Educational Technology

by Jenny Sakr, Career Faqs

Online learning has a different set of requirements and can demand more motiviation, self-discipline and a greater level of commitment than heading to class on-campus. On the other hand, if you’re juggling a full-time job and other commitments, online study means greater flexibility. “Students often assume online programs require less work and are easier than on-campus courses. In reality, online classes are designed to be equally as rigorous and demanding as traditional courses. You need to genuinely apply yourself to get through.”

https://www.careerfaqs.com.au/news/news-and-views/make-online-learning-work-for-you

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

First, stereotype threat is a real problem. This occurs when student performance is negatively impacted when students are reminded of stereotypes about various groups. This means that teachers need to be extra vigilant to ensure that digital media does not include harmful stereotypes, such as the idea that women are not good at math. Educators need to carefully vet images, videos, and written materials to ensure that they undermine–and do not promote–stereotypes.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/5-things-that-every-educator-should-know-about-digital-equity/

by Victor Tangermann, Futurism

Not only are passwords obsolete, they in fact pose a huge risk.  Luckily, the FIDO (“Fast IDentity Online”) Alliance is coming to the rescue. The organization developed a brand new standard called “Web Authentication” – WebAuthn, Motherboard reports. Now any web site that uses the application interface could require users to log in with at least two or more steps of authentication, with the ability to use biometric data for one or more of them. Now that basically every recent smartphone is equipped with at least one kind of biometric sensor— fingerprint-readers, facial recognition software in the cameras — the time is finally ripe. WebAuthn is easy enough to use on a smartphone, then, but what about devices that don’t have a fingerprint or face-reading device? This is where things aren’t quite so seamless — they’ll need an external piece of hardware to comply with the WebAuthn standard. Security hardware companies such as Yubico have developed hardware keys that act like a USB-stick-like authenticator.

https://futurism.com/passwords-biometric-security-keys/

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

Rare is the campus with total coverage of cellular service. Maybe the problem surfaces for your institution in its basement-level spaces, or that oldest building on campus with walls built to bomb-shelter standards, or the newest, LEED-certified facility that uses energy-efficient glass or other construction materials that block radio frequency. Whatever the site or cause, it’s a big problem. Most mobile traffic originates inside buildings (ABI Research pegs it at more than 80 percent), so people get frustrated when they can’t use their devices to make a phone call — particularly in an emergency.  What’s needed is a service that’s as simple to use as cellular but as pervasive and inexpensive as WiFi. 3.5 gigahertz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) may be the answer. This frequency could provide a cost-effective link between cellular and WiFi.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/04/05/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-3-5-ghz-band-on-campus.aspx

By Dan McGowan, Inside Indiana Business
A new charter school in central Indiana plans to blend the teachings of a traditional Hoosier career path with modern technology. The Indiana Agriculture & Technology School is an online public school that is tuition-free, and as part of the learning process, students spend time on a 600-acre farm north of Morgantown. The hands-on opportunities include courses and instruction in animal, plant and soil science, forestry and conservation and farming.

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/story/37897579/new-ag-school-both-hands-on-and-online

By Drew Harwell, Washington Post
The fifth-graders of Yolanda Bromfield’s digital-privacy class had just finished their lesson on ­online-offline balance when she asked them a tough question: How would they act when they left school and reentered a world of prying websites, addictive phones and online scams? Susan, a 10-year-old in pink sneakers who likes YouTube and the mobile game “Piano Tiles 2,” quietly raised her hand. “I will make sure that I don’t tell nobody my personal stuff,” she said, “and be offline for at least two hours every night.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-new-lesson-plan-for-elementary-school-surviving-the-internet/2018/04/06/8b4a8202-0417-494b-a72b-792221e08e3b_story.html?utm_term=.f84228949f58

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

Tneed to realize that the vetting of edtech products may be minimal to nonexistent. Teacher education programs have not emphasized the factors that should be involved in selecting instructional materials since teachers—especially newer ones—usually relied on well-established textbooks that had been through a thorough review process. But with the rise of websites such as Teachers Pay Teachers, even novice teachers now need to be experts in assessing materials before they, for example, purchase a Google Slide deck created by another teacher to use in their classrooms. In other words, it is long past time to reconsider the trust that most people place in edtech.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/reexamining-the-trust-we-place-in-edtech/

by the Cherokee Nation

The Cherokee Nation and Rogers State University are teaming up to connect more Cherokee Nation citizens to the Cherokee language through a new, online learning platform. RSU Public TV’s continuing education and enrichment program, RSU Works, is linking students to the tribe’s online language courses taught by instructor Ed Fields. This is the first time registration for the Cherokee Nation’s free classes is available both through the tribe’s official website www.cherokee.org and through www.RSUworks.org. “This is just the first phase of the partnership with RSU,” said Cherokee Nation Cherokee Language Program Manager Roy Boney. “Our larger goals are to expand our online class offerings, including adding a self-guided online language class that will feature pre-recorded videos and interactive lesson modules.

http://www.cherokee.org/News/Stories/20180405_Cherokee-Nation-RSU-offering-Cherokee-language-classes-online

by Andy Boxall, Digital Trends

What if you could “speak” to a voice assistant only by thinking about the words you want to say? Considerably less embarrassing. right? That’s the basic concept behind the AlterEgo, a prototype mind-reading wearable designed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). How it works is extremely clever. OK, it doesn’t quite read your mind, but instead it reads something called subvocalization. This is the name given to tiny, almost imperceptible neurological and muscular movements made when we say words to ourselves, inside our head. Sixteen electrodes on the prototype AlterEgo headset sense these changes, and match the signals to data inside a special neural network, and eventually activate whatever task was requested.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/mit-alterego-headset-news/

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

Truancy is often considered to be the catalyst for other long-term problems students will face after their school years are over. It could be the early warning sign of substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and overall delinquency for a student. It’s clear that we have to do more to combat this growing problem, but is edtech the solution? There are several ways that edtech could contribute to a lower truancy rate for schools who are willing to take a risk. Stepping out to attempt the use of new technology might be a terrifying prospect for those dedicated to traditional teaching methods. However, the bottom line is that edtech might be able to keep students in school. Isn’t it worth a try?

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/how-schools-can-use-edtech-to-combat-truancy/

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

One of the most recent disruptions in edtech occurred a few years ago when a significant number of US universities began providing full degree programs online for remote learners to access. Though it caused consternation among traditionalists, this change was ultimately a positive one as it widened access to tertiary education and generated a significant amount of additional revenue for universities.  In the case of the online college degrees mentioned above, for example, the new market consisted of remote learners. Artificial intelligence, gamification, and m-learning are predicted to be some of the key disruptors in higher education technology in 2018. So, are we ready for this disruption when it hits us? In an important sense, we can never be fully prepared for disruption. This is because disruption brings with it unforeseen consequences and new horizons. Nevertheless, there are three essential ways that higher education institutions can prepare themselves to make the most of disruption in edtech.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/really-ready-disruption-edtech/

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal
The University of California, Riverside, and the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) have partnered on an initiative to attract new STEM teachers to the California district. Dubbed the UCR-RUSD Pipeline Scholarship, the new program offers a scholarship to teachers enrolled in the graduate school of education’s teacher track as they work toward a specialized credential in a STEM subject and willing to complete their student teaching requirements in a RUSD school. In addition to the scholarship, those selected will also be guaranteed an interview with RUSD. If offered a position with the district, scholarship winners must be willing to commit to teaching there for three to five years.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/04/05/partnership-aims-to-create-stem-teacher-pipeline.aspx

by NEIL C. HUGHES, the Next Web

The stakes are now much higher than a large corporation experiencing a data breach. We have already seen the devastating effects that a cyberattack can have on the aviation industry. Attacks on power grids and even hospitals highlight how everything with an online connection is now a target. The genie is officially out of the bottle, and it has never been easier to learn the tricks of the trade online. Machine-learning software is readily available, and video tutorials are also just a search away. By automating the tailoring of content to a potential victim, cybercriminals can quite quickly wreak havoc on a business or individual.

https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2018/04/05/cybersecurity-ai/

by Arizona State University

In the published research, co-creator of the course Lev Horodyskyj and the team of researchers, instructors, and programmers who created HabWorlds, describe the digital design philosophy they used to develop and implement the course.  With HabWorlds, we wanted to bring to life a new way of teaching science. Our goal was to create an interactive, game-like science course that teaches science as it really is — a systematic process of exploring the unknown, not just memorization of known facts,” said Ariel Anbar, fellow co-creator of the course and Director of ETX.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-report-offers-evidence-based-research-and-guidance-for-developing-engaging-effective-online-science-courses-300624815.html

About 200 Rowan County students are experiencing a new and flexible kind of school. It’s not a traditional brick-and-mortar school, and it’s not a home school, either. North Carolina Connections Academy, a state-funded virtual charter school, is available free to all kindergarten through 12th-grade students in the state. Teachers teach, students learn, and no one stands in line or waits while someone is disciplined for disrupting the class. Nathan Curry is the superintendent of the statewide program. Curry, a Salisbury resident, says Rowan County had only 17 students in the school in 2015-16, its first year. Currently, there are 75.

Students take learning online with NC Connections Academy

by Guy Brockless, e27

Advanced technology has become cheaper, easier to deploy and easier to use and in the broad tech industry we’ve seen all sorts – Google Glass, the Oculus Rift, Pokemon Go – a whole host of new and exciting technologies have marched into day to day life and more than ever before, they’re sticking. Utilising this technology for learning purposes is nothing new for 2018, but the scenario will be one where VR takes centre stage with machine-learning and AI optimising learning experiences to the max. This has awesome potential for those learning languages, who will be able to simulate conversations and practice alongside AI. Advanced AIs will guide users through learning experiences that are optimized to their unique learning criterias, whether that’s ability, learning style or goals.

https://e27.co/3-hottest-edtech-trends-watch-20180404/

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

Spending on security, including hardware, software and services, will reach $91.4 billion this year, according to a new forecast from International Data Corp. (IDC), marking a 10.2 percent increase over spending in 2017. That growth rate will remain relatively steady throughout the forecast period, according to the company, holding a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 percent from 2016 to 2021, when the forecast calls for $120.7 billion in spending.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/03/29/report-security-services-spending-to-top-91-billion-this-year.aspx

By Rhea Kelly, THE Journal

This summer, 16 schools across K-12 and higher education will receive furniture, design, installation and on-site training for a new active learning classroom, thanks to Steelcase Education’s fourth annual Active Learning Center Grant. Valued at about $67,000 per classroom, the grant “supports active learning strategies in classrooms where teachers are already striving to implement related practices by installing a learning space with furniture designed to encourage student engagement and success,” according to a news announcement.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/04/04/16-schools-receive-grant-to-build-active-learning-classrooms.aspx

By Laura Jimenez and Scott Sargrad, Center for American Progress

The authors reviewed high school coursework requirements for each state, including Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and uncovered major problems with the expectations states set to receive a basic, nonadvanced high school diploma. First, most of these requirements fail to meet the admissions criteria for states’ respective public university systems. Second, these requirements leave many decisions up to students, such as which math courses to take to fulfill coursework requirements; without sufficient preparation or guidance counseling, students may take courses that are misaligned with their postsecondary aspirations. And third, without sufficient resources to ensure that all students can meet rigorous coursework requirements, problems such as tracking students into less rigorous courses and using nefarious practices to get students across the graduation finish line will persist.

Are High School Diplomas Really a Ticket to College and Work?

BY GEORGIA MARIANI, eCampus News

Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio has been a leader in the use of data and analytics for years, thanks to the efforts of Karl Konsdorf, Sinclair’s director of research, analytics, and reporting.   Konsdorf deployed a new data-visualization strategy that allows users to conduct interactive reporting, visual data discovery, and self-service analytics. Enrollment managers, department heads, deans, and advisers can interact with reports, collaborate on insights, and slice and dice data to make proactive decisions about enrollment, retention, performance, and degree completion. For example, what is enrollment this year compared with the same time last year? Based on his data-visualization success, Konsdorf offers the following five tips for colleges and universities hoping to increase self-service access to reports so that decision-makers can quickly get the answers they need.

5 tips to empower users with data visualization

by Shalina Chatlani, Education Dive
With greater demand surrounding accelerated degree options and the ability to help students cut the cost of tuition, colleges like American University, Drexel University and Georgia State University, among others, are investing in quality fast-track programs that allow students to officially graduate earlier with the help of advisors and school support, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education.  Purdue University’s “Degree in 3” option has been growing in popularity, as the institution has begun advertising the program more heavily, and out-of-state students are realizing they can save around $20,000 on tuition — which can help the institution stand out in a competitive college choice marketplace, particularly for students who want to enter the workforce more quickly. Officials are aware, however, that the institution must confront a reality that the college experience is more than just classes and traditional students may not be attracted to the option,

https://www.educationdive.com/news/fast-track-degrees-can-pay-off-for-students-and-institutions-but-theres-a/