Chromebooks are at the head of the class in Canada’s K-12 schools

by Bram Bout, Google for Education
Around the world, education has undergone a technological revolution. Cloud-connected devices and learning applications are shaping new ways of teaching and learning. Across Canada, school districts are using Chromebooks and G Suite for Education to expand learning opportunities for students from diverse communities and backgrounds. And now, Futuresource has reported that Chromebooks are the number-one-selling educational device for Canadian K12 schools. With this news, Canada joins the U.S., Sweden, and New Zealand, where Chromebooks are also the top devices used in classrooms.

https://www.blog.google/topics/education/chromebooks-are-head-class-canadas-k-12-schools/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=33061

Rethinking MOOCs

by Duke Chronicle Editorial Board

Education innovators thus must work with academic partners who are willing to invest in bridging the gap in quality, prestige and credibility between four-year institutions and online education without increasing costs for users. These investments will most likely have to come from philanthropic and public-sector actors. Until then, MOOCs, while a boon for democratizing information, still have a long way to go before they actually fulfill their ambitious promise of providing affordable higher education to the digital masses.

http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2017/10/rethinking-moocs

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More NC students stay home to go to class. But they’re in low-performing schools

By Lynn Bonner and David Raynor, News Observer

Online charter schools came to North Carolina under a cloud that still lingers two years after they began enrolling students. K12, Inc. and Connections Academy were approved in 2015 as critics of online education pounded on reports of poor student performance in other states. The Tennessee education commissioner had tried to boot K12, Inc. out of his state. In 2014, a virtual school in Pennsylvania decided not to renew its management contract with the company. In North Carolina, the State Board of Education approved the schools reluctantly, and only after the state legislature passed a law requiring the state to allow four-year pilot programs for two companies.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article178438251.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=32636

Infographic: 6 uses for K-12 classroom AR

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News
AR’s potential to increase classroom engagement is expanding. By now, most educators are familiar with augmented reality (AR) and its application in the classroom. And as it grows in popularity, its potential in the classroom grows, too. Augmented reality overlays digital information on top of an existing environment, and the AR device market is expected to reach more than $659 million by 2018, according to an infographic that analyzes AR’s potential for the classroom. Fun fact: One of the first commercial applications of AR technology was the yellow first down line that started appearing in televised NFL games in the late 1990s. Google glass and heads-up displays in car windshields are probably the most well-known consumer AR products, but the technology is used in other industries, such as marketing, health care, tourism and public safety.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/09/12/uses-k-12-classroom-ar/

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International High School Students Represent Opportunity

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

According to the report, most of the international students attending high school in this country ultimately expect to enroll in higher education here as well and view their U.S. studies as a leg up on gaining acceptance to the colleges and universities they want to attend. The thinking among families of international students is that the experiences they have of learning in U.S. classrooms, the immersion they receive in English-language instruction and the adjustment they get to American life prior to college “can ease the transition of international students moving from U.S. high schools to higher education.” The largest group of students holding F-1 visas — 78 percent — come from one area of the globe: East Asia. In particular, students from China dominate, making up 58 percent of all international high school students, followed by a smaller number coming from South Korea (7 percent).

https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/09/05/international-high-school-students-represent-post-secondary-opportunity.aspx

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7 Brain Training Apps and Tools

by Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate

Every day, hundreds of thousands of people go to the gym. They go to exercise their muscles and get stronger. But many of these same people neglect the one thing they really should be strengthening—their brain.  Brain training apps and tools are designed to help your brain be better. The idea is that by practicing daily, the brain, like your muscles, can grow stronger over time. If you’re going to take the time to work out your brain, however, you want to make sure you’re using the most effective tools possible. Let’s take a look at 7 of the best brain training apps and tools.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/7-brain-training-apps-tools/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=30791

ICC increases hybrid class offerings

By Sharon Woods Harris, Pekin Daily Times

Sitting in a classroom day in and day out is not for everyone, especially non-traditional students going back to school or military personnel returning back to the states and reentering civilian life. In the hybrid setting, students attend class in person once a week and complete the rest of the coursework online. ICC has offered hybrid classes for many years, but it is offering evening hybrid courses this year for working people and veterans, among others. There will be one 16-week hybrid, and for those who want to finish a course quickly, eight-week courses are also offered.

http://www.washingtontimesreporter.com/news/20170808/icc-increases-hybrid-class-offerings

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New guide designed to help Colorado educators combine online courses with traditional teaching

By MARISSA PAGE, Chalkbeat Colorado

A new guide released Monday seeks to help Colorado schools successfully introduce blending learning, a growing practice combining traditional classroom instruction with online coursework. The Colorado Blended Learning Roadmap, commissioned by state lawmakers, urges school officials to consider three main priorities: effective teacher training and increased support; flexibility in school policies to support the model; and access to quality technology and other tools.

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/07/25/colorado-blended-learning-roadmap-online-courses/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=30230

University email addresses especially prone to cyber theft, report finds

by Shalina Chatlani, University Dive

University email addresses with .edu credentials are particularly vulnerable to cyber theft, as students can receive significant discounts in online purchases, according to the Digital Citizen Alliance’s latest report, “Cyber Criminals, College Credentials, and the Dark Web.” Authors looked at the availability email credentials from the 300 largest U.S. colleges and universities, and found that 13,930,176 email addresses and passwords belonging to faculty, staff, students were available for purchase on sites in the dark web, which is an area of the Internet where illicit goods and services can be sold and bought. Acquisition of these credentials can have serious consequences for members of the institution and the institution itself, as they are more often than not being used for illegal activity. The report found that the University of Michigan had the most credentials offered on the dark web, followed by other large state schools — Penn State, University of Minnesota, Michigan State, Ohio State, and University of Illinois.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/university-email-addresses-especially-prone-to-cyber-theft-report-finds/446011/

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Online Public Schools in Nevada to Celebrate First Graduating Classes

by Business Wire

An online public high school for under-credited students, NVPA is designed to help students under the age of 21 who haven’t finished their high school education get back on track and earn a diploma. NVPA combines online coursework with classroom work taught by certified teachers to provide a unique individualized learning experience for each student. Flexible hours mean that school can be adapted to the student’s schedule, situation and life, allowing greater opportunities for the future. NVDCA is a career and technical education (CTE)-focused online public charter school program authorized by the White Pine School District for college- and technical career-minded high school students.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170609005580/en/Online-Public-Schools-Nevada-Celebrate-Graduating-Classes

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IBM’s Newest Program Uses AI to Solve the Biggest Problems Facing Humanity Today

by Futurism

IBM announced its Science for Social Good initiative and the 12 projects that will comprise it for 2017. The program uses big data, deep learning, and AI to solve complex social problems. On June 6, IBM launched Science for Social Good, a new program designed to take on some of the world’s weightiest problems using technology and data. The team of researchers, nonprofits, and postdoctoral fellows will be working on 12 projects for the remainder of 2017 alone, each aligning with at least one of the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. These goals describe the most significant threats and inequalities that exist in the world today and sets them forth as problems to be solved by 2030.

https://futurism.com/ibms-newest-program-uses-ai-to-solve-the-biggest-problems-facing-humanity-today/

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Trump’s first full education budget: Deep cuts to public school programs in pursuit of school choice

By Emma Brown, Valerie Strauss and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, Washington Post

Funding for college work-study programs would be cut in half, public-service loan forgiveness would end and hundreds of millions of dollars that public schools could use for mental health, advanced coursework and other services would vanish under a Trump administration plan to cut $10.6 billion from federal education initiatives, according to budget documents obtained by The Washington Post. The administration would channel part of the savings into its top priority: school choice. It seeks to spend about $400 million to expand charter schools and vouchers for private and religious schools, and another $1 billion to push public schools to adopt choice-friendly policies.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/trumps-first-full-education-budget-deep-cuts-to-public-school-programs-in-pursuit-of-school-choice/2017/05/17/2a25a2cc-3a41-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=28144

The Hidden Costs of Active Learning

By Thomas Mennell, Campus Technology

Flipped and active learning truly are a better way for students to learn, but they also may be a fast track to instructor burnout. I end every publication and every talk with the catchphrase “I’ll never teach another way again,” and I mean it. Students learn more deeply, more effectively, and they integrate material much more through a flipped/active learning format than with more traditional, lecture-based instruction. To teach in any other way, to me, seems almost unethical — especially given how much money today’s college student spends on his/her education. How could I deliver an inferior product to my students when I know that flipped learning is so much better? That said, there are many days when I wish I’d never heard of flipped learning at all — times when I wish I actually could teach another way again.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/04/05/the-hidden-costs-of-active-learning.aspx

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