Educational Technology

By David Nagel, THE Journal
A new survey of more than 1,000 parents of students aged 17 or younger found that technology is viewed largely in a positive light, at least when it’s used in schools as part of a child’s education. According to the survey, a vast majority of parents (86 percent) said they see technology as a benefit to their children’s education. The survey, conducted by Microsoft and YouGov, polled 1,011 parents of school-aged children to gauge their attitudes toward technology’s role in education.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/08/30/parents-see-tech-as-beneficial-to-education.aspx

By Dennis Pierce, Alice Hathaway, THE Journal
Artificial intelligence could have a profound impact on learning, but it also raises key questions. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are no longer fantastical prospects seen only in science fiction. Products like Amazon Echo and Siri have brought AI into many homes, and experts say it’s only a matter of time before the technology has a profound impact in education, as well. Already, there are interactive tutors and adaptive learning programs that use AI to personalize instruction for students, and AI is also helping to simplify some administrative tasks. But Kelly Calhoun Williams, an education analyst for the technology research firm Gartner Inc., cautions there is a clear gap between the promise of AI and the reality of AI.

“That’s to be expected, given the complexity of the technology,” she said.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/08/29/the-promise-of-ai-for-education.aspx

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

If there is one institution in America that is resistant to change, it just might be higher education.  It’s surely a challenge to reimagine and transform higher education, but there are several emerging trends in edtech that might positively impact what happens on America’s college campuses—and beyond. First, the maker movement is poised to impact higher education in a big way…. Second, with online classes increasing at a rapid rate, it’s time to rethink learning management systems…. Third, LMS (Learning Management Systems) aren’t the only issues with online classes that need to be addressed.

Reimagining and Transforming Educational Learning Environments in Higher Education

by Bill Bergman, eCampus News
For educators who find today’s classrooms eerily quiet with students hiding behind their laptops, I recommend taking a break next summer from international travel or the usual research activities. Consider teaching a course online and joining students in their digital world. There is no better way to understand how college students communicate and relate to one another than to spend a summer session with them online.

The best way to get close to students? Teach a course online

By Cynthia Silva, TED-Ed Blog

All over the world, there’s growing consensus that our education systems are broken. Here are 5 TED Talks from educators who want to transform how students are taught:

http://blog.ed.ted.com/2018/07/03/5-game-changing-ted-talks-about-education/

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

If you stepped into a classroom to find a student holding up an iPad and diligently filming the action and dialogue of several other students, it would be reasonable to think you’d walked into a filmmaking class. But in the case of Anthony Stirpe’s classroom, you’d be wrong. He’s teaching English Language Arts. Snthony, a teacher in New Rochelle, New York was recognized by Apple for his use of technology in the classroom. He has been teaching for twenty years, but four years ago he decided to significantly change the way he taught English in an attempt to better engage his students.

Empowering All Students through Mobile Device Filmmaking

by James Paterson, Education Dive
Thirty students registered for Arizona State University Online’s general biology course are using ASU-supplied virtual reality (VR) headsets for a variety of required lab exercises, according to Campus Technology. When new classes start in October, the university will make 140 headsets available and will launch an online-only biology degree program. The VR equipment, which costs ASU $399 per student, allows learners to complete lab assignments in virtual space using goggles and a controller to maneuver around a simulated lab. Content for the online course was developed and assessed by ASU biology professors and was evaluated this summer. Students also can use their own VR headsets and access the content on their laptops, as 370 other students are doing.  A university official told Campus Technology the initiative will help online students have the experiences provided in brick-and-mortar labs as well as new ones that were impossible previously. The effort also will ease a problem on campus with limited lab space.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/arizona-state-online-biology-students-getting-hands-on-experience-in-virtua/531039/

by Hallie Busta, Education Dive
Gads are prepared for the entry-level jobs they take up after college, but they’re less able to advance up the ladder from there. Newly minted graduates lack the skills needed to rise in the ranks at work, an analysis of two parallel surveys of business executives and hiring managers found. That’s according to a report released today from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) based on two parallel online surveys of roughly 500 business executives and 500 hiring managers and others involved with hiring at private sector and nonprofit organizations. Both groups rated skills such as oral communication, critical thinking, effective teamwork, self-motivation and written communication as important. But they found new graduates lagging in critical areas.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/aacus-lynn-pasquerella-on-the-need-to-connect-curriculum-to-career-for-c/531050/

By Laura Lynch, eLearningLearning

Overbearing pedagogy is a recurring problem for many adult learners. As children, we’re usually taught in a way that emphasizes a “follow the teacher” mentality. The instructor lays out the lesson, delivers a lecture, sets homework, and marks grades. Children seldom take part in determining the course of their educational curriculum, and are mostly trained to follow the plan laid out for them. But for adults, the situation is the reverse. We’re used to setting our own priorities, and we’re far beyond the point where we’re willing to sit through lessons that don’t have an immediate bearing on our objectives. We already know what we want, and we’re looking for a course that delivers. If you can find a way to incorporate self-directed learning in your course, you will see happier learners, who feel more satisfied with their courses, are more motivated to complete the course work, and retain what they’ve learned better. Here’s how to start.

http://www.elearninglearning.com/edition/weekly-microlearning-developing-elearning-2018-08-18?open-article-id=8763857&article-title=how-to-incorporate-self-directed-learning-in-your-online-course

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

Over the past four years, Google Classroom has undergone many changes, and with the increase of Chromebook use in schools, Classroom has steadily grown in popularity. Recent updates to Classroom provide users with a sleek format touting many of the bells and whistles found in other, more costly classroom management software systems. Thinking of getting started with the new Google Classroom? Here’s what you need to know.

7 Things You Need to Know About the New Google Classroom

by Kevin Lindsay, ClickZ

This guest post comes from Kevin Lindsay, Director, Product Marketing and Strategy of Digital Experience, Adobe.  In an experience-driven era, digital marketers strive to bring ever more human experiences to the humans who engage with our brands daily. We need to deliver the right solution, the right path, and the right personalized touchpoint—all in real-time and at scale. And to do that, we need to mix human empathy with the power of automation. We need AI to help us be more human.

https://www.clickz.com/ai-helps-marketers-more-human

by Mike O’Brien, ClickZ

Born between 1995 and 2010, Generation Z is projected to make up 40% of all consumers within two years and despite their young ages, they already hold up to $143 billion in direct buying power. They’re heavily involved in many family purchase decisions, in large part because they’re so comfortable with technology. However, they don’t eat and breathe technology as much as we might think. For one, more than two-thirds of Gen Z prefer physical stores to online shopping.

3 common misconceptions marketers have about Gen Z

By Parker Thomas, THE Journal
At first glance, steel town Pittsburgh, PA, and tech hub Fremont, CA, don’t appear to have much in common. One boasts a respected manufacturing legacy, and the other is nestled among the tech giants of Silicon Valley. But if you look deeper, you’ll find that both cities are emphasizing investment in education for future generations. And both cities are havens for the maker movement — a growing community that utilizes new technology, tools and materials to create new things. Over the last few years, I’ve watched from afar as Pittsburgh’s Remake Learning initiative has blossomed into a resource-rich network. Its 533-member organizations are striving to inspire and equip the next generation of innovators, problem-solvers and critical thinkers through hands-on, relevant learning.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/08/13/a-tale-of-two-maker-cities.aspx

by Pam Forrester, the Democrat

Juggling high school and college at the same time is becoming a tradition in the Roberts family. When school started in August, 16-year-old, Summer Roberts returned to North Florida Community College while also attending Madison County High School. Summer joins more than 420 students at North Florida Community College working on a high school diploma at the same time as earning college credits. In the past several years, Florida’s dual enrollment numbers have exploded. In 2017-18, approximately 70,000 students enrolled at one of the state’s 28 public colleges according to newly released data from the Florida College System. That is a 30-percent surge over 2014-15 numbers.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/life/family/2018/08/21/dual-enrollment-winning-strategy-many-high-school-students/1045685002/

by Shalina Chatlani, Education Dive
Federal data show dual enrollment — a process allowing high school students to take college-level courses for postsecondary credit — is gaining steam within the education sector. Between the 2002–03 and 2010–11 academic years, the number of students taking college-level courses within a dual-enrollment program increased 80% to 1.2 million, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. States are following the trend. For example, Illinois passed a law this month that will allow students to take an unlimited number of dual-credit classes. For many in the industry, dual-enrollment practices look great on paper, offering a jump-start on an advanced education. Yet critics question whether this opportunity is truly accessible and therefore effective. Does dual enrollment actually lead to more college-going for all kinds of students or just some? And what can institutions to do help close the achievement gap?

https://www.educationdive.com/news/dual-enrollment-is-increasing-college-going-behavior-but-only-for-some-stu/530590/

BY ANDY PLEMMONS, eSchool News

An award-winning media specialist empowers students to take control of their own learning and online behavior…. My motto and philosophy for my school library is “expect the miraculous.” Inspired by my favorite author, Kate DiCamillo, I encourage students and educators to keep their eyes open to the world around them to find the miraculous things that happen all the time. But this can be especially hard for educators faced with embracing new technology every year. Instead of focusing on the negative connotations around technology, I want to shine a light on how it can empower students and schools to be digital leaders. By expecting the miraculous, I believe we can begin to appreciate the little miracles that happen when we teach our students not just digital-citizenship but digital-leadership skills.

Moving from digital citizenship to digital leadership

by Brian Kelly and Scott Kannry, Education Dive

The decentralized nature of educational institutions works well for research and learning, but it creates silos from a risk-management perspective. Before CISOs can do anything — for example, create a comprehensive cybersecurity program or implement controls for regulatory compliance — they must first justify their budget requests to a diverse group of stakeholders that perceive and communicate risk in different ways. This requires quantifying risk in a nomenclature that matters to the risk manager as well as to finance, the board of trustees and the provost. This can be achieved by undergoing the following exercise:

https://www.educationdive.com/news/4-steps-higher-ed-information-security-officers-can-take-to-manage-cyber-ri/530826/

By: Nathalie Gomez, My ND Now

Students have the chance to take Advanced placement courses in Calculus, Biology, Statistics, and English– and even though they’re online courses— they still get hands on help. “We never feel like we don’t have enough help or support, We’ve already been like emailing her and we can text her we have her phone number and we’re setting up Skype calls,” said Sutter. If the program is successful NMSI hopes to expand the readiness program to other states and give other students the same opportunities.

https://www.myndnow.com/news/minot-news/more-north-dakota-students-will-get-the-opportunity-to-receive-college-credit/1393600284

By Ben Miller, NY Times
Consider the official statistics: Of borrowers who started repaying in 2012, just over 10 percent had defaulted three years later. That’s not too bad — but it’s not the whole story. Federal data never before released shows that the default rate continued climbing to 16 percent over the next two years, after official tracking ended, meaning more than 841,000 borrowers were in default. Nearly as many were severely delinquent or not repaying their loans (for reasons besides going back to school or being in the military). The share of students facing serious struggles rose to 30 percent over all.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/25/opinion/sunday/student-debt-loan-default-college.html

by Craig Shoup, Fremont News-Messenger

When the Electronic Classrooms of Tomorrow shut down in January, around 20 students in the Fremont City Schools District were left without a school. As Fremont City Schools opens the year Tuesday, a new electronic classroom that mimics ECOT and other charter schools is coming to Fremont during the 2018-2019 school year. The new Personalized Learning Center will cater to students who prefer an alternative to to the traditional education provided by schools in the area, according to FCS superintendent Jon Detwiler. PLC will be offered to students at Ross High School, Detwiler said, as an alternative to traditional forms of education.

https://www.thenews-messenger.com/story/news/local/2018/08/24/fcs-rolling-out-new-online-learning-lab-2018-2019-school-year/1074855002/

Our schools should aim to create more education leaders who feel empowered to utilize the tools that are made available to them. With edtech in almost every classroom, we need a few educators who are willing to boldly approach these tools for the benefit of our students. The research clearly shows that students benefit from having more technology in their classroom. Most of us can see the clear benefit of incorporating technology into the curriculum, but how do we develop more empowered education leaders who will want to use it? We can start by evaluating how these leaders approach digital learning in the first place. This may be able to help schools to identify potential leaders and promote the same qualities in other teachers.

https://www.thetechedvocate.org/how-the-empowered-education-leader-approaches-digital-learning/