IT’S OFFICIAL: ‘DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP’ CLASSES ARE THE NEW NORMAL IN SCHOOLS

By Molly Fosco, OZY

On a fall day in early September, Rachel Murat begins the school year by instructing her newest group of high schoolers to google themselves. As they click away on their Chromebooks, the students begin to realize what a simple search can reveal about them, and the room slowly fills with gasps of shock. Once the students have settled down, Murat tells them to google her name. “They always think they’re going to find dirt, but they never do,” Murat says. “Then I harp on them about not making a permanent post about a temporary emotion.” When Murat wanted to start a digital citizenship class at Maine-Endwell High School in Broome County, New York, in 2012, she didn’t have much of a road map to work with. Today, a growing number of digital-citizenship curriculum providers are emerging, catering to increasing demand from schools and educators across the country adopting “DigCit” as central to the education they provide.

http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/its-official-digital-citizenship-classes-are-the-new-normal-in-schools/82563

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=35670

HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN BE USED TO CREATE BETTER ASSESSMENTS

By Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate

One of the many changes that students are experiencing is their ability to be assessed not only in the classroom but also online. Students of all ages can be tested and assessed through the use of online tools and assessments. In the 21^st century, we are seeing a shift in views regarding how students can be tested and assessed based on their performances inside and outside the classroom. Students can also be assessed by creating and displaying their work online through social media, YouTube, and digital portfolios. Additionally, many university classes are encouraging and even requiring student contribution on online blackboards and forums. Regardless of the format of assessment, technology is becoming a critical part of learning as well as student performance. So, how we can use technology to create better assessments? Read on to find out.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/technology-can-used-create-better-assessments/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=35660

5 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR DISTRICT’S DIGITAL LEADERSHIP

By Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate
Educators are counting on your digital leadership and your support to help everyone embrace edtech. By setting edtech expectations early on and providing adequate support, your district’s digital leadership can create a new culture of digital use and citizenship. Here are five ways you can help them embrace digital technology.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/5-ways-improve-districts-digital-leadership/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=35650

Personalizing Professional Development For Teachers, By Teachers

By Pat Phillips, EdSurge

Designing personalized learning experiences for ourselves not only kept us in touch with the needs of our students, but also allowed us the rare opportunity to put ourselves in their shoes as we tested our potential innovations on ourselves. We held ourselves accountable by sharing our individual goals and action steps in their formative stages through engaging in multiple peer feedback protocols and revision loops. Here again, the development of a robust asynchronous environment—which included interactive multimedia, online discussion forums, self-paced learning modules with automated feedback, and badges—was key. This allowed us opportunities to simulate how our teachers might go about developing flexible, personalized blended learning environments.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-01-04-personalizing-professional-development-for-teachers-by-teachers

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=22400

The M.B.A. Classroom That Knows When You’re Bored

by PARMINDER BAHRA, Wall Street Journal

In a business school classroom in Spain, a computer alerts the professor that one of her students is losing interest. This is no ordinary lecture hall. It’s the Instituto de Empresa’s “WOW” room, or the “Window on the World,” a place the Spanish business school believes is the future of the master’s in business administration. The room is a physical space where faculty members deliver course modules to an audiovisual mosaic wall of students watching via video camera. A software application scans the video streams and runs a sentiment analysis to gauge students’ reactions. It can, for example, alert a lecturer if someone is losing interest, or is angry.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/disrupting-business-school-m-b-a-classrooms-get-a-digital-upgrade-1483542001

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=22388

How to temp test to see if a Master’s degree is really right for you

by Roger Jones, American Genius

The launch of Find Lectures is a boon to the prospective student. In one place, you’ve got a searchable catalog of nearly 26,000 free lectures, many 60-minutes or less, from TED, the Library of Congress, Talks at Google, and more. For those who want more than just an exploratory conversation about a topic, there are multiple colleges and universities who have opened MOOCs, or massive open online courses. MOOCs, many of which are free, can be found for an almost unlimited number of courses, with some leading to degrees, while others allow you to get the knowledge, information, or skill, albeit with no degree path following.

https://theamericangenius.com/business-news/temp-test-see-masters-degree-really-right/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=22376

Webster County Students Continue Learning Online

by Tristate Homepage

In western Kentucky, schools were closed Monday, but in Webster County it was a day of learning. The online road was clear for Webster County High Sophomore Kari Wood, even when the real roads weren’t. “This is, actually, my English test,” she says referring to what she was working on Monday afternoon. Webster County Schools had their first “Link 2 Learn” day. Students did assignments through an online program in it’s first year. Up to five “Link 2 Learn” days can be used on snow days. “I had done my Chemistry homework. I’m working on my English right now,” says Wood. “My students have a link on our website that shows them their assignments to do. It also has websites they can access,” adds Sebree Elementary Teacher Lori Gonzalez.

http://www.tristatehomepage.com/news/local-news/webster-county-students-continue-learning-online

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14800

Newest Version of MOOC on Blended Learning Opens in February

By Michael Hart, THE Journal

The University of Central Florida (UCF) and Educause will partner in the fourth version of a massive open online course (MOOC) on blended learning. The course titled “BlendKit2016: Becoming a Blended Learning Designer” will be available starting in late February. The university and the nonprofit will jointly offer the free course and Instructure will provide access to it via its Canvas online learning platform. The course is intended to help educators as they create their own courses that include a combination of face-to-face and online learning experiences. BlendKit2016 will be facilitated by designers Rohan Jowallah and Baiyun Chen from the UCF Center for Distributed Learning.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/01/11/newest-version-of-mooc-on-blended-learning-opens-in-february.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14797

Does a Slow Down in Self-Paced E-Learning Signal Growth for Other Learning Technologies?

by Ryann K. Ellis, ATD

The growth rate for self-paced e-learning in the United States is now negative at -2.7 percent, according to the recent Ambient Insight report, The 2015-2020 Self-Paced E-Learning Market. According to Ambient research, U.S. revenues will drop from the $21.3 reached in 2015 to $18.6 billion by 2020. But is this good news for other learning tech options that have been positioned for growth? “There is ample evidence that consumers are opting for mobile learning products instead of e-learning, and this is cannibalizing revenues in the segment,” Ambient Insight chief researcher Sam Adkins. This is known as product substitution in market analysis.

https://www.td.org/Publications/Blogs/Learning-Technologies-Blog/2016/01/Does-a-Slow-Down-in-Self-Paced-E-Learning-Signal-Growth-for-Other-Learning-Technologies

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14803

Virtual school offers alternatives to Sanilac students

by Syeda Ferguson, Times Herald

An online public school for grades 6-12 is opening up alternatives to the traditional public school model in Sanilac County. Blue Water Virtual School is the result of a partnership between Carsonville-Port Sanilac and Croswell-Lexington Community Schools. In its second full year, the school has an enrollment of 28 students. It targets students who either are home-schooled or not attending public school. Students who are attending traditional middle school or high school also can take online courses through Blue Water Virtual for high school credit. Blue Water Virtual School was a money-saving move, the school’s coordinator, Russell Clark, said.

http://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/local/2015/01/11/virtual-school-offers-alternatives-sanilac-students/21605181/

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E-books, textbooks duel for top spot in class

BY MACKENZIE ROSS, Crimson White

In recent years, products like tablets, Kindles and iPads have changed the way people read books and the way students access information. Many publishers now offer both traditional hard-copy books and 
electronic books, known as e-books. “E-books have not grown as fast in the past years as most thought they would,” said Bernadette Chavira-Trull, senior associate director of books at the SUPe Store. “Most 
customers still prefer a printed book.” Amanda Riley, manager of Tuscaloosa’s Off Campus Bookstore, estimated sales of hard-copy books outnumber e-books three to one. She said professors like to offer students an option, but classes are using e-books more frequently.

http://www.cw.ua.edu/article/2015/01/e-books-textbooks-duel-for-top-spot-in-class

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Online cheating scandal at Gallup school

By Rick Nathanson, Albuquerque Journal

Technological savvy and entrepreneurial spirit worked out OK for Microsoft’s Bill Gates – not so good for a high school senior in Gallup who was expelled for stealing a teacher’s password, hacking into online courses and taking money from other students to change their grades. “As a school administrator, it’s the worst case of cheating I’ve ever seen,” Miyamura High School principal John Overheim said on Friday. “Part of it is the nature of the digital age. Once you acquire a password and the access is there, the temptation is great; and after all, they are teenagers and they don’t always make the best decisions.”

http://www.abqjournal.com/334887/news/high-school-student-expelled-for-cheating.html#mce_temp_url#

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Finding the Right Coding Bootcamp for You

by Entrepreneur, Reuters

Lately, everyone from President Barack Obama to Shakira and Angela Bassett has been encouraging people to “learn to code,” which begs the question: What kind of learning environment is right for you? As the founder of San Francisco-based coding bootcamp Dev Bootcamp, figuring out the best option can be tricky. While online courses like Codecademy and Khan Academy provide a great starting point, it most likely will take an immersion program, such as a coding bootcamp, to elevate your skillset to the next level. While these programs can provide new employment opportunities, they aren’t easy.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/07/idUS367504875320140107

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Online schools: Wired for failure under currrent conditions?

By Maureen Downey, Wired

Should we be more concerned with the rush to embrace online learning and the lack of scrutiny of the growing for-profit sector in virtual education? That’s certainly the take-away of an Education Week essay about a teacher’s experience with K12 Inc., the nation’s largest operator of virtual schools and the most controversial.

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2014/jan/07/online-schools-wired-failure/

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