5 ways teachers can improve student learning based on current brain research

BY MARTHA BURNS, eSchool News

The brain is an experience-dependent organ. From our very earliest days, the brain begins to map itself to our world as we experience it through our senses. The mapping is vague and fuzzy at first, like a blurred photograph or an un-tuned piano. However, the more we interact with the world, the more well-defined our brain maps become until they are fine-tuned and differentiated. But each person’s map will vary, with some sensory experiences more distinct than others depending on the unique experiences and the clarity and frequency of the sensations he or she has experienced. Educators can positively influence students’ learning by understanding how the brain is shaped by their early experiences—and how it can be rewired and reorganized to work more quickly and efficiently.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/05/24/teachers-plastic-brain-research/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=28348

Malicious Cyber Capability Is Spreading. How Do We Stop It?

By Robert Morgus, Future Tense

Because of difficulties associated with pushing patches designed to block an exploit out to the public—it takes a long time for everyone to click on those annoying little security updates, and some portion of the population never will—open-sourcing exploits like this is often a bad idea. It simultaneously notifies the software manufacturers and potential attackers of the bug. The Shadow Brokers/WannaCry case is just one demonstration of the growing challenge of countering the spread of malicious cyber capability. The code for Carberp (a “botnet creation kit”) was posted online and precipitated the outbreak of the Carbanak malware used to steal cash from ATMs. Rumors persist that versions of the BlackEnergy trojan—twice leveraged to shut off portions of the Ukrainian power grid—have been floating around in malware forums.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/05/it_s_easier_than_ever_to_launch_a_large_scale_attack_like_wannacry.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=28336

Educational Technology Leadership and Practice in Higher Education: The Emergence of Threshold Concepts

by Adam Barger, Educause Review

Navigating the world of educational technology in higher education environments is an increasingly rewarding, yet challenging, endeavor. What must leaders know in order to thrive in the ever-changing space of educational technology? How can leaders and practitioners alike excel in cultivating and utilizing powerful educational technology applications, tools, and resources? In this blog, I explore these questions through the lens of threshold concepts as applied to technology in higher education teaching and learning. I propose three threshold concepts in our field, discuss their prevalence at the 2017 ELI Annual Meeting, and suggest their implications for leadership and practice.

http://er.educause.edu/blogs/2017/5/educational-technology-leadership-and-practice-in-higher-education

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=28328

Five reasons why business schools should invest more in ‘online’

by Skema Online

There are five distinct reasons why business schools should be investing more in ‘online’ learning, according to Sophie Gay Anger, Head of Pedagogical Innovation at SKEMA business school. The ability to individualise student learning paths and feedbackt. Allows a shift in the learning relationship from professor to community. The need to develop key competencies for global managers. The ability to offer new teaching experiences and challenges. Online facilitates the development of a ‘continuous learning’ attitude – New and innovative learning tools and practices mean all activities are an opportunity to make links with fellow students and reflect on study topics collaboratively.

http://pressreleases.responsesource.com/news/90789/five-reasons-why-business-schools-should-invest-more-in-online-/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=16024

Technavio Announces Top Three Emerging Trends Impacting the Global Online Language Learning Market Through 2020

by Technavio

Technavio’s latest report on the global online language learning market provides an analysis on the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2016-2020. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline. Technavio announces top three emerging trends impacting the global online language learning market through 2020. The top three emerging trends driving the global online language learning market according to Technavio education research analysts are:

• Deployment of language cloud services
• Outsourcing of services
• Advances in technology

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160607005134/en/Technavio-Announces-Top-Emerging-Trends-Impacting-Global

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=16022

Online workshop to help students with learning disabilities

by the CBC

Most students are looking forward to the end of the school year and start of summer. The Northern Ontario Centre for Learning Differences will host an online workshop, called School’s Out, Don’t Count us Out. The online tutorial for kids with learning disabilities is geared towards grades 7 and 8 students. Executive director Mary-Liz Warwick says the exciting part of this one-hour workshop is that schools across Northeastern Ontario will be able to access the learning by logging on to the website at any time. She says this is the first of several online sessions planned by the centre.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/online-workshop-learning-disabilities-1.3620085

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=16019

Benchmarking to Inform Planning: The EDUCAUSE Core Data Service

by Leah Lang, EDUCAUSE Review

To run their institutions efficiently and effectively, leaders at today’s colleges and universities must have a clear understanding of their own financial, staffing, and operational status. This information is critical to making informed decisions and optimizing the impact of information technology. Leaders can enhance their decision making by evaluating their financial, staffing, and operational status against comparable information for peers, aspirant peers, or even their own institution. For example, a metric on total central IT spending per institutional FTE (students, faculty, and staff) can be used to estimate the amount of IT support that individuals at an institution receive. Benchmarking this metric against peer institutions or an institution’s past performance can help leaders make the case for additional resources.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/benchmarking-inform-planning-educause-core-data-service

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The Linux Foundation Offers Course for SysAdmins on EdX

by the Linux Foundation

This is the second course from The Linux Foundation on EdX.  The Linux Foundation partnership with edX platform is expanding, and users will now get the Essentials of Linux Systems Administration (LFS201) online course, which should help prepare the SysAdmins of tomorrow. These courses are provided in different ways, but now they are also available on EdX, which is a nonprofit online learning platform launched in 2012 by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The fact that you take these targeted Linux courses online makes all the difference in the world.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Linux-Foundation-Offers-Course-for-SysAdmins-on-EdX-483192.shtml

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SAT prep courses now free online at Khan Academy

by WVTM

Two nonprofit organizations have teamed up to make SAT preparation materials available free online. Khan Academy, an online education company, and the College Board, which manages the SAT, joined forces to create the Official SAT Practice, an interactive platform. The practice tools are hope to level the playing field for students who are interested in taking the SAT and preparing for college-level courses.

http://www.wvtm13.com/education/sat-prep-courses-now-free-online/33353784

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Competency-based learning makes college credit more accessible for all

by The Bellingham Herald

The Washington state community-college system will offer a new route to an associate degree in business that is less expensive and time-consuming than the traditional path, if it’s approved by the state Board of Community and Technical Colleges at its June meeting. The all online, competency-based two-year degree would transfer to four-year colleges, paving the way for more students to achieve their bachelor’s degrees. The program offers great promise to older students who may draw on work experiences to complete their community college credits. It is also well-suited to students who are place-bound and unable to attend classes in person due to family and job commitments. Online learning is already well established in the community colleges across the state. But this would be the fastest and least expensive pathway to an associate degree ever offered at a public college in Washington.

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/06/03/3677185/competency-based-learning-makes.html?sp=/99/122/

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Can Student Data Improve Learning Without Compromising Privacy?

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Education

Educators agree that technology has a place in the classroom, but does existing legislation adequately protect student information? Instead of locking student data in the principal’s office, more school districts are moving it to cloud providers.By sharing data with private companies, schools can improve student learning using data analysis tools. But on the flip side, privacy advocates worry that student data is not safe in the hands of schools or the third parties they contract with. “Across the board, students unfortunately don’t have the level of protection they need,” said Khaliah Barnes, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s Student Privacy Project.

Can Student Data Improve Learning Without Compromising Privacy?By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital EducationEducators agree that technology has a place in the classroom, but does existing legislation adequately protect student information? Instead of locking student data in the principal’s office, more school districts are moving it to cloud providers.By sharing data with private companies, schools can improve student learning using data analysis tools. But on the flip side, privacy advocates worry that student data is not safe in the hands of schools or the third parties they contract with. “Across the board, students unfortunately don’t have the level of protection they need,” said Khaliah Barnes, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s Student Privacy Project.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/Student-Data-Privacy.html

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Embracing the BYOT mindset

Tim Clark, CIO Advisor

The BYOT Mindset is a deeply ingrained (in your bones, even) conviction that students can and should own the learning (or at least share it with their teachers). Just as they own their technology devices, most students also possess an understanding of software, processes, and media that have to be acknowledged as possibilities for deeper learning. The BYOT mindset is more than the understanding of a technology device (most students don’t automatically know how to learn with their technology); rather, the BYOT mindset also takes into consideration that the students have particular knowledge of applications that may be beneficial for their learning.

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&entryid=7710

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