Techno-News Blog

Max Eddy, PC Mag

A VPN adds a layer of protection to your online activities by building an encrypted tunnel between your traffic and anyone who tries to spy on you. VPNs are good for when you’re out and about, using Wi-Fi networks that aren’t your own. A VPN can also help protect your privacy at home, and it may also let you access streaming content that would be otherwise unavailable. Since most of us are spending a lot more time at home than we used to, it’s more important than ever to understand when you do (and don’t) need to use a VPN at home.

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/do-i-need-a-vpn-at-home

Wachira Kigotho, University World News

On average 56% of university students worldwide said their mental health suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, in a survey of about 17,000 students in 21 countries that was conducted for Chegg.org, an educational technology and textbook rental firm in the United States. Brazil had the highest percentage saying their mental health suffered, at 76%, followed closely by the United States (75%), Canada (73%) and the United Kingdom (70%). At 25%, Italy had the lowest number of students who said their mental health had suffered, followed by Russia (29%), China (38%) and South Korea (39%). Kenya, the only African country among the 21 countries in the survey, mirrored the global average with 56%.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210305085025296

Rod Brazier, University World News

Experiential learning is more than merely ‘learning by doing’. Rather, it is a philosophy which informs many methodological approaches to teaching and learning. There are two commonalities within experiential education: that learners are engaged with direct experiences and that periods of focused reflection are contained within the learning cycle. Experiential education isn’t merely mountain-climbing or orienteering, nor is it limited to model-making or practical placements. The scope of experiential activities is wide ranging and educators should consider the extension of classic case studies and problem-solving activities into authentic learning experiences such as collaborating on business problems with organisations, assisting charities and designing products.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210302123812565

Sascha Segan, PC Mag

When carriers are telling people to turn off 5G to save battery, there’s a problem, and it’s not just power drain. Both Verizon and T-Mobile were caught this week telling their users to turn off 5G to save battery, a sort of egg-on-face, foot-in-mouth situation that maybe we shouldn’t read too much into. But I will! I will read more into it, because when a carrier’s tech support people and its marketing people are saying opposite things, something’s clearly up.

https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/why-are-carriers-telling-us-to-turn-off-5g

Lauren Sforza and Tiffany Garcia, GW Hatchet

With extra time on their hands, students said they are taking advantage of their relatively open schedules by enrolling in more courses, conducting research and working full time. While some students have felt low morale and productivity as online instruction continues, others said the virtual learning has allowed them to be more flexible with their time because they do not have to commute to classes or schedule their courses around a job. In interviews, seven students said they have felt themselves perform more efficiently in classes and are focusing on professional opportunities like full-time internships and course loads.

https://www.gwhatchet.com/2021/02/16/students-add-jobs-heavier-course-loads-to-online-learning-schedules/

PATRICIA SALDANA, Journal Star

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we learn and where we learn. Zoom video conferencing has allowed OLLI instructors and members to participate from the comfort and convenience of home. The platform allows up to 300 people online at one time. According to Bob Michl, OLLI director, during this past year many members have jumped right in to learning the technology. Early on during the pandemic, OLLI provided Zoom training to instructors and to OLLI members. Members also assisted by teaching other members how to use Zoom.

https://journalstar.com/niche/neighborhood-extra/senior-scene/business-note-olli-leveraging-virtual-learning-to-stay-connected/article_01a2d115-e412-59cc-85ce-3cef1c02817b.html

Noah Danesh, Daily Bruin

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyone’s lives, especially for those working in health care. There have been both administrative and practical changes as a result of the pandemic to the health care industry, many of which are expected to remain even after the pandemic. These four stories highlight some of the many changes that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to health care.

https://dailybruin.com/2021/03/05/pre-med-and-medical-students-struggle-learn-to-adapt-amid-online-learning

McKinsey Global Institute

This report on the future of work after COVID-19 is the first of three MGI reports that examine aspects of the postpandemic economy. The others look at the pandemic’s long-term influence on consumption and the potential for a broad recovery led by enhanced productivity and innovation. Here, we assess the lasting impact of the pandemic on labor demand, the mix of occupations, and the workforce skills required in eight countries with diverse economic and labor market models: China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Together, these eight countries account for almost half the global population and 62 percent of GDP.

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/the-future-of-work-after-covid-19

Colin Wood, EdScoop

Annual survey data published Thursday by the higher education resource website BestColleges.com suggests that many students and administrators are receiving favorably the online education format that many institutions have defaulted to during the pandemic. In surveys administered last fall, 74% of college students said they thought online education was at least as good as on-campus learning. That high figure, which is at odds with some recent surveys finding a majority of students are struggling with the transition to remote study, may have been skewed by researchers’ 1,500-student sample, which included 500 students enrolled in online degree programs, 500 graduates of online programs and 500 students who were enrolled in on-campus classes that switched to remote formats.

https://edscoop.com/bestcolleges-2021-survey-online-education/

New Indian Express
The survey is based on a sample size of 3,693 respondents from all parts of the country and deep insights into science-based challenges faced by students.  On the occasion of National Science Day 2021, an overwhelming majority of Indian students at 76.2% claimed that they found online learning platforms helpful for their science-related queries, finds the latest survey by Brainly which an online learning platform. The survey is based on a sample size of 3,693 respondents from all parts of the country and deep insights into science-based challenges faced by students.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/2021/mar/04/science-lovers-findonline-learning-better-2271805.html

John O’Brien, EDUCAUSE

As a result of the year-long COVID-19 pandemic and the collateral financial crisis, higher education is experiencing two powerful repercussions. On the one hand, the events of 2020 highlighted the strategic role that technology plays across the complicated landscape of college and university campuses. The “Great Pivot” to remote learning happened almost overnight, and it was widely seen as primarily facilitated by the masterful deployment of digital technologies and tools. On the other hand, as we approach the second year of the pandemic, less pronounced but equally influential dynamics are being revealed. Perhaps primary among these is the growing threat to privacy.

https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2021/1/the-emerging-threat-to-privacy

Rob Gibson, EDUCAUSE Review

Among the products in this class, some have advanced features that support the integration of slide decks, games, and other interactive elements.  While this class of online course tools is still evolving, these products provide faculty a resource that promotes student engagement and presence, especially during the challenging shift to online formats. These new technologies also promote the notion of anchored discussion and social learning. Guzdial and Turns define anchored discussions as those course-based conversations that are (1) sustained and (2) focused on topics related to the learning objectives of the course.Footnote3

https://er.educause.edu/articles/2021/3/asynchronous-video-conversations-11-tips-and-best-practices

Lou Whitmire, Mansfield News Journal

Officials at the Ohio State University at Mansfield/North Central State College say they are looking forward to offering more in-person classes as soon as possible, but they have learned that many students seem to like the online learning formats that became the norm during the coronavirus pandemic. Norman Jones, dean and director of OSU-Mansfield, said, “I am deeply grateful to our faculty and staff for creating safe, virtual ways of doing so much of what we would normally do in person. We changed from having about 10% of our classes online to having 60% of classes online, and most of the remaining 40% had substantial online components in addition to meeting in person.

https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/2021/03/15/local-colleges-learned-value-online-learning/4575351001/

New England Board of Higher Education

In the following Practitioner Perspective, Andrew McKinney, OER coordinator at the City University of New York (CUNY), and Amanda Coolidge, director of Open Education at BCcampus in British Columbia, Canada, share the development of an adaptable matrix to help faculty include OER (Open Educational Resources) in their tenure and promotion portfolios.

https://nebhe.org/journal/practitioner-perspectives-the-doers3-collaborative-on-oer-in-tenure-and-promotion/

Jessica Aitken & Clara Uttenthal, Daily Titan

Some graduate students fear that the education they received in a virtual learning environment may have a negative impact on their thesis, project or research objectives needed to obtain a master’s degree. “Physical communication or verbal one-on-one is really necessary and we’re losing that. It’s going to cause some issues down the line if you don’t open up classes,” said Talal Almobailish, a Cal State Fullerton graduate student majoring in political science.

https://dailytitan.com/news/campus/online-learning-raises-concerns-for-graduate-students/article_24553112-7bcb-11eb-abdf-cfba8e2ec89b.html

Troy Record

The era of widespread remote learning brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic requires online testing methods that effectively prevent cheating, especially in the form of collusion among students. With concerns about cheating on the rise across the country, a solution that also maintains student privacy is particularly valuable. In research published recently in npj Science of Learning, engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute demonstrate how a testing strategy they call “distanced online testing” can effectively reduce students’ ability to receive help from one another in order to score higher on a test taken at individual homes during social distancing.

https://www.troyrecord.com/news/in-era-of-online-learning-new-testing-method-aims-to-reduce-cheating/article_94792548-7aa4-11eb-9f70-7fe56de40ffb.html

Daniel T. WillinghamDaniel T. Willingham, Education Next

No matter the reason, it seems many teachers don’t think education research is directly useful to them. We think these teachers have it right. And we think the problem lies with researchers, not teachers.  The first three obstacles listed above—two concerning applicability of research and one concerning perceived constraints research puts on practice—are products of the methods researchers use. Research seems irrelevant to practitioners because it does not pose questions that address their needs. Teachers feel constrained by research because they feel pressured to use research-approved methods, and research creates clear winners and losers among practices that may be appropriate in some contexts but not others.

https://www.educationnext.org/making-education-research-relevant-how-researchers-can-give-teachers-more-choices/

Elizbeth Redden, Inside Higher Ed

More than half of students worldwide, and three-quarters in the U.S., said their mental health has suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new survey of nearly 17,000 undergraduate students across 21 countries commissioned by the nonprofit arm of Chegg, a controversial textbook rental and educational technology company. Chegg.org commissioned the polling company Yonder to interview 16,839 undergraduates across the 21 countries last fall, with sample sizes in the various countries ranging from 500 to about 1,000. Seventy-five percent of American students surveyed said their mental health had suffered due to the pandemic, second only to Brazil (76 percent) and similar to the percentage of Canadian students who said the same (73 percent).

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/03/01/global-student-survey-focuses-mental-health-and-financial-and-other-pressures

ZACHARIAH NASH, Daily Cal

With instruction entirely online this semester, there is one scenario that is absolutely terrifying: having the Wi-Fi go out. When that happens, your ability to get schoolwork done and attend class is incredibly hampered or even outright impossible. It isn’t the end of the world, though. There are plenty of ways to get through it. Here are some of the steps you should take if you’ve lost connection.

https://www.dailycal.org/2021/02/28/distance-learning-nightmare-what-to-do-when-your-wi-fi-goes-out/

Jonathan Powles, the Times (UK)

Learning happens inside your head. It’s a transformation of you as a person; your skills, understanding, knowledge and attitudes. There’s no requirement for this to occur in a certain place, time or setting. The pandemic has forced universities to completely reshape their delivery of learning and teaching. But this shift gives us the opportunity to take stock and reassess fundamental assumptions about how students learn and how universities should teach.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/online-learning-is-not-a-compromise-its-the-future-vs8vk5mxt

University of Missouri-Columbia, Science Daily
Aptitude test can steer women, underrepresented groups toward high-demand STEM careers. When Patrick Rottinghaus began college, he had no idea what he wanted to do with his career. He started out as an “Open” major while he explored possibilities. Today, he is helping young people eager to find their place in the world by identifying their strengths and connecting them with careers that match their skill-set, interests and personality. As the father of three children, including a daughter soon to enter high school, he wants to ensure they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to succeed as they prepare to enter the modern workforce.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210226135534.htm