September 16, 2018
by Matt Lynch, Tech Edvocate
There is no doubt you have wondered whether the unlimited access to technology this generation has is influencing them for better or for worse. When it comes to education, we see more and more technology infiltrate the classroom. Some see the rise in technology use as turning our kids into zombies who stare blankly into their computer screens and do not think independently. However, a Stanford report explains, “technology – when implemented properly -can produce significant gains in student achievement and boost engagement, particularly among students most at risk.” The key here is “when implemented properly.” Yes – there are cases when too much technology does have a zombie-like effect on kids. But, more importantly, when we use technology to the right extent for the right purpose, it simply changes education.
Is Tech Improving Education or Turning Our Kids into Zombies
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The findings of this report can be arranged into three main categories:
- Gamification will evolve. If our understanding of gamification doesn’t evolve with it, it will become outdated. An outdated understanding of its capabilities will limit its potential and we mustn’t let this happen.
- The surge in technological innovation will lead to an explosion in new expressions of gamification.
Further academic research into gamification is essential to its evolution. It will open up new ways to apply the principles of gamification and provide scientific rigour to gamification practice.
- This report emphasises the potential of gamification to transform behaviour, business and even society.
Here’s what we have in store…
http://www.elearninglearning.com/edition/weekly-wage-and-hour-training-corporate-elearning-2018-09-01
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by Liam Tung, ZD Net
McKinsey’s latest forecast of AI’s impact on the global economy is that it will have generated $13 trillion in economic activity across the world by 2030, despite causing upheaval for many people. The company expects AI will add about 1.2 percent of additional GDP growth per year through to 2030, which is much higher than the steam engine’s boost to human productivity of 0.3 percent per year between 1850 and 1910, and twice the impact IT had in the 2000s. The company is expecting AI’s impact on growth to accelerate as the world approaches 2030 and that companies that move first on the technology will capture most of the benefits at the expense of companies that fail to adopt them. The company estimates that 14 percent of the world’s workers will need to change occupations and move to new sectors or different geographies.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/mckinsey-ai-will-create-13-trillion-in-value-by-2013/
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September 15, 2018
By Janet Adamy with Visuals by Tyler Paige and Jieqian Zhang, Wall Street Journal
“They have a stronger work ethic,” says Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University psychology professor whose book “iGen” analyzes the group. “They’re really scared that they’re not going to get the good job that everybody says they need to make it.” Just 30% of 12th-graders wanted to be self-employed in 2016, according to the Michigan survey, which has measured teen attitudes and behaviors since the mid-1970s. That is a lower rate than baby boomers, Gen X, the group born between 1965 and 1980, and most millennials when they were high-school seniors. Gen Z’s name follows Gen X and Gen Y, an early moniker for the millennial generation.
https://www.wsj.com/graphics/genz-is-coming-to-your-office/
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by Rachel Radom, UT Knoxville
Are you concerned about the amount of debt students take on en route to graduation? Three faculty are moving to open textbooks and open educational resources (OER) this year in order to save students money and encourage student–and teaching–success. For a one-time investment of $4,750 grant dollars and faculty time, these adoptions of OER and open textbooks will save students $120,000 dollars every academic year. Kenneth Kihm (Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering), Joanne Logan (Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science), and Barbara Murphy (Music Theory) received awards ranging from $750 to $1,750 for adopting open textbooks and creating OER. They received mini-grants from a partnership with the Division of Student Life, the University Libraries, and UT’s Open Textbook Working Group to help them make the transition to OER.
https://www.lib.utk.edu/scholar/2018/09/05/grant-awards-to-three-faculty-for-open-education/
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by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate
While OER moves away from traditional textbooks, according to CNN, “the goal of the library remains the same: To be a free place where people can access and share information.” Librarians want to help students achieve success, but one of the things holding students back today is the high cost of textbooks. If libraries can help teachers find quality free digital resources, it will benefit their students greatly.
Why Libraries Should Be Leading the OER Revolution
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September 14, 2018
BY LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News
OSU has launched a strategic digital learning initiative to help students learn technology and coding skills for academic success and career readiness. The Digital Flagship Initiative gives students in-demand skills and meets students where they are in terms of technology use. Part of that initiative is an iPad for each of the 11,000 first-year students at OSU’s Columbus and regional campuses, with a growing number of courses requiring the tablets.
Here’s how technology is revolutionizing the student experience
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by Jon Marcus, Hechinger Report
“The big problem most campuses have is that students wait until it’s too late,” said Mark Peltz, dean of careers, life, and service, who sat in the back of the classroom and looked on as a career advisor, Megan Crawford, welcomed this group with the enthusiasm of a motivational speaker. “So we just thought, ‘Let’s turn it around.’ ” It’s a strategy now buttressed by a new survey of 6,000 recent graduates, which found that the earlier college students had started looking for a job — and preparing for it by participating in internships and other career-related experiences — the happier they eventually were with their careers.
Colleges welcome first-year students by getting them thinking about jobs
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by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate
According to Implementing Media Literacy In Your Classroom, media literacy is defined as “the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication. The term “media” refers to all electronic or digital means and print or artistic visuals used to transmit messages–you can read it (print media), see it (visual media), hear it (audio media), or change and play with it (interactive media), or some combination of each. Literacy is the ability to encode and decode symbols and to synthesize and analyze messages.” Teachers are looking for ways to integrate media literacy into their classroom – especially since it became obvious that students cannot distinguish between real or fake news. Here are six ways to help you teach your students to be media literate.
6 Ways to Integrate Media Literacy in the Classroom
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September 13, 2018
By Catalin Cimpanu, ZDnet
After celebrating Chrome’s ten-year anniversary on Sunday, Google released today version 69 of the Chrome browser, one of the most feature-rich versions in recent years. With today’s release, Chrome now joins Mozilla and Microsoft as browser makers who completely redesigned their browsers. Firefox went through two major UI updates with the Aurora and Quantum releases, Microsoft replaced Internet Explorer with the lighter Edge, and, today, Google gave Chrome its first major facelift since its release in 2008. This new user interface is easy to spot because it uses a predominantly white color tone along with rounded tabs, a big shift from Chrome’s regular grayish UI with angled tabs.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/chrome-69-released-with-new-ui-and-random-password-generator/
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by Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology
Lumen Learning has created an online resource to help proponents of open educational resources make the case for OER use on campus. The OER Champion Playbook offers a collection of ideas, tips and tools for building effective OER initiatives. The content spans five categories: Making the Case for OER; Measuring Impact with OER; Building Awareness & Enthusiasm; Supporting Faculty through Change; and Sustaining Change & Impact. Each category provides a variety of suggested activities, each with links to additional information, worksheets, examples and more.
https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/09/04/new-resource-offers-ideas-for-advocating-oer-adoption.aspx
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by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate
We have come a long way from chalkboards and gradebooks. When you take a look at today’s modern classroom, you will find edtech taking over – Smartboards and mobile devices are becoming commonplace in the classroom. And, now, teachers are embracing another form of technology: the digital assistant. We are using digital assistants, such as Siri and Alexa, in our daily lives, so why not use them in the classroom? Just as they help us navigate our lives with reminders and directions, they can help our students navigate lessons. Still unconvinced? Here are seven reasons to use a digital assistant in your classroom:
7 Reasons to Use a Digital Assistant (like Alexa) in Your Classroom
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September 12, 2018
By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal
The U.S. Department of Education has debuted a mobile app for students applying for federal financial aid. This beta version of the “myStudentAid” app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Development of the new release was done in parallel with a redesign of the FAFSA.gov website. The goal for both: to make it easier for students and families to fill out the 2018-2019 Free Application for Federal Student Aid. However, the beta version of myFAFSA doesn’t include all of the same features as FAFSA.gov. An enhanced version of the app is expected to be released in October and will include additional functionality.
https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/08/29/mobile-fafsa-a-step-in-the-right-direction.aspx
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by Jacob Baynham, Outside Online
It’s much easier to teach your tween about smartphone use if they reach middle school with a healthy digital diet. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time for kids before 18 months, just an hour a day until age five, and consistent limits for kids over six. Need to be in touch with your nine-year-old about carpooling? Give them an old-school flip phone.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2339696/teach-child-unplug
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by Tom Vander Ark, Forbes
Juha Mikkola, co-founder of Wyncode Academy, a coding school, said some developers are being paid double the going rate for their blockchain experience. “It’s not just tech companies that need this talent, it’s real-estate, non-profits, and banks,” Mikkola said. Leading university computer science programs have been quick to respond. According to new research, 42 percent of the top 50 universities in the world offer at least one course on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. MIT offers a six-week online blockchain certificate program (in partnership with 2U). Oxford offers a similar six-week certificate program (also powered by 2U).
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanderark/2018/09/01/learning-blockchain/#1e107701b04f
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September 11, 2018
by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate
It’s a hard number to comprehend: 800 million jobs could be lost to automation in the next decade. While some doubt that the number will be quite so high, even if it is off by a factor of ten, it will have an enormous impact on society. Wise educators and other stakeholders need to ask: How best do we prepare students for the coming age of automation? It is hard to determine all of the contours of the answer, but one seems clear: the age of automation demands that students learn soft skills. While there is no one universally accepted definition of “soft skills,” the basic idea is simple: soft skills include everything an employee needs to be successful in her or his position other than academic skills. It should be apparent that, while we may be able to automate cars in the next decade or two, we are nowhere close to automating the work of social workers, therapists, educators, and others whose jobs focus around soft-skills—or on the softer aspects of other jobs, such as the need for surgeons to communicate with the patient’s family.
The Age of Automation Demands that Students Learn Soft Skills
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by James Paterson, Education Dive
Enrollment experts caution: Don’t make assumptions. Adult learners typically bring a wider variety of concerns and struggles — as well as strengths and skills — than do traditional prospects. Thomas Gibbons, dean of the School of Continuing Studies at Northwestern University, said colleges must develop deliberate efforts to better understand adult learners and their concerns. Wayne Smutz, dean of the Extension program at the University of California, Los Angeles, said colleges need to show these students — perhaps even more so than traditional students — how they can pay for their education and how their investment will pay off. “Time is a critical resource for adult learners,” he said. “Having to stand in line, being put on hold on the telephone for extended periods of time, and other delays or confusing messages are critical problems for adults. Universities need to find ways to have expedited services.”
https://www.educationdive.com/news/higher-ed-administrators-can-better-serve-adult-learners-heres-how/530932/
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By Trudy Doleman, APUS
Just as you hit your stride finding the right balance between study times, work, family and personal time — something happens. It could be a 24-hour illness, an increase in your workload, a death in the family or even an unexpected deployment to a part of the world with spotty Internet connectivity at best. Any number of factors have the potential to cause you to miss at least one of your weekly class deadlines. Before you know it, one missed assignment grows into several missed assignments and you have fallen way behind in your class. What are your options? Is it possible to recover and complete the class? Yes, it is possible to recover and there are several options available to you.
How to Get Back on Track in Your Class after Falling Behind
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September 10, 2018
by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate
Philosophers have had thousands of years to ponder the deep issues of human ethics. Modern tech adds unanticipated twists to the classic questions about the relationship of the self to others. It will require not only ethicists but also technical specialists and curriculum experts in order to ensure that today’s students learn what they need to know about the interplay of ethics and technology.
Teaching Students about the Interplay of Ethics and Technology
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by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate
The days of teachers writing on the whiteboards behind them are quickly becoming a thing of the past because technologically advanced schools are using learning glass to deliver lectures. Lectures are not usually the most exciting delivery method for instruction, but the traditional lecture method can be improved exponentially with a learning glass. Learning glass allows for dramatic illumination of ideas in lectures. The latest in presentation board technology consists of two sheets of glass framed by LED lights. Fluorescent marker ink attracts and refracts the LED light. The instructor stands behind the glass to illustrate essential points in lectures.
Using a Learning Glass to Deliver Exciting Lectures
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By Nicol Turner-Lee, Brookings
Digital exclusion comes with costs. Rural residents are at risk of being marginalized in an information-rich economy where digital transactions and commercial sharing services are becoming more relevant. Already facing diminished life chances, people with lower incomes, people of color, the elderly, and foreign-born migrants in rural areas run the risk of being on the wrong side of the digital divide that further exacerbates their economic, social, and political marginalization.
https://www.brookings.edu/longform/closing-the-digital-and-economic-divides-in-rural-america/
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