3 ways to reimagine learning spaces

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News

As schools depart from traditional instructional methods and environments, some education leaders are discovering how a combination of blended learning and reimagined physical learning spaces can lead to better student engagement and achievement. Redesigning physical learning spaces can lead to brain-friendly learning and encourage students to become more engaged. And when learning spaces are flexible, they provide more modern learning experiences and meet various needs, such as small-group collaboration, large-group instruction, and individual study or review.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/11/27/3-ways-reimagine-learning-spaces/

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Still? Most teachers feel unprepared to use technology in the classroom

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News

An alarmingly large majority of U.S. teachers–78 percent–say they feel they haven’t received the training they need to teach with technology in the classroom, according to new research. The study from edtech and coding company SAM Labs, conducted online with independent research firm 72 Point, outlines the opportunities teachers see when it comes to technology in the classroom, as well as some of the biggest challenges the U.S. education system faces related to computer science and coding.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/11/27/teachers-technology-classroom/

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Campuses show major shift in supporting student success

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News

Institutions are increasingly focused on supporting student success, with 73 percent of colleges and universities shifting their organizational structure to benefit students, according to a new study. The research study aims to demonstrate how higher education institutions are evolving to support student success and close the student-college digital divide. Unit4, a provider of higher-ed student management systems, conducted the research to ascertain how student success is driving investment in core systems.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/campus-administration/campuses-shift-student-success/

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The Chinese success as example of the future of digital education

By Claudio Buttice, Digital Journal

China Online Education Group (COE) announced the unexpected success of the online e-learning program by publishing its third quarter 2016 report. The numbers provided by the largest education platform in China surpassed every forecast with an 180.9 percent year-over-year increase in net revenues, and 135.2 percent in gross billings. The number of paying students doubled to 40 thousand from 2015, providing the program with over $135 billion gross billings contributed just by K-12 students. COE provides Chinese students with live one-on-one interactive English lessons taught by foreign teachers (mostly American ones) with either online or mobile platforms. The education program is a first effort to provide teaching courses in a fully digitalized environment, and takes full advantage of the informatics medium to pool all the data analyzed as well as teacher feedback in order to improve its efficiency year by year.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-and-science/technology/the-chinese-success-as-example-of-the-future-of-digital-education/article/480065

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Virtual library cards expand access to learning

by Shawn D. Lewis, The Detroit News

Going online to research homework assignments, select a scary movie or read a book for pleasure now is a lot easier for students in some Macomb County school districts. They can use virtual library cards to access online information at four libraries using their student ID numbers. Or, if they prefer, use a traditional library card. The access to books and other information recently expanded to include students in the L’Anse Creuse Public School District. The program began last year in the Chippewa Valley School District, and Clintondale Community Schools joined this year, too. “We are one of the first in the country with so many different, autonomous libraries to be able to work with individual school districts,” said Larry Neal, director of the Clinton-Macomb Public Library. “There are four libraries used by students in the L’Anse Cruse district and we worked together to give students access to online resources by simply using a student ID number.”

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/education/2016/11/20/virtual-library-cards-expand-access-learning/94189668/

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Why I’m Intrigued by Pearson’s HoloLens Initiative

By Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

Augmented reality and non-incremental change is on the move in online education. One story that caught my eye out of EDUCAUSE 2016 was Pearson’s HoloLens announcement. Pearson is partnering with Microsoft to run educational augmented reality pilots at a handful of postsecondary institutions. These pilots include investigating the potential of augmented reality in nursing education (Texas Tech and San Diego State), and for enhanced remote student tutoring in a liberal arts setting at Bryn Mawr College. You can learn more about Pearson’s vision for the HoloLens in higher education from a post by Peter Campbell. Peter is the director of strategy, immersive learning solutions at Pearson – someone with a background in both academic instructional design and educational technology.

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/why-im-intrigued-pearsons-hololens-initiative

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The Perfect Storm: 4 Conditions Align for a Revolution in Curriculum Development

By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway, THE Journal

For good economic and pedagogical reasons, by and large computers have been used in K-12 classrooms as supplemental, not as essential, elements of the curriculum. And research has shown that supplemental use of computers does not lead to increased student achievement. However, as we describe more fully below, four events are in the works that, taken together, provide the enabling condition for the creation of a new — revolutionary — generation of curricula, where the computer is an essential element, inextricably interwoven in the everyday activities of students. Truly, the opportunity to dramatically impact K-12 teaching and learning is at hand!

https://thejournal.com/articles/2015/11/18/the-perfect-storm-4-conditions-align-for-a-revolution-in-curriculum-development.aspx

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7 fun apps to build student thinking skills

By Stephen Noonoo, eSchool News

Looking to give students — or your colleagues — a way to hone their thinking and problem-solving skills while having fun? These free puzzles and games might do the trick. The website APPitic.com, an app resource site with more than 6,000 apps in more than 300 subcategories, offers a number of apps to help build student thinking skills. Here, we’ve gathered a handful of those apps, and you can access more on the APPitic site. All apps were originally curated by Apple Distinguished Educators.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/11/20/student-thinking-skills-173/

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New Minecraft tutorial teaches kids coding

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

A free Minecraft coding tutorial from Microsoft, created for the upcoming and third annual Hour of Code, introduces players ages 6 and older to basic coding contained within the popular “sandbox” game, so named because players have freedom to build and do anything they wish inside the world they create. The tutorial was unveiled on Nov. 16 by Microsoft, Mojang AB, and Code.org and was created especially for students and educators. Code.org‘s Hour of Code is a campaign intended to expand global participation in computer science activities. It is held during Computer Science Education Week, which this year runs from Dec. 7-13. The tutorial, now available for free online, doesn’t require you to have the game installed.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/11/18/minecraft-tutorial-059/

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Research: People Ignore Security Warnings through Habit

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

Don’t be so sure that you pay sufficient attention to messages delivered by your computer warning you about unsafe surfing activities. An experiment at Brigham Young University in Provo found that users “routinely ignore security warnings.” One reason we do that is because we tend to get “habituated” to certain common messages on the screen and overlook them to our peril. Researchers Bonnie Anderson, Brock Kirwan and Anthony Vance conducted the project to explore how people deal with online security risks. While users declared that they “care” about keeping their computers secure, their behavior suggests otherwise.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/11/20/research-people-ignore-security-warnings-through-habit.aspx

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5 tips to create strong learning environments with iPads

By Tom Daccord, eSchool News

Putting iPads in the service of learning, in our view, means putting technology in the service of preparing students to solve unstructured problems and communicate persuasively and with deep understanding. That’s our vision of what great schools do. As we approach the challenge of creating powerful learning environments with iPads, we use five bedrock principles to keep us grounded:

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/11/26/5-tips-ipads-023/

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11 coding resources for the Hour of Code

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

As December’s Hour of Code approaches, coding skills are in the spotlight. Computer science skills are becoming more and more important to success in today’s economy, and this importance is highlighted during the annual Hour of Code. A number of resources on Code.org and other sites can help students of all ages and skill levels develop coding skills. The Hour of Code, which can occur at any time during Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 8-14), is a one-hour coding activity during which students choose from self-guided tutorials that work on browsers, smartphones, tablets, or even work without computers at all.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/11/25/coding-resources-students-392/

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Let’s Talk About Your EdTech Career

By Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

The job of a educational technologist, be it a learning designer (you know how people learn and how to collaborate with faculty to create effective learning environments) or educational technologists (you know some about learning and course design, and also spend time running and improving technology platforms and negotiating with vendors), is the best job on campus. Our goal in the edtech profession is to figure out how to bring more resources to teaching and learning. More resources to faculty. More resources to students.

http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/lets-talk-about-your-edtech-career

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The coming 20+ year disruption in Higher Education

by Mukond Mohan, Best Engaging Communities

With the advent of MOOC (Massive Online Open Courses) I personally believe it is only a matter of time before many of the 4500 colleges shut down. I personally think 50% of colleges in the US will close down in 10+ years. Similar for Indian colleges – over 50% of colleges in India will shut down in 20 years. Most private colleges make money from endowments, grants, and then from tuition – in that order. Most of the moneyed institutions have “rich” students who then become alumni and donate to the college, many of the smaller colleges don’t.

http://bestengagingcommunities.com/2013/11/24/the-coming-20-year-disruption-in-higher-education/

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3 TED Talks For Teachers In Need Of Inspiration

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Sometimes it is important to take the time to examine how we work and how we can do better. Professional development is somewhat about that, but I’m talking more about personal development. We’re all human – we can get stuck in our routines before we know it, and pretty soon those habits are hard to break. The TED talks below are three that we’ve selected because we think they’re important reminders to us as humans. They talk about inspiring, leading, believing, and feeling. They’re applicable to teaching but they’re not always about teaching specifically. They’re about being human, and interacting with other humans, and we think they’ll give you a little inspiration in your life and in your classroom.

http://www.edudemic.com/ted-talks-for-teachers/

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