Creators of Second Life Open Sansar Social VR Platform to the Public

By Sri Ravipati, Campus Technology

The San Francisco-based company behind the social virtual reality (VR) platform Second Life has launched a creator beta for Sansar. According to the announcement from Linden Lab, “Sansar empowers individuals, communities, schools, studios, corporations, brands and others to easily create, share and ultimately sell immersive 3D social experiences for consumers to enjoy on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows PCs.” All creators can now use Sansar’s platform to start creating VR content. “Sansar democratizes social VR,” said Ebbe Altberg, Linden Lab CEO, in the statement. “Until now, complexity and cost has limited who could create and publish in this medium, and Sansar dramatically changes that. It’s been inspiring to see the thousands of virtual creations that have already published with Sansar during our limited preview, and I’m looking forward to the explosion of creativity we’ll see now that we’ve opened the doors in beta.”

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/08/01/creators-of-second-life-open-sansar-social-vr-platform-to-the-public.aspx

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Microsoft Offering Students Flexible Leasing for Surface Devices, Deals on Windows 10 PCs

By Sri Ravipati, Campus Technology

Microsoft on Tuesday revealed a flexible payment plan to lease its Surface computers, and a number of other back-to-school deals and programs for teachers and students. The company calls the Surface Pro its most versatile laptop. First, the company is giving students a 10 percent discount on Surface machines, which double as tablets or laptops, through the new Surface Plus plan. Surface devices aren’t low-priced, with the Surface Pro priced starting at $799 and running as high as $2,999 for the Surface Studio.

Some key features of the Surface Plan include:

Low monthly payments at 0 percent APR over 24 months;

Upgrades to the latest model after 18 months; and

A 30-day hassle-free return policy and access to in-store support.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/08/02/microsoft-offering-students-flexible-leasing-for-surface-devices.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=30367

Twin Falls School District will provide free online classes for homeschoolers

by JULIE WOOTTON, Magic Valley

Twin Falls homeschoolers: You’ll soon have access to free curriculum and online classes through the Twin Falls School District. The district is launching a new partnership with Harmony Educational Services, based in Springville, Utah. An informational meeting for interested families is slated for Tuesday at the Twin Falls Public Library. Families can enroll their kindergarten through eighth-graders in the program through mid-September. The partnership essentially allows homeschoolers the flexibility to pick and choose their curriculum and online classes, and have support from the Twin Falls School District. And it allows the district to receive state funding for each student enrolled.

http://magicvalley.com/news/local/education/twin-falls-school-district-will-provide-free-online-classes-for/article_3f6c5dd7-a5cc-5d6a-a8df-120f6d428e49.html

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Inside the Online School That Could Radically Change How Kids Learn Everywhere

by CHRIS BERDIK, THE HECHINGER REPORT

VLACS is part of a nationwide boom: In the last decade, the number of full-time virtual schools has grown from a handful to over 450, enrolling more than 260,000 full-time students and millions more part time. Amid all the bad news, VLACS stands out as an online success story. On average, the school’s full-time students typically equal or modestly exceed New Hampshire average scores on state reading and math tests, as well as on the SAT. The secret to VLACS’ success may be that it does things differently from most virtual schools. It puts a focus on building strong student-teacher relationships. It breaks up traditional courses into specific skills and abilities, called “competencies,” that students master through a personalized blend of traditional lesson plans, offline projects and real-world experiences. Also, VLACS’s funding is based on student performance rather than enrollment.

http://www.wired.com/2016/08/inside-online-school-radically-change-kids-learn-everywhere/

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Education Technology: How EdTech Can Bridge The Learning Gap In The Age Of Industrial Revolution

By Kristine Walker, Parent Herald

In the age of industrial revolution, the demand for competency-based hiring is on the rise, making professional education degrees appeared irrelevant in most job descriptions. That’s why, many experts believed that education technology’s (EdTech) potential to transform the field of education can also be useful in bridging the burgeoning skills and learning gap in the workforce industry. As professional education continuously evolves, having a college degree seemed to have lost its importance in the society these days. In fact, only 20 percent of college degree holders are ready to work in spite of the fact that millennials are currently the most educated generation, Quartz revealed. As smart technology and automation continue to rise, the workforce industry is needing individuals who are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to launch a career hence investing in lifelong learning could be a competitive advantage, Parent Herald previously reported.

http://www.parentherald.com/articles/59043/20160804/education-technology-latest-news-updates-how-edtech-bridge-learning-gap-age-industrial-revolution.htm

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Consultant gives crash course on cyberspace as teaching tool

by Deke Farrow, Modesto Bee

For about two hours, Harvard-educated consultant Alan November shared research, tips, examples and stories to help the seventh- through 12th-grade instructors harness the power of the internet. He showed them how to use search engines at an academic level and urged them to teach their students the same. “He talked about how to really engage students in (online) searches to promote academic conversations,” said Greg Havens, digital instruction coach at Davis High School. “… One example was finding a PDF about Shakespeare on a website from England. What does London have to say about Shakespeare?

http://www.modbee.com/news/local/education/article93611512.html

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The Pros and Cons of Online Engineering Masters Degrees

by Shawn Wasserman, Engineering.com

Many engineers are opting to start their masters in an attempt to stay ahead in the post-2008 economy. With a master’s degree, students are able to gain a level of specialization or management overview that can make them invaluable in industry. However, finding the time and money to get on campus everyday can be difficult, especially if interferes with work. Fortunately, the technology behind online education has made leaps and bounds to the point where schools and industry treat both degrees interchangeably. As a result, many schools like Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) are creating more and more online masters programs to fit the demand.

http://www.engineering.com/Education/EducationArticles/ArticleID/10483/The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Online-Engineering-Masters-Degrees.aspx

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Technology and the Future of Learning

by Amit Nagpal, ATD

The learning and development (L&D) world has evolved quite rapidly during the last four to five years. Khan Academy has championed video-based learning; massive open online courses (MOOCs) have also become a popular instruction method. Then there is learning delivered though smartphones, tablets, and cloud-based applications, not to mention the increase in webinars, podcasts, and social media–based offerings across the digital world.

https://www.td.org/Publications/Blogs/Global-HRD-Blog/2015/07/Technology-and-the-Future-of-Learning

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Florida’s virtual school options boom

BY KATHRYN W. FOSTER, Miami Herald

The school day for gymnast Tyler Harriman begins shortly after 6 a.m. He squeezes in two hours of classes online before heading to the gym for a full day of practice. When he returns home at 5 p.m., Tyler said, “I eat dinner, take a shower and go and do school until about 10 p.m.” The 16-year-old is one of more than 300 full-time students at the Miami-Dade Online Academy, the only Dade public school offering a “virtual” education from kindergarten through 12th grade. Going to school online offers him flexibility that traditional classes don’t provide — but adds new demands.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article29241610.html

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Can data analytics make teachers better educators?

By Thor Olavsrud, IT World

Teachers are an excellent example. They’ve always been data workers — assessing students’ understanding of the material based on test scores, classroom engagement, quality of homework, etc., with the goal of improving that understanding. Knowing that individual students learn in different ways, many schools today have adopted the idea of personalized learning as their pedagogical approach: They assess each student on their learning needs, interests, aspirations and cultural backgrounds to create a personalized education program designed to maximize education outcomes.

http://www.itworld.com/it-management/428921/can-data-analytics-make-teachers-better-educators

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1:1 assumptions v. reality

By Steven M. Baule, CIO Advisor

What does 1:1 mean? To many people outside of educational technology, a 1:1 classroom is envisioned as a place where students watch videos and work directly with their computer, tablet or iPad. They imagine a classroom without student-to-student or even student-to-teacher interactions. The vision some have is that 1:1 educational programming will stunt social and emotional growth and lead to a nerdocracy where interacting with a keyboard or touch screen will replace nearly all human interaction. Others simply see the automation of traditional classroom instruction where the device is simply an expensive spiral notebook. In reality, the best 1:1 classrooms are much more engaging.

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&entryid=7929

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Corinthian Colleges Employee: “We Work For The Biggest Scam Company In The World”

By Ashlee Kieler, Consumerist

Corinthian Colleges — the operator of for-profit school chains Everest University, WyoTech, and Heald Colleges — is selling off or shutting down campuses as it faces lawsuits and investigations from multiple state and federal agencies. The allegations involve bogus job-placement stats, grade manipulation, and misleading marketing. We recently spoke to several current and former CCI teachers and admissions staffers who confirmed these bad practices and explained that it was all done in pursuit of billions of dollars in federal aid from taxpayers. As one current CCI staffer puts it, “We work for the biggest scam company in the world.” Like the Corinthian students we recently spoke to, the teachers and employees at CCI schools, despite dedicating themselves to helping students, will live in the failed company’s shadow for years to come.

http://consumerist.com/2014/07/24/corinthian-colleges-employee-we-work-for-the-biggest-scam-company-in-the-world/

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