Pearson shares drop on gloomy outlook for US college textbook market

by Alys Key, City AM

Publishing group Pearson was among the companies leading a fall in the FTSE 100 this morning, after it issued a trading statement. While the firm said its profits would reach the top end of guidance at as much as £606m, it revealed it was still grappling with the US textbook sector. Sales in the unit dropped three per cent in the nine months to the end of 2017. This contributed to a four per cent decline in North American and the overall two per cent drop in underlying revenues. The group only expects the US higher education market to get tougher, due to “lower college enrolments, increased use of Open Educational Resources and attrition from growth in the secondary market driven by print rental”.

http://www.cityam.com/278934/pearson-shares-drop-gloomy-outlook-us-college-textbook

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=36001

The power and promise of game-based learning

by Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate

From young learners to adults, games can be used to increase learning. Games have been used by teachers for centuries, and probably thousands of years as a way to engage students in learning. Who doesn’t like games? Perhaps a few people don’t like games. However, games are an excellent way to capture the attention of your students and encourage learning. Why are games beneficial in the learning process, and why do we love them?

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/power-promise-game-based-learning/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=35994

Google and Coursera launch program to train more IT support specialists

by Ingrid Lunden, Tech Crunch

After a big fundraise and subsequent reorganization last year at Coursera — which saw a change of CEO, as well as the departure of its COO, CFO, CMO and CPO (along with some 40 others) — the online education startup is today launching a new IT course with Google to underscore its message that the ship is still sailing as it passes 30 million users and 2,500 courses. Today, the pair announced a new program to train IT support professionals — a course written by Googlers for the Coursera platform to teach and then test across six fundamental areas of customer support: troubleshooting and customer service, networking, operating systems, system administration, automation, and security. No prior IT experience is necessary.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/16/google-and-coursera-launch-program-to-train-more-it-support-specialists/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=35984

7 collaboration tools for the modern classroom

BY LAURA ASCIONE DEVANEY, eCampus News

Collaboration skills are essential–here are tools to help your students build them. Smartphones, tablets and other technology tools have tons of potential to help students learn–if they’re used properly. And when properly implemented, those tools can help students build the collaboration skills they need to reach success in school and the workforce. Most 21st-century learning models include collaboration as a necessary educational outcome. Collaboration skills are part of the Partnership for 21st Century Education’s 4Cs, a framework developed with educator input and designed to outline skills and knowledge students need in today’s global and connected society. And collaboration isn’t simply a necessary classroom skill. Teamwork and collaboration are important abilities employers say they want in their current and future employees.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/01/11/collaboration-tools-classroom/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=22765

Training-to-work programs make way for competency based employee learning

by Tess Taylor, HR Dive

Traditional work training programs are quickly becoming obsolete, reports ECampus News. Today, organizations are getting better results from competency-based programs in hiring and training their workforces. Innovate+Educate, a national nonprofit, released their report Shift Happens: The Entrepreneurs, Wonks, and Investors Revolutionizing the Learning-to-Employment Landscape that details how employers can close the skills gaps by developing more competency based learning programs using new learning models. Workforce data shows that there are around 11 million adults in the USA without a 4-year degree, but they have professional certifications and licenses that make them eligible for employment. That is the market that competency-based employment programs can make the most difference within.

http://www.hrdive.com/news/training-to-work-programs-make-way-for-competency-based-employee-learning/433735/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=22745

Examining the impact and ethics of tracking students

by Jarrett Carter, Education Dive

NPR interviewed University of Michigan Digital Innovation Greenhouse Director Timothy McKay about the prospects of using data and analytics to customize learning experiences for individual students. McKay says that traditional higher education delivers information to a sizable student body and determines the aptitude of each student based on ability to master coursework in a certain time, and within a prescribed way. Analytics, he says, help to leave a record of progress in learning beyond the traditional transcript, accounting for how different backgrounds may impact learning and extracting aptitude from preparation or exposure.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/examining-the-impact-and-ethics-of-tracking-students/433912/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=22730

eLearning Program Could Bring End to Snow Days

By Sarah Schulte, ABC 7 Chicago

A new e-learning program could mean the end of snow days for some students. The program being tested in three school districts brings a virtual classroom into students’ homes on days when the weather prevents them from going to school. While there haven’t been any snow days for Chicago area students this year, that wasn’t the case the past two winters, when school was canceled several times. Parents say it wasn’t good for their kids. Avoiding the books on snow days won’t be an option this year for Leyden High School District 212. The western suburban school district is one of three in the Chicago area chosen for a new pilot program that allows students to take classes online at home during snow days.

http://abc7chicago.com/education/e-learning-pilot-program-could-bring-end-to-snow-days/1168785/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14890

Google Offers New Deep Learning Course on Udacity

By A.R. Guess, Dataversity

Jordan Novet reports in VentureBeat, “Google today announced that it’s bringing a deep learning course to massively open online course (MOOC) provider Udacity. Deep learning is an increasingly popular type of artificial intelligence. Generally speaking, it involves training artificial neural networks on lots of data — like pictures — and then getting them to make inferences about new data based on what they know.

http://www.dataversity.net/google-offers-new-deep-learning-course-on-udacity/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14885

EdTech: Wharton Launches Big Data, Entrepreneurship Moocs With Silicon Valley’s Coursera

by Seb Murray, Business Because

Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has announced it will offer two new online programs through Silicon Valley-based online learning start-up Coursera. The digital courses, focusing on entrepreneurship and financial modelling, are the latest in a stream of tie-ups between elite US business schools and Mooc, or massive open online course, providers. Online learning platforms have delved deeper into entrepreneurial education in recent years, as start-up founders seek the flexibility not afforded by costly, full-time, campus programs.

http://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba-distance-learning/3732/wharton-launches-new-moocs-with-coursera

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14882

UGA students take flight in drones class

By RAYLEIGH ROZIER, Online Athens

The lawn outside the University of Georgia’s journalism school recently was filled with buzzing as students tried their hand at flying drones for the first time. The students are now in the third week of “Drones, Drones, Drones” a new course this semester dedicated to analyzing the airborne technology. The course is being offered through the New Media Institute, a certificate program at UGA that teaches students about emerging technologies and prepares them to use new media in their careers. According to the syllabus, the class aims to “explore the appropriate and effective use of drones, chart the regulation and proposed legislation of drones, and learn how to operate drones.” Students are also responsible for collaborating on a paper detailing both the benefits and the challenges of drone use.

http://onlineathens.com/uga/2015-01-21/uga-students-take-flight-drones-class

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

How to (Really) Get Girls Into Coding

by Lydia Loizides, Shelly Palmer

If we really want to get girls to code, then show them that everyone can code. We need to find creative, engaging ways to get girls to understand that Ruby is more than a gemstone, that Java isn’t coffee and that Python is not something to run from. Coding is not only for nerds and geeks or “super-smart people”; coding is for artists, musicians, politicians, athletes and movie stars. Coding is for everyone.

http://www.shellypalmer.com/fwb/2015/1/21/how-to-really-get-girls-into-coding

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

“What happens when you type google.com into your browser and press enter?”

by Git Hub

This repository is an attempt to answer the age old interview question “What happens when you type google.com into your browser’s address box and press enter?” Except instead of the usual story, we’re going to try to answer this question in as much detail as possible. No skipping out on anything. This is a collaborative process, so dig in and try to help out! There’s tons of details missing, just waiting for you to add them! So send us a pull request, please! This is all licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Zero license.

https://github.com/alex/what-happens-when#the-enter-key-bottoms-out

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/nCb7WzM67Wo/

A Simple Way Teachers Can Learn To Make iBooks

By Anthony DiLaura, Edudemic

If you wish to create a multi-touch iOS app for the iPhone or iPad, then you will need to know how to use xCode (Apple development software) and the programming language Objective-C. While this is a bold endeavor, it is a massive time and learning commitment that most teachers can’t make. The average teacher with a creative idea for an app that supports learning may never see it come to fruition due to lack of know-how or lack of resources to invest in its development. Enter iBooks Author. iBooks Author is Apple’s standard for e-publishing. It is free in the Mac app store and is everything but ‘standard’ when it comes to delivering a polished interactive iBook. The WYSIWYG interface makes it easy to drag and drop text, images, media, and interactive elements on to its pages and export a multi-touch book with a push of a button.

http://www.edudemic.com/teachers-make-apps/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/MmBxbtyb4A0/

UIS professor honored for class that credits military experience

by Marie Ball, State Journal Register

Since the end of December, UIS clinical professor Kevin Beeson has received at least one phone call or email daily asking the same type of question. University of Illinois Springfield’s spring semester starts Tuesday, and students are eager to learn how to sign up for Beeson’s Credit for Prior Learning Military Studies course. “Usually the week before, and of, classes, it goes crazy,” said Beeson, 50, visiting clinical professor in UIS’ Internship and Prior Learning Program. He added that the week of classes, there would probably be students “out the door.” The course was first offered last summer with 14 students. Since an article was published in The State Journal-Register last spring, students and other universities have expressed interest in Beeson’s innovative course. And due to its online nature, the attention has extended well beyond Springfield.

http://www.sj-r.com/article/20140117/NEWS/140119416

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/2nH9zbTtclQ/

What You Should Know About Education In Finland

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Even if a trip to chilly Finland hasn’t topped your list of vacation spots, you’ve probably heard about one of Finland’s great accomplishments —its world- class (and world-leading!) education system. Students and schools in Finland are ranked as some of the best in the world – well ahead of many larger developed nations like the US and Canada. High school graduation rates are excellent, more students go on to earn college degrees than in other areas of the world, and Finnish students pretty much rock the pants off of standardized tests.

http://www.edudemic.com/education-in-finland/

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