Educational Technology

By Wyatt Kash, EdScoop

“Universities are recognizing that their engagement with students needs to happen early and continue after graduation. That’s just reflecting the reality of the workplace today,” Nina Huntemann, the director of academics and research at edX says. It also reflects the growing diversity of prospective, current and returning students who need different skills and credentials. “What online education at scale really allows is [for institutions] to still provide high quality learning to students who may otherwise not be able to afford it, don’t have the time to stop life and go to a residential program,” she says. “And in particular, to nimbly respond to the [workforce] requirement to constantly skill and reskill yourself in a career.”

https://edscoop.com/tv-radio/online-education-platforms-offer-agility-for-universities-students

Hallie Busta, Education Dive
College students may be strapped for cash, but they have plenty of personal data to offer. Shiru, a Japan-based cafe chain, is betting they’re willing to share that data for free coffee, Inside Higher Ed reported. Shiru cafes look and act like regular coffee shops. But instead of money in exchange for a beverage, they require college students to share details such as their name, age, interests, major, graduation year and email address, and agree to be contacted by corporate sponsors who use the cafes for recruiting and get an aggregate look at the data. The chain, which serves college students and faculty only, opened its first U.S. location near Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Shiru has other locations in Japan and India, and it is planning to add cafes near Harvard, Princeton and Yale universities as well as Amherst College.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/students-can-trade-personal-data-for-coffee-at-this-cafe/539289/

Russell Schrader, Education Dive

Russell Schrader, executive director of the nonprofit National Cyber Security Alliance, shares ways institutions can keep information, and the means of exchanging it, secure: “The biggest challenge is knowing what you have and who is accessing it — data integrity. The idea is that when you put data in, it stays exactly the same while you’re storing it, you know who’s taking it out, and it’s exactly the same way it was before [when they’re done]. It’s not just about access to data and dissemination of data, it’s what’s happening to that data at rest. A lot of colleges don’t have up-to-date, sophisticated data-management systems and hardware and software to do that, so they’re prone to attacks not only to exfiltrate data but also to change data. It’s certainly not unknown for institutions that pride themselves on having open and accessible systems to also pride themselves on educating an incredibly sophisticated group of students who are well-versed in cybersecurity and in coding.”

https://www.educationdive.com/news/how-campuses-can-play-better-defense-against-expanding-cyberthreats/539427/

Hemendra Singh, Customer Think

There is no denying that this is an era of mobile application popularly called as App or Mobile App. You can now find an app for almost all work starting from shopping to banking. Education is also not an exception – you can now get learning mobile app as well. With the advent of this kind of e-learning app, students can now get everything at their fingertips. With the introduction of the LMS app, the student does not have to visit the various library for collecting data and information. They can access any information from anywhere in the world with the help of LMS mobile app. There are many advantages of the mobile app in online learning and some of these are discussed
as follows:

The Importance of a Mobile App in Online Learning

By Elizabeth Djinis, Herald Tribune

Students and parents in Sarasota and Manatee counties are grappling with a new reality where dual enrollment courses may no longer be offered on local campuses. Last week, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota president Carol Probstfeld told Sarasota and Manatee County school leaders that students would no longer be able to take dual enrollment classes at their schools next year, although they can continue to take dual enrollment courses at SCF’s campuses or online. The decision has caused frustration amongsome parents and students who say dual enrollment is a low-cost option for students to engage in advanced coursework and come to college with credits in hand and occasionally even an associate’s degree. While students still have the option to take dual enrollment courses, having to transfer to another campus can make the move difficult for students without transportation and online courses are simply different than face-to-face instruction.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20181008/grappling-with-dual-enrollment-school-changes-in-sarasota-manatee

By Lindsay McKenzie, Inside Higher Ed
Students in a political science class at California Polytechnic State University embarked on an unusual challenge last year. They drafted legislation to see if they could get it passed by the state Legislature. The bill became law this past summer. In the process, the students learned how lawmaking works and got invaluable experience on using the political process to push for change — even if it’s only incremental change — on a higher ed issue close to their hearts. The students in the California Bill Project class set out to write a bill that would benefit fellow California students but not cost the state any money.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/10/10/california-students-take-publishers-legislatively-reduce-textbook-costs

By Stacey Pusey, EdScoop

“If it’s edtech, it must be good,” used to be the mantra in schools. In fact, many school technology plans fluctuated depending upon the latest fads and what someone learned at a conference and had little connection to curriculum or learning goals. But with recognition of the disconnect between school and district leaders, the realities of the technology infrastructure and classroom needs, an initiative guided by more judicious thinking is now underway. The Consortium for School Networking and AASA, The School Superintendents Association, have created the Empowered Superintendent initiative, which is dedicated to helping superintendents, aspiring superintendents and district leadership teams build their knowledge, skills and confidence as technology leaders.

https://edscoop.com/how-to-empower-superintendents-and-connect-technology-with-learning

Scott Foreman, Udacity

Nimit Sawhney’s company Voatz is pioneering the use of blockchain technology to help overseas military personnel vote securely in West Virginia.  Sawhney says:  “It’s incumbent upon us to keep evolving, keep learning, and keep enhancing our concept for democracy. That’s a strong driver for us. Regardless of your political affiliation, if more people vote, if everyone votes, then that’s a fair fight. If you lose, it was a clash of ideas, and you can accept you lost the argument, and you can move on. But if people who are eligible to vote don’t, then it doesn’t seem like a fair fight, and it feel likes a flawed system. That’s a big driver for us. Can we make it easier for people who aren’t voting to do so, in a very secure way?”

Securing Democracy With Blockchain

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News
State leaders and better infrastructure are helping schools connect students to the high-speed internet necessary for digital learning.  More and more students have access to high-speed internet in schools, but there are still students left without the connectivity they need to grow and learn, according to the annual State of the States report from the nonprofit EducationSuperHighway (ESH). Today, 98 percent of public schools have next-generation fiber infrastructure, and 96 percent have enough internet connectivity to make digital learning possible in classrooms, says ESH CEO Evan Marwell in the report’s introduction.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/10/09/ivy-tech-cc-rolls-out-interactive-adaptive-digital-biology-course.aspx

by Andrew Graf, Tech Edvocate

The majority of school district IT departments are short on time and resources, and this makes it hard to implement technology effectively. In a recent survey of K-12 IT leaders, 45 percent said they don’t have enough IT employees to support their existing technologies well, never mind trying to add new devices and systems. This problem has serious implications for student success. As education becomes more personalized and data-driven, teachers and administrators are increasingly reliant on technology to help them diagnose students’ precise learning needs and deliver highly targeted instruction to fill these knowledge gaps. If school district IT departments are going to support the demand for new technologies successfully, they will have to learn how to do more with less. Fortunately, IT staff can work more intelligently and use their existing resources more effectively by become more proactive in their approach.

Four Keys to a Modern IT Approach in K-12 Schools

Steve Eighinger,Herald-Whig

A college student was once looked upon, for the most part, as recently graduated from high school and somewhere in the midst of a plan that would allow for graduation from college in what was considered the traditional four-year period. Those times have changed and quite dramatically. Today’s traditional student has become yesterday’s nontraditional student. The U.S. Department of Education estimates somewhere between 80 to 90 percent of current undergraduates would have been categorized as nontraditional students 25 years ago. The times are more than changin’. And they have changed right before our eyes.

https://www.whig.com/20181006/theres-a-changing-enrollment-landscape-and-qu-is-trying-to-accommodate-that-change#//

Alex Hubbell, the Appalacian
For most students, the world of academia lends an unbounded amount of creative possibilities yet it seems math is in an exception. Sharareh Nikbakht, a senior lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, intends to change that for K-12 students with the concept of the Math Walk. Nikbakht spoke about this concept during “ASU Math Walk: Promoting STEM using creative activities for creative student learning” Friday at 3 p.m. in Walker Hall. The event, hosted by Travis Weiland, an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, focused on a concept called a Math Walk, which takes learning outside the classroom.

Math walk colloquia present the benefits of creative learning

Hillary Hoffower, Business Insider

According to the Pew Research Center, the number of college-educated young adults with a bachelor’s degree is at its highest point yet — 40% of millennial workers aged 25 to 29 had a bachelor’s degree in 2016, compared to 32% of Gen Xers in 2000 and 26% of baby boomers in 1985. But they’re attending college in a different environment. From the price of college textbooks to online learning opportunities, here’s how college differs for millennials.

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-college-is-different-now-then-millennials-vs-baby-boomers-2018-9

Andy Rosenband, Forbes

As the CEO of a manufacturing company that relies both on our workforce of dedicated employees as well as making investments in new technology solutions, I continue to examine whether and when one side will override the other. But I don’t think this will happen. I think we’ll have a continued need for a strong employee workforce in addition to advanced machinery. Technology — both digital and mechanical — is changing the way we work. While this is unsettling to many workers, especially those in seemingly volatile positions and industries (which at first glance may appear ripe for takeover by an automated workforce), there’s an upside to traditional trades.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeschicagocouncil/2018/10/05/why-traditional-trades-will-prosper-in-a-technology-focused-workforce/#7a76c7e26ffd

Chris Meserole, Brookings

The core insight of machine learning is that much of what we recognize as intelligence hinges on probability rather than reason or logic.  Recognizing someone, planning a trip, plotting a strategy—each of these tasks demonstrate intelligence. But rather than hinging primarily on our ability to reason abstractly or think grand thoughts, they depend first and foremost on our ability to accurately assess how likely something is. We just don’t always realize that that’s what we’re doing. Back in the 1950s, though, McCarthy and his colleagues did realize it. And they understood something else too: Computers should be very good at computing probabilities.

What is machine learning?

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

By the end of grade 2, a student should be able to explain the functions of common hardware and software components in a computer. By the end of grade 5, he or she should be able to determine potential solutions to solve simple hardware and software problems using common troubleshooting strategies. By the end of grade 8, the student should be able to explain potential security threats and security measures to mitigate threats. And by the end of high school, he or she should be prepared to create data visualizations that can help others better understand real-world phenomena.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/10/01/california-cs-standards-designed-to-increase-access-to-cs-instruction-for-all-students.aspx

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News
Flexible semesters could help nontraditional students complete degrees at community colleges.  Nontraditional students make up more than half of today’s higher-ed student body, and community colleges are stepping up to meet their unique needs in big ways. Research from the American Council on Education shows that almost 60 percent of U.S. undergraduate students are nontraditional, meaning they are 25 or older, work full-time, and have work, family, or other obligations that require flexibility in their educational options.

Community colleges see success with varied semester start dates

BY KELSEY DAVIS, Mississippi Today

But the U.S. Secretary of Education wasn’t in Lexington on Thursday to answer any of those questions. She was there as part of her “Re-Think School” tour, observing the Global Teaching Project – a program designed to bring advanced placement (AP) classes to schools in highly rural areas. The program, also available in other rural schools in Mississippi, has the potential to expose students to rigorous academic curriculums in districts where obstacles to such opportunities are all too familiar.

DeVos explores potential of virtual learning in the Delta amid harsh conditions public schools face

by Patrick Atack
FutureLearn, the online learning platform attached to the British Open University, has launched its first undergraduate full degree program, in partnership with the University of Newcastle, Australia. The degree will be available across four subject areas of: Film, Media and Cultural Studies; English and Writing; History; and Sociology and Anthropology. Students will choose major and a minor subjects, picking individual courses accordingly. “It’s an important expansion of the university’s long history of flexible delivery” Each of the programs will consist of 12 weeks of teaching, broken down into four, three-week courses.

FutureLearn launches fully online BA

BY ANGELA PASCOPELLA, eCampus News

The Math Emporium at an Arizona community college pairs technology with human help to increase student success. The Math Emporium, located on the campus of Rio Salado College in Phoenix, Arizona, is an informal, cafe-style study and practice space to help students navigate basic math. But that’s not all. The emporium is staffed by a math “concierge” who acts as tutor, small-group presenter, and coach. As with many community colleges, some Rio Salado students tend to be older than the average college student and/or some left high school early, so they have little memory or knowledge of math concepts. “Less than 20 percent of students can get into and pass a college-level math class,” says John Jensen, faculty chair of mathematics. “A lot of them need practice with lower-level and developmental math; they simply lost [the knowledge] due to lack of use.”

Does your college have a math concierge?

by Madeleine Dart, KIII
n the small town of Refugio, Texas, where evidence of Hurricane Harvey still remains, a lack of teachers has left a high school to rely on technology. During the 2017-18 school year, Refugio High School was in dire need of a Spanish teacher after their’s retired. Principal Brandon Duncan searched for the right candidate but could not fill the position; so he had to get creative. Duncan reached out to Proximity Learning, an online classroom program.  “It’s just the age we live in,” Duncan said. “It’s very accustomed to computers. To technology.” During that school year, with the help of Proximity Learning, Duncan saw a 100-percent passing rate for Refugio High School’s Spanish classes.

https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/local/online-teachers-help-students-staff-at-refugio-high-school/503-600994772