I made my classroom look like the real-world—and test scores soared

BY ANTHONY JOHNSON, eSchool News

Think about the jobs in today’s economy — the ones we’re supposed to prepare students for after graduation. Are employees evaluated using bubble-in tests to prove they know the ins and outs of their job? Do they learn and use new skills one at a time in a vacuum? The questions sound a bit silly until you realize too often that’s what students take away from their education. Why is the culture to drill facts into students’ heads just to pass a test? Just like in the real world, my students show what they can do through projects, teamwork, and research. Is it working? Well, according to state science exams, my students consistently score higher than other science classes in my district.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/10/07/i-made-my-classroom-look-like-the-real-world-and-test-scores-soared/

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U Idaho to use grant to study online courses for rural teachers

by the Spokesman-Review

Teachers in rural areas will be able to advance their math education through online courses and video coaching under a $2.8 million National Science Foundation grant awarded to the University of Idaho College of Education and the University of Rochester in New York. The four-year grant from the foundation’s Discovery Research PreK-12 program will support research of an online-based professional development model. The goal is to increase the quality of professional development opportunities for rural school teachers who may have less access to such support. “This program will ensure teachers in remote areas of Idaho are receiving instructional support that will ultimately influence student learning in mathematics,” said Julie Amador, assistant professor in the UI College of Education and director of the Idaho Region 1 Match Center in Coeur d’Alene.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/sep/14/ui-to-use-grant-to-study-online-courses-for-rural-/

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Experts’ top tips for success in online classes

by Colorado State University Online

Nearly 5,000 students are enrolled in online courses at CSU this semester. Many study fully online, and others are taking just one or a few of their classes online. Regardless of your online course load, it’s important to remember that studying online comes with a unique set of advantages and challenges. Several CSU professors and instructors have offered their advice for success in online courses. Here are some of their best tips.

http://source.colostate.edu/experts-top-tips-for-success-in-online-classes/

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Virtual Reality to Drive Rapid Adoption of 360 Degree Cameras

By David Nagel, Campus Technology

Fueled by a growth in virtual and augmented reality, 360 degree cameras are expected to see rapid growth over the next five years. 360-degree cameras allow users to shoot spherical videos and still images, which can be shared on services like Facebook and YouTube and experienced as virtual reality using a phone, tablet or dedicated VR headset. The 360-degree video at the link below, for example, shows a Blue Angels flight from the perspective of one of the planes’ cockpits. On a phone or tablet, users can view the scene from different angles just by turning their devices left, right, up or down. (On a traditional computer, these movements are controlled using a finger or mouse.)

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/08/31/virtual-reality-to-drive-rapid-adoption-of-360-degree-cameras.aspx

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How Technology Is Revolutionising Adult Learning

by Ed Cooke, Huffington Post

Edtech, it’s the new tech buzzword, and it’s growing – fast. According to a new report by Edtech UK, the global education technology sector was worth £45bn in 2015 and poised to reach £129bn by 2020. There are a lot of UK companies tackling digital education, and more specifically in our case the online language-learning space, and you can see why – technology offers us a completely new way of learning and exploits the brain’s capacity in a way that is far more fun and engaging than reading a textbook. Edtech is moving education out of the classroom and onto our mobile phones, making it accessible to anyone and everyone, and for little or no cost. With companies setting up new apps to help you revise and massive open online courses that allow you to complete an entire university-level course digitally, the possibilities for learning are now endless.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ed-cooke/how-technology-is-revolut_b_11659018.html

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Teach your kids about money through online course

by Nicole Villalpando, Austin 360

From the mind behind the summer camp MoolahU, Gayle Reaume, comes an online course for parents to take that teaches them how to teach their kids about money. The $37 online course promises to help you: Create everyday opportunities for your kids to learn about making purchases. Support your child’s learning through their mistakes. Give your kids the experience of being powerful with money. Remove tension around purchases. Relax knowing your kids are learning about money through practice.

http://parenting.blog.austin360.com/2016/08/01/teach-your-kids-about-money-through-online-course/

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Web-Based Learning in Rural Areas Gets Federal Financial Lift

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

A United States Department of Agriculture grant program will fund 45 projects intended to connect rural communities in 32 states with educational experts via videoconferencing. The same funding stream is also being applied to healthcare projects for connecting patients with medical professionals. On the education side, in Alaska Copper River School District, for example, will use nearly $500,000 to provide distance learning to five primary schools in extremely remote Alaskan villages. The schools will share curriculum and professional development. Three of the sites are on Native Alaskan trust lands. Across the country in West Virginia the Roane County Schools will use its $500,000 grant to place videoconferencing equipment in 19 schools.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/07/18/web-based-learning-in-rural-areas-gets-federal-financial-lift.aspx

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Illume Learning Launches Free Database of Teaching Materials

By Sri Ravipati, Campus Technology

Illume Learning is introducing a free course creation tool designed to help professors save time on looking for course resources. Illume provides end-to-end resources for professors to access materials, including:

25 million text, trade and scholarly books;

Tens of thousands of case studies;

Articles from 12,645 academic journals;

Millions of articles from 65 leading newspapers and 140 magazines;

Hundreds of thousands of syllabi, reading lists and lecture slide presentations; and

Tens of thousands of tutorials from Khan Academy, simulations, problem sets, videos and course notes.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/06/29/illume-learning-launches-free-database-of-teaching-materials.aspx

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New micro-learning platform aims to help young professionals

by eCampus News

The online resources are designed to harness the power of more effective personal communication in driving real business results. Developed to meet the growing need of Millennials to stay up-to-date on professional development topics, SelfLink was created to serve a younger audience keeping their learning preferences in mind. SelfLink’s micro-learning videos are aimed at moving learners quickly from where they are to where they need to be in order to make real contributions to their organizations. Each self-paced module within the suite of courses on SelfLink.com is followed by a short survey to best identify areas of strength, and highlight opportunities the learner can utilize to improve his or her communication effectiveness.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/news/micro-learning-platforms/

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Google and Udacity launch a new Android programming course for beginners

by Lucia Maffei, Tech Crunch

Google wants more people to learn to program — especially for its Android platform. While the company already offered a few programming courses, they were typically geared toward students with at least some rudimentary programming experience. Starting today, the Google Android Basics Nanodegree class is available on the online learning platform Udacity. It’s the first Android nanodegree class designed by Google for people with no programming experience at all. “Google, in partnership with Udacity, is making Android development accessible and understandable to everyone, so that regardless of your background, you can learn to build apps that improve the lives of people around you,” Shanea King-Roberson, program manager at Google, said in a blog post.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/22/google-and-udacity-launch-a-new-android-programming-course-for-beginners/?ncid=mobilenavtrend

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Common Misconceptions About Machine Learning in Cybersecurity

by SVEN KRASSER AND DMITRI ALPEROVITCH, Information Management Online

Machine learning has never been more accessible than it is right now. Amazon utilizes it to uncover shopping habits and Netflix uses it to propose personalized movie selections. Many tech giants, both in the consumer and the business-facing arena, are using machine learning to build intelligent processes that can solve everything from creating more targeted search engine results to bigger challenges like climate change and cancer diagnostics. Leaders in the cybersecurity space are utilizing machine learning in a similar fashion. While there is a lot of buzz in the marketplace about the potential of the approach to solve persistent issues like silent failure and false positives, there are many misconceptions about how the technology is being applied in the field.

http://www.information-management.com/news/security/common-misconceptions-about-machine-learning-in-cybersecurity-10028853-1.html

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Game Changer? First-Ever Online Social Gaming Platform for Education

by Tom Lindsay, Forbes

Online education has been and continues to be the subject of hot debate. On the one hand, the U.S. Department of Education’s analysis of 44 separate studies of online education found its learning outcomes to be as good and—in its “hybrid” form, which combines online with traditional learning—at times superior to traditional education. I should confess that, as someone who taught Plato and Aristotle at the university level for two decades, I approached the subject of online education with similar reservations. But my own experience over the past three academic years teaching political philosophy in a doctoral-level, fully-accredited program has overcome most of my concerns.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomlindsay/2016/04/28/game-changer-first-ever-online-social-gaming-platform-for-education/#7bae8c405d50

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Virtual and Augmented Reality Poised for Explosive Growth

By David Nagel, THE Journal

Virtual and augmented reality are often touted as the next big thing in education. How big? Not nearly as big as textbooks, but heading toward the billion-dollar mark inside of 10 years. Virtual and augmented reality are often touted as the next big thing in education. How big? Not nearly as big as textbooks, but heading toward the billion-dollar mark inside of 10 years. The numbers for education aren’t as staggering as for some other industries. According to investment bankers Goldman Sachs, VR and AR technologies will generate $700 million annually from the education sector by 2025. That pales in comparison with videogames in the consumer market ($11.6 billion), events ($4.1 billion) and video entertainment ($3.2 billion).

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/04/27/virtual-and-augmented-reality-poised-for-explosive-growth.aspx

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Allowing Technology To Amplify Quality Teaching

By Frank DiMaria, THE Journal

Today school districts are looking to mobile devices and laptops to revolutionize education. Without question these devices have the potential to be effective tools. However, without quality adult supervision they are merely cognitive candy, warns Kentaro Toyama, W.K. Kellogg Associate Professor of Community Information at the University Of Michigan’s School of Information. Toyama spent a decade designing technologies for education and witnessed technology implementation strategies that worked and ones that failed. Over the years he’s developed the “Law of Amplification,” which districts and teachers can follow to ensure their technology works harder and smarter.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/04/20/allowing-technology-to-amplify-quality-teaching.aspx

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Apps, websites and podcasts to extend your learning beyond the classroom

By Chandra Johnson, Deseret News

For millions of Americans with Internet access, technology has become more than a fun way to pass the time or keep in touch with friends and family; it can also open them up to a world of knowledge. But that’s only if they know how to access it. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that while most Americans (73 percent) consider themselves “lifelong learners,” few were aware of the many digital tools available to keep learning long after they finished school. Of the just over half of Americans who have a smartphone and a home broadband connection, 82 percent engaged in some “personal learning” activity in the past year, yet most Americans said they were “not too much” or “not at all” aware of how technology can help with education such as distance learning or massive open online courses from major companies and universities.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865651722/A-sampling-of-apps-websites-and-podcasts-to-satisfy-a-yearning-for-lifelong-learning.html

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7 Steps for Turning Around Under-Resourced Schools

by Maurice Elias, Edutopia

Under-resourced schools face many challenges that are difficult. However, I believe that they can be conquered with sufficient time, dedication, and resources. Above all, success with these challenges stems from a belief in the potential of students and staff to achieve victory despite the odds. The barriers that have to be overcome are deeply unfair, and political efforts must be made to reduce educational and socioeconomic inequities. But our students cannot wait for that to occur. They need help now, and schools need to embark on the path to turnaround sooner rather than later. However, there are no shortcuts, and efforts to rush the process can lead to disappointment.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/7-steps-turning-around-under-resourced-schools-maurice-elias

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Florida institutions have to get creative with developmental ed

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

Since the Florida legislature banned college from requiring high school graduates to take placement tests before enrolling in college-level courses, schools have had to get creative in figuring out how to serve students who may need more help than they know. Inside Higher Ed reports St. Petersburg College created a new assessment process to inform placement recommendations, and Indian River State College has seen great success with a modular approach that provides additional support for students while they take credit-bearing courses, like corequisite remediation. Indian River is also participating in the American Association of Community Colleges’ Pathway Project, offering students more structure as they progress through their degree programs.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/florida-institutions-have-to-get-creative-with-developmental-ed/416743/

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What Higher Education Can Learn From The Fall Of The Newspapers

by Frederick Singer, Forbes

Today, technology is also changing the way that even the most venerable institutions of higher education operate at a difficult time when even the value of the degree is being called into question. Students face a multiplicity of options to acquire knowledge outside of colleges and universities. Colleges and universities will adapt and unbundle, some argue, or go the way of the local newspaper. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Visionary institutions are already making smart, competitive choices without disrupting their values or upsetting faculty. The analogy is imperfect but instructive. So what might higher education learn from the newspaper industry?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/schoolboard/2016/03/28/what-higher-education-can-learn-from-the-fall-of-the-newspapers/#253a02634ce0

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