How to Survive a Cyberattack

By Phil Hardin, THE Journal

Here’s how a North Carolina district responded to a denial-of-service attack that came from one of its own schools. At 7:45 a.m. on Monday, April 8, 2013, 23,000 network users in the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s 35 schools were accessing their Web-based curriculum resources and administrative applications when suddenly all Internet connectivity stopped. The outage lasted for about an hour. Teachers had to quickly switch their lessons to a Plan B, since most had components that required Internet access. Internet connectivity returned briefly, but suddenly went down again for another hour. The Internet would go down for a third time before school ended.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/07/16/how-to-survive-a-cyberattack.aspx

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10 ways to tell you’re a tech-savvy educator

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

Technology is a necessary part of formal and informal learning today. After all, students will need tech skills as they move into college and the workforce. Using tech in the classroom today will help students develop and build those essential tech skills so that they can compete on a global scale. What does it mean to be a tech-savvy educator? Research and studies point to 10 distinguishing characteristics [2].

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/07/21/tech-savvy-educator-032/

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3 secrets to a successful digital transformation

By Frank Portanova, eSchool News

In just one year of becoming all-digital, the Stepinac academic probation rate was cut in half. During the 2013-2014 school year, Archbishop Stepinac High School became an all-digital high school, with each of its 700 students utilizing a fully digital textbook library with more than 40 academic textbooks. This transformation has driven efficiencies in our school, created a more personalized learning environment for our students and, most importantly, has positively impacted student outcomes. I have highlighted three of the most valuable lessons we learned.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/07/22/school-digital-transformation-395/

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Next Mars Rover Will Have Better Lasers and X-Ray Vision

NASA announced today that its next Mars rover will have advanced cameras, more sophisticated lasers, and the ability to see underground as it explores the Red Planet starting in 2020. The mission, currently being called the Mars 2020 rover (until NASA can give it a better name), is a twin of the Curiosity rover currently […]

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/3d0fcc6a/sc/28/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A70Cnew0Emars0Erover0Einstruments0C/story01.htm

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Scientists Uncover a Surprising World of Microbes in Cheese Rind

The rind of good cheese is a thriving microbial community. A single gram—a tiny crumb—of cheese rind contains 10 billion microbial cells, a mix of bacteria and fungi that contribute delicious and sometimes funky flavors. But even though humans have been making cheese for thousands of years, we know very little about what all those […]

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/3d0c63d6/sc/14/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A70Ccheese0Erind0Emicrobes0C/story01.htm

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Science Graphic of the Week: Jupiter’s Huge, Crazy Magnetic Field

The image above shows a simulation of Jupiter’s magnetic field, whose intricate complexities make it extremely difficult to accurately model. While it may look like the gas giant is vomiting up some enormous space worms, the visualization is actually capturing details of the gas giant’s magnetism with greater precision than ever before. Everything’s bigger about […]

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/3d0c63e1/sc/4/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A70Cscience0Egraphic0Ejupiter0Emagnetic0Efield0C/story01.htm

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Open online courses: Ready to be MOOCed?

By Muhammad Adil Mulki, Adnan Rizvi; the Express Tribune

The concept of online learning is fast picking up an audience, which is evident from the spike in enrollment numbers for MOOCs that have escalated from a million in 2012 to over 10 million as of date. The list of subjects offered through MOOCs is extensive, including everything from psychology to computer science to astronomy and history. The primary components of MOOCs include video lectures, virtual group projects, peer-to-peer assessments and social meet-ups for students belonging to the same geographical area. Timings are flexible and a course can be taken at whatever time is best suited to the student. Moreover, some platforms, such as Coursera, have also added a further option of sub-titling and closed captioning for disabled students. While there is no substitute for live, person-to-person interaction between an instructor and a student, the structure and precision with which MOOCs are designed and delivered compensate for that missing element substantially.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/736471/open-online-courses-ready-to-be-mooced/

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Accessibility-as-a-Service in Georgia

by David Raths, Campus Technology

As faculty members add online and multimedia elements to their courses, colleges and universities across the country continue to struggle to ensure that disabled students (and employees) have equal access to course material and university Web sites. But by taking a centralized approach, the State of Georgia finds itself in an enviable position. Its AMAC Accessibility Solutions and Research Center, situated in the Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture, has grown into a hub for training, technical assistance and manufacture of hard-copy textbooks and publisher files into accessible media, for universities in Georgia and across the country.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/07/16/accessibility-as-a-service-in-georgia.aspx

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Wearable Learning

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

When you think about the learning potential of wearable technology, the first thing that typically comes to mind is students, well, wearing it. A student might use a head-mounted GoPro camera to film a first-person narrative, or perform chemistry experiments informed by a Google Glass overlay. Along the same lines, most of the futurist thinking regarding wearables seems to revolve around what can be done with the hardware: how students can engage by wearing the devices.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/07/17/wearable-learning.aspx

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9 Things to Know About Reviving the Recently Dead

In 1986, a two-and-a-half year-old girl named Michelle Funk fell into a stream and drowned. By the time paramedics found her, she hadn’t been breathing for more than an hour. Her heart was stopped. In other words, she was dead. Somewhat inexplicably, the paramedics continued to work on her, and so did doctors in the […]

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/3d033f21/sc/38/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A70Crevive0Ethe0Edead0C/story01.htm

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Fantastically Wrong: The Angry, Enormous Eagle That Could Carry Off Elephants

On the 556th evening of successfully not being murdered by her chucklehead king of a husband in the Arabian Nights, Scheherazade relates the tale of Sinbad’s tanglings with a beast most cruel. Sailing from city to city with merchants, Sinbad eventually comes to a deserted island, where he spies a huge white dome half buried […]

















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The pros and cons of open technology

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

Campuses are moving into the future…and professors may be rejoicing. It’s not just the high cost of textbooks that have libraries scrambling to provide open education (OER) resources. As professors look at alternative options to retain copyright on printed works, and campuses look to expand community partnerships while decreasing budget, going open has never looked so good. According to a new report, “Open Education Resources: The New Paradigm in Academic Libraries,” by Carmen Mitchell and Melanie Chu of California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) [published in the Journal of Library Innovation, Vol. 5, Issue 1, 2014], a combination of factors have converged to make the use of open resources integral to campuses across the country.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/pros-cons-open-813/

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Google and Udacity want you “thinking like a Developer”

by Nate Swanner, SlashGear

Google is practicing their own version of Inception. Three Developer Advocates from the company are using an app to teach you how to make apps. A new, free course on Udacity, called “Developing Android Apps: Android Fundamentals”, teaches you all you need to know in starting your path toward app development. Like any good tutorial, the aim is teaching you how to think like an Android Developer, not simply run you through coding exercises. The course will also school users on the history of Android, and give them insight on the current (and evolving) face of Android development.

http://www.slashgear.com/google-and-udacity-want-you-thinking-like-a-developer-15337395/

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EdX inks deal with Saudi Arabia and women are among those said to benefit

by Mary Moore, Boston Business Journal

The courses will start with a pilot program for Saudi women, youth, the disabled and citizens in rural areas, the press release said. These groups will be the ones likely to realize the greatest opportunity as a result of the new MOOC because they will have access to education, which can “advance their careers,” the release said. “Through extending educational opportunity to the people of Saudi Arabia, the initiative will help provide the skills necessary for economic empowerment,” said Anant Agarwal, CEO, edX, in a prepared statement.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2014/07/15/edx-inks-deal-with-saudi-arabia-and-women-areamong.html

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These Medical Apps Have Doctors and the FDA Worried

Iltifat Husain has seen an awful lot of sickness and injury during his time as an emergency room doctor, but lately, he’s worried about something new. He’s worried about the ill effects of mobile healthcare apps. There are hundreds of medically themed apps in Apple’s App Store and Google Play, and by most accounts, they’ve […]

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/3cf8b65c/sc/4/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A70Cmedical0Iapps0C/story01.htm

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How (And Why) Visual Design Matters In e-Learning

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

The use of visual, engaging content is a regular topic around these parts, isn’t it. Getting your students interested and keeping them engaged is a challenge for every teacher in every subject and at every age level. That said, when you’re putting together your class materials, do you give a ton of thought to how things look? The answer is probably yes – with an overwhelming answer being that obviously, content matters more. That said, the handy infographic linked below proposes using the laws of visual perception -aka the Gestalt principles – in e-learning design.

http://www.edudemic.com/visual-design-matters-in-e-learning/

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12 STEM resources for all grades

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

These sites are intended to help students strengthen much-needed STEM skills. In classrooms across the nation, STEM education is hailed as one of the most important concepts for today’s students. After all, STEM know-how, coupled with skills such as problem solving and strong communication, will help students compete with peers on a global level. We’ve compiled a list of STEM websites for elementary, middle, and high school students. Each grade range features one science, one technology, one engineering, and one mathematics resource.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/07/17/12-stem-resources-326/

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3 Ways EdTech Is Moving Beyond the Classroom

By Joel Sackett, Edudemic

New tools are meant to help improve educators’ teaching abilities, help enhance the actual learning process and also help students become more tech-savvy. But while such tools are important to the overall education ecosystem, technology can also make an impact long before and after a lesson takes place. As such, technology should have a leading role in the part of the education process that takes place behind the scenes – parts of the process that are often overlooked, but that can also improve student achievement and learning outcomes. Let’s take a quick look are three such areas: human resources, professional development and improved IT infrastructure.

http://www.edudemic.com/edtech-classroom/

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Watch Live: Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower Lights Up the Night Sky

[HTML1] You can watch the spectacular night sky show of the Delta Aquarid meteor shower with a live online broadcast from the Slooh Space Camera, starting tonight at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET. Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the debris left behind by a comet as it swung in close to the […]

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/3cf47fc2/sc/10/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A70Cwatch0Elive0Edelta0Eaquarids0C/story01.htm

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