Virtual and Augmented Reality to Nearly Double Each Year Through 2021

By Joshua Bolkan, Campus Technology
Spending on augmented and virtual reality will nearly double in 2018, according to a new forecast from International Data Corp. (IDC), growing from $9.1 billion in 2017 to $17.8 billion next year. The market research company predicts that aggressive growth will continue throughout its forecast period, achieving an average 98.8 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2017 to 2021. Consumer spending will be the single largest source of spending on AR and VR in the near term, accounting for $6.8 billion in 2018, with about three quarters of that spending going toward virtual reality hardware and software. The majority of spending on augmented reality in 2018 will go toward software. Spending by consumers will grow more modestly than the market overall, increasing at an average CAGR of 45.2 percent to reach $20 billion in 2021. Gaming will be the leading consumer use case for VR and AR throughout the forecast period.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/12/04/virtual-and-augmented-reality-to-nearly-double-each-year-through-2021.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=34502

‘Pop-up Courses’ Provide Short-Term Learning Experiences at Saint Michael’s College

By Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

Saint Michael’s College, a private Catholic institution in Vermont, is updating its curriculum with a new “pop-up” course format. The courses are meant to “create a space for educated discussion between students and their instructors” about timely issues or interests that aren’t being accommodated in the traditional curriculum, according to a news announcement. “Higher education hasn’t been too creative or responsive to students’ needs and interests, and we need to be,” said Karen Talentino, vice president of academic affairs, in a statement. She added that students are allowed to propose their own ideas for courses, which helps ensure the topics are relevant and innovative.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/12/06/pop-up-courses-provide-short-term-learning-experiences-at-saint-michaels-college.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=34492

U Maryland Baltimore County Plugs in Hybrid Reality Wall

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology
The University of Maryland Baltimore County last month cut the ribbon on a new immersive “hybrid reality” lab for working with 3D, virtual reality and augmented reality. The University of Maryland Baltimore County last month cut the ribbon on a new immersive “hybrid reality” lab for working with 3D, virtual reality and augmented reality. The university said the technology will facilitate new research efforts with visual exploration of data for biology, math, engineering, visual arts and digital humanities while also serving as a tool for studying the potential of the medium itself. “π²” — pi squared — as it’s called, features a curved wall with 50 million-pixel resolution. The wall stands 15 feet tall by 20 feet wide. It was made from multi-column, thin-bezel, stereo-capable LCDs and is intended to accommodate a variety of uses: immersion, hybrid reality, high resolution, large field of view, large space and size, body-centric human-computer interaction and support for data fusion.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/12/04/u-maryland-baltimore-county-plugs-in-hybrid-reality-wall.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=34482

Technology Use Among Teachers Strong and Growing

By David Nagel, eSchool News

The vast majority of teachers are using technology daily with their students, and most say their use of technology will increase even more next year, according to a new study involving 2,500 K–12 teachers. The study, conducted by adaptive learning provider Front Row Education, found that 75 percent of teachers use technology with students on a daily basis and that a bit more than half have a 1-to-1 ratio of devices to students in their classrooms (up 10 points from last year’s survey). That increase in student devices is helping to drive an increase in the use of technology, with about 60 percent of teachers surveyed saying they expect to increase the use of technology in the 2016–2017 school year. According to the study, other factors cited as contributing to an increase use of technology included: Positive results from the use of technology with students; Expectations from administrators; and Access to quality software.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/11/17/technology-use-among-teachers-strong-and-growing.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=21190

We used these Google tools in our schools and saw tangible results soar

BY LARRY PAPE AND JOHN WATSON, eSchool News

At Evergreen Education Group we’ve studied K-12 digital education for sixteen years. Among the most important developments we have seen is the proliferation of devices in the classroom, whether through bring-your-own-device, district-led one-to-one programs, or other channels. However, relatively little study to date has examined how devices are successfully deployed and what their impact has been. Over the course of 16 months we spoke with more than 100 district and school leaders in six countries representing more than 880,000 students, analyzed each school’s documents and data, conducted surveys of administrators, teachers and students, and reviewed surveys that the schools conducted. Our goal at every step was to let educators tell their stories, be honest about the challenges and failures, and celebrate the successes in the vein of highlighting these wonderful schools and providing guidance as schools continue down the digital path.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/12/01/google-tools-schools/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=21178

App of the Week: STEM goes underwater

BY MERIS STANSBURY, eSchool News

Solve, create, and share puzzles that gush with STEM learning. Busy Water is a logical puzzle-solving game where a tricky cat has unplugged Archie the fish’s tank. Through over 100 levels, kids put together pipes, experiment with water in its various states, and use wheels, ropes, rotating planks, and gravity to safely direct Archie to his aquarium. Higher levels unlock only after kids successfully complete previous levels.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/12/05/app-week-stem-goes-underwater/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=21170

ILO: Venturing into the virtual world

by SIBANI RAM, TH MEDIA

A rapidly growing program that offers courses, from art history to anatomy, is Iowa Learning Online. It is an enthralling experience in the virtual world for both middle and high schoolers. Though the program doesn’t resemble the quintessential classroom setup, students are assigned a teacher, with whom they communicate. Activities and quizzes are a consistent component of the curriculum, which eventually lead to unit tests. “It provides students with the opportunity, in many cases, to take courses that are not offered at school,” said Dr. Ryan Wise, director of the Iowa Department of Education. “Secondly, it allows for students to work around schedule conflicts, and therefore, offers more flexibility. Third, it provides students with an opportunity to try an online learning environment, which continues to grow it today.” With 1,400 enrollments across the state, Iowa Learning Online prioritizes convenience, while instilling conscientiousness in its pupils.

http://www.thonline.com/news/feature_stories/article_0d98190a-9ec5-5b84-9a58-ef232c8afffc.html

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14512

COD introduces online learning guides for internet-based courses

by Emily Lorenz, COD Courier

The resources, found on COD’s website, range from videos to tips, to places, both virtual and on-campus, where students can go for help. These sources provide a way for students to learn all of the basics, from what type of computer they need for the best study techniques. The first two months that this resource was offered to students, 2,074 students took advantage of at least one of the resources available to them. COD’s Learning Technologies Program Specialist Becky Benkert said students using these sources have given good feedback. She feels these resources are helpful to both new and returning online students. “Students have been self-reporting that they feel more confident about pursuing their online courses after completing the orientation than they did before they began,” Benkert said. “These resources should be equally helpful to anyone enrolled in an online course. They would be most helpful to new students, but anyone who wants a refresher should find the orientation beneficial as well.”

http://codcourier.org/3588/news/cod-introduces-online-learning-guides-for-internet-based-courses/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14509

Advance Your Career As a Web Developer With Udacity and Google

by Sue Gee, i-programmer

Enrollment opens today for Udacity’s latest nanodegree. If you want to get hired as a Senior Web Developer, join the first cohort of students to follow a curriculum devised in conjunction with Google. The Senior Web Developer Nanodegree was announced at last month’s Chrome Developer Summit. It can be seen as a follow-on to Udacity’s very first Nanodegree, Front-End Web Developer. The summary of the program which is expected to require 9-12 months if you devote 10 hours per week to it.

http://www.i-programmer.info/news/150-training-a-education/9195-advance-your-career-as-a-web-developer.html

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14506

Future schools: Books to be replaced by online learning by 2030, global survey predicts

by IAN WALKER, the Sunday Telegraph

Books will be a distant memory, social skills will trump academic knowledge, teachers will be guides rather than lecturers and set hours at school will be a thing of the past. This is the vision of what schools will be like in 2030 as seen by experts from across the world. If the predictions from the World Innovation Summit for Education’s global survey are right, then a student’s interpersonal skills will be their most valued asset, with 75 per cent of respondents ranking it number one compared to 42 per cent for academic knowledge. Books will be few and far between with nearly half of respondents saying online content will be king.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/future-schools-books-to-be-replaced-by-online-learning-by-2030-global-survey-predicts/story-fni0cx12-1227145707499

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/ztgtS1zpCkc/

KnowledgeWorks and iNACOL release policy guide to support next generation educator workforce

by iNACOL

As the education system begins to embrace competency education, schools, teachers and staff will need to be prepared for a more personalized environment that focuses on students’ mastery of academic content and skills instead of seat time. As a growing numbers of states and districts adopt competency-based models and practices, they must also plan to engage and adequately prepare the workforce to excel in these new learning environments. KnowledgeWorks and the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) recently released “Laying the Foundation for Competency Education: A Policy Guide for the Next Generation Educator Workforce” to help the education system prepare the shift to highly personalized, competency-based models.

http://www.seattlepi.com/business/press-releases/article/In-Competency-based-System-Educator-Preparation-5937237.php

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/pZ_bsSKSQZ8/

Local students to participate in international Hour of Code online learning event

By Frank DeFrank, The Macomb Daily

Macomb County elementary school students will join 100 million or so of their closest friends next week when they participate in a worldwide event designed to pique their interest in computer science. The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science designed to “de mystify” code and demonstrate that anybody can learn the basics. The event will be held Dec. 8-14 in conjunction with Computer Science Education Week. Organized by Code.org., a non-profit organization dedicated to making computer science more available in schools, the program affords opportunities for students to get involved simply by logging on to a website, accessing tutorials and setting up an Hour of Code event.

http://www.macombdaily.com/social-affairs/20141203/local-students-to-participate-in-international-hour-of-code-online-learning-event

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/mH4Zrf_PErs/

‘iLabs’ offer a new way to add science experiments to online education

by Bjorn Carey, Stanford

The virtual labs are Hesselink’s latest effort to bring advanced laboratories to the masses online, an approach he pioneered in 1996. That first version included several then-new features, such as remote control and scheduling of the lab, chat, faculty support and an electronic notebook. The most recent “lab in a box” generation of iLabs involved automated hardware that students could access through the Internet and control remotely from anywhere in the world. The labs took up only a few cubic feet of space, which significantly lowered operating costs compared to traditional setups.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/december/lab-ina-box-120613.html

Share on Facebook



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

Out of control online behavior calls for in-school digital citizenship campaign

by Linda Catoe, Guilfordian

In her October 6, 2010 article, “Schools Urged To Teach Youth Digital Citizenship,” Nancy Solomon addressed the need to get youth back on the digital ethics track on NPR’s “All Things Considered” program. Solomon cited John Palfrey, of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, who said, “We need education; we need mentoring; we need parenting …We need to have social workers figure out how to reach out in cyberspace, as well as in real space … It’s an all-hands-on-deck kind of issue.” Solomon offered solutions for a digital citizenship education campaign. Her article spotlighted Common Sense Media, a nonprofit source for kids’ movies, video games and technology information, who had gone as far as to write a digital citizenship curriculum to assist schools in teaching children “to think critically about the Internet and make ethical decisions about its use.”

http://www.guilfordian.com/features/2013/12/06/out-of-control-online-behavior-calls-for-in-school-digital-citizenship-campaign/

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/MwUTL8RPAHQ/

The Global Classroom

by Vinton Cerf, Project-Syndicate

Once students are online, there is no limit to what they can do with the vast amount of information available to them or how they will collaborate with and learn from one another. Imagine students in Malaysia working with students around the world on a weather project. They could conduct virtual experiments, work simultaneously to update data in a spreadsheet or document, and create a shared final presentation. Where desktop or laptop computers are not widely available, students might use smartphones or tablets to augment their learning. For example, they could turn to sophisticated mobile biology apps that let them interact with a 3D version of a cell, or polling apps that they could use to conduct a psychology experiment.

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/vint-cerf-goes-inside-the-online-revolution-in-education

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/p204BsH-0X4/