sector this year,” said Ishan Gupta, managing director, India, Udacity.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/cheer-fizzles-out-silicon-valley-staff-beef-up-cv-with-tech-courses-artificial-intelligence-big-hit/articleshow/57834812.cms