Techno-News Blog

by Marcus Conyers & Donna Wilson, Edutopia

The images that form in your mind as you read — we call them “brain movies” — can be more exciting and memorable than a Hollywood film. More to the point for teachers, guiding your students to visualize as they read is an engaging and enjoyable way to boost comprehension and retention. Learning to create brain movies can help students make sense of complex nonfiction subject matter and “see” the characters, setting, and action in stories. Teachers who use our strategy tell us their students seem to have more fun — and success — as they read. These anecdotes are supported by research showing that students who are taught to develop mental imagery of text do better than control groups on tests of comprehension and recall.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/brain-movies-visualize-reading-comprehension-donna-wilson

By Richard Sousa, Forbes

Last month, the College Board, which administers the widely-used college admission Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and the Khan Academy, whose mission is to provide a “free world-class education for anyone anywhere,” agreed to a partnership in which the Khan Academy will cooperate with the College Board to provide free, online SAT prep software. There are many SAT prep courses, books, camps, and tutors but none is cooperating directly with the College Board. The Khan Academy, with ten million users visiting its web site every month, is at the leading edge of digital education. The Khan-SAT partnership will allow for self-paced learning and will level the playing field by providing access to those who are unable to afford proprietary preparation courses.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/05/07/what-lies-ahead-for-digital-education/

By Jake New, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Pennsylvania State University has 16,000 students enrolled in its online World Campus. In the next decade, the university wants that number to rise to 45,000. Penn State’s new associate vice provost for online programs, Renata S. Engel, is expected to play a large role in moving toward that goal. Ms. Engel, who is 54 and a professor of engineering science and mechanics and engineering design, says she has a few ideas about where to begin. She wants to engage with more professional organizations, provide a stronger base of introductory courses, and add new majors.

http://chronicle.com/article/An-Engineers-Next-Task-at/146469/

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

When the Heartbleed security vulnerability made major headlines, higher ed leaders across the nation were reminded that security must be continuously managed as a program. Until recently no framework existed specifically for assessing higher ed security maturity. That void was filled last year when the Higher Education Information Security Council launched its freely available HEISC Information Security Program Assessment Tool. This free spreadsheet tool from Educause can help identify gaps in a college or university security profile and kick-start a security conversation on campus.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/05/08/a-security-framework-tailor-made-for-higher-ed.aspx

BY TANYA ROSCORLA, Government Technology

Students wrote a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama that advised him on how to handle foreign policy in Syria. A study on competency-based education in New Hampshire demonstrates that policy changes don’t always result in uniform change on the ground, and technology isn’t always ahead of schools. In a May report from the Clayton Christensen Institute, education research fellow Julia Freeland studied how competency-based education is changing in a state that’s adopted the motto “live free or die.”  The report, “From Policy to Practice,” shows a variety of practices at different schools, an emphasis on personalized learning, technology infrastructure gaps, and increased state support for schools that are moving to competency-based learning.

www.govtech.com/education/Tech-Tools-Lag-Behind–Competency-Based-Learning.html

by Lancashire Evening Post

Lancashire food producers and farmers have been working with Lancaster University to help tackle the problems of world hunger. Distinguished Professor Bill Davies has been exploring the challenges likely to be posed by global population growth for the UK’s first free online course in food security. Professor Bill Davies said: “Food security is one of the grand challenges facing the world, there is going to be a crisis but we are not going to just solve it by producing more food.

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/education/new-course-online-to-help-ease-the-plight-of-the-hungry-1-6609680

by IVN

The State Department is launching Part II of Shaping the Way We Teach English, a massive open online course (MOOC) for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educators, on May 12, 2014. By strengthening the quality of English teaching around the world, the Department of State hopes to open economic opportunities in science, business, technology, and higher education for more of our international partners and offer skills for a better future. Part I of the Shaping the Way We Teach English MOOC, completed in April 2014, successfully enrolled over 18,000 participants worldwide. Designed both for professionals already working in the area of EFL and for those pursuing the field as a career, both MOOC sessions assist EFL educators worldwide in updating and augmenting their teaching methods. When educators employ the teaching methods and technologies learned throughout the course, they improve leaning outcomes for their students and build leadership among their peers.

http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php/news/latest-news/8631-u-s-department-of-state-to-offer-second-massive-online-course-for-english-language.html

by Frederic Lardinois, Tech Crunch

SuperSummit, a London-based startup, today launched its platform for online live video interviews with experts out of beta after testing the service for a few months in Italy. During the beta, the company built a community of about 50,000 members and created over 300 hours of video interviews in English and Italian with the likes of Brad Fed, Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin. All of this content can currently be accessed for free. The company says its ultimate goal is to add disruption to the education market, but it also wants to offer an alternative to what it calls the “coldness and insularity of webinars” and the lack of interactivity associated with pre-recorded video courses.” The team is mostly going after the lifelong learning sector market. The company believes it has found a gap in the market between basic online videos and massive open online courses (MOOCs). While SuperSummit doesn’t offer courses or degrees, it does give its users instant access to information from experts in a live conference format.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/08/supersummit-launches-its-network-for-live-events-and-online-courses/

Accreditor for Upstarts – Paul Fain, Inside Higher EdSome details are emerging on two bids for new accrediting bodies for non-college providers of higher education, such as online course creators or issuers of digital badges. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is an association that represents colleges and recognizes accrediting organizations. The nonprofit group is mulling whether it could provide “quality review” for entities that fall outside of those that are currently accredited. One likely example would be StraighterLine, an unaccredited, online education company that offers low-cost courses but not credentials.  David Bergeron, a former official at the U.S. Department of Education who is vice president of postsecondary education policy at the Center for American Progress, is playing a leadership role in the Modern States concept, He has teamed up on the project with Steven Klinsky, a financier and philanthropist who heads New Mountain Capital, an investment fund that is worth more than $12 billion.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/05/09/ideas-take-shape-new-accreditors-aimed-emerging-online-provider

by Paul Fain, Inside Higher EdSome details are emerging on two bids for new accrediting bodies for non-college providers of higher education, such as online course creators or issuers of digital badges. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is an association that represents colleges and recognizes accrediting organizations. The nonprofit group is mulling whether it could provide “quality review” for entities that fall outside of those that are currently accredited. One likely example would be StraighterLine, an unaccredited, online education company that offers low-cost courses but not credentials.  David Bergeron, a former official at the U.S. Department of Education who is vice president of postsecondary education policy at the Center for American Progress, is playing a leadership role in the Modern States concept, He has teamed up on the project with Steven Klinsky, a financier and philanthropist who heads New Mountain Capital, an investment fund that is worth more than $12 billion.http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/05/09/ideas-take-shape-new-accreditors-aimed-emerging-online-provider

By Ainsley O’Connell, Fast Company

“They’re living longer, staying healthier, and they don’t want to retire,” says Sophie Vlessing, senior vice president of strategy and innovation for Kaplan. “They’re interested in encore careers, they’re interested in new possibilities. To me, that’s such an opportunity to think about how learning could help them.” Kaplan, which offers online degrees and certificates in everything from nursing to real estate, today launched Learning Advisor in collaboration with the AARP. The site is designed as an entry point to online learning for aging Baby Boomer and Gen X students, who already comprise a significant portion of Kaplan’s enrollment–though apart from the testimonials and stock photos, that targeting isn’t immediately obvious.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3030413/most-innovative-companies/kaplan-and-aarp-team-up-to-help-baby-boomers-graduate-to-encore-ca

by Paige Alfonzo, Edutopia

Social media now has functions that make sharing, reading, and collecting information one-click simple. Perhaps the most famous platform for real-time sharing, Twitter is a perfect tool for instant assessment. Two features are important to consider: hashtags and Twitter clients. Facebook and Google Plus allow you to create private groups. This could also be done using the social learning platform Edmodo. These platforms, unlike Twitter, allow students to write lengthier posts. For example, you can have students, in real time, write one-minute papers in the “comment” section of the prompt. Each of these platforms also has free polling tools. With such features, there are few formative assessment strategies that cannot be handled more efficiently using social media. One caveat: check with your institution’s social media policy before using these tools.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/frictionless-formative-assessment-social-media-paige-alfonzo

by Di Xu, Evolllution

Incorporating instruction of self-directed learning skills into online classes could help to bridge the performance gap between different groups of students. In a recent article on semester-length online coursework, I wrote about some recent research findings that many community college students perform more poorly in online than face-to-face courses. Some readers wondered what makes the particular groups mentioned (males, ethnic minorities and those with lower GPAs) less likely to succeed in online courses. This follow-up article discusses what challenges these specific groups face in the online context, and how those challenges might be addressed with specific strategies in online programming.

http://www.evolllution.com/distance_online_learning/students-struggle-online/

By Tim Goral, University Business

In a nation that prides itself on scientific achievement, the report reveals, less than a third of women actually enter the field, and even fewer graduate and go on to careers. Laurie Glimcher, the first female dean of Weill Cornell Medical College and the 2014 North American recipient of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award, believes this imbalance stems from societal obstacles that women face in a male-dominated field. “Women in science need role models and mentors,” she says. “That’s why a program like For Women in Science is so important, because it helps women in research develop a network of support globally, and it identifies role models for younger generations.”

http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/closing-gender-gap-science

By Brian Mathews, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Hayden Lee, president of Virginia Tech’s Entrepreneurial Club said that the appeal for him is the opportunity to meet and network with others. He views hackathons as a “high density of intelligent people” and that’s what’s stimulating. When I asked him about the competition between schools he said that “it’s more about the bond between people rather than rivalry—in fact—school rivalry doesn’t matter here at all.” Others echoed these sentiments. While they were all competing for prizes, there was a definite communal vibe. As I reflect on the experience it seemed more like an eclectic conglomeration of arts festive, science fair, tech expo, and conference, all mashed together.

http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/theubiquitouslibrarian/2014/04/28/are-hackathons-the-classrooms-of-tomorrow-my-journey-to-the-frontier-of-education/

By David Nagel, Campus Technology

Adobe today released a free new app for iPad designed to give “voice” to educators and students who want to create engaging presentations, combining voice, video, motion graphics, still images and music. Adobe Voice, available now for iOS, is a storytelling app that lets users create video presentations without the need to shoot or edit footage. The software is built on technologies found in Adobe’s high-end professional creative tools but is designed to let users create and share their presentations with minimal fuss.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/05/08/adobe-releases-free-voice-app-for-ipad.aspx

By David Nagel, Campus Technology

Microsoft today released a preview version of Office Mix, a new PowerPoint addon that lets teachers create rich media presentations and interactive lessons and share them online. Office Mix includes two components: a plugin for PowerPoint and a site where teachers can share their work and view analytics. The plugin gives educators the ability to record lecture materials directly within PowerPoint and embed multimedia and interactive elements.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/05/08/microsoft-office-mix-turns-powerpoint-presentations-into-online-interactive-lessons.aspx

By Kenneth Corbin, CIO

The White House yesterday issued a series of policy recommendations to better protect individual privacy in the era of big data, calling on Congress to write into law a consumer bill of rights for the digital age and update an electronic privacy statute that’s more than a quarter century old, among other measures. In outlining the new proposals, John Podesta, the counselor to the president who led a three-month study of privacy and big data, took pains to highlight the myriad ways in which data collected from sensors, smartphones and other networked devices and objects can yield valuable social and economic benefits. Big data functions like predictive analytics and continuous monitoring can help stem the spread of infectious diseases or provide advance warning about potential mechanical failures in jet engines, for instance.

http://www.cio.com/article/752302/White_House_Calls_for_Big_Data_and_Cloud_Privacy_Overhaul

by Patrick Feeney, Edutopia

Last month, the Institute of Play released a 160-page whitepaper on successfully designing and implementing video games as classroom assessment tools. It is widely hoped that the Institute’s study, along with further research by SRI, will prove conclusively that cognitive skills are significantly improved by playing educational video games. This was not news to the math education community, which has known about the benefits of games in the classroom for a long time. Back in 2004, a study by Tisa Lach and Lynae Sakshaug had already shown that middle school students made significant improvements in algebraic reasoning, spatial sense, and problem-solving abilities after playing biweekly sessions of popular tabletop games such as Connect Four, Mastermind, Rush Hour, and Guess Who.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/game-apps-in-math-class-patrick-feeney

By David Nagel, THE Journal

Google is now taking applications for a limited preview of a new app called Google Classroom — a tool that brings learning management functionality to the Google Apps for Education suite. According to Google Apps for Education Product Manager Zach Yeskel, Google Classroom is designed “to give teachers more time to teach [and to] give students more time to learn” by helping them avoid “some of the busywork” that’s part of the process of teaching. Yeskel said Classroom has been piloted in about a dozen schools around the country so far, including institutions in New York, California and Illinois.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/05/06/google-developing-free-lms-as-part-of-apps-for-education.aspx

by Paul Rogers, Los Angeles Times

At many local universities, new technologies are shaping the way knowledge is shared. “Faculty is experimenting with interactive digital learning,” Diane Favro, a professor of architecture and urban design at UCLA said. “Students use tablets or laptops in class and enter virtual [classrooms] and interact with their peers and faculty in the same room and also around the world.” This type of hands-on, high-tech interaction on SoCal campuses also addresses the expectations of contemporary workplaces, where virtual conferencing, interactive presentations and desktop/social sharing have become the norm.

http://www.latimes.com/brandpublishing/localplus/education/la-ss-education-tech-crunch-story.html

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Education

California is seeing a major uptick in blended learning as more schools become comfortable with the model. The California eLearning Census shows that more students this year are taking blended classes, which include both face-to-face and online components. The California Learning Resource Network, a statewide education technology service from the California Department of Education, has conducted the census for the past three years to find out how blended and online learning are changing in the state.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/Blended-Learning-Grows-Dramatically-in-California-Schools-.html