Start a Reading Revolution: Flip Your Class With Blogs

by Brian Sztabnik, Edutopia

I realized that the traditional English experience needed to be turned upside down. Students should have an opportunity to read in class and a choice in what they read. Rather than answer teacher-generated questions on a study guide, students should be empowered to write what they want in the format they deem fit. My flip, which I first explored two years ago, did all of these things, and created a contagious atmosphere of passionate readers. Its two cornerstones are choice and blogs. This approach has completely changed the way I teach reading, with my students repeatedly saying that it was the best and most important unit of the year.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flip-ela-class-with-blogs-brian-sztabnik

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An ‘unhackable’ system for securing campus data?

By Dennis Pierce, eCampusNews

New Hampshire-based company EduLok promotes a two-pronged approach to safeguarding sensitive data, data-security. With data security breaches continuing to plague higher education, a New Hampshire company called EduLok is promoting what it calls an “unhackable” system for safeguarding sensitive information. EduLok’s new system, announced in August, reportedly takes a two-pronged approach to securing campus networks and data: (1) It fragments the information stored in campus databases and disperses it across multiple EduLok servers located around the world, and (2) it requires multifactor authentication for students and staff to retrieve this information. EduLok says its system eliminates the need for user names and passwords, which can be cumbersome to remember and easily hacked. Instead, students and staff would use a PassKey—either a USB token or a mobile app—and a Personal Identification Number to access the data.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/unhackable-campus-data-803/

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Ubiquitous Everything and Then Some

by Mara Hancock, EDUCAUSE Review Online

The media is buzzing about the “Internet of Everything.” The term ubiquitous computing became old-school before it even became reality, replaced by the Internet of Everything (IoE), aka the Internet of Things (IoT). This new conceptual framework—which essentially refers to the interconnectivity of devices, data, and people to one another and to the Internet—offers a rapidly evolving foundation on which to conjecture about the impact this connected technology will have on the future of society, learning, and education. Since 2008, the number of physical items connected to the Internet has exceeded the number of people on earth.¹ Sensors are embedded in the phones in our pockets and also in common consumer devices such as refrigerators and cars; in addition, stand-alone sensors can be placed throughout our environment and set to communicate to our phones, clothes, watches, or jewelry. Campuses are now dealing not only with bring your own device (BYOD) but also with bring your own sensor (BYOS)!

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/ubiquitous-everything-and-then-some

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5 Ways to Use Integrated Google Drive Apps for Group Projects

by Leah Levy, Edudemic

Google Drive empowers teachers as they use Google Docs to provide real time feedback. It also helps students engage in discourse via Google Moderator, and provides project participants a platform for brainstorming remotely on Google Hangouts. But Google Drive’s power doesn’t lie solely in its own features. In fact, it is Drive’s integration with third party apps that really empower student collaboration. In this post, we’ll explore 5 creative ways to use integrated apps for group projects.

http://edudemic.com/5-ways-use-integrated-google-drive-apps-group-projects/

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New level of courses now offered on edX: Paid, Professional / Continuing Education

by eCampus News

Thanks to universities looking to diversify [and monetize] their online offerings, edX is starting to host for-credit, for-a-fee, and job market-targeted courses to recent graduates. One of the first institutions to embark on this new level of course on edX, Rice University will offer three professional education courses in conjunction with the online education provider. Subjects will include energy sustainability, laboratory safety and health care in the digital environment, and the courses will begin in 2015 or 2016. Unlike free massive open online courses (MOOCs), participants will pay a fee to take these courses, build their professional knowledge and skills and earn certificates and/or continuing education credits. The courses are intended for recent graduates entering the workforce and current professionals seeking to advance their careers or transition into a new field.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/edx-rice-fee-781/

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How one school set up 600 iPad Air tablets in 2.5 hours

By Fredy Padovan, eSchool News

Through our innovations using iPad Air tablets, students definitely have a bright future ahead of them. Imagine a school where paper is a dying species. Imagine virtual science labs that are making experiments possible that were previously deemed too expensive. Imagine unlimited resources and information at every student’s fingertips. This school exists, and it goes by the name of Immaculata-La Salle High School. Our private Catholic school, which serves more than 800 students as a member of the Archdiocese of Miami, is extending the possibilities of technology. Many people think of iPads in education as devices that need to be locked down. But at Immaculata-La Salle, we’re doing things a bit differently.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/10/10/school-ipad-tablets-422/

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MIT to offer free online courses in game design, ed tech

by Greg Toppo, USATODAY

The place where the video game was invented more than 50 years ago now wants to teach teachers, entrepreneurs and students how to design games for the learning — and it is hoping that the end result will be a new kind of tech tool for the classroom. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology today begins a free series of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, beginning with one on the design and development of educational technology. The second course, which begins Oct. 22, focuses on game design. Two upcoming courses will focus on educational games and implementing ed tech.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2014/10/08/mit-moocs-free-video-game-courses/16876395/

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Game-Based Learning: Resource Roundup

by Edutopia

Check out this metasite for gaming, simulation and related technologies by Edutopia. Resources include:

Games in the Classroom

Tips and Tools to Get Started

Using Games for Learning and Assessment

Engaging Students With Innovative Programs

Games for Social Good

Straightforward Gamification Strategies

Additional Resources on the Web

http://www.edutopia.org/game-based-learning-resources

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So last century: traditional teachers to be obsolete by 2030, WISE summit hears

by: StephenExley, TES Connect

Fewer than half (42 per cent) of the global specialists polled by the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) believe that academic knowledge will remain a fundamental part of education in 15 years’ time. A similar proportion (43 per cent) of the 600 experts surveyed believe that the most important source of knowledge will be online learning, with fewer than a third (29 per cent) expecting that the physical school building will remain the primary location for learning. Accordingly, fewer than a fifth (19 per cent) of those surveyed argue that a teacher’s most important task will be to “deliver knowledge”. Almost three-quarters (73 per cent) say the job will instead entail “guiding students along their autonomous learning paths”.

http://news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2014/10/02/schools-and-teachers-could-be-obsolete-by-2030-experts-predict.aspx

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Online class gives high school students a taste of college

by Valorie Eversole, Daily Union Editor

Windsor High School seniors have a chance to learn what it’s like to take an online college class. This is the first year a college bound English literature course has been offered as an alternative to English 4 at the school. The course also frees students’ schedules so they make take another course. English instructor Shanna House has received training for instructing an online class. She said the students have received the online class well. The course requires independent work and projects and yet get the one-on-one feedback.

http://www.shelbyvilledailyunion.com/community/education/article_0cf8a914-48d2-11e4-a27c-dfbe357cbbca.html

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How To Bridge the IT Communication Gap

By Michael Hart, 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. Failed communication is just one symptom of the chasm that sometimes exists between IT professionals and the faculty, students and administrators they serve. And while it’s tempting to blame the user, the truth is it’s up to IT to find a way to get the right messages across. “You’ve got to go to where people stand,” exhorted Joanna Young, vice president and CIO at Michigan State University. In other words, put yourself in the user’s shoes; listen as much as you talk or fix; and learn how to speak on his terms.

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

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Blended learning comes to Tift County classrooms

by Tifton Gazette

Changes in technology are changing the way we educate students. This school year marks the beginning of a new program that allows Tift County students to learn online. Blended learning is a new format in which students are taking online classes, but are doing so in a classroom with a Tift County teacher. Blended courses allow students to take advantage of the flexibility and convenience of an online course while retaining the benefits of face-to-face classroom experiences with a certified classroom teachers. It allows students to experience components of online learning, while maintaining the social and instructional interactions that may not readily lend themselves to online delivery, such as lab assignments.

http://www.tiftongazette.com/news/article_acaf2a98-440c-11e4-b748-8f43281ef335.html

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The Top 5 Blended And Flipped Classroom Tools

By Hardik Parikh, Edudemic

Blended and Flipped Classrooms can give students more control over their learning path. Added to that, the teachers get more insight into the learning of the class and can intervene as required. Technology plays an important role in blending the classrooms. User-friendly technology ensures that the student has more control over the time, place and pace of the curriculum. It also ensures that the teacher has the necessary visibility and tools to intervene effectively.

http://www.edudemic.com/blended-and-flipped-classroom-tools/

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From Cell Phone Bans to BYOD

By Christopher Piehler, THE Journal

Christopher PiehlerA couple of years ago, the first and last word in mobile devices for education was “iPad.” The Apple tablet’s dominance of the ed tech market has been gradually eroded by an armada of Android and Microsoft tablets boasting lower prices, easier enterprise management and integrated access to the Google or Windows cloud ecosystems. These days, though, with districts across the country preparing for online assessments that require keyboards, it’s no coincidence that the most-purchased category of device is the notebook, with the Chromebook especially popular. But the era of one device dominating classrooms is over.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/09/17/from-phone-bans-to-byod.aspx

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Weston High behind new online learning initiative

by Weston Town Crier

EdX, the online learning venture founded by Harvard and MIT, recently announced a new high school initiative – 26 MOOCs (massive open online courses) in a wide variety of subjects geared to high school students around the world. Three of the selected 26 MOOCs were developed by Weston High School and are featured on edx.org, among courses developed by other leading high school and university institutions like MIT, University of Texas at Austin, Rice, University of California at Berkeley and more. Covering subject areas that range from mathematics to science, English and history, and even college advising and AP onramps, edX high school MOOCs will provide students within the U.S. and around the world the opportunity to pursue challenging, advanced coursework.

http://weston.wickedlocal.com/article/20140919/NEWS/140916638/12423/NEWS

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Education pathways: K-12 students find success in virtual school

by BPT, Tompkinsville News

With more school choices than ever and the evolution of technology, students are redefining their own pathway to a successful K-12 education. More families are building complete, harmonious educational experiences for their children by choosing schools that meet their needs at a point in time – whether the school is traditional brick and mortar, private or charter. Over the past decade, families have added fully online and blended schools to their list of options – making online learning one of the fastest growing forms of education in the U.S. today. According to the national report, “Keeping Pace with K-12 Online & Blended Learning,” in the 2012-13 school year, roughly 310,000 American students in kindergarten through 12th grades attended fully online public schools.

http://www.tompkinsvillenews.com/40103/2153/onlinefeature/465739/education-pathways-k12-students-find-success-in-virtual-school

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11 Simple Ways To Start Using Technology In Your Classroom

By Jeff Dunn, Edudemic

If you’re on the education technology fence, you probably can’t decide which device or app is the best one to really use. You aren’t sure if you want to jump into the edtech pool with Evernote, Moodle, an iPad, a Chromebook, or some other hot new product or service. That’s because there are an overwhelmingly large number of options out there. What if there was some sort of time-saving handy visual that could help you dream up nearly a dozen new ways to use technology in your classroom? That’s exactly what you’ve got with this fabulous graphic linked below.

http://www.edudemic.com/11-simple-ways-start-using-technology-classroom/

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Social Media Class Tackles Political Campaigning

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Ed

Students in NYU’s Social Media in Politics class will be campaigning for mayor online rather than in traditional TV and radio forms of communication. Politics is in the air in NYU Land, and three candidates are planning the race of their lives to defeat the incumbent mayor this fall. While NYU Land only exists in social media, its presence there lays a foundation for real citizens to run for office. And adjunct professor Mike Fraietta hopes that his Social Media in Politics online course will shake up political campaigning. “Politics itself is way behind, and it hasn’t been disrupted as much as other industries have,” Fraietta said. “If I could help educate others so that politics in general can move forward, I’d be a much happier person.”

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/Social-Media-Class-Tackles-Political-Campaigning.html

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CTE sheds its stigma

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

Instead of being dismissed as the class for low-achieving or behaviorally-challenged students, CTE has emerged as a way for students to develop practical skills while participating in rigorous and high-quality courses. In fact, 94 percent of high school students are part of CTE—and this doesn’t include the millions of postsecondary students who also are enrolled in CTE programs, according to the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE). Students who focus on CTE programs have an average high school graduation rate of 90 percent, compared to an average national freshmen graduation rate of 75 percent, according to ACTE data.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/09/12/cte-sheds-stigma-834/

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Choosing the right apps for cognitive success

By Roxann Riskin, eCampus News

The current trend of mobile app adoption has potential benefits in teaching and learning for students with cognitive impairment, like brain injury. Here’s how; some apps have the potential to help with memory and cognitive skills. Apps for students with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) include a well-respected application which is now in app form, named Dragon Dictation. Dragon has been available for many years, mainly in the medical and legal professions, however, in education, it is also known as one of the best voice recognition programs that allow students to speak and instantly see the words on the computer. “Features include, voice-to-text transcriptions that may be sent as SMS, email, or pasted into any application using the clipboard. Convenient editing feature that provides a list of suggested words.”

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/memory-apps-brain-323/

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