Online Learning Update

By Michael Hart, Campus Technology

Some higher ed institutions are experimenting with digital badges as a way to encourage and document learning among faculty and staff. Badges are quickly becoming acceptable currency in the world of higher education. Purdue University, for example, known for developing and commercializing innovative applications such as Course Signals, has embraced badges with another Purdue Studio project: Passport, a system for creating, issuing and sharing digital badges for learning and assessment. Badges have also found a home with massive open online courses, enabling students to earn credentials for specific work even when they do not complete the entire course.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/01/14/badges-a-new-measure-of-professional-development.aspx

by Beth Holland, Edutopia

Printed books still play a critical role in supporting learners, but digital technologies offer additional pathways to learning and content acquisition. Students and teachers no longer need a library simply for access. Instead, they require a place that encourages participatory learning and allows for co-construction of understanding from a variety of sources. In other words, instead of being an archive, libraries are becoming a learning commons.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/21st-century-libraries-learning-commons-beth-holland

By Ann Elliott, Edudemic

School-specific versions of two popular video games recently debuted: MinecraftEDU and SimCityEDU. These games require students to apply knowledge in the context of a virtual world, fostering an interdisciplinary learning experience that integrates siloed concepts. MinecraftEDU and SimCityEDU call for skills that transcend curricular boundaries and thus better replicate the real-world intellectual challenges that students will face. Read on to learn how other educators are currently using these games in their classrooms and how you can, too.

http://www.edudemic.com/minecraftedu-and-simcityedu-blazing-trails-for-interdisciplinary-learning/

by Peter Bright, Ars Technica

Microsoft claims this will replace the computer screen – and they may well be right. HoloLens is an engaging and effective augmented reality system. With HoloLens I saw virtual objects—Minecraft castles, Skype windows, even the surface of Mars—presented over, and spatially integrated with, the real world. It looked for every bit like the holographic projection we saw depicted in Star Wars and Total Recall. Except that’s shortchanging Microsoft’s work, because these virtual objects were in fact far more convincing than the washed out, translucent message R2D2 projected, and much better than Sharon Stone’s virtual tennis coach. The images were bright, saturated, and reasonably opaque, giving the virtual objects a real feeling of solidity.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/01/hands-on-with-hololens-making-the-virtual-real/1/

Check out the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAKfdeOX3-o

By Allie Gross, Ed Dive

On Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, and White House Science Advisor John Holdren announced that a $25 million grant will be disbursed over the next five years to support cybersecurity education. The money will go toward the creation of a new cybersecurity consortium comprised of 13 historically black colleges and universities, two national labs, and the Charleston County School District. The growth of cyber crime has highlighted the need for cybersecurity experts.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/biden-announces-25m-for-cybersecurity-ed/353388/

by Susan Grajek, EDUCAUSE Review

EDUCAUSE presents the top 10 IT issues facing higher education institutions this year. What is new about 2015? Nothing has changed. And everything has changed. Information technology has reached an inflection point. See the URL below for a detailed report.

http://educause.edu/ero/article/top-10-it-issues-2015-inflection-point

by eCampus News

Students in Brandman University’s CBE program will earn badges to certify competencies required for workforce success. Brandman University, a private nonprofit institution, has teamed up with Credly, provider of platforms for managing lifelong credentials, in an effort to enable learners to attain, manage, and share portable digital badges and credentials earned through Brandman’s online competency-based degree programs. Brandman, which uses direct assessment as part of the university’s new competency-based education programs, will issue official digital badges to certify discrete skills as students advance through degree-based programs.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/students-digital-badges-632/

by eCampus News

A new report from SRI Education assesses five years of technology investments in digital courseware. At the request of the Gates Foundation, SRI Education reviewed 137 postsecondary online and hybrid courses and provided a synthesis of the findings, along with implications and recommendations for future investments in learning software for colleges and universities. “Digital courseware has the potential to improve student learning outcomes and catalyze changes in education practice. These two affordances align well with the Gates Foundation’s emphasis on improving college success for underrepresented minorities, low-income students, and first-generation college attendees,” said Barbara Means, Ph.D., director, Center for Technology in Learning, SRI Education. See the link below for a brief summary of the findings.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/report-digital-courseware-392/

By ALLISON GOODRICH, Northwest Herald

With more students coming out of higher education today, a few of the larger employers in the area said for them, a degree obtained completely or partially online is hardly a make or break factor when it comes to hiring. At Centegra Health System, Director of Employment and Development Matt Johnson said both online and traditional degrees are recognized equally. If interviewing two candidates with similar experience, the origin of their degrees “wouldn’t be a factor that would weigh real heavily,” Johnson said. Within Crystal Lake School District 47, potential hires with either type of degree also are welcome, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Greg Buchanan said. “We approve online courses through accredited universities, and we do have staff who have degrees where a portion of their credits were earned via online coursework,” he said in an email.

http://www.nwherald.com/2015/01/15/mchenry-county-employers-indifferent-on-online-education-in-hiring/au3ns8j/

By Angie Besendorfer, Evolllution

Creating significant connections between students, faculty and staff helps to forge a connection between learners and their online institution, supporting retention and completion. Anyone going back to college will have myriad options, and one of the first choices a new student has to make is between an online program and a classroom experience. The requirement to attend a class at a certain time every week becomes unworkable once you add the demands of a job, children or a spouse. The limits of the traditional approach are leading more students than ever to choose online learning that fits their busy lives. Online learning also has its own drawbacks, such as the potential to feel isolated as a student. One university has found ways to create community among students from all walks of life by connecting them with faculty, fellow students and alumni.

http://www.evolllution.com/opinions/creating-sense-connection-online-education-modern-era/

by Seb Murray, Business Because

Two leading technology groups have released a series of Moocs, or massive open online courses, that are designed for entrepreneurs, one focused on big data. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a leading US university, has developed the content with Turkcell, the only listed Turkish company on the NYSE. They become the latest in string of digital education groups to release management content, putting pressure on business schools, which have been slow to adapt their content for the web.

http://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba-distance-learning/3042/learning-tech-groups-launch-new-moocs-for-entrepreneurs

By Margaret Fosmoe, South Bend Tribune

The University of Notre Dame is launching several online non-credit courses that will be available for free to anyone in the world. The classes are called MOOCs — short for massive open online courses — and they’re a hot development in higher education. Many colleges, including Indiana and Purdue universities, have started offering them in the past few years. The first of Notre Dame’s MOOCs, titled I “Heart” Stats, an introductory course to statistics, will start April 15. Other upcoming offerings: Understanding Wireless, starting May 18; Jesus in Scripture and Tradition, June 1; and Math in Sports, June 15.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/education/notre-dame-to-launch-free-online-courses/article_c1bc746e-43bb-57c5-95e4-1ac06eb9ded8.html

By Grace Lyden, InForum

At MSUM, the desire to create an app came from the ground up. Members of the student senate brought it up about a year ago, said Chief Information Officer Dan Heckaman. The university then began working with Myriad Mobile. About 20-25 students participated in three meetings this past semester to brainstorm features. Students named which functions would be most useful to them: a campus map, dining hall menus, the academic calendar. They also wanted personal features: grades, class schedules and a list of courses they still need to take. Not all of the student suggestions will make it into the final version, Heckaman said, but they will be considered. Some might be added in later versions.

http://www.inforum.com/news/education/3653317-mobile-apps-put-higher-ed-students-fingertips

By Ron Bethke, eCampus News

“What is clear is that relying on the volunteer efforts of a few faculty with entrepreneurial spirits will not bring the widespread change that is going to be effective in the long run.” Want faculty to adopt the latest in tech-enhanced learning? Kick back some of the profits (e.g. revenue from online learning programs), says a new report. According to this new report published by Ithaka S+R with support from the Lumina Foundation, public research universities are cutting costs and increasing access effectively thanks not only to a host of new technologies, but sound implementation and a focus on faculty motivation. Initiated by public research universities, the report, Technology-Enhanced Education at Public Flagship Universities: Opportunities and Challenges, gathered the findings of 214 administrators, online learning directors, chief financial officers, career services staff, and department chairs at 10 major universities.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/technology-faculty-motivation-606/

By Andrew R. McIlvaine, Human Resource Executive Online

Mobile learning may have gotten off to a slow start, but it seems the trend is now getting some momentum. The latest Sierra-Cedar HR Systems Survey report shows mobile-enhanced process adoption grew by 30 percent last year compared to 2013. Survey respondents plan to double their use of mobile this year compared to 2014. A white paper released by Tagoras, a technology consulting firm in Carrboro, N.C., finds 89 percent of 200 respondents to a survey for its Association Learning + Technology report saying their organizations offer some form of e-learning, and a third of them (37 percent) offer a mobile version for at least some of that content. Another 28 percent said they had plans to offer mobile learning this year. One of the most interesting mobile-learning trends witnessed by Steve Fiehl, chief innovation officer at New York-based e-learning provider CrossKnowledge, has been the “mobile first” strategy: Conceptualizing learning experiences for mobile devices first, rather than designing them for the PC and then transferring them to mobile.

http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/view/story.jhtml?id=534358158

By Casey Fabris, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Conversations about the atomic bomb can go only so far among a classroom of 20-somethings. It’s hard for today’s students to imagine living in 1945, experiencing a world war, or, for most, serving in the military. But bring alumni—with many more years of experience to share—into the equation, and class discussions can get a lot more interesting. That’s what Karen Harpp is doing in her Colgate University course “The Advent of the Atomic Bomb.”

http://chronicle.com/article/One-Reason-to-Offer-Free/151163/

by Vickie Cook, Evolllution

Many institutions and their leaders make assumptions about online learning that are often false or simply incomplete as they plan to enter this marketplace. These assumptions include how an online program initiative should be approached, who the stakeholders are, institutional infrastructure support required for online learning, governance and organizational structure for online learning and the sustainability of the online learning courses and program offered.  While not comprehensive or customized to a specific organization, the following list may be helpful to the institution considering adding or energizing an online learning program.

http://www.evolllution.com/featured/online-learning-institutional-fit/

by Vincent Salyers, et al; IRRODL

While e-learning is now characterized by a past and trends within that past, there continues to be uncertainty about how e-learning is defined and conceptualized, whether or not we like e-learning, and whether or not it is as meaningful to us as face to face learning. The purpose of this study was to document the e-learning perceptions of students at three Canadian post-secondary institutions. Key components of e-learning courses including ease of navigation, course design, resource availability, and adequacy of e-learning supports and their impact on the student learning experience were also evaluated. Based on a survey of students (n= 1,377) as well as their participation in focus groups, the following are presented as important findings: the majority of students studying in e-learning courses at the three institutions represented in the study were women; ease of navigation, course design, and previous experience with e-learning consistently demonstrated a statistically significant predictive capacity for positive e-learning experiences; and students expressed less preference for e-learning instructional strategies than their faculty.

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1713/3121

by MAURA LERNER , Star Tribune

Vershawn Young, a college professor from Canada, started his first day of law school on Monday. So did Dr. Brooke Baker, an anesthesiologist from New Mexico. But they won’t have much time to learn their way around their St. Paul campus. By this weekend, they’ll be heading home. They’re part of the first “hybrid” class at the William Mitchell College of Law — which means they’ll be doing most of their coursework online. Until now, no accredited law school in the country has offered such an option. But on Monday, William Mitchell became the first one. It welcomed an eclectic group of 85 students, ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s, who jumped at the chance to pioneer a version of law school that, some say, could be the wave of the future.

http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/288350831.html

by eCampus News

What can higher ed institutions do to protect their data and their students’ data? Learn 5 ways to protect data and meet compliance. 35 percent of all security breaches take place in higher education. 500+ security breaches have occurred at 320+ higher ed institutions since 2005–a rate of just over 1 security breach per week. These are just some of the sobering findings from recent research, with sources that include EDUCAUSE and the SANS Institute, and compiled into an infographic by SysCloud–a company that helps enterprises and educational institutions more easily transition to Google Apps and ensure continued safeguarding of their users’ data.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/safety-and-security/infographic-stregthen-security-738/