Educational Technology

By Molly Fosco, OZY

On a fall day in early September, Rachel Murat begins the school year by instructing her newest group of high schoolers to google themselves. As they click away on their Chromebooks, the students begin to realize what a simple search can reveal about them, and the room slowly fills with gasps of shock. Once the students have settled down, Murat tells them to google her name. “They always think they’re going to find dirt, but they never do,” Murat says. “Then I harp on them about not making a permanent post about a temporary emotion.” When Murat wanted to start a digital citizenship class at Maine-Endwell High School in Broome County, New York, in 2012, she didn’t have much of a road map to work with. Today, a growing number of digital-citizenship curriculum providers are emerging, catering to increasing demand from schools and educators across the country adopting “DigCit” as central to the education they provide.

http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/its-official-digital-citizenship-classes-are-the-new-normal-in-schools/82563

By Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate

One of the many changes that students are experiencing is their ability to be assessed not only in the classroom but also online. Students of all ages can be tested and assessed through the use of online tools and assessments. In the 21^st century, we are seeing a shift in views regarding how students can be tested and assessed based on their performances inside and outside the classroom. Students can also be assessed by creating and displaying their work online through social media, YouTube, and digital portfolios. Additionally, many university classes are encouraging and even requiring student contribution on online blackboards and forums. Regardless of the format of assessment, technology is becoming a critical part of learning as well as student performance. So, how we can use technology to create better assessments? Read on to find out.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/technology-can-used-create-better-assessments/

By Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate
Educators are counting on your digital leadership and your support to help everyone embrace edtech. By setting edtech expectations early on and providing adequate support, your district’s digital leadership can create a new culture of digital use and citizenship. Here are five ways you can help them embrace digital technology.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/5-ways-improve-districts-digital-leadership/

by Sandra Beckwith, University Business

How big-picture threats to higher ed are impacting campuses and what administrators are doing to take control.

Although many higher ed leaders are advocating for colleges and their students at the national level, it remains an area where they can control little. They can—and are—however, battening down the hatches on their own campuses to help emerge from this challenging climate intact. This involves having a vision for strengthening the institution’s foundation and agility in managing new responsibilities and demands. Following are seven things higher ed search leaders and administrators believe campus administrators must do in the coming year to get the job done.

https://www.universitybusiness.com/article/challenges-and-more-distractions-ahead-colleges

by Katie Conner,  ABC15

A college in Arizona will help make schools safer when it comes to active shooters. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, located in Prescott, received a $769,890 grant from the National Institute of Justice to test various technologies to keep an intruder from entering a school. Professor Tom Foley, with the University’s College of Security and Intelligence, is leading the research. Foley says they will test barriers like doors, windows, glass and locks against the guns that have been used in recent mass shootings.

https://www.abc15.com/news/region-northern-az/prescott/az-college-studying-technology-that-could-make-schools-safer-from-active-shooters

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News.
Students said they vastly prefer classes with digital learning technologies.   Ninety-four percent of students in a new survey said digital learning technologies have helped them retain new concepts, and 53 percent said they prefer classes that use such tools. McGraw-Hill Education’s fourth annual Digital Study Trends Survey, compiled by Hanover Research, includes responses from more than 1,000 college students. Sixty percent of surveyed students said they think digital learning technologies have improved their grades, and one-fifth said those technologies significantly improved their grades. Students in STEM majors were the most likely to say technology has positively impacted their grades. Approximately 60 percent of students agree that digital learning technology increased their engagement with course materials.

Survey: Students sing praises for digital learning tech

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

This year’s Young Scientist Challenge will award access to 3M scientists who will serve as mentors to help students pursue their innovative ideas. These “young scientists” (from grades 5-8) will also be eligible to receive a considerable amount of money; the grand prize is $25,000. Finalists chosen through a video competition will travel to St. Paul, MN, where they’ll receive a tour of 3M headquarters and meet with a distinguished panel of judges.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/01/04/young-scientist-challenge-seeks-middle-school-innovators.aspx

By Thomas Kunka, Campus Technology
Digital signage can improve the way students, faculty, staff and visitors interact with a university campus, offering relevent and timely information in a targeted, helpful manner.  Whether it is the design of a desktop application, web page or ubiquitous wireless, the way in which people interact with technology creates an experience. With that in mind, how can we improve and even reshape the campus experience for students, faculty, staff and visitors? In the case of wireless networking, for instance, we have an intersection between technology and space. Can we go beyond “good connectivity for mobile devices on campus” to using technology to bring people closer to what they value?

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/01/05/reshaping-the-campus-experience-with-the-right-information-at-the-right-time.aspx

by ANNIKA MERRILEES, Missourian

Teachers need backup plans for instruction in case technology fails them, classrooms can’t take advantage of modern teaching tools and online state testing sessions for one class require that the entire rest of the school stay offline. Fatima has poor broadband, and the school district has been trying for years to change that. “Our biggest hurdle is the bandwidth,” said Sharon Breese, Fatima High School’s librarian. If a lot of people are online at once, “we’ll hit our max, and everybody kind of just slows down,” Breese said.

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/in-rural-schools-teachers-prepare-for-the-unexpected/article_48725730-ed9b-11e7-b2ff-e33d6f114784.html

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

The new report, “Computational Thinking for a Computational World,” explains its theme of computational thinking by borrowing a description from a long-ago article published by the Association for Computing Machinery: It is “a way of solving problems, designing systems and understanding human behavior that draws on concepts fundamental to computer science… a fundamental skill for everyone, not just computer scientists.” More simply, the report noted, “The skill required to tell a computer what to do is programming. The thought process behind programming is computational thinking.” What it isn’t is humans thinking like computers. And, according to the report’s authors, it’s something that needs to be taught across subjects in K-12 schools.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/01/02/its-time-to-weave-computational-thinking-into-k12.aspx

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eCampusNews

Nearly half the states in the U.S. have good blue-collar jobs that pay without bachelor’s degrees, according to a new state-level analysis of the 30 million jobs in the economy for those with less than a bachelor’s degree. The report and companion website GoodJobsData.org, from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (Georgetown Center) in partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co., also reveal that more good jobs have been going to associate’s degree holders than workers with no more than a high school diploma in nearly every state since 1991.

These states offer good jobs that don’t require 4-year degrees

by Elizabeth Wadas, WQAD

Right now there are online classes for students offered by the state called Iowa Learning Online. Public and private schools use the resources, but in order for home school students to have access to the classes, they have to be dual enrolled with a public or private school, meaning families have to follow more school curriculum guidelines at home. But the Iowa Department of Education wants to get rid of that dual enrollment hurdle.

Home schooled students in Iowa could get easier access to online courses

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News

From shifts in school choice to student assessments to online learning, the educational landscape is constantly evolving. This coming year, districts will continue to face many challenges and opportunities that will impact students, staff, and school systems as a whole. Below, experts from various areas of the education industry share trends that will help shape K-12 education in 2018.

10 education trends for 2018

Present at DT&L in Madison, Wisconsin August 7-9, 2018!  DT&L is seeking dynamic presentations that will revolutionize online teaching and learning for beginner and advanced practitioners. You will help advance the field of online education by sharing your knowledge and best practices with more than 800 college faculty, teachers, thought leaders, administrators, instructional designers, technology support staff, corporate and military educators, and more. Submit your proposal today. Deadline January 23 at 4pm CT.

Share your expertise on a current or emerging topic such as:

o       Learning design

o       Teaching practices and strategies

o       Personalized vs. adaptive learning

o       eLearning program evaluation

o       Competency-based education and training

 https://dtlconference.wisc.edu/call-for-proposals/

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by Mackenzie Ryan, Des Moines Register

A change in Iowa law would allow home-schooled students to take online courses without enrolling in a public or private school. The Iowa Department of Education has recommended the Legislature open access to the state’s Iowa Learning Online program.  Currently, home-school students who want to access the state’s virtual education platform must first dual enroll in either a public or private school. The bill would remove that hurdle.  Gov. Kim Reynolds has expressed support for opening online education to home-schoolers.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/education/2018/01/04/iowa-home-school-students-could-get-better-access-online-classes/999599001/

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News

Female students say they feel less equipped to tackle future careers because they haven’t necessarily learned about the new technologies shaping those future career fields, according to a new survey. The Quizlet survey polled more than 1,000 Americans between the ages of 13 and 24 to ask them about their familiarity with the future of work and how they are learning about it in school. The good news is that 95 percent of students know about the future of work and why it is important and relevant to their learning. But the survey also reveals some troubling differences between what male and female students know and wish they could learn.

Gen Z women want to learn more STEM, innovative tech

by KEVIN M. MAXWELL, eSchool News

Technology changes quickly, with educators and administrators often racing to catch up. Sometimes the bigger the school district, the longer it can take to make what happens inside classrooms as engaging as what students encounter outside our doors. But just as chalkboards have given way to interactive whiteboards, so can your school system bring all aspects of teaching and learning into the digital age. Here are five ways to get started in creating digital learning environments:

5 tips to take your large school district into the digital age

By Corinne Lestch, EdScoop
Higher ed faculty are increasingly turning to OpenStax for low-cost, openly licensed printed and digital materials for their students.  The rate of college faculty using and assigning open educational resources (OER) through OpenStax currently rivals that of most commercial textbooks, according to a new report on the advantages and pitfalls of OER in higher education. The rate of adoption of textbooks from OpenStax — a nonprofit OER publisher based out of Rice University — among faculty teaching large-enrollment courses is now at nearly 17 percent, according to the report, “Opening the Textbook: Educational Resources in Higher Education 2017.”

http://edscoop.com/openstax-grows-in-popularity-but-overall-awareness-of-oer-remains-low

by Wilmington Biz

The first priority of UNCW’s strategic plan is to “attract and retain high-quality, diverse students” by ensuring that “a UNCW education is accessible and affordable to the sons and daughters of North Carolina.” Access to education is always on our minds as we consider new programs and curriculum, because many times accessibility can make all the difference in completing a program or making the decision to pursue an advanced degree. Distance education and online programs are the answer for many students, particularly non-traditional students. Tuition costs, location and professional and personal commitments often derail a student’s educational aspirations, but online programs can be a way to overcome these obstacles.

http://www.wilmingtonbiz.com/insights/aswani_volety/distance_education_offers_alternative_path_for_students/1882

BY WILL PERKINS, Glasgow Daily Times

Barren County High School students returned from winter break on Wednesday to begin a new semester. In addition to meeting their new teachers and classmates, students also began preparing for potential snow days. Since Barren County Schools participates in the iLearn@home program, instruction doesn’t stop when school is canceled due to inclement weather. For the first five days school is out, students can independently complete activities and assignments that their teachers plan ahead of time — and then these days don’t have to be made up later. BCHS Principal Brad Johnson said teachers and students have really embraced this program. “I think it’s been a great thing for us,” he said of iLearn@home. “I think it’s led to more students and more teachers using the online capabilities.

http://www.glasgowdailytimes.com/news/ilearn-home-teachers-students-prepare-for-out-of-classroom-instruction/article_6425832a-f0cb-11e7-b7a1-1f90d7385b2c.html

UM-Flint’s new video production studio enhances online learning
By ROBERT GOLD, UM Flint

UM-Flint’s Office of Extended Learning has opened a new video production studio. It was created to help faculty enrich their online courses. The studio is located on the 11th floor of the Northbank Center. Crews from the university’s Information Technology Services, Engineering Department and Facilities and Operations renovated an old locker room into the new professional space. The sound-proof studio features a 10-foot wide green screen and an 8-foot wide lightboard, which is “an internally illuminated sheet of glass that instructors can write highly visible notes and illustrations on,” said Nick Gaspar, OEL’s technology manager.

UM-Flint’s new video production studio enhances online learning