Educational Technology

by Globe Newswire

The goal of this course is introduce participants to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and the characteristics of children who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Participants will also be introduced to several students with autism spectrum disorders and many of the classroom strategies that support these students. When child care providers work together with parents, therapists, and other professionals to create a plan of action, it is quite realistic to expect that the child with autism will be successful in an inclusive environment. Open communication and creating a strong support system are the first steps to take when creating the consistency necessary for this success.

https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/04/03/1458840/0/en/ChildCare-Education-Institute-Offers-No-Cost-Online-Course-on-Understanding-Autism-Spectrum-Disorders.html

BY JENNIFER BISRAM, PIX 11

Suffolk County Community College unveiled a free, online course Monday designed to help parents protect their kids from sexual predators. “The Apple of my Eye” online classroom was started by Parents for Megan’s Law. The organization, which focuses on preventing sex abuse, has teamed up with the Crime Victims Center and Suffolk County leaders to offer the course. It teaches parents how to prevent, detect and report child sex abuse – including how predators groom kids and teens and signs that your child may be a victim.

Free online course teaches parents how to protect kids from sexual predators

By Amy Ahearn, EdSurge

Many online learning platforms, such as LinkedIn Learning and MasterClass, are indeed pivoting towards business models that look a lot like subscription-based streaming services Pandora, Spotify or Netflix. Customers can now pay a monthly fee to get access to a library of content. However, just as the iTunes business model is deeply disadvantageous to artists, online learning platforms are now granting online instructors smaller and smaller shares of the revenue as they steer business models in the streaming direction. Data journalist David McCandless calculated it would take over one million plays on Spotify for a solo artist to earn the U.S. monthly minimum wage. We could be pushing online teachers in a similar direction.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-04-03-why-an-itunes-model-for-online-learning-is-bad-for-educators

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

Peter and Paul Reynolds say that human beings are superheros and that our superpower is creativity. And the twin brothers know a thing or two about creativity. Peter is a New York Times best-selling author and illustrator and co-founder of FableVision, an educational media company. Paul is also a co-founder of FableVision and runs the company as CEO. Peter and Paul recently gave a keynote address about creativity at the CUE 2018 conference in Palm Springs.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/03/28/the-imperative-for-fostering-creativity-in-students.aspx

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

The majority of online education leaders agree that most relied-upon metrics currently in use by online programs are student retention and graduation rates and student course/program evaluations, according to a recent survey from Quality Matters and Eduventures Research. While those two indicators topped the list by far, other quality measures, such as faculty training, summative student assessment, program reputation and external rankings, were less commonly cited by the survey respondents.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/04/02/online-ed-leaders-agree-top-2-indicators-of-program-quality.aspx

by Jarrett Carter, Education Dive
Approximately 55% of college classrooms throughout the United States and Canada are using the traditional lecture model to teach science, mathematics and technology, according to a new study published in Science magazine. About 27% of classes had some levels of interactive instruction, such as technology-based question and answer modules, and 18% were described as “student-centered” in a survey of 2000 classrooms.  The study’s author says professors have to feel confident in knowing and utilizing new forms of teaching, which may be stunting the implementation of interactive models of instruction. “I think there is a growing awareness and recognition among the STEM professoriate of the benefits of active learning strategies on students’ learning and attitudes toward STEM,” said Marilyne Stains, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln

https://www.educationdive.com/news/study-lectures-remain-a-steady-but-ineffective-element-of-stem-education/520406/

by Emily Tate, EdScoop
Teachers expressed dismay after the Amazon Education company announced plans to “wind down” its personalized math and writing solutions. The news came as a surprise to K-12 educators who use the program for online, personalized instruction. Teachers responded on Twitter with pleas for Amazon to reverse course, with disappointment about the news and with suggestions for salvaging parts of TenMarks resources. With TenMarks on its way out, Amazon’s education offerings have dwindled materially. However, Amazon Inspire, a free library for open educational resources, and AWS Educate, an initiative to teach students cloud literacy and skills, remain among the company’s signature efforts to reach students and teachers.

https://edscoop.com/tenmarks-to-shut-down-operations-after-2018-2019-school-year

by WCCF Tech

Apart from the hardware and apps which Apple has announced recently, Apple Teacher is an immensely productive tool for teachers. Apple Teacher is basically an online professional learning program for teachers. Teachers will have the ability to improve their teaching through various means.  All in all, with the program, teachers will be able to build and learn new skills, show their progress and will be inspired to do great work. Apple will reward teachers with badges which will be offered in different styles, denoting different aspects of the system.

https://wccftech.com/apple-introduces-apple-teacher-an-online-professional-learning-program-for-teachers/

by  MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS, Kansas City Star

It’s called Acellus, and it was developed here in Kansas City by a noted technology inventor. Acellus is an online, interactive learning system. Several flavors of it are in use from kindergarten through high school, but most often it’s being used to turn potential drop-outs into high school graduates.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article204910554.html

by Meghan Bogardus Cortez, EdTech
University students are coming to class with more than just a college-ruled notebook. Modern classes look nothing like what they did just 10 years ago, thanks to an increase of technology in higher education classrooms. As digital tools have reshaped the world around us, Susan Smith Nash, a blogger, educator and early ed tech adopter, isn’t surprised that technology has become a major part of the higher ed classroom. “The classroom should be a laboratory for life,” she says.

https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2018/03/5-technology-tools-higher-education-classroom-perfcon

by Distance Educator.com

For many, discussions of rural America can summon images of rolling farmland, two-lane roads stretching on for miles, community picnics, and baseball. This nostalgia runs in stark contrast to the contemporary phenomenon of “rural America as political football” playing out on television screens each night—unemployment,
addiction, hopelessness. Whether you subscribe to the Mayberry or the Beattyville concept of rural life, there is a common trait shared between them—that a high-quality education can open a world of opportunities to their children. Just as Canada responded to the educational needs of remote students throughout its Provinces— rst through correspondence courses, today through online courses—the United States, too, has begun to level the playing eld of quality curricula and educational opportunities for students across the country via digital learning.

http://distance-educator.com/download-report-digital-learning-strategies-for-rural-america-a-scan-of-policy-and-practice-in-k-12-education/

by Jarrett Carter, Education Dive
Carnegie Mellon, Brown, Connecticut and Iowa State universities, among others, have invested millions of dollars in creating campus innovations centers. Their goal is to attract nontraditional business students to campus for entrepreneurial development, and to create a pipeline of corporate partnership to the campuses, according to a recent article from the Chronicle of Higher Education.  Between 2008 and 2016, Carnegie Mellon helped to launch 250 companies mostly comprised of faculty members and staff from the college of engineering and schools of business and computer science. This representation, some say, is a limitation for centers as they largely attract white males from STEM disciplines.  Matthew Mayhew, a professor of educational administration at Ohio State University, said in the article that universities should encourage students who become involved with innovation centers to also align with other campus activities, which helps diversify skill sets necessary for entrepreneurial success. “The central idea is still the same,” he said. “Students can actually learn the steps in how to take an idea and roll it out to execution. And those steps aren’t necessarily just about developing a strategic business plan.”

https://www.educationdive.com/news/are-campus-innovation-centers-serving-all-students/520353/

by Autumn A. Arnett, Education Dive
In a speech, President Donald Trump expressed a desire to return to the days of vocational schools — both in name and function — saying he doesn’t know what a community college is, other than knowing it’s a two-year school. Touting the need for expanded financial aid to support “short-term training programs that equip Americans to succeed in construction and the skilled trades” during remarks on his infrastructure plan, the president said he knows what vocational “and technical perhaps” mean, but suggested the term “community college” is too nebulous. He again lauded the importance of apprenticeship programs as the key to workforce development, equating them more closely with technical and vocational training.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/trump-says-he-doesnt-know-what-a-community-college-means/520367/

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

When instructional designers are involved in online course design, student-to-student interaction goes up, according to a new survey of online education leaders from Quality Matters and Eduventures Research. The survey compared reported student interaction levels at institutions where instructional design support is required for online course development vs. those where such support is absent or optional. Perhaps not surprisingly, respondents perceived interactivity to be significantly higher for the former.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/04/02/report-instructional-design-support-helps-increase-student-to-student-interaction-in-online-courses.aspx

OPINIONS By GW Hatchet Editorial Board

Currently, the University administers online evaluations at the end of each semester, while some departments elect to do their own paper evaluations. There are a few select professors who do offer individual mid-semester course evaluations, but this is far from the norm. GW should implement mid-semester course evaluations in addition to the ones given to students at the end of each semester to improve classes for current students. Evaluations during each semester would allow students to voice complaints or concerns, whether about a professor’s teaching style or the assignments, at a time where the feedback can be immediately taken into consideration for professors to improve the second half of the semester. This would help students walk away from a course with more knowledge and a more positive experience, benefiting both the students and the professor.

GW should institute mid-semester course evaluations to help current students

By PRISCELLA VEGA, Los Angeles Times

The robot is self-balancing, with six- to eight-hour battery life. It sells for about $3,000. Members of UCI’s class of 2016 used their senior class gift to buy four telepresence robots for the university. Law and political science professor Rick Hasen described the experience with the Double 2 as unusual, but said it helped instill camaraderie in his class. In past years, Hasen said, classes would be recorded and students would watch later and email him with questions. “It wasn’t bad, but this was much better,” Hasen said.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-uci-robot-20180330-story.html

by Dennis Ting, WHAS

Louisville may be known more for its fast horses and bourbon, but something new has been brewing in the Derby City. “This is a place that isn’t necessarily a traditional tech hub, but we really see there is a strong appetite and enthusiasm for digital skills and tech opportunities,” Jesse Haines, the director of Grow with Google said. “Our job is to make sure prosperity spreads throughout our city and to train people for the future,” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said. “Listen, this is a city that’s moving,” Gov. Matt Bevin, R.-Kentucky, said. “This is a commonwealth, this is an area that is moving. There’s a lot that’s happening digitally and otherwise.”  Grow with Google made its fourth stop on its nationwide tour in Louisville Thursday. The tech giant’s initiative aims to help people find job, grow their businesses and create economic opportunities by equipping people with tech skills needed in the 21st century.

http://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/grow-with-google-seeks-to-equip-kentuckians-with-tech-skills/417-533302027

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

Many educators and teachers loudly espouse the innumerable benefits of edtech to solve today’s most prevalent classroom issues. Technology certainly does play a major role in the development of students and academics, but it doesn’t solve everything. In fact, there are a few major issues that still exist in today’s education system that edtech may be unable to solve.

Are you wondering why some of these issues still exist? Check out some of these reasons why edtech falls short in solving some of education’s most significant issues.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/why-edtech-hasnt-solved-educations-problems/

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News
One online university is leveraging data to improve teaching and learning.  University leaders know data is critical to their success, and many institutions are leveraging data to humanize the student experience and improve student outcomes. During SXSW EDU, Scott Pulsipher, president of Western Governor’s University (WGU), and Marni Baker Stein, WGU’s provost and chief academic officer, outlined some of the ways WGU uses data to improve its performance at all levels.

5 ways data humanizes the student experience

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

Smart Technologies today introduced Smart InkScan, a mobile app that converts handwritten artifacts into a digital file that can be edited and shared. The app, currently available for iOS devices, allows users to take a photo of notes from any medium — paper, whiteboard, napkin, etc. — and then push the digitized content directly to a Smart Board with IQ. Features include perspective correction, multi-image capture, annotation options, and export as an image or PDF.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/03/27/smart-inkscan-digitizes-pen-and-paper-notes.aspx

By Joshua Bolkan, Campus Technology
John Wiley and Sons has launched Wiley Assessment Service, a new tool the company describes as an “assessment-as-a-service” offering. The new tool is part of the company’s WileyPlus, an online teaching and learning platform that offers a range of tools, including automated grading for practice, homework, quizzes and tests, course creation tools, tools for tracking learning trends and a student dashboard, among others.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/03/29/wiley-debuts-assessment-as-a-service-tool.aspx