Online Learning Update

by Tasha Adams, THE ARBITER

In any classroom, laptops and tablets can be seen on desks in lieu of notebooks, discussions can be held online instead of in person and textbooks can be downloaded onto an e-reader as opposed to lugging stacks of books across campus. It is a fact that learning is becoming more technological. A new online-only doctorate program is embracing these facts. Beginning fall 2012, the program will focus on online learning, integration of technology into the classroom as well as educational software and application development. Kerry Rice, chair of Boise State’s Department of Educational Technology explains that the program won’t just concentrate on the technology available today. “This degree program will focus on the attributes of effective instructional tools in the context of emerging technologies, and on the impact of changing technologies in the classroom,” Rice said. The degree will be one of the only online-only degrees the university offers.

http://arbiteronline.com/2011/08/29/edtech-offers-new-online-only-doctorate-program/

By Maureen Downey, Atlanta Journal Constitution

Over the summer, my 12-year-old son learned math online as a prerequisite to jump ahead a grade. I admit to skepticism that he could master seventh-grade concepts math via an online learning program. But any doubts were erased by a pre-test at the start of the school that showed he was well-grounded and ready for eighth-grade math. This may be the future of more students in Georgia and other states, as schools are asked to do more with less. As pointed out last week at a meeting of the state Education Finance Study Commission, 80 percent of the costs of education underwrite teachers and benefits.

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/maureen-downey-a-new-1150500.html

by David Kapuler, Tech Learning

 Having recently received an iPad and joined the iOS game, I decided to do some research on ins and outs of this device. I discovered that many of the same time-saving tricks that can be done on a Mac can be done on an iPad, too. Here are my top 10 tips for using an iPad.

http://www.techlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67&EntryId=3001

By Jason B. Jones, Wired Campus, Chronicle of Higher Ed

One of the best parts of of being a union president is that you get invited to new faculty orientation and similar events every year, so you get to meet new colleagues from all over campus. This year, at lunch, the topic of discussion at my table eventually turned toward learning management systems vs. roll-your-own assignments. New part-time faculty often have the experience of having to juggle multiple LMS platforms–one for each campus or system–every semester, which isn’t fun or efficient. I mentioned a variety of assignments–wikified class notes, blogging, etc.–and, after some initial interest, one of the more experienced faculty said, “sounds like a lot of grading, though.” Which is true! There is an awful lot of grading, more than I’d thought when I started moving toward many of these assignments, years ago.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/keeping-up-online-assignments-grading/35617?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

By Jeffrey R. Young, Chronicle of Higher Education

Delivering courses in cyberclassrooms has gained broad acceptance among top college leaders, but the general public is far less convinced of online education’s quality, according to new survey data released this week by the Pew Research Center, in association with The Chronicle. Just over half of the 1,055 college presidents queried believe that online courses offer a value to students that equals a traditional classroom’s. By contrast, only 29 percent of 2,142 adult Americans thought online education measured up to traditional teaching. The public survey was conducted by telephone.Now many studies have proved the effectiveness of online instruction, and colleges trying to cut costs and serve students who want more convenient options are embracing this form of teaching. Presidents “should be more visible in making the assertion” that online education is high quality, said A. Frank Mayadas, who started the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s online-education support program. “There’s a huge amount of misunderstanding of what ‘online’ is. You ask the man in the street, ‘What do you think of online learning?’ and they’ll say, ‘You can’t just learn by yourself.'”

http://chronicle.com/article/College-Presidents-Are-Bullish/128814/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

by Frank M. LoSchiavo & Mark A. Shat, Journal of Online Learning and Teaching

Although honor codes are effective in certain situations, instructors should maintain realistic expectations when teaching online – students will likely cheat. Thus, the authors recommend that honor codes be used whenever possible, but that they must be augmented by common sense strategies, such as proctoring. Although proctoring is less convenient for students and instructors, it is one of the most reliable methods for ensuring academic integrity.

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no2/loschiavo_0611.pdf

By School Library Journal Staff

With the 10th anniversary of September 11 just days away, there are many lesson plans and activities out there to help students understand the events surrounding the terrorist attack and its aftermath. One worth checking out is Remembering September 11, a free collection of online resources for teachers, students, and parents by the education services company Pearson through its Online Learning Exchange. “We all recall where we were as the sun shone brightly on that Tuesday morning, but most of the students in our classrooms today do not,” says Pearson School’s Executive Vice President Emily Swenson. “Young people’s lives have been shaped by September 11 in many ways, and we want students to gain an historical perspective, as well as an understanding of the forces behind this ongoing threat and conflict.” The online collection is aimed at teaching students about the impact of the events surrounding 9/11 on American life, foreign policy, the economy, government, and citizenship.

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/891799-312/pearson_offers_free_online_911.html.csp

By CEN

Universities offering online master’s degrees in civil engineering are reporting ecord increases in enrollment, in large part because of technology improvements and the sluggish economy, writes Theresa M. Casey, FSMPS, CPSM, in an article titled “Master’s degree: For here or to go?” in the June issue of CE News magazine. Enrollment in all online degree programs rose by 1 million students in 2010, a twenty one percent increase from the previous year, according to the eighth annual report of The Sloan Survey of Online Learning. It was the largest one-year increase since the survey’s inception and is much greater than the 2-percent growth reported for traditional classroom programs. “We’ve seen enrollment in the MS, civil engineering program double since its inception in 2003,” said Sean O’Donnell, director of e-learning and graduate marketing, Villanova University College of Engineering. “We currently have five distance education classrooms, and we’re in the process of building three more.”

http://www.blackengineer.com/artman/publish/article_1334.shtml