Educational Technology

by The News Tribune

The Internet keeps on disrupting higher education – sometimes even in a good way. The latest example is the Open Course Library just completed by Washington’s two-year colleges. The library (opencourselibrary.org) is an online trove of free courses and free or low-cost textbooks developed by local faculty members. The materials cover 81 of Washington’s most popular lower-division classes – principles of accounting, microbiology, symbolic logic, English composition, etc. The whole enterprise, begun in 2011, bypasses the traditional trappings of college. No big, expensive textbooks, no snoozing in the back of lecture halls, no classrooms.

http://blog.thenewstribune.com/opinion/2013/05/06/a-web-raid-on-traditional-higher-ed/

by Christina Farr, VB/Entrepreneur

Coursera, the online course provider, is one of the fastest-growing startups that is transforming how we learn. Today, the company announced a partnership with a fellow ed-tech startup, Chegg, and is striking deals with the largest publishers. The goal is to make it easier for students of online courses to access relevant academic content on the web. Large publishing companies, including Cengage Learning, Macmillan Higher Education, Oxford University Press, SAGE, and Wiley will experiment with offering Coursera students versions of their digital textbooks, delivered via Chegg’s e-Reader. Students won’t be charged to access these materials while they’re enrolled on a course.

http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/08/coursera-partners-with-publishers-to-bring-digital-textbooks-to-the-masses/

By Patrick Tucker, Technology Review

As digital data expands, anonymity may become a mathematical impossibility. Data science and personal information are converging to shape the Internet’s most powerful and surprising consumer products. In 1995, the European Union introduced privacy legislation that defined “personal data” as any information that could identify a person, directly or indirectly. The legislators were apparently thinking of things like documents with an identification number, and they wanted them protected just as if they carried your name.  Today, that definition encompasses far more information than those European legislators could ever have imagined—easily more than all the bits and bytes in the entire world when they wrote their law 18 years ago.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514351/has-big-data-made-anonymity-impossible/

by SRI

Speaking at the Ed Tech Industry Summit in San Francisco, Jeremy Roschelle, Ph.D., co-director of SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning, highlighted how education researchers can best leverage the vast amount of data about online learning that is now available for their studies. In a shift from traditional research methods, Dr. Roschelle described how both researchers and developers can use large amounts of detailed data to evaluate student learning outcomes and enhance educational products. The presentation at the annual gathering for educational technology industry executives followed a well-attended workshop last year, which gathered extensive input from leaders on their needs for research, their frustrations with the slowness of traditional research methods, and their ideas on how to use newly available online learning data to improve products and students’ outcomes. The presentation highlighted the new synergies possible among learning scientists and the educational technology industry, in which learning scientists can play a key role in harvesting data for innovation.

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130506-904001.html

By Don Clark, Wall Street Journal

Computer-based educational systems have long helped impart information to students and assess their understanding of it. The next step, one company in the field says, is using their behavior to make predictions. That’s the aim of technology being announced Tuesday by Desire2Learn, a Canadian company that specializes in cloud-based based learning systems it markets to colleges, schools and companies. Desire2Learn, launched in 1999, competes with companies like Blackboard and Instructure. It claims that 10 million learners at a range of institutions have made use of its technology, including some at big U.S. university systems.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/05/07/online-learning-system-aims-at-predicting-success-or-failure/

By SARA K. SATULLO, The Express-Times

Mansour Farhat’s accounting students at Northampton Community College won’t find him standing up and lecturing for the entire class. In fact, in some sections of Farhat’s classes students will rarely sit through a 50-minute lecture on campus. Farhat is one of many Lehigh Valley higher educators testing the concept of a flipped classroom that inverts the traditional college teaching model of in-class lectures and homework outside of class. Farhat’s students watch lectures online before class and read the textbook. They fill out practice quizzes and post discussion questions on the online class forum. The quizzes give Farhat a glimpse of the concepts that students understand and what they’re struggling with, so he can hone in on problem areas and avoid repetition in class. If a question comes up often Farhat creates a video on the concept and posts it online.

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130505/NEWS90/305050330/-1/NEWS

by Sci-Tech Today

Online learning hub Coursera is now offering teacher development courses via the web. A new range of partners includes education schools and, in a first, non-degree granting institutions such as the American Museum of Natural History that help train teachers. The classes could prove to be more flexible for busy teachers seeking advancement. A leading platform for the popular “massive open online courses” offered by elite universities is moving into a new realm: the expansive field of continuing education for teachers. Coursera, the California-based for-profit platform for MOOCs from 62 leading universities such as Stanford, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania, planned to announce Wednesday a new range of partners that include education schools and, in a first, non-degree granting institutions such as the American Museum of Natural History that help train teachers. The announcement would give teachers pursuing their continuing education requirements, or courses that could give them a salary boost, a new set of options to learn from master professors at leading education schools such as Vanderbilt and the University of Virginia, along with a handful of museums and other institutions.

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/Coursera-Offers-New-MOOC-Options/story.xhtml?story_id=011001CEN1KV&full_skip=1

by Tara Becker, Quad Cities Times

Rhavon Cox-Bey doesn’t consider cyber-learning as home school. Rather, it’s school at home. Last year, the Davenport woman enrolled her children De-Andria, 18, Jhavon, 15, Anaiaha, 10, and niece Alesia, 17, in the newly launched Iowa Connections Academy, a tuition-free online public school for students K-12. Although the program is not for everybody, Cox-Bey said she likes the flexibility the school has to offer and has seen major improvements in her children’s academic progress and in their interest in learning. “It just gives us the freedom and also helps them stay on track with their homework and their assignments and what they’re needing help in,” she said.

http://qctimes.com/news/local/education/online-k–learning-on-the-rise-in-iowa/article_01b7e810-4a1e-514a-8f84-a5102f52a6f3.html?comment_form=true

By David Talbot, Technology Review

Early next year, an emerging wireless technology known as LTE Broadcast will essentially make it possible for carriers to put a TV-like broadcast stream within LTE cellular signals. Putting data in broadcast mode reduces congestion but makes the most sense in situations where everyone is watching the same newscast, sports match, or other special piece of content at the same time. In such situations, using LTE Broadcast mode, a carriers’ transmitter needs to just send a signal out over one channel rather than separate ones for each mobile device. That’s how the traditional TV broadcast works: it doesn’t matter if 100 or a million people are watching, because the content is out there for the taking.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/513311/broadcast-video-will-soon-be-packed-into-smartphone-signals/

By Aaron, educarelab

A growing number of universities are now offering online courses which have come as a boon for working professionals looking to continue their education. There is a lot of flexibility in online courses, and they are accessible to anyone with an internet connection. However, since the setup is different than a traditional classroom, students of online courses need to strategize their learning process in a different way than traditional courses. Since the classes are all online, one of the most common problems of online learning is that students tend to procrastinate in the absence of supervision. Only a self-motivated student can successfully complete an online course.

http://www.educarelab.com/2013/05/05/what-are-some-effective-study-strategies-for-students-of-online-courses/#.UYehIKLP2nI

By Dale Singer, Beacon staff

Governor Jay Nixon is pushing a new, private nonprofit university, a potential competitor to more established public and private schools in the state, that wants to persuade tens of thousands of Missourians that they should complete the college career they left behind years ago. It’s Western Governors University, formed back in 1995 by a group of governors in Western states – not including Missouri – to lure would-be students. For a flat-fee tuition of $6,000 a year, students can take as many courses as they think they can handle.

https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/30678/western_governors_university?coverpage=3199

by Inside Higher Ed

The board of the National Education Association, which represents college faculty members in addition to elementary and secondary school teachers, on Friday approved a new statement on digital learning that is likely to be adopted as official policy for the union by its Representative Assembly in July. The policy, which applies to both K-12 and higher education: Endorses “hybrid” teaching — involving both technology and teachers — as the best approach. “Optimal learning environments should neither be totally technology free, nor should they be totally online and devoid of educator interaction,” the statement says. Calls for teachers to be centrally involved in decisions about how to use technology in classrooms.

http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/05/06/nea-prepares-new-statement-digital-learning

By Susan Galer, Business 2 Community

The business world is ripe for an e-learning explosion as the number of qualified experts can’t keep pace with innovations like mobile, cloud, and Big-Data. Arming employees with the latest skills and knowledge so they can function with excellence is a strategic imperative for every business regardless of size, location, and industry. Institutions of higher education are corralling more and more students in online study sessions (officially known as Massive Open Online Courses—MOOCs). Now the business world is finally entering the fray. This past winter, I took the plunge by attending an eight-week social media course offered by the International Association of Business Communications (IABC). Here are the highs and lows based on my experience.

http://www.business2community.com/business-innovation/can-online-education-help-business-innovate-faster-0484286

by ALVA NOË, National Public Radio

Colleges and universities are communities with their own local cultures, values and ways of doing things. In the face of budgetary pressure, how will these communities withstand the temptation to give up the hard work of making knowledge and, instead, just subscribe to courses being produced and packaged elsewhere? One might object that MOOCs are no different from textbooks. What is a textbook, really, but a programmed course template, a whole course in a box? Have popular textbooks destroyed local learning communities and entrenched established hierarchies? No. This is an important point and it brings out how complicated the issues are. So often with new technology we simply reenact old battles. But maybe the comparison with textbooks breaks down. Textbooks are limited in ambition. They don’t replace the whole curriculum; they give it a grounding. Good teachers use textbooks. Will they come to use MOOCs the same way?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2013/05/03/180824705/is-massively-open-online-education-a-threat-or-a-blessing

by Wagdy Sawahel, Univesrity World News

The African Virtual University (AVU) and the International Council for Open and Distance Education, or ICDE – a global body for the open and distance education community – have launched an e-learning partnership aimed at providing cost-effective and efficient tools to promote access to higher education in Africa. The initiative was announced on 23 April, according to an ICDE press release. “The partnership between the AVU and the ICDE will help in promoting e-learning, online learning and mobile learning as an ideal tool for expanding university access in Africa, as in other parts of the world,” Gard Titlestad, secretary general of the Norway-based ICDE, told University World News.

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130503125440116

By Jason Gallaher, CSUN SUN

CSUN is in the beginning stages of figuring out how a proposed interstate reciprocity system for online courses could affect online education at the university. The Commission on the Regulation of Postsecondary Distance Education released a report in April proposing a new system to authorize institutions to teach online courses to out-of-state students. Currently, higher education institutions have to be authorized by the states in which out-of-state students who take online courses reside. “Providers of distance education now have to meet 50 different state policies,” said Terri Taylor, a policy and legal advisor who worked with the commission on creating the interstate reciprocity system. “This proposal would create baseline requirements that are the same for all states participating in this.” Under the agreement, every institution would be authorized to teach students based on standards created and monitored by that institution’s home state.

http://sundial.csun.edu/2013/05/campus-figuring-out-ways-to-offer-online-classes-out-of-state/

by Larry Gordon, LA Times

While Jennifer Clay was at home taking an online exam for her business law class, a proctor a few hundred miles away was watching her every move. Using a webcam mounted in Clay’s Los Angeles apartment, the monitor in Phoenix tracked how frequently her eyes shifted from the computer screen and listened for the telltale sounds of a possible helper in the room. Her computer browser was locked — remotely — to prevent Internet searches, and her typing pattern was analyzed to make sure she was who she said she was: Did she enter her password with the same rhythm as she had in the past? Or was she slowing down? In the battle against cheating, this is the cutting edge — and a key to bolstering integrity in the booming field of online education.

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2013/5/2/using_technology_to_fight_cheating_in.htm

by David F. Carr, Information Week

The panel on MOOCs included three CIOs: David Baird of Wesleyan University, Gayle Barton of Amherst College, and Patricia Schoknecht of Rollins College. Each school has a different approach to MOOCs. Wesleyan is active in Coursera, the for-profit MOOC that has so far accumulated the longest list of university partners. Amherst was recently in the news after faculty shot down a proposed partnership with edX. Rollins will offer a MOOC-style course, but do it independently.

http://www.informationweek.com/education/online-learning/moocs-what-university-cios-really-think/240154120

by Virtual College (UK)

In order to meet the demands of different learning styles, teachers should launch a protected online learning environment for students. This is according to Carolyn Lewis, managing director at Vocational Innovation, who wrote in an article for Training Zone that launching such a platform would also allow educators to integrate various resource types, such as video, audio and games, into one location. She claimed technology offers pupils the freedom of independent learning, but there are skills that need to be developed first to achieve this. “Most of all, technology can make learning more varied, interesting, fun and well-supported, but if learners haven’t experienced it how can they express it as their preferred learning style?” Ms Lewis added.

http://www.virtual-college.co.uk/news/Technology-helps-support-all-learning-styles-newsitems-801579179.aspx

by DEBBIE CAFAZZO, News Tribune

Students at many Washington community and technical colleges will have more access to low-cost or free textbooks and class materials following completion of a project known as the Open Course Library. Students and teachers at two-year schools in the Tacoma area are leading the way. Launched in 2011, the OCL project is a collection of online materials – everything from course activities to readings and assessments – developed by teams of educators from the state’s two-year colleges. The courses include digital textbooks that are either free or cost no more than $30, offering the potential for big savings for students. “Students are clearly the winners,” said Marty Brown, executive director of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/05/01/2579682/online-textbook-project-finished.html

By Krysten Cooper, Prospectus News

Online learning offers many advantages to students, but most have limited experience with this type of environment. If you’re using online components in a traditional class or taking a full course over the Web, keep these tips for success in mind:

Start by making sure you understand the structure of the online components. For example:

Do you need to blog?

Will you watch videos?

How do you upload or download different file types?

If there are any unfamiliar requirements, work with your instructor or other students to understand everything before you start the class. In addition, make sure you have a plan B if any of the technology isn’t working when you need it.

http://www.prospectusnews.com/how-to-get-the-most-from-online-classes-1.3039093#.UYOibqLP2nI