Popularity of online charter schools increasing across Arkansas

by Meredith Mitchell, KTHV

When it comes to K-12 education, Arkansas families have some options, but one in particular is becoming a fast favorite for students, parents, and teachers. Imagine if your child’s school was just a mouse click away. It’s a concept that’s growing across the state of Arkansas. “I was looking for an alternative to challenge my son,” said Kathryn Roset. Roset found that through the Arkansas Virtual Academy. “He learned everything, he would just soak it up,” she said. The online charter school serves grades K-12. On Wednesday, the state charter school board approved an enrollment increase for the virtual academy. Which will allow them to take a thousand more students over the course of the next few years. “The interest exceeds the number of seats available in high school,” said Scott Sides, head of Arkansas Virtual Academy.

http://www.thv11.com/news/local/popularity-of-online-charter-schools-increasing-across-arkansas-1/440606188

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=28119

Students School Us on Cheating Online Courses

by Mario Koran, Voice of San Diego

Googling answers in real time as you take a test. Letting online lectures play on mute while you watch a movie instead. Typing in random letters and numbers as answers and receiving credit. Those are all moves students and educators told me happen regularly in San Diego Unified’s online credit recovery courses. On a recent visit to East Village High School, I even watched some of them do it. There, I saw students Google quiz questions from their online courses and pull up websites where other students have uploaded answers. I saw one student type gobbledygook where short answers were supposed to go – and watched as the computer marked the answer as complete. And I talked with students who said everybody is doing it – whether it’s an online course offered by San Diego Unified or a charter school that offers similar online classes.

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/cheat-on-online-courses-san-diego/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=28104

10 Notables Changing the Future of Learning and Teaching

BY Rich Baxter, EdNews Daily

Authentic personalized learning requires that 21st century schools are filled with students and families who are provided the opportunity to take on more responsibility for their learning, in response to the exponential increase in resources provided by the Internet. Excellent teaching and AI will guide this upward innovation movement, but ‘a shared leadership’ will facilitate more and more partnerships within communities and between them. Education is merging with neuroscience, quantum computing, and AI, redefining what it means to be human and thus what it means to learn and to teach. Where does that put education as a human endeavor and what other factors do we need to consider in order to take full advantage of the present knowledge revolution?

http://www.ednewsdaily.com/10-notables-changing-the-future-of-learning-and-teaching/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=28094

Report: Virtual Reality Shipments to Rocket up 2,400 Percent This Year

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

Shipments of virtual reality devices will expand by more than 2,400 percent this year according to a new forecast from International Data Corp. (IDC). Screenless viewers will grab the largest market share, according to the research company, at 74 percent. “Virtual reality (VR) is an increasingly hot topic at technology events, government meetings and consumer entertainment events, injecting a boost of much needed excitement into consumer IT and business applications markets,” said Neo Zheng, research manager, client system research, IDC China, in a prepared statement. Areas to watch within the virtual reality ecosystem include components, devices, platforms and content, according to IDC.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/06/01/report-virtual-reality-shipments-to-rocket-up-2400-percent-this-year.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15975

Unpacking the Problem of Unmotivated Online Students

By Michelle Pacansky-Brock, EdSurge

Learning online requires students to be more accountable, and online research shows that self-efficacy impacts student success online. But when we focus on lack of student motivation as “the” problem, we oversimplify a more complex and important issue. When online classes are designed to support and encourage learning differences, align technology with pedagogy, and are facilitated by a present, empathetic and aware instructor, we can begin to see them as a tremendous opportunity for the diverse population of students in higher education.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-05-31-unpacking-the-problem-of-unmotivated-online-students

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15972

Ed tech investment is down, but what does it mean for colleges?

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

Education technology startups have been flush with cash in recent years, thanks to enthusiastic investors ready to “disrupt” higher education, but 2016 has brought a slowdown to the sector that is sure to impact colleges and universities. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports higher ed leaders can expect fewer free or low-cost trials, as well as pitches from companies offering new, innovative products or services — though career services and learning analytics arenas are still growing. The startups that survive in a shrinking market with disruptive business models may present greater threats to traditional higher education because they will prove their strength, like Udacity, which is now valued at more than $1 billion.

http://www.educationdive.com/news/ed-tech-investment-is-down-but-what-does-it-mean-for-colleges/420139/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15969

The Power of Personalized Learning for School Improvement

by Cameron Pipkin, EdSurge

Personalized learning is on the rise in the American classroom, but let’s be honest: much of the interest has been driven by hope, wishful thinking, and platitudes about the needs of “digital natives.” But now, with over half a decade of on-the-ground implementation to examine, the buzz around personalized learning is being justified by more than just hope. Hard data and peer-reviewed research are confirming the great potential of a well-implemented personalized learning model for creating rich, engaging learning environments that result in dramatic improvements in student achievement—and this research is informing everything that occurs in the personalized classroom.

https://www.edsurge.com/n/2015-05-27-the-power-of-personalized-learning-for-school-improvement

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/aYQv6VSK0HI/

Student Voice in the Edtech Conversation: More Measured Than You’d Think

by Sheri Handel, EdSurge

The panel felt strongly about using technology to cut down on the amount of paper used. Hoping to move from packet-based resources, they want to complete assignments and submit homework assignments online. They stressed the need to keep track of their work and to have it easily accessible once the assignment had been reviewed and graded. In some cases, homework is posted online, but students still need to print it out and bring it into class. For the most part, textbooks are still used in these schools, including heavy Advanced Placement texts that need to be carried back and forth. In one school, teachers provide links to online versions of the texts, while in another, students pass links to online resources along to each other so that they can access the material from home. In one case, students get points toward detention if they do not bring the required textbook to school even without advanced notice that it will be used.

https://www.edsurge.com/n/2015-05-29-student-voice-in-the-edtech-conversation-more-measured-than-you-d-think

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/JBOKnT28emY/

The Promise of the Flipped Classroom in Higher Education

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Education

A senior chemistry lecturer sees potential for deeper discussions and a greater focus on the scientific method with the flipped classroom. A senior chemistry lecturer at Ohio State University has been flipping his classroom for the past two and a half years, but is looking for ways to make teaching and learning even better with this blended learning model. The flipped classroom allows students to learn online and then come to campus to work on projects and practice problems with teachers, according to the Clayton Christensen Institute. As a leader in the university’s Digital First initiative to bring more technology into the classroom, Matthew Stoltzfus started his foray into flipped teaching when a student in a journalism class offered to videotape his lectures. After receiving feedback from students, he cut down the video lectures until they were three to five minutes each.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/The-Promise-of-the-Flipped-Classroom-in-Higher-Education.html

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/tjJ-9dEEvtw/

NASA And Khan Academy Bring STEM Opportunities To Online Learners

by NASA

NASA and Khan Academy, a non-profit educational website has launched a series of online tutorials designed to increase student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. The announcement of the new collaborative effort was made today at the 6th annual White House Science Fair. The interactive education lessons invite users to become actively engaged in the scientific and mathematical protocols that NASA uses everyday to measure our universe, to explore the exciting engineering challenges involved in launching and landing spacecraft on Mars, and to learn about other space exploration endeavors and destinations. Exciting and realistic simulations, challenges and games transport students deep into STEM subjects, blending NASA’s space exploration expertise with Khan Academy’s compelling approach to online self-paced learning.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113156196/nasa-khan-academy-bring-stem-opportunities-to-online-learners-052814/

Share on Facebook



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

Brigham Young Researchers Develop Google Glass System for Deaf Students

By Leila Meyer, THE Journal

Brigham Young University (BYU) researchers have developed a system to project sign language interpreters onto Google Glass and other similar types of glasses. The “Signglasses” project was developed to improve the planetarium experience for deaf students. Typically, when deaf students visit the planetarium, they can’t see the sign language interpreter and the overhead projections at the same time because the lights have to be on to see the interpreter and off to see the projection. With Signglasses, deaf students can watch the planetarium projection at the same time as they watch the interpreter projected onto their glasses. The research team has field tested the system with students from Jean Massieu School for the Deaf. The researchers were surprised to discover that students preferred the interpreter to be projected in the center of one lens, so they could look straight through the signer when focusing on the planetarium show. The team had assumed students would prefer to see the projection at the top of the lens, as Google Glass normally does.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/05/28/brigham-young-researchers-develop-google-glass-system-to-assist-deaf-students.aspx

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/Y-I0ZAvJ20k/