Educational Technology

by JON MARCUS and HOLLY K. HACKER, Hechinger Report

There’s a campaign here to start a food bank for students who can’t afford food, even though many work full time. Many also are raising families. It’s a stark view of the reality of American higher education, in which rich kids go to elite private and flagship public campuses while poor kids — including those who score higher on standardized tests than their wealthier counterparts — end up at community colleges and regional public universities with much lower success rates, assuming they continue their educations at all. And new federal data analyzed by the Hechinger Report and the Huffington Post show the gap has been widening at a dramatically accelerating rate since the economic downturn began in 2008.

http://hechingerreport.org/the-socioeconomic-divide-on-americas-college-campuses-is-getting-wider-fast/

by Jacy Bradford, News OK

Now more than ever, consumers want to know the journey their food takes between the farm and the dining room table. For the second time, Bailey Norwood, professor in agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University, wants to share this process by hosting an online course that connects the agricultural science and the food people eat. The course, “Farm to Fork: A Panoramic View of Agriculture,” is a massive open online course, meaning it is open to anyone interested in the subject. The 16-week course is conducted completely online and focuses on different topics from week to week.

http://newsok.com/article/5467604

By Zhao Xinying (China Daily)

Online education has been developing rapidly in China in the past few years, with both the number of programs and the amount of financing growing at a high speed, a blue book has reported. The number of educational science and technology enterprises has been growing at 50 percent since 2013, a year dubbed by sources in the Chinese education industry as the first year of the online education era, according to the Blue Book on the Current Situation in China’s Educational Science and Technology which was released in early December. Compiled jointly by online education media jiemodui.com, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent as well as WaleyWorks Career Center, a company that provides services to job seekers and businesses, the blue book said the number of online education programs has surpassed 3,000 as of September. By November, financing in China’s online education rocketed to $1.76 billion in total.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/tech/2015-12/18/content_22741412.htm

by: Styliani Kounelaki, EDUCAUSE Review

This study investigated the potential for digital badges to certify and showcase the competencies students gain while participating in campus-based clubs. Thirty-one young professionals who were active in student clubs during college were asked about the value that digital badges might have had for their careers if the badges had been available when they were students. Most (58 percent) said that using digital badges to certify and highlight competencies gained through student club activities would have been useful as they entered the job market after college. Study participants’ views varied depending on their club experiences; those who focused on knowledge acquisition and leadership in their clubs were more favorable toward digital badges than those whose involvement emphasized professional networking.

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/12/digital-badges-certify-competencies-gained-through-student-clubs

by Jane Hammond, Daily Press

The division also offers a completely home-based system for kindergarten to eighth-grade students, while still being considered NNPS students. Students can also take their required economics and personal finance course online, outside of regular school hours. All Virginia students must take an online course as part of their graduation requirements. Next, Newport News wants to look at expanding its virtual options to help students accelerate their path to graduation. Finding ways to use technology to help students who cannot physically attend school is in the works. An expansion of the home-based system for high school students could be a possibility as well, depending on how a state pilot program pans out. Board members generally praised the division’s current virtual efforts, and student representative Morgan Ryan said she wish she’d known about taking her government course online.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/education/dp-nws-nn-school-board-1215-20151215-story.html

by Brandon Bernier, EDUCAUSE Review

The old saying is true: What got us here won’t get us there. Higher education is experiencing significant disruption, and those of us in the profession are watching as institutional models that have existed for centuries are coming into question and as colleges and universities look to adapt to an ever-changing landscape. Accountability demands from legislators, taxpayers, parents, and students have risen to new levels while costs for institutions continue to rise as well. In his EDUCAUSE Review article “The New Leadership Challenge,” Michael Kubit, deputy CIO at Case Western Reserve University, highlights the collision course ahead for the IT field: the higher education landscape is changing radically at the same time that a large number of CIOs are planning to retire in the next five to ten years.

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/10/the-next-gen-it-leader

by Monica Burns, Edutopia

Formative assessment is an important part of effective instruction. Teachers can use observations, checklists, and quick quizzes to gather data that will inform their instruction. Formative assessment identifies areas where students are excelling and struggling so that teachers can best alter their instruction to meet the needs of all students. Technology can make formative assessment a seamless part of everyday activities. Online tools and mobile devices can help teachers stay organized when collecting data that will make analyzing information easier and more meaningful. Formative assessment can take place throughout a unit of study during daily lessons that incorporate technology. As you examine the systems that work for you in your classroom, technology tools can make this process easier and seamless when used effectively.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/tech-friendly-formative-assessment-tools-monica-burns

by Whatech

Report delivers insight into the education PC and tablet market in the US to grow at an impressive CAGR of approximately 21% to 2020. The introduction of stringent government initiatives that focuses on the deployment of educational hardware in K-12 schools is expected to spur the adoption of PCs and tablets in the education sector during the forecast period. The K-12 educational segment accounted for more than 69% of the overall market share during the forecast period. The high popularity of blended learning in the K-12 segment is an important factor that impels the prospects for growth in this segment during the predicted period.

https://www.whatech.com/market-research/it/116032-report-delivers-insight-into-the-education-pc-and-tablet-market-in-the-us-to-grow-at-an-impressive-cagr-of-approximately-21-to-2020

by Rhonda Siebecker, Baraboo News Republic

Some Baraboo students will have the option of attending classes online after the Baraboo School Board approved a full-time virtual learning program Monday. Part-time online courses have been offered for several years at Baraboo schools, but the district is prepared to take it a step further. “The state now provides new flexibility that allows us to go full-time,” District Administrator Lori Mueller said. She said the full-time online education component is a “tiny sliver” of the school’s personalized learning strategic plan. Participants will be chosen by a “problem solving team” that will include online coordinator Shelly Gillmore, other school district officials and the student’s parents. They will be required to apply for the full-time virtual learning program by filling out a questionnaire.

http://www.wiscnews.com/baraboonewsrepublic/news/local/article_b94aa23d-5ef0-5eb4-a9cf-3da0ac130b4b.html

by eSchool News

As leader of one of the poorest school districts in the US, Dr. Darryl Adams is undaunted and tireless. His charge? Support 20,000 preK-12–100% qualify for free or reduced lunches and 60% are English language learners–spread over 1220 square miles in the Coachella Valley Unified School District. Faced with alarming graduation and college competition rates, low achievement, and rampant poverty in his district, Dr. Adams took a step-by-step approach to devising a truly 21st century learning environment.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/ercs/creating-21st-century-learning-environments/

by eSchool News

Chromebooks—the lightweight laptops that run software from the Internet instead of a local hard drive—have skyrocketed in popularity within the last few years. In the second half of 2014, Chromebooks surpassed iPads as the most popular devices sold to U.S. schools. Why have Chromebooks become so popular in education? What do you need to know before adopting chromebooks in your institution? Explore the information linked below to learn the greatest benefits and challenges to implementing Chromebooks in education—as well as best practices and keys to success.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/ercs/best-practices-for-chromebook-adoption/

By Converge Staff

The new National Education Technology Plan offers a vision and roadmap for technology-supported learning.  A new federal National Education Technology Plan reveals 21 recommendations for policymakers, administrators, teachers and teacher preparation professionals. The 2016 Plan, Future Ready Learning: Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education, articulates a vision of equity, active use, and collaborative leadership to make everywhere, all-the-time learning possible, according to the plan’s website. While acknowledging the continuing need to provide greater equity of access to technology itself, the plan goes further to call upon all involved in American education to ensure equity of access to transformational learning experiences enabled by technology.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/12/15/education-technology-recommendations-749/

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

An organization that monitors Internet connectivity to schools has reported that while 20 million additional students have been given access to high-speed Internet, a comparably high number “still don’t have the speeds they need.” EducationSuperHighway’s 2015 “State of the States” report has found that more than three-quarters of school districts (77 percent) meet the widely accepted goal of 100 Kbps per student. That count was only 30 percent in 2013. The remaining 23 percent of districts leave 21 million students lacking the connectivity required for digital learning.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2015/12/15/report-examines-school-internet-connectivity-state-by-state.aspx

By David Raths, Campus Technology

Do you think you have networking issues extending WiFi to remote parts of your campus? Try extending electric power and Internet service to the ocean floor three miles below the surface — the deepest Internet connection on the planet. That is the challenge the University of Hawaii had to overcome to support scientists doing sustained real-time observations in the deep ocean. Located 60 nautical miles north of the island of Oahu, the ALOHA Cabled Observatory (ACO) is the site of the long-term Hawaii Ocean Time-series open ocean measurement program, visited by research vessels 10 to 12 times each year since October 1988. Researchers use it to study ocean currents, salinity, plant and animal life, and geology.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/12/10/the-deepest-internet-connection-on-the-planet.aspx

by Melissa Tait, Tech Crunch

Consider, for instance, the University of Michigan is using VR technology to offer prospective student-athletes a behind-the-scenes look at the facilities and exciting game-day environment. This includes glimpses into fall camp, the stadiums and footage of the Oregon State football game — all of which offer an accurate and inclusive representation of a football player’s life at UM for a would-be student-athlete weighing his (perhaps numerous) college options. While some colleges use new technology to strategically draw prospective students, others use it purely as a means to generate buzz and lay the foundation for its potential application to the real world. By setting an aggressive pace for technology adoption, colleges around the country are pioneering the ways in which we will work and live. Students, having grown accustomed to using virtual reality, driverless cars and Google Glass in their college lives, will inevitably carry these tools to future jobs and their personal lives.

http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/12/college-campuses-are-the-new-test-facilities-for-emerging-technology/#.o1vp04r:gXtg

By Jin-Soo Huh, EdSurge

As someone tasked with supporting those who implement personalized learning, I have been reflecting on how to support first-year teachers who are both new to the classroom and new to a next generation model of teaching. These points are not groundbreaking, but they are best practices that coaches and instructional leaders have implemented for years. However, the focus on the shininess of online platforms and executing new models perfectly often leads us as instructional leaders to place a lesser priority on these strategies. Here’s what I’ve discovered works well.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-12-13-how-to-support-new-teachers-in-personalized-learning-and-minimize-the-disillusionment-phase

by JILL BARSHAY, Hechinger Report

Online course data show that video lectures are not the best way to learn. Koedinger didn’t study live lectures, but recorded ones that were part of a free online psychology class produced by the Georgia Institute of Technology. He and a team of four Carnegie Mellon researchers mined the data from almost 28,000 students who took the course over the Coursera platform for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). They found that video lecturers were the least effective way to learn. Students who primarily learned through watching video lectures did the worst both on the 11 quizzes during the 12-week course and on the final exam. Students who primarily learned through reading, or a combination of reading and video lectures, did a bit better, but not much. The students who did the best were those who clicked on interactive exercises.

http://hechingerreport.org/data-mining-shows-that-recorded-video-lectures-are-the-least-effective-way-to-learn/

By Michael Hart, Campus Technology

In September, Stanford University launched a new minor in digital humanities, intended to combine digital tools with research and exploration of history, literature, languages and other humanities topics. Students in the minor can choose one of three focuses: geospacial humanities, text technologies or quantitative textual analysis. Each track has a corresponding introductory class that is partly method-based but also incorporates the larger themes of the digital humanities. The minor requires students to complete 20 units, including one core class of five units and five other courses with a minimum of three units each. Examples of course titles include “The Digital Middle Ages,” “Poetry and the Internet” and “Technologies of Enlightenment.” More than 70 courses throughout the university satisfy requirements for the minor, including those offered by the linguistics, history, management science and Earth sciences departments.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/12/14/stanford-now-offers-minor-in-digital-humanities.aspx

By Dennis Pierce, eSchool News

The Every Student Succeeds Act includes block grants intended for technology, among other uses. Eight years after the No Child Left Behind Act was supposed to expire, Congress finally passed a bill to replace it—the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)—that gives states more latitude in deciding how to close achievement gaps. The legislation also includes a sizeable state block-grant program intended for technology, among other uses. Although it’s not the program that ed-tech advocates had hoped for, many expressed cautious optimism that a section of ESSA under Title IV (“21st Century Schools”) could help schools use technology tools to transform teaching and learning.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/12/10/essa-ed-tech-561/

By Leila Meyer, Campus Technology

The University of Maryland hosted a demonstration of its new virtual and augmented reality laboratory recently, showing off the lab’s potential to support research, education and training in the sciences, engineering, medicine and industry. The lab, called the Augmentarium, is housed in a 1,000 square foot facility at the University of Maryland’s College Park campus. It opened in December 2014 with the help of more than $1 million in funding, including a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The Augmentarium features both virtual and augmented reality technology.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/12/07/university-of-maryland-uses-virtual-reality-lab-for-research-and-education.aspx

By Charity Lindsey, Desert Dispatch

With one out of every four students reporting being bullied during the school year, according to StopBullying.gov, online school has become an ideal option for some families. Such was the case for one Hesperia family. Hiers said that after many meetings with Joel’s teacher, the principal and school district officials, all that she was told was that “they’d investigate it.” “I told the school I started paperwork to get him in CAVA,” Hiers said, referring to Joel’s current online school, California Virtual Academies. “A child cannot learn anything if they’re worried about someone trying to hit them.” Joel began at CAVA this school year, and Hiers said that since then he’s become “a much happier kid.”

http://www.desertdispatch.com/article/20151212/NEWS/151219978