Educational Technology

By Kevin P. Chavous, THE Journal

Families are opting for online and blended education because the models allow for greater customization to meet the needs of each student in ways that many traditional schools cannot. Learning systems used in online and blended schools also empower teachers to more effectively personalize learning — measure progress, adjust pace, and provide extra support when needed for every learner — which is a major advantage for both struggling students as well as high-achievers. This level of personalization can be a challenge to achieve in a traditional classroom. Yet, while the report acknowledges the growing demand for virtual schools, it relies on inaccurate and unavailable data to evaluate the schools’ effectiveness. The report’s claim that virtual schools are less diverse, and serve a lower number of low-income and special needs students are inconsistent with data from K12-partner schools (which make up 39 percent of online schools).

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/06/13/as-demand-for-online-schools-grows-so-does-need-for-accurate-evaluation.aspx

By Goldie Blumenstyk, Chronicle
Something rang both haphazard and familiar in the announcement Facebook made last week, promising to create as many as 15 partnerships with community colleges by the end of 2018.  The company is creating those partnerships alongside its larger “Community Boost” program, which is designed to train more than one million people in 50 cities in digital skills. Both moves come as Facebook faces increasing public criticism for how it has allowed members’ private data to be shared with outside companies and political operatives. In the past six weeks it has announced partnerships with Des Moines Area Community College, Central New Mexico Community College, and Greenville Technical College, in South Carolina; on Friday it unveiled two more, at Bunker Hill and Roxbury Community Colleges, both in Massachusetts. Exactly how those institutions were chosen — or how future ones will be — is unclear.

https://www.chronicle.com/article/Facebook-Plans-to-Team-Up-With/243641

by Lydia Belanger, Entrepreneur

“Companies are having trouble keeping up,” says Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of online learning platform Coursera, of the rapid rate of technological acceleration worldwide today. “Even large companies that have a dedicated learning and development function don’t have the resources and expertise to teach all of those new skills to people spread around the world.” For small companies, such resources are obviously even more limited. According to a Bank of America report, small-business owners listed training and developing existing staff as the number-one priority for using loan capital in 2015. But as Deloitte found in a 2017 survey, more than half of companies do not have learning programs focused on building skills for the future. But the tide could be changing.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/314943

By Shalina Chatlani, Education Dive
The workplace of the future will be marked by unprecedentedly advanced technologies, as well as a focus on incorporating artificial intelligence to drive higher levels of production with fewer resources. Employers and education stakeholders, noting the reality of this trend, are turning a reflective eye toward current students and questioning whether they will be workforce ready in the years to come. This has become a significant concern for higher education executives, who find their business models could be disrupted as they fail to meet workforce demands. A 2018 Gallup-Northeastern University survey shows that of 3,297 U.S. citizens interviewed, only 22% with a bachelor’s degree said their education left them “well” or “very well prepared” to use AI in their jobs.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/preparing-students-for-workplace-of-the-future/525536/

By Linda Jacobson, Education Dive
Northwestern University education researchers are working in partnership with elementary and secondary schools in Evanston, outside Chicago, to learn more about the factors that influence whether a student completes college, according to the Chicago Tribune. Taking at least five semesters of college coursework increases the chances that a student will earn a four-year degree, members of the research team, led by David Figlio, dean of the school of education and social policy, said during a joint school board meeting for Evanston/Skokie School District 65 and the Evanston Township High School District 202. They noted that while some predictors of college success such as grades, test scores and attendance rates are easy to measure, other areas, such as demographic factors and whether or not a student has a strong support network, are more difficult to study.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/research-partnership-to-examine-factors-throughout-k-12-that-contribute-to/525508/

by Shubashree Desikan, the Hindu
The annotated datas can be used by deep-learning frameworks employed in AI to learn the model accurately. Understanding user engagement in online interactions is important in many contexts, with online shopping, advertising, e-learning and healthcare being just a few sectors. Now, IIT Hyderabad has built DAiSEE (Dataset for Affective States in E-Environments), the first multilabel video-classification dataset for recognising boredom, confusion, frustration and engagement. The dataset comprises 9,068 video snippets captured from 112 individuals. For each of these affective states, there are further four levels of labels – very low, low, high and very high. These labels are provided by observing the viewer’s reactions.

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/iit-hyderabad-dataset-to-understand-online-user-engagement/article24180468.ece

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology
A research project at MIT has developed an algorithm in which a constantly updating network — of sensors, drones or data-sharing vehicles — minimizes how much new information is received at any moment to avoid data congestion, while still keeping the most important data “as fresh as possible.” Right now, the approach works for “simple” networks; but eventually, the team expects to tackle complex ones as well. The project is important in an era of smart cars, manufacturing and delivery. Sensors are designed to feed fresh data to a wireless network quickly and continuously, to allow the network to maintain a current status on all variables in the system, as an MIT article explained.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/06/14/mit-algorithm-tackles-network-data-congestion.aspx

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

In the future, according to a group of German researchers, users of virtual reality will be able to interact with each other more easily, more naturally and in real time between real and virtual worlds. A scene from the real world could, for example, be transferred into VR, after which feedback could be reflected back into the real situation. The Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) recently presented a new “X-reality technology” that makes this possible; the demonstration is being shown during Germany’s CeBIT conference, taking place this week. Fraunhofer HHI does applied research in mobile and optical wireless communications and video signal processing and coding.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/06/14/new-tech-makes-mixed-reality-more-interactive.aspx

By James Paterson, Education Dive
Clark State Community College has joined two-year colleges in Ohio and those in 18 other states offering a four-year degree — but it’s a trend that some four-year institutions find troubling.  Ohio initially rejected Clark State’s proposal because the manufacturing technology management program it proposed appeared to be too similar to degrees offered at nearby four-year institutions, according to the Springfield News-Sun. The college revised the plan, which was approved. Clark State officials said in a statement that local employers have committed to enrolling more than 100 students in the new four-year program.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/another-community-college-approved-for-bachelors-degrees/525562/

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

Google Certified Trainers are education professionals who help other teachers successfully redefine learning by integrating technology into their classrooms. To become a Google Certified Trainer, you must undergo an application process that includes completing a course, taking a skills assessment, and recording an introductory video. So is the process worth it? Let’s take a look at ten reasons to become a Google Certified Trainer.

10 Reasons to Become a Google Certified Trainer

by Global Banking and Finance Review
Gone are the blackboards of yesteryear. Instead, many schools and higher education institutions are using a range of connected devices, both at school and at home, as part of a wireless revolution in the education sector.With the growth of automation, cyber-security and AI, the role that technology will play in the education sector is already shaping a future job market. In preparation for these new advancements, schools and students will need to adapt to a constantly changing way of digital learning. Here Performance Networks discuss 5 ways digital connectivity is revolutionising the education sector, as well as offering insight into how digital learning technology will shape schools in the future.

5 WaysDigital Connectivity is Revolutionising Education

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

Learning games provide greater benefits than passing the time in class or entertaining students to keep them occupied. Experienced teachers know that using games in the classroom can invigorate interest in learning, so why wouldn’t eLearning incorporate using gaming in digital courseware and learning tools? Learners who participate in instructional games have improved their performance scores by as much as 30% and increased their confidence by 20%, likely because of the motivation and engagement games produce. In short, gaming in the classroom improves overall retention by 17%. Not only are learners more engaged and better motivated to learn, but they also are more likely to remember what they’ve learned. Games have specific purposes in instruction. Incorporating games at specific instructional points in eLearning can augment the instructional program, and here are four ways to do it:

4 Powerful Ways to Use Games in eLearning

By Michael Sano, EdSurge

Even when tuition is free, attending college can be expensive. Many students need to cover the cost of housing, food and family care in addition to their educational expenses. Can online learning and digital tools help learners save money? On Tuesday, June 12 the #DLNchat community got together to dive into how improving digital learning could help institutions pass along savings to students, and how technology might also help reduce indirect costs for college attendance.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-06-14-can-online-programs-and-digital-tools-help-students-spend-less-money-dlnchat

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

What if you could offer students in low-income and rural schools a technology-based opportunity to develop the creative genius you know they have? You’d provide a makerspace where students could explore, create, invent, and learn through authentic experiences. To make a dream like this successful and sustainable, the key ingredient lies in finding ways to make it tangible.  Although the idea behind the makerspace is to promote playful exploration, developing pathways within the space can improve sustainability. Sustainability in your makerspace will lead to success, but the caveat here is to monitor the pathways to eliminate possible stereotyping and inequalities. Examples include pathways that are gender or race exclusive. Instead, the focus must remain on inclusiveness, even allowing makers to opt in and out of pathways.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/how-to-create-successful-and-sustainable-makerspaces-in-low-income-and-rural-schools/

By Robert Ubell, Inside Higher Ed

Describing his service on a voluntary visiting team, Bob Ubell defends regional accreditation as a form of “deliberative democracy” and urges us not to hand it over to a federal education police force.  In response to a recent signal that U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos may be exploring alternatives to our present higher education accreditation practices, let’s take a look at what it’s like to be on the inside of a regional accrediting team.

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2018/06/14/inside-look-why-regional-accreditation-works-opinion

By Cait Etherington, eLearning Inside

On June 20th, the United Nations will mark World Refugee Day. According to the United Nations, over 65 million people worldwide are now living as refugees. Millions of these refugees are children under 18 and many more are people in their late teens to mid-twenties who, under other conditions, would be enrolled in university. To address the growing need for flexible forms of education, eLearning continues to be brought to refugee camps around the world. As we prepare for World Refugee Day 2018, eLearning Inside News takes a look at just some of the organizations currently engaged in offering eLearning for refugees.

eLearning for Refugees: Three Programs Making a Difference

By Donald Campbell, Alexander city Outlook

Starting this fall, the Alexander City School system will be offering its virtual learning program, iAcademy, to students from kindergarten through 12th grade. “The state legislature requires us to have a virtual offering for grades nine through 12,” Superintendent Dr. Darrell Cooper said. “We started offering this at Benjamin Russell High School three years ago, then added it at Alexander City Middle School.  “This past year, we had 17 students from Benjamin Russell and four from ACMS go through the program.” Open to any student in the Alexander City system at no cost, and out-of-district students who pay a $500 tuition fee, iAcademy offers students who enroll the chance to complete their schoolwork under more flexible hours.

City schools expanding virtual learning program

by ADAM HARRIS, the Atlantic

Futurist Bryan Alexander says the industry may have nowhere to go but down. What does the slide look like? In the spring of 2013, there were 19,105,651 students enrolled in higher ed; this spring, there were 17,839,330, according to recently released data from the National Center for Education Statistics. That represents a roughly 7-percent decrease—and is driven largely by declining enrollments in the for-profit and community-college sectors, as well as stagnant enrollments among four-year non-profit public and private institutions. And the trend of declining enrollment in higher education is likely to continue, he argues, for a couple of reasons, but most notably, a declining birth rate means that there will be fewer 18-year-olds entering academe, and there are fewer international and immigrant students to fill those seats. Why is the dip in enrollment such a big deal? Well, quite plainly, the business model for a lot of colleges is dependent on enrollment.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/06/heres-how-higher-education-dies/561995/

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

What makes an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) unique is that it is designed for younger children and is family-oriented. An IFSP is a document that outlines a plan for young children who need early intervention services. It is customized for each child, as well as including a plan for the family. For instance, when children are receiving early intervention services, the family may also need the training to support their child’s needs. Since an IFSP is customized for the individual, every IFSP will be different. As you begin the process of developing an IFSP, here are some apps and tools to help you.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/apps-and-tools-that-will-help-you-develop-an-individualized-family-service-plan-ifsp/

by Christina Vercelletto, Education Dive
California schools are using various methods to not only get low-income and diverse high school students interested in STEM subject areas, but to increase the odds they’ll actually get a STEM-related degree and wind up working in one of those fields. In schools located a short distance from Silicon Valley, less than 5% of tech professionals are Hispanic, and just over 2% are African American. Interestingly, 57% of students in the area weren’t born in the U.S.; most came from China or India. One charter school, Downtown College Prep (DCP) Alum Rock High, leverages motivational tactics, such as competitions to increase STEM interest. A team of students became part of the Quest for Space program, through which astronauts on the International Space Station used an experiment they designed. Partnerships with non-profits, such as Genesys Works, create part-time or school-holiday internships. Students shadow tech workers to gain insight into what types of jobs are out there.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/competitions-experiments-a-focus-in-inspiring-low-income-students-to-embra/525274/

Matthew Rascoff, Evolllution

Rather than viewing bootcamps as a threat, higher education should integrate the bootcamp model into the undergraduate experience to prepare graduates with the combinations of knowledge and skills they will need in their careers and lives. While the intensity, flexibility and experiential learning of bootcamps are compelling, those features are complementary to four-year undergraduate education. For most colleges, bootcamps are a sustaining innovation that can be absorbed into the core—not a disruptive innovation that must be developed or acquired and protected on the margins. Bootcamps haven’t undermined the bachelor’s degree, for which the return on investment is an annualized 15 percent per year—performance that would make any Wall Street investor envious.

Bootcamps Go To College