Educational Technology

May 31, 2019

Analysis: Sebastian Thrun, Creates the University of Silicon Valley and the Fourth Degree

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:36 am

Mikel Amigot, IBL

Sebastian Thurn, Founder, and CEO at Udacity, is not shy when he claims, in a recent post, that his company will become the “University of Silicon Valley”. “Only 4% of students ever complete a MOOC. At present, our Nanodegree programs have a 34% graduation rate, thanks to the tireless efforts of the hard-charging Udacity team. When paired with our new personalized mentorship programs in past experiments, cohorts have commonly exceeded 60% graduation rates.” (…) “For our Nanodegree Plus pilot, an independent accounting firm verified that among our career-seeking and job-ready graduates, 84% found a new, better job within six months of graduation. And for that 84 %, the salaries went up, by an average of $24,000 per person. So much that on average, those students recouped their entire Udacity tuition fee in just three weeks.” (…) “No other online learning platform provides this level of end-to-end personalized mentorship.”

https://iblnews.org/2019/05/20/view-sebastian-thrun-creator-of-the-university-of-silicon-valley-and-the-fourth-degree/

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Students need a boost in wealth more than a boost in SAT scores

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

Andre Perry, Hechinger Report

The College Board creates an adversity score to acknowledge that wealth and race matter. Scores on the widely used SAT and ACT predict adequately only for grades earned in a student’s first year in college. And those scores are worse predictors for black and brown students. On the other hand, scores from the SAT and ACT tests are good proxies for the amount of wealth students are born into. Income tracks with test performance. The more money a student’s parents make, the more likely it is he or she will have a higher score, according to College Board data. The less money you make, the more likely you’ll be denied a chance at a selective institution. The divide between the rich and the poor has widened slightly. The score gap between those who make less than $80,000 and those who make more than that amount has increased from 2012 to 2016, according to a 2016 ACT report.

https://hechingerreport.org/students-need-a-boost-in-wealth-more-than-a-boost-in-sat-scores/

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AI Ethics and Data Governance: A Virtuous Cycle

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

Alex Woodie, Datanami

As companies spend billions researching and developing AI, they’re facing meaningful questions related to ethics. What does responsible AI look like? How do you control bias? It’s all very new and cutting edge, and it has serious implications for society. But before companies can even begin to address the ethics questions, they should focus on more fundamental matters of data governance.

https://www.datanami.com/2019/05/17/ai-ethics-and-data-governance-a-virtuous-cycle/

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May 30, 2019

How we might protect ourselves from malicious AI

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:41 am

Karen Hao, MIT Technology Review
We’ve touched previously on the concept of adversarial examples—the class of tiny changes that, when fed into a deep-learning model, cause it to misbehave. In recent years, as deep-learning systems have grown more and more pervasive in our lives, researchers have demonstrated how adversarial examples can affect everything from simple image classifiers to cancer diagnosis systems, leading to consequences that range from the benign to the life-threatening.  A new paper from MIT now points toward a possible path to overcoming this challenge. It could allow us to create far more robust deep-learning models that would be much harder to manipulate in malicious ways.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613555/how-we-might-protect-ourselves-from-malicious-ai/

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How Tech Companies Are Shaping the Rules Governing AI

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:39 am

Tom Simonite, Wired
The brouhaha over Europe’s guidelines for AI was an early skirmish in a debate that’s likely to recur around the globe, as policymakers consider installing guardrails on artificial intelligence to prevent harm to society. Tech companies are taking a close interest—and in some cases appear to be trying to steer construction of any new guardrails to their own benefit. Harvard law professor Yochai Benkler warned in the journal Nature this month that “industry has mobilized to shape the science, morality and laws of artificial intelligence.”

https://www.wired.com/story/how-tech-companies-shaping-rules-governing-ai/

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Apprenticeships are critical to America’s future as a knowledge economy

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

Jennifer Taylor, The Next Web

An exciting trend is emerging in the US workforce: over half a million workers are using apprenticeships to acquire valuable experience and a pathway to a steady job. They’re earning money while learning critical, in-demand skills. In spite of this progress, a stigma remains. For generations, common wisdom has held that a college degree is the best path to professional success; apprenticeships have been considered a second-class option for less-desirable, blue-collar jobs. As teachers, workers, employers, and students, we must change that narrative and embrace apprenticeships as the path to the new-collar – or specialized skills-based – jobs of the future, such as software engineers, data analysts, and registered nurses, to name a few.

https://thenextweb.com/podium/2019/05/19/apprenticeships-are-critical-to-americas-future-as-a-knowledge-economy/

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May 29, 2019

5 principles for thinking like a futurist

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

BY MARINA GORBIS, eCampus News

In these five decades we learned a lot, and we still believe—even more strongly than before—that systematic thinking about the future is absolutely essential for helping people make better choices today, whether you are an individual or a member of an educational institution or government organization. We view short-termism as the greatest threat not only to organizations but to society as a whole. In my 20 years at the Institute, I’ve developed five core principles for futures thinking:

Forget about predictions.
Focus on signals.
Look back to see forward.
Uncover patterns.
Create a community.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2019/05/16/5-principles-for-thinking-like-a-futurist/

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The 5 things a perplexed executive needs to know about AI

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:34 am

BY EDMUND L. ANDREWS, Fast Company
So you’re the CEO of a clothing retailer, a rental car agency, or a payroll processing company, and you hear that artificial intelligence is changing the world. What are you supposed to do?  The short answer, says Paul Oyer at Stanford Graduate School of Business, is to start learning fast. “Artificial intelligence will affect every industry, whether it’s clothing or shipping,” says Oyer, a professor of economics and the co-director of a new multidisciplinary course on AI for senior executives. “We need to find a complementary relationship between those who deal with the technology of AI and the managers who understand what drives their companies. Managers don’t need to learn all the technical details, but they do need to understand the implications for their business.”

https://www.fastcompany.com/90349654/the-5-things-a-perplexed-executive-needs-to-know-about-ai

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Working To Learn And Learning To Work, Together And Better

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

Clarissa Windham-Bradstock, Forbes

When looking to reskill or upskill workers, most companies turn first to formal training options via online courses or outsourced experts. But don’t overlook the valuable resources right under your roof. The folks behind the educational technology company Degreed found that 55% of workers go to their peers first when they want to learn a new skill. In their book The Expertise Economy, executives at Degreed espouse the “learning loop” as an effective peer-to-peer learning tool. The four stages — gain knowledge, apply the knowledge, get feedback and reflect on what you have learned — can all happen in a peer-to-peer setting.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2019/05/17/working-to-learn-and-learning-to-work-together-and-better/#75a52a3964a7

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May 28, 2019

Upwork releases latest Skills Index, ranking the 20 fastest-growing skills for freelancers

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

Upwork

75% of the top 20 fastest-growing skills were new to the index in Q1 2019.  The 20 fastest-growing freelance skills in Q1 2019 experienced more than 170 percent year-over-year growth, while demand for the top 10 skills grew more than 370 percent year-over-year.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190514005803/en/

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A look inside online learning settings in high schools

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

Carolyn J. Heinrich, Jennifer Darling-Aduana, Annalee Good, and Huiping (Emily) Cheng; Brookings

Research evidence stresses the importance of continued live interactions between teachers and students as online instruction is adopted, as well as more collaborative (rather than independent) interactions with online instructional programs. Yet enormous differences in schools’ commitment and capacity to implement and support high-quality online instruction raise the specter of differential access by student race and socioeconomic status to quality learning experiences. Indeed, we find reasons for concern about the implications of online learning for equality in educational outcomes.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2019/05/14/a-look-inside-online-learning-settings-in-high-schools/

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Illinois Will End Residential M.B.A. in Favor of Online Program

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:31 am

By Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign announced Friday that it plans to shut down its residential M.B.A. programs — full-time and part-time — to focus on its online M.B.A., which it calls the iMBA. The move still requires formal university approval, but the announcement is a sign of the shift going on in business education — in many cases away from traditional M.B.A. programs. Several universities have scaled back or eliminated such programs and focused instead on online or one-year master’s programs in business-related fields. Applications to the iMBA program have tripled from 1,100 when the program started in 2016. The total cost for the iMBA is $22,000.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/05/25/illinois-will-end-residential-mba-favor-online-program

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May 27, 2019

Why IT and the Library Should Work Together

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:42 am

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology
Higher education IT departments and libraries have long had overlapping responsibilities, yet for the most part they have remained separate entities. Could it be time for a new kind of alliance? Lisa Forrest had been on the job just a week or two as the new library director at Davidson College (NC) when John McCann, manager of the User Success Team, came and asked if Forrest would be interested in piloting something new: placing student technology consultants from the Technology & Innovation (T&I) division alongside her own student library assistants. The idea was to create a blended service model in the library. Forrest, a self-professed pilot-project junkie, responded, “I don’t see why not.” The result: “It’s added a really great energy to the library space and has made it a lot easier for our students and faculty to find research and technology help.”

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2019/05/09/why-it-and-the-library-should-work-together.aspx

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9 Amazing Uses for VR and AR in College Classrooms

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology
Immersive technologies can help students understand theoretical concepts more easily, prepare them for careers through simulated experiences and keep them engaged in learning. Immersive reality is bumping us into the deep end, virtually speaking. Colleges and universities large and small are launching new labs and centers dedicated to research on the topics of augmented reality, virtual reality and 360-degree imaging. The first academic conference held completely in virtual reality recently returned for its second year, hosted on Twitch by Lethbridge College in Alberta and Centennial College in Toronto.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2019/05/15/9-amazing-uses-for-vr-and-ar-in-college-classrooms.aspx

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Everyone Wants to Measure the Value of College. Now the Gates Foundation Wants a Say.

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:28 am

By Katherine Mangan, Chronicle of Higher Ed

The Commission on the Value of Postsecondary Education is the latest national effort to measure and seek to convey clearly just how much someone gains — economically, anyway — from a college credential. The goal is to provide useful, understandable information to help colleges “take a critical look at how and how well they are contributing to economic opportunity for today’s students; aid policy makers in gauging what the public gets for its investment in higher education; and equip students and families as they consider where and what to study,” the foundation said in announcing the commission. Gates officials say the result will be more comprehensive than existing measures, like the College Scorecard, a program introduced by the Obama administration as a way to help increase transparency in higher education.

https://www.chronicle.com/article/Everyone-Wants-to-Measure-the/246301

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May 26, 2019

5 common hang-ups in higher ed public-private partnerships

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:39 am

Chad Hardaway, Education Dive

Relationships with corporations to deliver services or assets require strong leadership and a clear plan to overcome a “fundamental cultural mismatch.” Over the last 15 years, I have worked in academia to build lasting partnerships between universities and private businesses. Along the way, I’ve seen examples of what to do and what not to do. A successful partnership brings critical investments into a university, creates opportunities for hands-on student training and builds a pipeline of future talent for the company partner. But it’s not all easy wins. Successful partnerships require strong relationships and strategic coordination. If you’re an academic aiming to bring a partnership to your own institution, I commend you for stepping up to the plate. Here are the five common missteps and how to avoid them.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/5-common-hang-ups-in-higher-ed-public-private-partnerships/554764/

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Big Data Science: Establishing Data-Driven Institutions through Advanced Analytics

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

by Cecilia Earls, EDUCAUSE Review

Big data science is taking purchase in higher education, and our diverse institutions provide an exceptionally fertile ground for impactful data-driven decision-making. We are not corporations; we are small, vibrant communities that make decisions every day regarding critical issues such as safety, facilities management, risk management, housing, recruitment, admissions, research support, academic freedom, instruction, campus life, alumni relations, athletics, career services, support services, and healthcare. To realize this potential, however, requires that the entire community of decision makers, data and subject experts, technological experts, and analysts work collaboratively and communicate effectively.

https://er.educause.edu/articles/2019/5/big-data-science-establishing-data-driven-institutions-through-advanced-analytics

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Space and Science Center Delivers Weekly Science Ed to Middle Schoolers

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal
An Oakland-based STEM center has been teaming up with a local middle school to provide on-site science education for 102 students. California’s Chabot Space & Science Center works with students from Hillcrest Middle School one day a week in a program called “Chabot Satellite Academy.” Every Tuesday, the entire middle school student body heads to Chabot, where the sixth, seventh and eighth graders work with their own teachers and Chabot staff to learn about science topics using the center’s own exhibits and expertise. The 20 visits they’ll have made by the end of the year integrate Next Generation Science Standards, with an emphasis on the science and engineering practices

https://thejournal.com/articles/2019/05/14/space-and-science-center-delivers-weekly-science-ed-to-middle-schoolers.aspx

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May 25, 2019

How one middle school is closing the technology achievement gap

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

BY ELLEN ULLMAN, eSchool News
A Q&A with Mashea Ashton, the founder/CEO of a D.C. charter middle school that’s bridging the racial achievement gap in tech.  There’s a widening technology achievement gap for minorities, despite blacks and Hispanics having more interest in learning computer science. So why is the field so dominated by whites? School News recently spoke with Mashea Ashton, who founded Washington, D.C.’s first computer science middle school last year in a struggling, historically black community to help bridge the technology achievement gap. Today, 99 percent of the students at Digital Pioneers Academy (DPA) are on a free lunch program. Ashton, who previously worked with Senator Cory Booker to create more educational options in Newark, N.J., talked about how innovative educators can help solve the racial achievement gap.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2019/05/10/closing-technology-achievement-gap/

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10 ways to use technology to promote reading

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

BY DOUG JOHNSON, eSchool News

I am updating my workshop on how technology can be used to promote reading—the only foolproof means of both improving reading proficiency and developing a lifelong love of reading in every student. This list started with “The last of the book-only librarians” column from back in 2011.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2019/05/14/10-ways-to-use-technology-to-promote-reading/

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Doing It Yourself: The ‘Internal OPM’ Model

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:28 am

By Mark Lieberman, Inside Higher Ed

As concerns about outsourcing ring out across online education, several institutions have carved out niches by developing in-house capacity that resembles OPM functions. Each one looks slightly different, but the common threads include a centralized office that partners with member schools in a single institution or campuses in a system; in-house development of key services including marketing, recruitment, student support and instructional design; and minimal, if any, outsourcing to for-profit companies.  Growing an online program portfolio requires a fair amount of trial and error and likely some missteps along the way. “Inside Digital Learning” talked to leaders of a handful of internally managed online initiatives to get a sense of how they work and what they can accomplish.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/05/15/institutions-find-success-developing-online-programs-house

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