11 Ways to Make Your Online Course Go Global as a Freelance Educator

By Sarah Cordiner, THE Journal

The continued growth of online courses and the introduction of alternative accreditations will spawn a growth in freelance or independent professors. By 2025, all you need to start your own university is a great online teaching style, course materials and marketing plan.” The booming demand for self-study, on-demand and access-anytime training and education is evident through the popularity of platforms like Udemy and Coursera. The online learner is ready and waiting for your course. Many educators are shifting away from their traditional teacher, trainer and professor roles at brick-and-mortar institutions and realizing the benefits of freelancing, such as sharing their expertise beyond the walls of their classroom and earning extra compensation.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/04/11/11-ways-to-make-your-online-course-go-global-as-a-freelance-professor.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=26470

Computer Science Ed Policies: ‘We Have a Long Way to Go’

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

If understanding of computer science is essential to being an informed citizen, then it makes sense that every child needs an education in the use of computing devices and software, digital literacy and computational processing. That’s the premise of a new report developed by half a dozen organizations that undertook a state-by-state survey of the current state of K-12 CS education. The report, titled “State of the States Landscape Report: State-Level Policies Supporting Equitable K–12 Computer Science Education,” was released during a workshop led by Google, the Education Development Center (EDC), and the Massachusetts Computing Attainment Network (MassCAN) on Google’s Cambridge campus.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/04/10/state-progress-on-k12-computer-science-ed-policies.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=26455

Are some Georgia dual enrollment classes making it too easy to earn an A?

By Maureen Downey, Atlanta Journal Constitution

The state encourages high school students to take college courses through Georgia’s Move on When Ready dual enrollment program. Some high school students have long contended dual enrollment college courses are easier than their school’s AP or IB classes. The AJC’s Will Robinson looked into a report that MOWR classes at a few local high schools awarded an inordinate number of A grades. We are talking all 27 or 28 kids in the class earning an A.

http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2017/04/14/are-some-georgia-dual-enrollment-classes-making-it-too-easy-to-earn-an-a/

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8 strategies for successful tech initiatives

BY ANDREW BARBOUR, eCampus News

Great tech products are a reflection of the needs and values of the community they serve. These eight strategies can help ensure that new IT tech initiatives get real traction on campus. For university IT leaders, unveiling major tech initiatives can be a bit like handing out Halloween candy: The customers run the gamut from quiet pixies to absolute ghouls, some complain about the quality of the treats, and others have a nagging suspicion that you’ve put razor blades in their apples. It doesn’t have to be this way. Handled well, the rollout of a big IT project should unfold more like an adult Christmas, with customers receiving presents they’ve wanted and thought about for a long time. In interviews with IT leaders at a range of institutions and companies, eCampus News identified eight strategies to help colleges ensure that constituents see their next big IT project coming with a bow on top.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/successful-tech-initiatives/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15635

Researchers Studied Data on 9,000 Students. Here’s What They Learned About Dropouts

BY RYAN HOLEYWELL, SENIOR EDITOR, KINDER INSTITUTE FOR URBAN RESEARCH

This blog post was originally published on The Urban Edge. An analysis reveals top predictors that students will drop out. The study reveals that the strongest predictor of dropouts in the Houston Independent School District is whether a student is age 16 or older at the start of 9th grade. The research also highlights other predictors of dropping out: whether a student received an F in 8th grade; whether a student had a disciplinary incident in 8th grade; and whether a student failed to meet the TAKS testing standard in 8th grade math. Dr. Diego Torres, the lead author of the report, said the findings aren’t necessarily a surprise, since they highlight the fact that if a student struggles when he or she is on the cusp of adulthood, it will become much more difficult to recover.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/higher-ed/Researchers-Studied-Data-on-9000-Students-Heres-What-They-Learned-About-Dropouts.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15632

Education Leaders Need to Bridge the Digital Use Divide

BY TANYA ROSCORLA, Center for Digital Ed

National ed tech leader Joseph South emphasized the importance of shifting schools away from passive to active technology use. The digital divide receives a lot of attention because it separates those who have technology from those who don’t. But another divide exists that puts some students at a disadvantage: the digital use divide. This divide makes includes active technology use on one side and passive technology use on the other side. Schools across the country need to start providing more learning opportunities for students to create and collaborate with technology instead of just using it to consume information, said Joseph South, acting director of the Office of Educational Technology in the U.S. Department of Education. “It’s not enough to have the connectivity; it’s not enough to have the smartphones,” South said.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/higher-ed/How-Education-Leaders-Can-Bridge-the-Digital-Use-Divide.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15629

U.S. teacher sparks online movement with #IWishMyTeacherKnew class exercise

by Larissa Cahute, the Province

An elementary school teacher in Colorado has sparked an online movement encouraging teachers across the world to better understand and support their students. Kyle Schwartz, a third grade teacher in Denver, started a lesson plan called “I Wish My Teacher Knew,” in which she asks her students to write out something that they wish their teacher knew about them. According to ABC News, Shwartz first started this exercise in an attempt to build trust between her and her students, many of whom come from underprivileged homes. “Ninety-two percent of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch,” Schwartz told ABC News. “As a new teacher, I struggled to understand the reality of my students’ lives and how to best support them. I just felt like there was something I didn’t know about my students.”

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2015/04/17/u-s-teacher-sparks-online-movement-with-iwishmyteacherknew-class-exercise/

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Maker app turns 2D into 3D

by Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

MakerBot PrintShop app introduces new Shape Maker feature–turns 2D into 3D. MakerBot’s free iPad app MakerBot® PrintShop® version 1.5 is now available for update in the iTunes App Store and offers a brand new feature called MakerBot Shape Maker that takes drawings and sketches and instantaneously turns them into 3D printable files. MakerBot PrintShop Shape Maker aims to allow users to transform sketches, photos and screen captures into a 3D printable file, without any 3D design experience. Designed for beginners who want to get started quickly with 3D printing, MakerBot PrintShop with Shape Maker is what MakerBot believes to be an exiting new tool that will transform the way the industry moves from 2D to 3D.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/business-news/maker-app-turns-3d-188/

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Could high-speed Internet save Iowa’s schools?

by Jason Clayworth and Rodney White, DesMoines Register

Administrators of a rural school in far northern Iowa believe technology can temper the pain rising from Iowa’s lost schools crisis. And they took their message to the Capitol this month. “Everyone is mourning the loss of their schools when, instead, we should focus on the future of education and how to revolutionize education,” said John Carver, superintendent of Howard-Winneshiek schools. Carver and other employees from Howard-Winneshiek advocate that Iowa promote and invest in broadband so that every corner of the state has access to high-speed Internet. Many Iowa schools are already connected to the Iowa Communications Network, a high-speed fiber optic network run by the state. That’s a bright spot for Iowa.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/education/lost-schools/2015/04/18/lost-schools-technology-high-speed-internet/25936165/

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UW moving to online course evaluations to save paper, money

by Doree Armstrong, U Washington

The University of Washington is expanding online course evaluations to reduce its use of paper. The online evaluations are expected to save the university tens of thousands of dollars every year in paper costs while giving faculty and administrators more direct access to evaluation results. The UW’s Information School and Law School, and UW Tacoma, have been using online evaluations for two years as part of a pilot project. Last quarter, more than 600 courses at the Seattle campus were evaluated online. The Office of Educational Assessment is advertising the service to the entire campus this quarter. The current total cost of paper evaluations at UW Seattle is about $150,000 annually.

http://www.washington.edu/news/2014/04/18/uw-moving-to-online-course-evaluations-to-save-paper-money/

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CHS to pilot virtual PE classes

by Daily Progress

Charlottesville High School freshman Stephanie Thrift was scratching her head over how to juggle daily classes, afterschool sports and the physical education program she has to take next year when she stumbled upon a solution — she overheard a friend talking about a proposed online P.E. class. “I got really excited because early-morning gym is hard to get up for because athletes are up at night doing homework,” she said. After asking the friend a few questions, it was a matter of running to her guidance counselor to verify that the computer course was real, and then signing up for it as fast as she could. A test course will run during summer school to work out the kinks and a full course is set to officially kick-off for the fall semester.

http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/chs-to-pilot-virtual-pe-classes/article_03e1e2d4-c694-11e3-b1af-0017a43b2370.html

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New Minnesota school blends online learning with in-class teachers

By Melissa Turtinen, Bring-me-the-news

A new kind of school set to open in the south suburbs this fall is part of a relatively small movement toward schools that blend online learning with live in-school teachers. The approach offers students personalized web-based curriculum with the teacher support many of them need, the concept’s supporters say. “Learning is really a social experience and we want to take what that online learning opportunity has, but really reinforce it and support it with strong instruction from a classroom teacher,” Greg Gentle, who will be principal of Flex Academy in Richfield this fall, told KSTP.

http://www.bringmethenews.com/2014/04/17/blended-learning-new-minnesota-school-brings-online-courses-to-the-classroom/

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