Educational Technology

Future of Jobs Survey 2018, World Economic Forum

Will we humans lose more jobs than we gain when machines take over the world of work, or will it be just the opposite? The experts are still trying to figure that out. In December 2017, a report from management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, “Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: Workforce Transitions in a Time of Automation,” predicted that between “almost zero” and a third of work activities could be displaced by 2030, with wide variation among countries. (The more advanced the economy, the more likely the impact of automation.) While workforce transitions could hit between 75 million and 375 million people, overall, McKinsey found, more occupations will change than will be lost in a machine-driven world.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/10/03/the-future-of-work-when-machines-take-it-over.aspx

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology
When one Texas community college system launched its seventh campus, the ceremony was digital: At the appropriate moment, event attendees armed with tablets were invited to swipe their fingers across their screens to “cut” the virtual ribbon on Houston Community College’s new online college. HCC Online launched with 31 fully online programs, including 15 associate degree-level and 16 certificate offerings in both academic and workforce areas. It expects to expand the total to 70 by fall 2019.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/10/04/houston-cc-opens-online-campus.aspx

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

It’s important to involve parents in their child’s learning process. One way the Temple Independent School District has reached out to parents is through the use of a YouTube Channel. The school district already had a YouTube channel with lessons targeting students across grade levels. To this, they added a “Just for Parents” section. One reason to reach out to parents via YouTube is to help them help their child. While students may have trouble with classwork and homework, parents might too. Many parents want to help their kids succeed but it’s been a long time since they covered the relevant materials and teaching methods have changed.

Reaching Parents with YouTube

by Blockgeeks

BUMO is a next-generation commercial-grade public Blockchain for ubiquitous and trusted value transfer, which is aimed to build a decentralized application ecosystem featured with extensive digital trust, free-flowing value and public-sharing apps.

https://blockgeeks.com/guides/introducing-bumo-blockchain/

By Sam Combest, Cardinal News

Online classes at U of L have been offered for quite some time and many courses continue to be added to the online curriculum. While the coursework is the same for a class that is offered both online and in person, the cost is not. The cost difference between in-person and online classes may not seem like much at first, but if a student takes more than one course, that difference accumulates.

Online instructors educate students wherever they are

By Hallie Busta , Education Dive
Ohio State University is launching an interdisciplinary gaming studies and esports program that will span five of its colleges — Engineering, Education and Human Ecology, Arts and Sciences, Business and Medicine — and include at least one undergraduate degree, according to the university. The program doesn’t yet have a launch date, though it is expected to be at least a year out. Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center already researches mental and physical behavior of elite esports athletes.  The initiative will also include an elective class in esports content production, a gaming speaker series and an online certification. The certification and online classes will be developed after the degree program is in place, a university representative told Education Dive in an email. A planned 4,000-square-foot, 80-plus-seat esports arena will serve the program and be home to a new university esports team.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/ohio-state-plans-esports-program-across-5-colleges/538928/

BY MATT PRUSIECKI, eSchool News

A superintendent shares three tools his district uses to prepare their students for life.  As we continue to embark through the Information Age, it’s crucial for educators to implement new strategies that will meet the needs of both students and industries. Thanks to recent technology and innovative solutions, students are gaining more and more access to education outside the classroom, thereby expanding their learning and career opportunities in a variety of ways. Technology and innovation are a growing priority in school districts nationwide, and the following three tactical tools are ways educators today can use technology to transform their classrooms.

3 ways technology & innovation are transforming classrooms

Parmy Olson, Forbes

If you keep hearing about artificial intelligence but aren’t quite sure what it means or how it works, you’re not alone. There’s been much confusion among the general public about the term, not helped by dramatic news stories about how “AI” will destroy jobs, or companies that overstate their abilities to “use AI.” A lot of that confusion comes from the misuse of terms like AI and machine learning. So here’s a short text-and-video guide to explain them:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/10/03/a-two-minute-guide-to-artificial-intelligence/

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

With teens reportedly spending one-third of their days online—and younger kids not far behind—it’s imperative that parents and teachers ensure the safety of school-aged kids on the Internet. Of course, the Internet is a big place, and it’s populated by hackers, bullies, and those who would take advantage of children and teens. So how can we truly monitor kids and keep them safe? Start by following the Internet safety tips below!

Internet Safety Tips for School-Aged Kids

By Ammara Rounaq, Tech Radar
Aiming to encourage children to be confident online explorers while avoiding potential cybersecurity pitfalls, Google has launched “Abtal Al Internet” (Internet Heroes) initiative in Arabic, a free online platform full of learning resources and interactive activities on online safety for kids, parents and educators. This move seems in line with Google’s Be Internet Awesome initiative launched last year.

https://www.techradar.com/news/google-launches-abtal-al-internet-initiative-to-teach-children-online-safety-habits

Melissa Lizotte, the County
When Lillie Lavado thought of hosting a special monthly coding night for women called “Code Like A Mother,” she did not just like the sound of the phrase. She also liked the idea of women coming together to learn new skills that many might not have had the courage to try on their own.  Lavado is a web designer and developer who operates UX Web and Design out of her family-friendly co-working space, Hardscrabble Solutions, on Main Street in Presque Isle. Since opening the space in 2017 Lavado has created programs in which people of all ages can learn about the basic web tools needed to master computer coding and create their own website.

Women learn website development skills together during ‘ladies night out’

by Daniel B. Kline, Casper Tribune
Some companies make an effort to help employees grow in their careers. That might mean offering education opportunities, sending them to industry events, or offering in-house training. In most cases, however, some if not all of your career development is in your own hands. That means you need a concrete plan, and you should be willing to invest some real money in your long-term future. Taking a class is a way to invest in yourself.

https://trib.com/business/investment/personal-finance/ways-to-invest-in-your-own-career/article_746e1853-1dbd-5e7e-875c-5653855264a3.html

by Mark Satter, EdScoop

Data-driven instruction, learning technology in the classroom and the use of Google products all top the list of trends in educational technology this year, according to a new survey released by the game-based learning platform Kahoot. The 2018 EdTrends Report for Educators is the second annual edition of the survey put out by the edtech company, which claims more than 70 million monthly active users and says its learning games and quizzes are used by over 50 percent of U.S. K-12 students. The top trend identified in the survey was the proliferation of data-driven instruction and intervention.

https://edscoop.com/kahoot-top-trends-in-education-2018-google-data

by Patience Wait, EdScoop

Educators across the country are not satisfied with the information generally available to keep them informed about the usefulness of educational technology, according to a new survey conducted by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the Jefferson Education Exchange (JEX). The “Education Research Perspectives Survey” asked more than 1,100 tech-savvy teachers, district staff, school administrators and technology leaders from all 50 states where they get information about edtech and how satisfied they are with that information.

https://edscoop.com/educators-struggle-to-find-solid-research-on-edtech

by Oakland Educational Technology Leadership Team
The purpose of this page is to provide information about online learning legislation affecting K-12 education in Michigan and resources to support implementation of online learning. Michigan Online Learning Requirement The Michigan Department of Education defines online learning as “a structured learning activity that utilizes technology with intranet/internet-based tools and resources as the delivery method for instruction, research, assessment, and communication.” ​​Michigan Online Learning Requirement Guidelines and link below to Michigan Online Learning Requirement FAQ

https://www.oakland.k12.mi.us/educators/district-and-school-services/curriculum-and-assessment/educational-technology/k-12m-online-learning-in-michigan

by Joe McAllister, Ed Tech

While digital tools are woven into educational pedagogy nationwide, another component of learning may help educators give students advantages in a world not yet known to them. A 2017 Report by Dell Technologies estimates that 85 percent of the jobs that will exist in 2030 — fewer than 12 years from now — haven’t been invented yet. “The pace of change will be so rapid that people will learn ‘in the moment,’ using new technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality. The ability to gain new knowledge will be more valuable than the knowledge itself,” Dell Technologies said in a statement announcing the report. While rapidly advancing technologies should be introduced to schools, students’ social and emotional learning should also be nurtured. These soft skills will help them best navigate their new world and adapt as exciting new jobs are created.

https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2018/08/k-12-schools-should-teach-soft-skills-prepare-students-future-workforce

By Gabriel Lucas, EdSurge
The reason so many people struggle during a job search is deceptively simple: one party (you, the applicant) talks significantly about the past, while the other (your prospective employer) is focused more on the future. An applicant dwelling too much on past experiences and projects, even when asked about them, falls into an interviewer’s trap. Far better would be to remember the following mantra: The most inspiring job applicants talk from the past toward the future.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-09-28-building-a-bridge-to-your-next-ed-tech-job

by Eli Zimmerman, EdTech

Computer science has taken a priority slot for K–12 teachers, as experts forecast a majority of jobs will incorporate some kind of coding skills or computational thinking by as early as 2020. One way that schools are engaging students is by introducing coding activities in makerspaces, where students can use the creative culture to start establishing the building blocks of computational thinking.

https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2018/09/how-makerspaces-schools-help-students-learn-code-perfcon

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News
A survey reveals that younger STEM workers had greater STEM exposure in early elementary school.  More than half of today’s adult workers (62 percent) say they were never exposed to STEM-related studies and career possibilities in elementary school, according to a survey from littleBits and YouGov. The findings support other research indicating that early exposure to STEM courses helps students stick with these studies even as the material becomes more challenging in high school and college. U.S. workers with 1-2 years of STEM workforce experience say they had the highest exposure to STEM concepts in elementary school–46 percent of adults in this group experienced a science- or math-related track in school, and 53 percent of this group are working in a job that either entirely or heavily involves STEM.

Early STEM exposure is key for the future of the workforce

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

You may be familiar with the idea of student-centered learning. The core idea is simple: student engagement and student learning outcomes are superior if the focus of instruction is on the student rather than on the teacher. While all sorts of instructional methods and approaches can fit under the banner of student-centered learning, they all have one thing in common: they emphasize the needs of each individual student. Student-centered learning approaches have shown impressive results, most likely because they increase student engagement in the learning process. While the idea of student-centered learning has made strong inroads in the education community, there is one area to which it is not normally applied. That area is the design of the learning environment. Usually, that topic is the sole domain of the teacher. But is that approach really justified? After all, the physical environment of the classroom not only has a strong psychological impact on students, but their ability—or inability—to contribute to its design impacts how they perceive the classroom environment.

Have Your Students Help You Design the Learning Environment

Lisa Rice, Ohio University
Instructional design staff meet with a faculty member to review a sample figure on a large television screen.
Associate Educational Technologist Ross Tamburro (left) reviews a multimedia learning object with biomedical informatics instructor Kimerly Powell and Associate Instructional Designer Steven Nagel.
When Kimerly Powell, faculty in The Ohio State University’s College of Medicine (link is external), was tapped to design and lead an online course in biomedical informatics, she enlisted the help of Marjorie Kelley, a consultant with online teaching and course design experience. The two collaborated with staff from The Office of Distance Education and eLearning (ODEE), leveraging their own experience and the latest in online education standards. Together, they created an online course that engaged students in ways they’d never before envisioned.

https://odee.osu.edu/news/2018/09/25/better-together-creating-highly-engaging-online-class