WC navigating era of custom learning

By JELANI GIBSON, Weatherford Democrat

Personalized forms of education and more workforce solutions are becoming the norm at Weatherford College and other institutions of higher education, according to interim president Brent Baker. The landscape of dual credit being offered to high schoolers and more online classes are changing educational practice, Baker said. “How you deliver the instruction has changed quite a bit, with dual credit becoming more and more prevalent and with online classes becoming more popular, that changes the game for all of our programs,” he said. Whether it be taking a class in high school, doing a course online, attending the college in person, or a mixture of the three, students have more options of delivery, Baker said.

http://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/news/local_news/wc-navigating-era-of-custom-learning/article_3ee52f96-ef32-5dac-867f-81b0bab12801.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=35234

In 2018, Get Ready for the Convergence of IoT, AI, Fog, and Blockchain

By Maciej Kranz, RTI

The third technology vital to IoT’s growth in 2018 is fog computing, which has quickly become a mainstream concept describing a distributed cloud environment. With many bandwidth-intensive IoT applications requiring real-time data processing, traditional cloud computing focused on batch processing is no longer sufficient. Fortunately, fog computing breaks down this adoption obstacle. A great example of fog computing in use involves an offshore oil rig that generates terabytes of data daily. Rather than spending days waiting for that data stream to be transmitted to the cloud, fog computing brings the power of the cloud closer to earth – real-time information can be locally processed and analyzed based on centralized policies from the cloud; only exceptions and alerts are sent through satellite.

https://www.rtinsights.com/in-2018-get-ready-for-the-convergence-of-iot-ai-fog-and-blockchain/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=35224

Free online courses that teach skills for Africa’s most in-demand industries

by Jackie Bischof, Quartz Africa

A number of universities across Africa are creating free online courses in the hope that they will democratize access to education, inspire more collaboration and networking between African institutions, and support access to education for women, among other benefits. Last year, Wits University became the first African university to offer MOOCs (massive open online courses) on edX, a platform established by MIT and Harvard. The University of Cape Town has a range of sessions on Coursera, from academic writing and social change, to the ethics of organ donation. Nigeria has experimented with creating MOOCs specifically for high school graduates who didn’t get into university on their first try.

https://qz.com/1163498/free-online-courses-that-teach-skills-for-africas-most-in-demand-industries/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=35214

4 Ways to Carve Out Study Time for Online Courses

By Allie Mitchell, Uloop

Online classes have their downsides of course. When it comes to online classes you need to be able to have a way to remember your assignments. That is quite possibly the number one downfall of students who take online courses — they simply forget that things are due or that the window to take a test is closing soon. Setting reminders for yourself would always be a good thing to do, even if you aren’t taking online classes. Online courses do pose a challenge for students, though. They tend to have students thinking that it is like taking the easy way out of taking regular classes. In reality, online courses can actually be much harder and require a little bit more attention. You don’t have someone teaching you face to face every other day and ALL of the work is truly on you. There may not be much buffer in your grade when it comes to online classes and usually courses that can be done from home usually require a good bit of writing.

http://www.uloop.com/news/view.php/223061/4-Ways-to-Carve-Out-Study-Time-for-Online-Courses

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=21987

Survey: Student success tops institutional priorities for 2017

by Jarrett Carter, Education Dive

A new survey from University Business shows that an overwhelming number of college leaders have worked to strengthen student success capacity in the last year, and that it will remain among their top institutional priorities in 2017. The survey reveals student success among participants’ top four priorities for the upcoming year, with specific emphasis on recruiting and retaining low-income students, boosting graduation rates, increasing financial literacy and providing career development services for graduates. These areas outpaced controlling institutional costs and philanthropic development among more than 60 presidents and provosts from colleges around the country.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/survey-student-success-tops-institutional-priorities-for-2017/433035/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=21955

What Does a ‘Modern Classroom’ Look Like—and What Should Educators Leave Behind?

By Mary Jo Madda, EdSurge

Erin Bown-Anderson: As far as a modern classroom goes, I would say that the biggest factor… has to do with mindset. It has to do with who is controlling the information in the classroom. Truly embracing student agency. Amplifying under-represented voices is incredibly important, and technology helps us to do that. To me, the modern classroom really is a shifting of roles and responsibilities and control.

John Phillips: I think there are two key things that I hope to share as best practices for you all today. First, a modern classroom is actually messy. It’s loud and it’s fun. The other thing that I see that is starting to really cascade around the globe is related to teachers. You may peek in the room, and you may not be able to see them.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-12-21-what-does-a-modern-classroom-look-like-and-what-should-educators-leave-behind

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=21943

Become a Web Developer in 6 Weeks with This Complete Online Course

by Best Online Courses

One of the most popular categories on Udemy, and in online learning in general, is web development. This growing field offers loads of opportunities when it comes to landing a lucrative career or starting your own business. Even though there are seemingly endless course choices within the web development category, a perfect place to start is The Complete Web Developer Course – Build 14 Websites. The course is for students who are seeking a well-rounded program that tackles everything relevant in the world of web development today. In a mere 6 weeks, you can advance from someone with zero experience to someone with professional skills, whether you’re hoping for a career change or to advance your existing career.

http://www.bestonlinecourses.info/become-a-web-developer-in-6-weeks-with-this-complete-online-course/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14701

7 Tips To Create Effective eLearning Assessments To Measure Online Training

by Christophe Pappas, eLearning Industry

Evaluating your online training program is essential; only by doing so you can measure the effectiveness of your training outcomes. eLearning assessments are a great way to establish whether the skills and the abilities of your employees have been aligned with your company’s needs and goals. In this article, I’ll share 7 top tips on how to create effective eLearning assessments in order to ensure that your online training courses are truly effective.

http://elearningindustry.com/7-tips-create-effective-elearning-assessments-measure-online-training

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14698

Goodwill gives job-seekers tools for Internet safety

by Eric Wildstein, Gaston Gazette

Gaston job-seekers can get an extra layer of online protection. Goodwill will begin offering cybersecurity classes at its job connection sites in Gaston and Mecklenburg counties early this year. The curriculum will cover topics such as how to install the latest security updates, understanding how to avoid phishing and click-jacking and how to protect one’s identity online. “This cybersecurity class is important for our job seekers to understand the risks associated with engaging online,” said Melinda Wilshire, marketing and communications director for Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont. “We want to equip our Goodwill University students with the knowledge to utilize technology responsibly.”

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14696

Competition essential to solving U.S. STEM gap

by eSchool News

Developing a rigorous vetting process for talented teachers and opening up school choice options are paramount to engaging students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), according to a new report by National Center for Policy Analysis Senior Research Fellow Lloyd Bentsen IV. “It’s important to remember that real education reforms are necessary to effectively engage our students in the education process,” says Bentsen. “Finding and retaining more talented teachers and allowing students to choose the school that makes them the most comfortable are both key to engaging students in difficult subjects like STEM-related education.”

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/12/30/competition-stem-gap-298/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/XWRwWNYYO-I/

How to Turn Computer Games into Lesson Plans

By James Hinton, Edudemic

Edutainment is now a very popular tool in the classroom. Current students tend to be computer savvy gamers with a hefty appetite for active learning. A wide variety of edutainment has been created for the classroom to meet this need. But sometimes purpose built software doesn’t meet the specific needs of a given classroom. When that occurs a teacher may have to get a little creative and find ways to adapt commercially available games meant for private gamers. At the university level various professors have engaged in novel solutions. For example, Boise State uses Second Life as an interactive classroom. I myself found Empires III surprisingly helpful in learning how the Tokugawa Shogunate came to power during my military history studies. But what about at the highschool level? Have highschool teachers been able to similarly adapt? Today I’d like to share three real world examples where teachers did precisely this. Hopefully by looking at how they adapted popular games to their classrooms you’ll find inspiration that will help you in your own classrooms. Our three examples are Jeremiah McCall, Dan Bloom, and Don LaBonte.

http://www.edudemic.com/computer-games-as-lesson-plan/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/2qIZLneDutU/

State of Delaware offering AP computer science online

by Matthew Albright, The News Journal

There are plenty of companies in Delaware who are keenly interested in students seeking computer science degrees. Whether it’s J.P. Morgan Chase seeking cybersecurity experts and technicians to run their massive data operations or PSEG Nuclear that needs experts to maintain its important computer infrastructure, many companies say they are having a hard time finding employess with specialized computer skills they need. AP Computer Science could be a huge boost for students seeking those skills. The class teaches students some of the fundamentals of programming and coding, and could give them a head start into a computer science major in college. The problem, though, is that most schools don’t have enough students who are interested in taking the class to justify the cost of administering it or pulling a teacher aside for it. That’s why the state has started offering the course online.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/education/2014/12/29/state-offering-ap-computer-science-online/21011295/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/eGG-jpVw3gw/

10 advantages Windows 8 tablets have over the competition

by James Kendrick, ZD Net

The iPad is still king in the tablet space when it comes to market share and Android is trying to grab more share all the time. Microsoft designed Windows 8 to run on tablets in an attempt to bring the OS into the hot tablet segment. Android tablets and the iPad are solid tablets, but Windows 8 has distinct advantages over both of the other platforms. Windows 8 is a full PC OS and that brings some important capabilities to the tablet. The 10 features in this collection that give Windows 8 an advantage over the competition are by no means the only ones. They are significant enough to break them out from the rest.

http://www.zdnet.com/10-advantages-windows-8-tablets-have-over-the-ipad-and-android-7000018732/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/PvKOKQQ-ZEo/

Does Reading Actually Change the Brain?

by Carol Clark-Emory, Emory University

Neurobiological research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has begun to identify brain networks associated with reading stories. Most previous studies have focused on the cognitive processes involved in short stories, while subjects are actually reading them as they are in the fMRI scanner. The study focused on the lingering neural effects of reading a narrative. Twenty-one Emory undergraduates participated in the experiment, which was conducted over 19 consecutive days.The results showed heightened connectivity in the left temporal cortex, an area of the brain associated with receptivity for language, on the mornings following the reading assignments.

http://www.futurity.org/reading-novels-leaves-shadow-activity-brain/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/uqY8KUab53Q/

29 great math websites for students of all ages

by Learning Never Stops

Over the past month I have shared many math based websites. Below, I have combined all the math websites that I have shared so far and have added seven new ones. Whether you have been following my blog, or if this is your first time, I promise you will find many great math resources for your students.

http://seekoutlearning.blogspot.com/2013/12/29-great-math-websites-for-students-of.html

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