Marking (Grading) Essays

by Brian Martin, Tomorrow’s Professor

In making marking more enjoyable, I also hope to make learning more enjoyable for students. By getting students to do more work on their own and tackle unorthodox assignments, I hope to encourage student creativity and initiative. I remind myself that for the teacher to work hard often is not all that relevant to student learning. Students learn more when they work hard, and they are more likely to work hard on an interesting assignment. When the assignment is interesting to both students and the teacher, it is a win-win solution.

http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/enewsletter.php?msgno=1360

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Easy steps to OER creation

By Laura Devaney, Managing Editor,eSchool News

Creating and using OER isn’t as complicated as some educators might believe. Open educational resources (OER) offer educators a chance to align learning materials to students’ needs–and teachers can create their own OER through a surprisingly straightforward process, using materials they likely have in abundance in their classrooms. OER are commonly considered resources that are freely shared and able to be modified and redistributed. Educators can use OER in small bits to supplement textbooks or other learning resources, or they can use OER to replace traditional textbooks and revamp classroom instruction. This “grass-roots, bottom-up” approach to content creation enables educators to tailor content to meet students’ needs,” said Tyler DeWitt, a MIT Ph.D. student and a student coordinator for the new MIT+K12 video outreach project, during a Connected Educator Month edWeb webinar.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/10/16/easy-oer-creation-423/

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Using Multimedia Technology for Teaching Social and Life Skills

by Maurice Ellias, Edutopia

Take a good story, make it into an illustrated book, develop a curriculum, shoot videos of kids in action, add a website, create an app, ground it all in rigorous research and this may be the formula for the next wave of social and life-skills-related instruction.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/using-multimedia-technology-teaching-social-and-life-skills-maurice-elias

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Real-Time Classroom Feedback Enhances Flipped Learning at Temple College

By Leila Meyer, Campus Technology

Terry Austin, an instructor of anatomy and physiology at Temple College in Texas teaches several online courses, as well as one face-to-face course that he describes as a hybrid between an online and traditional course. “It’s not 100 percent flipped, but a significant portion of the class is flipped,” he said. His students watch short lecture videos at home, and then they log on to Learning Catalytics to answer a few questions about the concept covered in the video lecture. When the students return to class the next day, they get together in small groups to discuss the same questions and submit group answers. “It makes for some really interesting discussions,” said Austin.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/10/15/real-time-classroom-feedback-enhances-flipped-learning-at-temple-college.aspx

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Report: New revelations about campus IT trends

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

Survey provides a national snapshot of campus IT spending, cloud tech, and outlook for the future. Almost one in every five dollars spent on campus IT investments are made outside of centralized IT; in other words, almost $4 billion is spent in non-managed, non-measured, and redundant IT spending each year on campus technology. This is just one of many illuminating findings of a recent MeriTalk survey—sponsored by VMware and Carahsoft—of over 150 IT professionals at public and private institutions across the U.S.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/campus-it-trends-096/

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HP hopes its breakup will benefit higher ed

by eCampus News

Ed-tech consultant Mitch Weisburgh of Academic Business Advisors said he likes the company’s move. “I think that this could bode really well for the two entities and also for schools and [colleges],” he said. “Printers and PCs are a commodity business. HP Inc. can concentrate on driving down costs and increasing value, which should result in lower-cost devices.” At the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference in Atlanta in June, HP showed its new EliteBook line of devices, running Windows 8.1—including the EliteBook Revolve, a notebook computer that converts to a tablet, and the EliteBook 840, which reportedly features up to 33 hours of battery life thanks to an accessory battery stored under the device. HP has positioned these devices as more versatile options for schools looking for the convenience of a tablet combined with the productivity of a laptop.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/hp-breakup-ed-536/

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Learning about art via smartphone

by Meg McConahey, Press Democrat

College students who are more comfortable browsing the web than stacks of books can now research the artworks on display in Santa Rosa Junior College’s Doyle Library simply by pointing their phones at them. The new Art Talk uses smart phone technology to make fine art accessible to a new generation of what writer Marc Prensky dubbed “digital natives,” students who never knew a world without home computers and the Internet. SRJC librarians Alicia Virtue and Loretta Esparza created the online gallery to better engage students with the library’s extensive collection of fine art, all done by current or former faculty members.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/2919598-181/learning-about-art-via-smartphone

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Coding with the kindergarten crowd

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

Introducing coding to kindergarten students helps them reflect on their own learning as they develop 21st-century skills such as problem solving and creativity, experts say. Coding has emerged as one of the most popular learning trends in recent years, and when it comes to programming, young students are proving just as capable as older students. Studies suggest that engaging students in STEM and computer-based learning at an early age will help students retain their interest as those subjects become more challenging in high school and college, and it is this line of thinking that has prompted such early introductions to coding concepts. Teaching coding in kindergarten helps young students learn important creativity and problem-solving skills that will position them for success as they move through school, said Amanda Strawhacker, DevTech Research Group lab manager and research scientist on the ScratchJr Project at Tufts University, during an edWeb webinar on kindergarten coding.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/10/10/coding-in-kindergarten-653/

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Code.org and Industry Leaders Rally to Champion More Diversity in Tech

by Seattle PI

29 prominent CEOs of leading global companies, from tech to retail to financial services, join forces for the first time to help introduce 100 million students worldwide to basic computer science concepts by asking their employees to support the international Hour of Code campaign. Taking place during Computer Science Education Week, December 8-14, Hour of Code is a campaign organized by Code.org to demystify coding by teaching students of all ages that anyone can learn the basics of computer science. To galvanize support of Hour of Code beyond industry partners and to further its mission to provide every student access to computer science education, Code.org today launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo with a goal to raise $5M to support this effort, the largest nonprofit fundraising campaign in the site’s history.

http://www.seattlepi.com/business/press-releases/article/Code-org-and-Industry-Leaders-Rally-to-Champion-5809111.php

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Four tips to manage mobile classrooms

By Laura Devaney, eSchoolNews

Promoting access while maintaining student safety can prove challenging for educators. As classrooms change with the evolution of mobile technology, classroom management strategies must adjust to walk the line between keeping students on task and giving students freedom to use their mobile devices for learning. Focusing on four classroom management components may help educators as they strive to incorporate mobile devices into teaching and learning while meeting the challenge of minimizing device distractions.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/10/08/manage-mobile-classrooms-830/

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The Top 10 IT Issues in Higher Ed for 2015

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Education

These issues highlight three major trends: “Inflection point,” “from technical to business” and “the new normal.” The “inflection point” issues have finally reached a place where universities need to move from talk to action. Issues in the “from technical to business” trend highlight the increasing importance of technology in university business operations. And “the new normal” issues reflect that day-to-day operations are strategic. This annual list comes out of an EDUCAUSE IT panel made up of higher education leaders who identify the top strategic priorities for their institutions.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/The-Top-10-IT-Issues-in-Higher-Ed-for-2015.html

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Virtual field trips key to innovative teaching for ASU scientist

by Arizona State University

ASU Professor Ariel Anbar has put much effort into developing a series of immersive virtual field trips (iVFTs) in conjunction with ASU education technologist Geoffrey Bruce and ASU associate professor Steven Semken, and various geoscience colleagues around the world. Their efforts are supported in part by NASA and by the NSF. The project is now extending beyond geoscience, with faculty from other fields developing field trips using the same technology framework. For Anbar, each virtual field trip can “provide at least some of the gains you would get out of a real field trip,” but they are accessible to many more students, and at far less cost, than a comparable physical trip.

https://asunews.asu.edu/20141003-anbar-virtual-field-trips

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Report urges support for girls’ leadership roles

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

Creating a pipeline of girls who are interested in leadership roles in school is essential. Educators are uniquely positions to help girls assume leadership roles and overcome stereotypes both in and out of school, according to a new report from the National Education Association (NEA). Educator support in helping girls take on leadership roles is essential, especially in middle and high school. The report, based on 2014 NEA survey data, recommends several actions to help educators close the leadership gender gap.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/10/02/girls-leadership-roles-549/

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How To Bridge the IT Communication Gap

By Michael Hart0, Campus Technology

A little finesse goes a long way in communicating with tech-challenged users — and more important, it can bolster IT’s strategic role across the university.You’ve spent hours on the phone with a user whose problem, you finally discover, is nowhere close to what he has been describing to you. Or you’ve gotten that excited call from a professor who has just learned about “the most amazing technology ever” and wants you to get it for her “immediately.” (Never mind that the technology costs a mint or won’t actually suit her needs!) Every IT professional at a higher education institution has had these experiences. It doesn’t matter if you’re a one-person team at a small community college or part of a massive IT department at a major university. Failed communication is just one symptom of the chasm that sometimes exists between IT professionals and the faculty, students and administrators they serve.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/09/25/how-to-bridge-the-it-communication-gap.aspx

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Use These Classroom Upgrades to Revolutionize the School Day

By Edudemic

Contemporary classrooms have moved far beyond the worlds of pen and paper. Many technological advances are helping teachers everywhere engage and educate students of all ages and abilities like never before. Take a look at some of the best recent innovations that you can use to revolutionize your classroom. Begin with Google Drive.

http://www.edudemic.com/use-classroom-upgrades-revolutionize-school-day/

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Are you Ready for Online Learning?

by Arthur F. Kirk, Huffington Post

A question that prospective online students often ask us is “how do I know if I’m ready for an online course?” For adult students who may be juggling full-time jobs, families or other obligations the answer almost always involves time commitment. Online classes offer more flexibility, but flexibility does not mean less rigor. In fact, an online degree program can sometimes be more challenging than the traditional classroom. So, how do you know if you are a good candidate for an online class? Consider these 10 tips before enrolling.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-arthur-f-kirk-jr/are-you-ready-for-online-_b_5900886.html

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Student computer use raises privacy questions

by Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune

School districts moving to “one-to-one” programs, which provide students with computers they can take home, increasingly find their officials navigating new cyber territory, aiming to keep students safe while juggling privacy issues as advances in technology increase their ability to monitor their students’ online work at all hours. In Barrington, District 220 officials field emails sent by “cyber security agents” hired to monitor student activity, alerting them to inappropriate words or suspicious phrases that can indicate such things as sexting or bullying. “There is going to be some difficulty in balancing the rights of student privacy against the legitimate rights of the school to understand how the devices are being used,” said Jacqueline Wernz, a lawyer with the Chicago firm Franczek Radelet. For school districts, she said, “it might be a matter of protecting themselves.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-school-tablets-privacy-met-20140928-story.html#page=1

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Wikipedia grows up on college campuses

By Bruce Maiman, eCampus News

A trusted bromide in academia is that you become a better student when you become a teacher. Gradually and informally, educators who repeatedly warned students to avoid Wikipedia like the plague began making it part of their course curriculum, assigning students to contribute content, either by writing original Wikipedia articles or editing existing ones. Since the program’s launch in 2010, nearly 10,000 students in some 500 classes have contributed 44,000 printed pages of content, editing thousands of existing articles and creating 1,900 new ones, all of it overseen by academics while students get credit. Participating schools run the gamut from Ivy League to community college. The California contingent includes Berkeley, Davis and San Francisco, the California Maritime Academy and Pomona College.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/wikipedia-grows-college-campuses/

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School stakeholders urge FCC to adopt net neutrality

by eSchool News

An overwhelming majority of comments from education stakeholders pushed for stronger net neutrality rules. Letting broadband companies charge more for content providers to stream their services at faster speeds threatens ed-tech innovation, thousands of school stakeholders argue. The Federal Communications Commission’s latest “net neutrality” proposal has stirred controversy because it would allow companies like Google, Netflix, and Skype to pay extra to ensure faster transmission of their content online. But this proposal threatens the existence of smaller companies that can’t afford to pay these higher rates, many critics say—including ed-tech startups that don’t have the resources of larger, more established competitors.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/09/26/fcc-net-neutrality-534/

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Five-Minute Film Festival: Culturally Responsive Teaching

by Keyana Stevens, Edutopia

The changing racial and cultural landscape of America is certainly a much-discussed topic — some researchers studying U.S. Census data and demographics even say that America could be a “minority majority” country as early as 2050. While the barriers between countries continue to come down, and globalization continues, how can teachers address the needs of students from a variety of cultural backgrounds and upbringings? This collection of videos introduces culturally responsive teaching (CRT), and includes some techniques that you can use to help students from diverse backgrounds succeed together.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/five-minute-film-festival-culturally-responsive-teaching

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