Teaching and Learning Get Personal With Change to Proficiency-Based Grading

by Nora Doyle-Burr, Valley News

Instead of receiving traditional letter grades, students in seventh and eighth grades, and in ninth grade in the core courses of science, social studies and English, were evaluated in certain skills by their mastery — beginning, approaching, proficient and distinguished. Woodstock’s change in its grading system is linked to an imminent statewide change in graduation requirements and an accompanying push to emphasize a more personalized approach to teaching and learning. If Woodstock’s recent experience is any guide, other Vermont school districts should expect hiccups during the transition. In a proficiency-based system, teachers rely on standards such as the Common Core, Next Generation Science Standards and state Education Quality Standards to determine which skills they expect students to master. They use rubrics and “I can” statements to show students what they need to be able to do to become proficient in each skill.

http://www.vnews.com/Woodstock-Middle-and-High-Schools-Try-New-Grading-System-8548745

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=26241

How to Implement Blended Learning in the K-12 Classroom

by Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate

First and foremost, educators need to know their students. Teachers at the K-12 level must be aware of the level of access to technology their students have at home. Blended learning will look very different in a school where the majority of students don’t have access to high-speed internet at home versus a school where every student can log in at home. For classrooms where most students can’t get online from home, blended learning is still an option. Teachers can set up a schedule where students alternate between digital and traditional learning modes in the classroom. Two or three days a week could be devoted to completing online activities, while the remaining days might look like a more traditional classroom.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/implement-blended-learning-k-12-classrooms/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=26216

WV Legislature passes home-school, virtual education bills

by Ryan Quinn, Gazette-Mail

Lawmakers Saturday completed legislation giving home-schoolers access to public vocational education centers, giving them access to public school sports and allowing county public school systems to offer home-schoolers and others full-time K-12 virtual education — while getting state funding for it. Saturday was the last day of the regular legislative session. Gov. Jim Justice still hasn’t signed or vetoed any of the bills that were finished by midnight.

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-education/20170408/wv-legislature-passes-home-school-virtual-education-bills

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=26256

Stackable Credential Options Rise in Online Education

by Jordan Friedman, US News

In some programs, learners can earn several smaller credentials for an immediate career boost and build their way up to a degree. “Employers are showing trends of paying more attention to those levels of education and completion,” says Deborah Seymour, chief academic innovation officer at the American Council on Education​, an organization representing more than 1,700 college and university presidents, in reference to microcredentials. Seymour says the trend of stackable credentials is still in its early stages, especially in online education, but believes it will continue to catch on and remain an option for online learners in the future. The University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign, in collaboration with the MOOC provider Coursera, recently launched a stackable online MOOC-based Master of Computer Science in Data Science program. Students can, for instance, first earn a MOOC specialization ​certificate in data mining or cloud computing, and then choose whether to go on to finish the full master’s degree. Overall, the degree costs​ less than $20,000.

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2016-04-12/stackable-credential-options-rise-in-online-education

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15592

Students sue GWU for fraudulent online masters program

By Jackson Richman, Red Alert Politics

Students at George Washington University filed a class action lawsuit last week over allegations of fraud involving one of its online master’s degree programs. U.S. Marshall Service consultant Brice Bradford told NBC4 that he enrolled in GW’s online masters program in “Security and Safety Leadership” because he didn’t have the time or means to take off from work and attend graduate school full time. He and other students have now accused the university of “fraudulent misrepresentation” after questioning whether or not the courses were taught by instructors. Rather than professional instruction, online courses were taught using PowerPoint slides taken from in-class courses. Suspicion among students rose after they attempted to contact professors and received no response. Bradford and other students complained and even sent a letter to the university president Steven Knapp.

http://redalertpolitics.com/2016/04/12/students-sue-gwu-fraudulent-online-masters-program/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15589

You Can Now Learn All About IoT from MIT Experts

by Olivia Vanni, BostInno

Of all the futuristic technologies being developed, advancements in the Internet of Things space might have the coolest impact on our day-to-day existences. IoT devices, like Nest and Fitbit, are automating and transforming nearly every aspect of our lives to look like something out of The Jetsons. And now, for the first time, you have the chance to learn how to get in on this technological trend from pioneering researchers in the space from MIT. MIT has added an online course on IoT called Internet of Things: Roadmap to the Connected World to its Professional Education offerings. The 6-week, $495 course will cover all of the major concepts in IoT – including Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), sensors and the cloud – and will be taught by experts in the field, ultimately letting students leave with the know-how to develop their own IoT technologies.

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2016/04/11/iot-courses-online-mit-professional-education-program/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15586

Science, math, art valued more than technology in poll

By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times

California education poll reveals that core subjects might trump technology access. Providing computers to public school students is important to California voters, but not as crucial as other factors affecting education, including a more intense focus on math, science and the arts, according to a new poll. In the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times survey, voters were given a list of options and asked to select the top two that would have the most positive impact on improving public education in California. Nearly half, 49 percent, picked “increasing funding for math, science and technology instruction,” according to the poll. Nearly a third said funding should be increased for subject like art and music education.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/04/14/science-technology-poll-893/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=12581

Salman Khan and Daphne Koller among Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship

by US Dept of Commerce and White House

The Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between 11 of America’s most inspiring and prominent entrepreneurs, the White House, the Department of Commerce, and our Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development partners. Our goal is to harness their energy, ideas, and experience to help develop the next generation of entrepreneurs both at home and abroad.

http://beta.commerce.gov/PAGE

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/uKve8r0uss0/

Would You Send Your 7-Year-Old to an Online Elementary School?

By Suzi Parker, Takepart.com

“The reasons for enrolling in an online school depend on each student,” Allison Powell, vice president for new learning models for iNACOL, says. “They could have started in home schooling and now want a teacher. Some students travel a lot. Others have been physically bullied and are afraid to go to school. Sometimes, students need to have that freedom to work at their own pace.” According to iNACOL, 31 states and Washington, D.C., have statewide full-time online schools. Each state funds online schools differently, and many of them are considered spin-offs of charter schools. Teachers are state certified, and curriculum is created based on state standards. Online elementary schools have been slower to grow because of their integrated curricula. Each subject closely ties to another, unlike in secondary school—an eighth-grade civics class or a high school physics class can be taught as stand-alone courses.

http://news.yahoo.com/send-seven-old-online-elementary-school-204809847.html

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