5 AR & VR tools for social skills

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News
As interest in augmented and virtual reality grows, so, too, do the technologies’ potential to help students with special needs. Virtual and augmented reality, once far-off on the classroom horizon, have moved with relative speed into the realm of possible classroom technologies. In fact, recent data indicates that while few teachers are using augmented and virtual reality, it does show some promise. Speak Up Survey data shows that 5 percent of teachers say they are using virtual or augmented reality in their classroom. Higher percentages of high school computer science and technology teachers (11 percent) and science teachers (9 percent) are using augmented or virtual reality.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/08/02/5-ar-vr-tools-social-skills/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=30491

15 real classroom uses for Minecraft

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News
The sandbox game offers unlimited resources, and nearly unlimited ways to use Minecraft in the classroom. These days, it seems like Minecraft is second-nature for many kids. The beauty of Minecraft lies in its sandbox structure–students can create anything, with limitless resources, and often their creations are astounding. Is it any wonder, then, that educators are incorporating the popular block-based game into their curriculum? With a little creativity, educators can use Minecraft with history, math, writing and language arts, foreign language, and more.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/08/04/15-real-classroom-uses-minecraft/

 

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‘Good Jobs’ Still Exist; Most Require Post-High School Education

by Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

Good jobs — those that pay at least $35,000 a year — don’t necessarily require a bachelor’s degree. These good jobs have a median salary of $55,000. And 30 million of them exist in this country, compared to 36 million “good jobs” for workers with four-year college degrees. The share of good jobs held by those without a BA has shrunken from 60 percent in 1991 to 45 percent today. Those are the singular findings of a research project undertaken by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce and supported by JPMorgan Chase & Co to understand the impact of economic change wrought by the Great Recession.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/08/03/good-jobs-still-exist-most-require-post-high-school-education.aspx

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Using educational technology to enhance student learning

by Marilyn Siderwicz, MIT

Improving educational delivery is a core focus of MIT, and also a priority for training new generations of teachers in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). On July 19, about 30 postdocs and graduate students attended a Workshop on Digital Education hosted by CEE to learn about digital education tools available to them as they prepare to teach undergraduate and graduate students, both at MIT and elsewhere. The instructor, Dipa Shah of the MIT Teaching and Learning Lab (TLL), was invited by the CEE Postdoctoral Committee to provide an overview about the latest online technologies and their use for delivering content to students and providing students with practice and feedback.

http://news.mit.edu/2016/using-educational-technology-enhance-student-learning-0805

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Tuscaloosa County Schools introducing fully online high school program

By Terri Brewer, WBRC

This year, the Tuscaloosa County School System is unveiling a program that will allow high school students to earn a diploma, without ever walking the halls of an actual school. The Tuscaloosa County Schools’ new Virtual Learning Program will allow a student to be a full-time online student. Previously, the system has provided for blended learning, where students receive traditional classroom instruction, combined with online courses. The blended learning opportunities will still exist, but the Virtual Learning Program is fully online.

http://www.wbrc.com/story/32694126/tuscaloosa-county-schools-introducing-fully-online-high-school-program

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Gov. Mifflin launches new K-through-12 online learning program

By David A. Kostival, Reading Eagle

The Gov. Mifflin School District has unveiled a new online learning program that will also allow students to participate in all district activities. Administrators conducted an informational meeting Thursday night to a handful of families to explain the new program known as Governor Mifflin GOLD. Dr. Steve Gerhard, superintendent, said the program is a shift to a more robust and responsive approach to online learning. “It’s important for families to have options when providing the best education for their students,” Gerhard said. “I think up until now, our families had an either-or option – online or in school.” Gerhard said he doesn’t believe that was the best response from the district. “We view this as an ‘and’ option combining online programming with the in-person programming you can find in our schools,” he said. Governor Mifflin GOLD is available tuition-free to students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

http://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/gov-mifflin-launches-new-k-through-12-online-learning-program

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=16817

The Chief Privacy Officer in Higher Education

by Valerie M. Vogel

This article includes a wealth of information about how some members of the Higher Education Chief Privacy Officers group perceive their role, their concerns about privacy, and their expectations for the future of privacy officers in higher education.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/chief-privacy-officer-higher-education

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What’s Next for the LMS?

by Malcolm Brown, Joanne Dehoney, and Nancy Millichap; EDUCAUSE Review

Today’s LMS needs to be supplemented with (and perhaps later replaced by) a new digital architecture and new learning components—the NGDLE—to enable current transitions in higher education.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/whats-next-lms

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Ed Tech as Applied Research: A Framework in Seven Hypotheses

by Edward R. O’Neill, EDUCAUSE Review

Seven hypotheses explore the feasibility of educational technology — typically considered as supporting teaching and learning — as applied research by providing an initial framework built on traditional research processes. New knowledge results from research, usually about fundamental questions, but ed tech pursues applied research about practical problems using qualitative and quantitative methods and local standards. Seeing ed tech as research emphasizes the collaborative nature of our work by helping shape our conversations about the knowledge we create, its standards, and its methods.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/ed-tech-applied-research-framework-seven-hypotheses

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5 Time-Saving Ways Teachers Can Use Google Forms

By Jennifer Carey, Edudemic

One of my favorite features of Google Drive is Google Forms. If you’re unfamiliar with this, think of it as a way to create quick surveys that can be used for a number of applications. Google automatically aggregates this data into a Google Spreadsheet, making forms a great way to quickly collect and share information. I have seen educators and administrators use Google Forms in the most creative and inventive ways. If you’re just starting with Google Forms, here are five ways that you can use them to streamline your classroom!

http://www.edudemic.com/5-great-ways-use-google-forms/

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How Technology Is Rewiring Your Brain

By Emily Ko, Edudemic

As we all know, our minds are changing as technology integrates more and more into our lives. The use of technology in traditionally social situations has become so rife it that
games have been invented in order to keep people off their phones. In schools, it is evident that children and teenagers spend more time taking photos and checking in to share online, rather than spending quality time with people they are with. A recent study conducted by Pew Internet Project in conjunction with Elon University titled Teens, technology, and human potential in 2020 shows that expert opinion on how technology is impacting brains is fairly centred, with 55% believing technology will have a positive impact by 2020, and 42% foreseeing a negative impact.

http://www.edudemic.com/rewiring-your-brain/

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Using Technology To Transform Institutions as They Transform the Lives of Students

By David Raths, Campus Technology

Technology executives have a key role to play in the future of higher education by helping colleagues use data to craft a story about the value of postsecondary education. And telling a story is important, Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), told attendees at the Campus Technology 2014 annual conference in Boston this week. Noting how many students leave science and technology programs before completion, he said, “We even call first-year classes weed-out courses.” If you ask a dean of sciences how may seats they are planning for the second year, they expect one-third to make it to the next year. Hrabowski is working to change that dynamic by reinventing curriculum and processes at UMBC. “The vets who went to college knew the world of tomorrow did not have to be the same as today. That was innovation.” Today we can improve outcomes, he added, “if we change the way we do business. You have the ability to help campuses use technology to transform the institutions as they transform the lives of students.”

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/07/30/using-technology-to-transform-institutions-as-they-transform-the-lives-of-students.aspx

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