Educational Technology

by Doug Ward, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Using an app called iAnnotate, I could write comments on PDFs but also add voice comments, allowing me to make grading more personal but also add details that I otherwise wouldn’t have included. Most students liked the voice feedback. Some, unprompted, even wrote and thanked me for taking the time to speak to them with the recorded segments. Academics have talked about paperless grading for years. Here on ProfHacker, Jason wrote a couple of years ago about marking up PDFs with iAnnotate and more recently about going paperless with a Mac.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/grading-with-voice-on-an-ipad/40907

by Best Colleges Online

Teachers may spend their days imparting knowledge to others, but that doesn’t mean they should stop learning themselves. Whether they choose to take classes, read books, or just talk with their colleagues, professional development offers a chance to become a better and wiser teacher. There’s no better time than summer vacation to dive into professional development opportunities, and luckily, there are numerous resources out there on the web, making finding, sharing, and accessing great tools for development easier than ever. We’ve collected just a few here that can get you started on learning and growing as an educator.

http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2012/06/19/50-excellent-online-professional-development-resources-for-teachers/

by Tom Vander Ark, Getting Smart

Cisco is the leading manufacturer of network routers, switches and related technology. It’s worth almost $100 billion (and last week that was twice as much as Facebook). Cisco sponsors a line of IT Professional certifications. There are five levels of certification and eight different paths: Routing & Switching, Design, Network Security, Service Provider, Service Provider Operations, Storage Networking, Voice, and Wireless. The Cisco Networking Academy is part social responsibility, part workforce development, and part demonstration product. With more than one million enrolled students and about 40,000 assessments weekly, it is also the biggest classroom in the world. Cisco partners with more than 11,000 high schools, technical schools, colleges, and training organizations worldwide to deliver advanced networking skills. Blending onsite and online learning, Cisco Academies model innovative simulation-based instruction and assessment.

http://gettingsmart.com/blog/2012/06/10-ways-k-12-is-becoming-more-like-cisco-academy/

by Farhad Manjoo, Technology Review

The spectacles take the place of his desktop computer, his mobile computer, and his all-knowing digital assistant. For all its utility, though, Google Project Glass Technical Lead Thad Starner’s machine is less distracting than any other computer I’ve ever seen. This was a revelation. Here was a guy wearing a computer, but because he could use it without becoming lost in it—as we all do when we consult our many devices—he appeared less in thrall to the digital world than you and I are every day. “One of the key points here,” Starner says, “is that we’re trying to make mobile systems that help the user pay more attention to the real world as opposed to retreating from it.” By the end of my meeting with Starner, I decided that if Google manages to pull off anything like the machine he uses, wearable computers seem certain to conquer the world. It simply will be better to have a machine that’s hooked onto your body than one that responds to it relatively slowly and clumsily.

http://www.technologyreview.com/review/428212/you-will-want-google-goggles/

By Appolicious.com, Tribune Media Services

Are you worried that your teenage kid’s brain will revert to hibernation mode during summer break? With school out of session, just know that there are more things for young adults to do on their smartphones and tablets than simply play games or share pictures and status updates with friends. From video lectures, to virtual museums, to educational opportunities that are truly out of this world, there are more than few apps that can inform and entertain your kids this summer. Here are five of the best.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-201206181830–tms–appolctnap-a20120618-20120618,0,969830.story

by KFC, Technology Review

The brain is the most extraordinary of computing machines. It carries out tasks as a matter of routine that would fry the circuits of the most powerful supercomputers on the planet: walking, talking, recognising, analysing and so on. And where supercomputers require enough juice to power a small town, the human brain does all its work using little more than the energy in a bowl of porridge. So its no surprise that computer scientists would like to understand the brain and copy its ability. There’s a problem, however. The brain is built from neurons and these work in a rather different way from the silicon transistor-based circuits that lie under the bonnet of conventional chips.

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428235/intel-reveals-neuromorphic-chip-design/

by Marissa Lowman, BostInno

While many startups are scrambling to get a piece of the free online learning pie, the reality is that the majority of students need more individualized instruction. GatherEducation has created a hybrid solution: a virtual learning classroom for small groups of students who can not only learn in real time from a teacher or tutor, but also engage in peer learning via virtual breakout rooms. With the advent of new technology, such as the iPad and Microsoft Kinect, teachers and tutors can now easily tap into a growing virtual market to reach their students outside the traditional classroom. Using a Kinect, a teacher’s avatar mimics his or her real-life movements, which allows a teacher to focus on teaching without the need to alter his or her teaching style.

http://bostinno.com/channels/the-future-of-virtual-learning/

by Sam McElroy, Gotham Schools

Some of the city’s “turnaround” schools, including the one where I work, are listing knowledge or willingness to learn about using a blended learning instructional models as a criterion for hiring teachers. That’s because we are participating in the iLearn NYC program, a Department of Education initiative to support blended learning throughout the city. The initiative gives schools access to online content from various providers at a reduced cost; a learning management system to host online courses; and professional development, technical support, and training.

http://gothamschools.org/2012/06/18/reflecting-on-a-year-of-blended-learning/

by Silvia Tolisano, the Langwitches Blog

I want teachers to be able to, not only ask for and use an app, because someone else recommended it, but I want teachers equipped with the curiosity and the knowledge of:

• the value an app can bring to a learner
• the connection from the app to curriculum content
• the possibilities the app can bring in order to amplify
• the difference of using an app to automate and substitute a task versus informate and transform
• how to evaluate apps for their transformative potential

http://www.techlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67&EntryId=4328

by Rachel Metz, TechCrunch

Even as it ramps up the competition between the tech titans, Apple’s move into maps also serves as a reminder to consumers that these aren’t the only companies out there working on mobile mapping apps. There are a number of others, including directions and traffic app Waze and 3-D city mapping app UpNext. Chances are that Google Maps and Apple’s forthcoming Maps will be the most popular, but with smart phone and tablet adoption growing at a rapid clip, and continuous improvements in the processing power and memory capacities of mobile devices, and access to high-speed wireless networks, these companies are betting there’s some screen space for them, too.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/16/the-way-things-work/

By Dave Copeland, ReadWriteWeb

Your personality type plays a role in how you interact with social networks, and can factor into how much time you spend on sites like Facebook and Twitter, what kind of information you post and how much you regret posting material that others may consider questionable. While research in the area is preliminary, future studies could be crucial for companies looking to target users who are most likely to comment on a brand page or recommend products to friends through social networks. The findings of the most recent study in the field were recently published in the academic journal Computers in Human Behavior. While limited in scope – the study included 143 college students who completed both phases – researchers Kelly Moore and James C. McElroy said theirs was the first to make use of actual usage data.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/study-personality-type-drives-facebook-usage-more-than-originally-thought.php

by Tomorrow’s Professor (Stanford)

Faculty, students, and administrators are engaged in exciting new conversations about definitions of educational progress. While many faculty have long used rubrics to measure student achievement in a course or on a specific assignment, institutions are increasingly using rubrics to assess authentic student learning based on student-produced work connected to larger institutional outcomes. Because of the national, collaborative work in creating the Association of American Colleges and Universities\’ VALUE rubrics, these rubrics lend themselves to extending the conversation about work in individual courses, in programs and majors, in institutions, and across institutions.

http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/posting.php?ID=1179

by Aaron Smith, Joanna Brenner, Pew Charitable Trust

As of February 2012, some 15% of online adults use Twitter, and 8% do so on a typical day. Overall Twitter adoption remains steady, as the 15% of online adults who use Twitter is similar to the 13% of such adults who did so in May 2011. At the same time, the proportion of online adults who use Twitter on a typical day has doubled since May 2011 and has quadrupled since late 2010—at that point just 2% of online adults used Twitter on a typical day. The rise of smartphones might account for some of the uptick in usage because smartphone users are particularly likely to be using Twitter.

http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Twitter-Use-2012.aspx

by School CIO

Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) in Chula Vista, California is bringing iPad use to the Physical Education classroom through the use of iPad-enabled SPARK curriculum. SUHSD’s move to iPad use in PE came earlier this year and was funded by the Carol M. White Physical Education Program federal grant SUHSD won in 2009. This grant covered the cost of 40 iPad’s and SPARK training for 50 PE instructors. With this new technology, teachers have access to SPARK’s digital lesson plans, activity videos and interactive assessment tools, giving teachers more time to focus on keeping their students engaged and active. The technology allows teachers to teach students skills, dances for dance units and capture video of students to show them how they are performing a skill so that they might be able to improve it. For example, if a student isn’t serving a tennis ball correctly, the instructor can record a video of the student and then play it back to show him/her how to improve that skill.

http://www.schoolcio.com/article/ca-district-uses-ipads-to-help-teach-pe-classes/52607

by Joe Conger, KENS 5

What if you could pinpoint your student’s location at school? It will be reality at two Northside schools next year. NISD has approved a tracking device for students. For about $10 to $15, a student ID will act like a GPS for teachers and administrators. “Every parent wants us to know where their child is at school,” said NISD spokesman Pascual Gonzalez. The 1200 Cougars at Jones Middle School are about to get tagged.

http://www.kens5.com/news/local/Students-to-be-tagged-in-special-153833215.html

by Carla Casilli and Erin Knight, EDUCAUSE

Badges are digital tokens that appear as icons or logos on a web page or other online venue. Awarded by institutions, organizations, groups, or individuals, badges signify accomplishments such as completion of a project, mastery of a skill, or marks of experience. Learners fulfill the issuer-specific criteria to earn the badge by attending classes, passing an exam or review, or completing other activities, and a grantor verifies that the specifications have been met and awards the badge. Numerous groups, organizations, community projects, and web entities currently issue badges, and they are gaining currency in higher education as well. Although many details remain for badges to be broadly accepted, they represent a different approach to credentials, one that places the focus on individual students and their learning accomplishments.

http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-know-about-badges

By Jen LaMaster, CIO Advisor

The feedback loop is hinting that some of us have been speaking a little too “techie” these days for the local school community. And that feedback is probably correct, as we hang out with tech-types and each other so much we speak in what sounds like code (and sometimes is code—but I digress)… So I am starting this BYOT Glossary for the school community.

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&EntryId=4385

by EDUCAUSE

This interactive visualization shows the top ten tech issues, year by year for the for the past dozen years. It connects the issues across the the years and demonstrates how these issues continue to surface year after year in different forms.

http://www.educause.edu/educause/visualizations/vis1/index.html

By Deborah Netburn, LA Times

The days of ad-free Skyping are ending. On Wednesday, the company announced that it plans to insert display ads into what used to be ad-free Web conversations. In a chirpy post on Skype’s official blog, the company said it is “excited” to introduce a new ad service as a way for marketers to reach its hundreds of millions users in a place where they can have “a meaningful conversation about brands.” For now, the ads will display only on 1:1 Skype-to-Skype audio calls made with Skype for Windows. But that’s just the start: The release promises “additional commercial experiences in the future.”

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-skype-announces-conversation-ads-20120613,0,5956658.story

By ERIC PFANNER, NY Times

Bored with dot-com? Soon there may be dot-app for that. In the biggest expansion of Internet addresses, the organization that oversees the naming system said Wednesday that it had received 1,930 applications for new “top level domains,” the letters that follow the “dot.” The most sought-after extension is .app, with 13 applicants, ranging from Amazon to the .app Registry — though not Apple, the company that popularized the mobile application. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, known as Icann, is expected to approve hundreds of these extensions for use, the first of which should be in use by next year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/technology/dot-app-is-most-sought-after-internet-address-extension.html?pagewanted=all

by Ayesha Khanna and Parag Khanna, Slate

Technology is granting us the ability to alter our perception of reality, construct multiple representations of ourselves like avatars, and have relationships with artificial agents like robots. All of these are simultaneously expanding and destabilizing our sense of self. Technology is a “second self,” as MIT professor Sherry Turkle has explained: a new interface between us and others. Debates over whether social technologies cause “detachment” from reality miss the point that we are entering a new hybrid reality in which assumptions about authenticity are fundamentally challenged: Who is real? What is the line between physical and virtual? Do we each get to live our own version of the truth?

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/hybrid_reality_avatars_robotics_and_the_coming_human_technology_civilization_.html