Educational Technology

Daniel C. Vock, Education Dive

Public colleges began budget season expecting modest increases, but the pandemic could dash those hopes. But the onset of the coronavirus pandemic has upended almost all of those expectations. Colleges and universities have switched almost entirely to online teaching. Governors and mayors have shut down schools, restaurants, bars and other major contributors to their local economies. The stock market suffered some of its biggest single-day drops in a century. All of a sudden, states’ budget outlooks appear much bleaker.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/coronavirus-scrambles-higher-eds-state-funding-outlook/575055/

Susan Grajek, EDUCAUSE

More than three-fourths of colleges and universities responding to this QuickPoll have made commencement decisions.2 Of those, most are postponing the ceremony. Some institutions are planning a digital commencement instead of the traditional commencement, whereas others are canceling commencement completely. The other one-fourth are still deciding what to do.

https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2020/3/educause-covid-19-quickpoll-2020-commencement-plans

Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed

Scores of institutions announce faculty hiring freezes in response to the coronavirus.  “Institutional leaders are trying to do the prudent thing and trying to take control of some of the aspects of the situation that they’re able to control, and that includes things like job actions and hiring freezes,” said Kevin McClure, assistant professor of higher education at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. “It’s about managing the situation now to minimize potential financial impacts later.” In other words, McClure said, “Many of us would prefer to do hiring freezes now and postpone [capital] projects if it means we can avoid layoffs later.”

https://insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/01/scores-colleges-announce-faculty-hiring-freezes-response-coronavirus

Michael Kan, PC Mag

“The FBI has received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language,” the agency issued in a notice on Monday. The coronavirus pandemic has helped make the video conferencing service one of the most popular apps in the country. Unfortunately, that same popularity has also turned Zoom into a target for racists and pranksters, which can be especially problematic for educators reliant on the service.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/fbi-watch-out-for-zoom-bombings-on-online-video-meeting-apps

Abbie Petersen, 1011Now

And as classes start back up again online the Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing says it’s important deaf students don’t fall behind. “We want to make sure that the students all get the right opportunity because if they don’t have the support and they fall behind, it’s going to take a lot longer to get everyone caught up next year or the year after that,” said executive director, John Wyvill.

https://www.1011now.com/content/news/E-learning-challenges-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-students-569208751.html

Marie A. Revak, Faculty Focus

Once an online course begins, students can quickly become overwhelmed to the point where they are treading water in an attempt to stay afloat. It is only when the first grades are posted that the tide goes out and students realize they are in danger. This is where instructors can easily identify the students who are not succeeding. What can instructors do to support these struggling students?

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/identifying-and-supporting-struggling-students-in-online-courses/

LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News
A survey of university professors released in mid-2019 reveals higher-ed tech adoption is one of their biggest sources of stress–a majority say they’ve experienced anxiety and both personal and professional tension. The survey points to the alarming notion that college and university faculty aren’t ready for technologically savvy students who have never known a world without the internet or smartphones. Overall, less than one-third of surveyed professors say they are prepared to equip Generation Z students for the modern-day workplace.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2020/03/26/higher-ed-tech-adoption/

Keith Fowlkes, Campus Technology

IT operations might be the farthest thing from your mind during the coronavirus pandemic, but it’s more important than ever to focus on equipment, systems, security and IT support. As you know, this is not business as usual. The developing risks and challenges are plentiful during these unsettling times. In thinking about how a shift from an on-site to remote workforce is going to affect many of our institutions, I would like to offer my insights on some of the challenges you may be dealing with in your own operations. If you are not facing these issues today, I believe you will be facing them soon.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2020/03/26/massive-operational-and-erp-risks-in-the-covid-19-crisis.aspx

Erin Richards, USA TODAY

As districts scramble to deliver distance learning for weeks of coronavirus school shutdowns, some are turning to television as a way to reach students who lack broadband internet or computers. While imperfect and less personalized than Zoom chats or online lessons, district-vetted television programming attempts to bridge the digital divide. Internet access or no, just about all households have a TV and a way to access local channels.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/03/28/pbs-online-learning-lausd-coronavirus-school-closures-tv-fox/2925962001/

Daniel C. Vock, Education Dive

Public colleges began budget season expecting modest increases, but the pandemic could dash those hopes. Heading into this year’s legislative sessions, higher education experts and advocates expected lawmakers would continue to add modest increases to public college and university budgets. A few states, they thought, might even pass ambitious laws to make tuition free for more students. But the onset of the coronavirus pandemic has upended almost all of those expectations. Colleges and universities have switched almost entirely to online teaching. Governors and mayors have shut down schools, restaurants, bars and other major contributors to their local economies. The stock market suffered some of its biggest single-day drops in a century.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/coronavirus-scrambles-higher-eds-state-funding-outlook/575055/

Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed

College and university presidents are deeply worried that the coronavirus crisis could wreak havoc on their institutions’ finances in the near term and, especially, beyond. But right now, they say they’re most concerned about the toll the crisis could take on the mental health of their students and employees. Those are among the key findings of a survey of 172 campus leaders Inside Higher Ed conducted with Hanover Research last week (March 17-19), as the sweeping scope of the COVID-19 situation began to come into clearer focus in the United States.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/college-presidents-fear-financial-and-human-toll-coronavirus-their-campuses?mc_cid=e5f5e9f2b6&mc_eid=879d6835e3

Sonal Khetarpal, Business Today

To access factual knowledge from the scientists and academics, consumers turn to online learning platform Coursera to understand all about Covid-19 from the universities themselves.  For example, Imperial College London has launched a course to ensure a common person understands the global pandemic and can deal with it. Since its launch on February 18, the course “Science Matters: Let’s Talk About COVID-19” has become the most sought after course. Globally, in a month’s time this free course has got 64,000-plus enrolments.  As people turn attention to their well-being, the other course gaining interest is “The Science of Well-Being” offered by Yale University.

https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/trends/covid-19-courses-most-sought-after-coursera/story/399351.html

Study International
With technology becoming so advanced – and a pandemic underway shuttering campuses everywhere – online learning is standing out as the better option in many important ways. Online learning used to primarily consist of a student going through reading modules, submitting assignments through e-mail, and/or watching pre-recorded lectures. Interactive features today allow for the social element that face-to-face learning offers, such as through live video conference classes or virtual Q&A sessions.

https://www.studyinternational.com/news/online-learning-better-face-learning/

Susan Caminiti, CNBC

Online learning platform Udacity is offering free tech training to workers laid off as a result of the pandemic. The hope is that while individuals wait to go back to work, they can get training in fields — such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing and data analysis — that are driving so much of today’s digital transformation.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/26/udacity-gives-free-tech-training-to-laid-off-workers-from-coronavirus.html

Internet Archive

To address our unprecedented global and immediate need for access to reading and research materials, as of today, March 24, 2020, the Internet Archive will suspend waitlists for the 1.4 million (and growing) books in our lending library by creating a National Emergency Library to serve the nation’s displaced learners. This suspension will run through June 30, 2020, or the end of the US national emergency, whichever is later.

http://blog.archive.org/2020/03/24/announcing-a-national-emergency-library-to-provide-digitized-books-to-students-and-the-public/

Alex Hicks, Marketwatch

When in-person education resumes, online learning tools and methods will be far more entrenched, becoming an essential and highly valued part of schools’ offerings rather than a nice-to-have capability. As a glimmer of hope, educators and learners are likely to find that the online experience is vastly superior to what it was just a couple of years ago thanks to advances in the provider ecosystem, cloud-based technology and improvements in broadband speed.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/theres-no-returning-to-regular-schooling-as-online-learning-goes-mainstream-2020-03-25

Erin Jones, Ray Schroeder, Ceceilia Parnther; Unicheck

Recently, the coronavirus pandemic caused all educational institutions across the globe to shift toward digital learning. This situation made the Unicheck team think about how we can help educators handle these tough times. So, we’ve contacted a few of the education industry’s thought leaders to discuss the challenges and ways to make this time effective and rewarding.

https://unicheck.com/blog/how-to-navigate-elearning-in-uncertain-times

Gina Neff, Google Blog

While there’s plenty of information out there on artificial intelligence, it’s not always easy to distinguish fact from fiction or find explanations that are easy to understand. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Google to create The A to Z of AI. It’s a series of simple, bite-sized explainers to help anyone understand what AI is, how it works and how it’s changing the world around us. Here are a few things you might learn:

https://www.blog.google/technology/ai/five-things-a-to-z-ai/

Chandra Steele, PC Magazine
VPNs are a major piece of internet infrastructure holding together the work-from-home workforce right now and providing a way for people to get vital news in countries with censorship. VPNs encrypt web traffic, keeping data safe and protecting privacy. You may have a corporate VPN that you connect to for work, or you can elect to use one for yourself.  During the last two weeks of the COVID-19 crisis, VPN usage in the United States has gone up 124 percent. In that same period in Italy, it has gone up 160 percent, according to Atlas VPN.  In these countries where social distancing is a necessity, VPNS provide a way to make online behavior safer, whether you’re working remotely or streaming hours of video.

Susan Grajek and D. Christopher Brooks, EDUCAUSE
The focus of higher education’s COVID-19 adaptations is on remote learning and working. Advising systems, degree progress tracking, and other technologies to support student success will be equally critical to help students complete courses and attain credentials.  A wide range of new applications and technologies to support student success are now available and may prove invaluable to help students adapt to fully remote learning. EDUCAUSE data from 2019 reveal that many, but far from all, institutions, students, faculty, and staff are ready and able to use these technologies during the pandemic.¹

https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2020/3/how-technology-can-support-student-success-during-covid19

Ana Borray, EDUCAUSE

Ana Borray is Senior Director for Professional Learning and Development at EDUCAUSE. She is the editor of the Professional Development Commons blog for EDUCAUSE Review. I have been working remotely for several years, and I must say, it took me a while to get in the groove and start to like it. So I thought I would share some of the things I learned and some of the things I did that have helped me be successful as a remote worker.

https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2020/3/transitioning-to-remote-work