How to use data to increase student success rates

BY NATE DAVIS, eSchool News

In order to effectively battle increasing dropout rates, educators need to first research statistics and identify specific indicators that lead to high school students falling behind. The STEP program identifies these indicators by reviewing each student’s academic performance and attendance. This allows educators to distinguish which students are “at risk” and need additional support and encouragement on their path to graduation.  Ahead of the next school year or semester, our district invited the identified at-risk students to participate in a pilot year of the data-driven STEP program. The program gives these students the opportunity to focus on literacy and math skills and core academic courses while receiving social and emotional support.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2018/01/31/student-success-rates/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=36489

Examining EdTech’s Responsibility to Students

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

As an industry that generates $3 billion annually, Edtech is a cornerstone of modern education. With that kind of prominence in classrooms, edtech also has an enormous responsibility to students. This responsibility consists of four areas. A host of regulations and protections surrounding student privacy and edtech has a responsibility to uphold these requirements when providing online educational services. By following a model framework, edtech providers can protect student rights.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/examining-edtechs-responsibility-students/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=36479

Blockchain is this year’s buzzword – but can it outlive the hype?

by Mattha Busby, the Guardian

The speculation around cryptocurrencies has obscured the fact that blockchain, the decentralised, open-source ledger that drives bitcoin, could radically change how ownership is verified. While the value of the main cryptocurrencies fluctuates, “blockchain” remains a lucrative buzzword that companies have found is a magnet for funding. But cutting through the hype, could blockchain technology really revolutionise the way anything from banking to education is run? The blockchain allows people to create digital property independently of third parties and belief-based methods of recording ownership. Time-stamped data entries are append-only and always accessible, partly because the database is stored across a network of computers rather than a central server.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/30/blockchain-buzzword-hype-open-source-ledger-bitcoin

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=36469

Carmaker Backs Middle and High School Robotics

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

The American automaker behind Chrysler and Fiat cars is investing bigtime in Michigan middle grade and high school students. The charitable arm of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC has awarded $226,000 in grants to 57 robotics teams and programs to help students in those schools cover some of the costs of participating in robotics competitions. The grants range in size from $400 to $4,725 and are intended to cover expenses such as registration fees, parts and materials as well as team apparel associated with the FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge programs. Both are run by the organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people in science and technology.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/01/11/carmaker-backs-middle-ad-high-school-robotics.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=23462

Can robotics teach problem solving to students?

BY BETH BRUBAKER, eSchool News

Throughout my 35 years of teaching, I’ve watched students grow up in what I lovingly call the “worksheet generation.” In this environment, students are accustomed to a very structured style of learning, where they are handed a worksheet, then asked to turn to page five in their math book and solve problems one through 15. This approach, however, often teaches students there is only one right answer and limits meaningful engagement and creativity.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/01/20/robotics-teach-problem-solving/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=23452

How 4 visionary schools are venturing into a new mixed reality

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News

Mixed reality combines virtual and augmented realities for enhanced learning experiences–and institutions are already implementing it. A new collaboration between Pearson and Microsoft is using a self-contained holographic computer to develop “mixed reality” learning experiences for students. The collaboration will explore how mixed reality can help solve real challenges in areas of learning, ranging from online tutoring and coaching, nursing education, and engineering to construction and surveyor training. Microsoft says its HoloLens is the world’s first self-contained holographic computer. Pearson is developing and piloting mixed reality content at colleges, universities and secondary schools in the United States and around the world.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/01/23/institutions-mixed-reality/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=23437

Should you treat your school like a business?

BY LAURA DEVANEY, eSchool News

The idea of treating students, parents and the school community as customers isn’t an entirely new one, but it’s still one that makes some school leaders balk. After all, schools are institutions of learning, and traditionally, they have not been thought of as businesses. But with the growth of charter schools and online schools, parents have other options to explore if their child’s school does not meet expectations — and when students leave, so, too, does funding. And in an effort to increase parental engagement and ensure that parents and community members feel as though they are part of their children’s school, the newly-passed Every Student Succeeds Act includes multiple methods to increase parental engagement, including expanded accessibility, regular two-way communication, and enhanced parent and family engagement policies.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/02/05/should-you-treat-your-school-like-a-business/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15024

PwC tells universities to adapt or perish

by Tim Dodd, Financial Review

There are clear signs that digital disruption is transforming universities and leaving behind those that can’t adapt fast enough. Not surprisingly this seems to be more apparent to students, who come from the generation of digital natives, than to many university academics and administrators. Last week the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association, the registered employer organisation for higher education providers, published a report it commissioned from PwC titled Australian Higher Education Workforce of the Future. It explores what the employment model for universities is likely to be 10 or 20 years hence, when the full impact of digital disruption, as well as other change-makers like fee deregulation and increased competition, will have hit.

http://www.afr.com/leadership/careers/pwc-tells-universities-to-adapt-or-perish-20160204-gmm2ek

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15021

You don’t need an Ivy League degree to make a lot of money in these fields

By Jillian Berman, Market Watch

Graduates of top-tier schools who major in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) don’t earn much more than graduates of schools that are easier to get into, according to research from Michael Hilmer, an economist at San Diego State University, and Eric Eide and Mark Showalter, economists at Brigham Young University. But for students who major in business or liberal arts, where you go to school matters — business majors from top schools make 12% more than those from midtier schools and 18% more than their colleagues from bottom tier schools, for example.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/you-dont-need-an-ivy-league-degree-to-make-a-lot-of-money-in-these-fields-2016-02-02

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15018

Global Oneness Project Launches Free Multimedia Resources, Lesson Plans

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

The Global Oneness Project, a curator of multicultural studies, has launched a multimedia initiative for K-12 and higher education that combines free digital stories and lesson plans. “The interdisciplinary stories — in the form of short documentary films, photo essays and articles — examine global themes with a humanistic lens,” according to a news release. “The lesson plans facilitate critical thinking, reflective writing and in-class activities designed for use in the arts, environmental sciences, English, history courses and more.”

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/02/05/global-oneness-project-launches-free-multimedia-resources-lesson-plans.aspx

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California District Deploys 23,000 1-to-1 Devices, Works To Quell Parental Concerns

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

Manteca Unified School District in California is in the next phase of its $30 million project to outfit its 23,000 students with computers. In response to earlier parental concerns regarding the program, the district posted information on its site addressing the most common questions and held two seminars specifically to educate families about software usage.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/02/03/california-district-deploys.aspx

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7 Tips for Harnessing the Energy of Social Media in Class

By Richard Rose, Campus Technology

Social media can be a distraction for students — but used well, it can also invigorate teaching and learning with a relevant, immediate stream of communication. Here’s how to make sure it’s an asset, not a liability. The arrival of social media in today’s university classroom completes the trend. Students sit in class (if they attend class at all) with devices that permit instant two-way communication with anyone in the room or out of it. They often think of themselves primarily as “customers” and believe they owe the institution nothing but politeness and the reasonably timely payment of their semester bills. They reserve the right to evaluate, on a moment-to-moment basis, whether the words of the professor have sufficient entertainment value to justify their continuing attention.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/new-uw-madison-web-portal-to-help-adults-take-classes-online-b99436643z1-290942501.html

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Let’s take a byte out of snow days

by PAUL W. BENNETT, Chronicle Herald

Now comes news from the American “snow belt” states that the storm day itself may be threatened by, of all things, the gradual advance of 21st century e-learning. lready, U.S. school districts from Pittsburgh, Pa., to Westerville City, Ohio, to Trimble County, Ky. are beginning to take full advantage of the Internet to convert snow days into cyber-learning days. Since August of 2011, the State of Ohio has authorized school districts to develop “e-day plans” for storm days, implementing them once five days have been lost in the school year. It’s a very ingenious response to the significant loss of student learning time.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1185467-let-s-take-a-byte-out-of-snow-days

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/S4pMcDftKt4/

Introducing Outernet: Free Wi-Fi beamed to everywhere on earth from space

by Paul Cooper, IT ProPortal

A New York-based team has suggested creating a network of free Wi-Fi beamed to earth from tiny satellites placed in low earth orbit. The planned network, which the organisation has dubbed the “Outernet,” would allow access to certain websites for free, from anywhere in the world. The websites chosen for the honour so far are Wikipedia, free learning sites the Khan Academy, Coursera, open-source maps site Open Streetmap, open-source operating system Ubuntu, and blockchains for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. The project was founded and is currently led by Syed Karim, a University of Illinois graduate currently working for Digital News Ventures, part of the Media Developement Fund, which makes seed investments in news and information start-ups.

http://www.itproportal.com/2014/02/05/introducing-outernet-free-wi-fi-beamed-to-everywhere-on-earth-from-space/

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Blizzard bags make debut in Hampstead

By Alex Lippa, Eagle-Tribune

A snowstorm kept students out of school Wednesday, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t busy with schoolwork. The Hampstead School District debuted its blizzard bag online learning program on Wednesday. Students were sent home with assignments on Tuesday afternoon, with instructions to complete the work instead of coming to school. If 80 percent of the students completed their assignments Wednesday, the day would not have to be made up at the end of the year. Metzler’s executive assistant Cathy Belcher said while they are still in collecting data, the district believes the day went well.

http://www.eagletribune.com/latestnews/x1262676447/Blizzard-bags-make-debut-in-Hampstead

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