Students Use STEAM to Tackle UN Sustainability Goals

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

A new initiative brought together high schoolers from five countries to the United Nations to find solutions for sustainable development issues using their STEAM skills. As part of the “Global Classroom STEAM Challenge,” a program sponsored by electronics maker Samsung, student teams worked virtually with international counterparts over the past 10 weeks to come up with solutions for problems with energy, climate change, poverty and hunger. These make up some of the 17 goals addressed UN’s “sustainable development goals” program, all of which have specific targets to be achieved by 2030. As the culminating event, the students presented their proposed solutions to a panel of adults that included government leaders, non-governmental organizations (NGO), educators and corporate representatives.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/02/15/students-use-steam-to-tackle-un-sustainability-goals.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=37060

Speech Recognition Apps Propel Literacy

By Dian Schaffhauser. THE Journal
Can voice recognition apps that are as common as Siri Assistant and Cortana help kids learn to read? That was the question posed by a literacy researcher who wanted to see whether the use of speech recognition programs in early elementary classrooms would give students who struggle with reading a boost in their efforts. Elizabeth Baker, a professor of literacy studies at the University of Missouri, observed eight first graders as they participated in structured speech recognition-supported program on iPads and iPhone four days a week for five months. According to a paper published on the results, students who used the tools averaged a 97.4 percent accuracy rate on post-study reading tests, in which participants were asked to read a culmination of the words they had used in earlier compositions.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/02/13/speech-recognition-apps-propel-literacy.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=37050

Florida Virtual School: Why Scalable Schooling Matters

By Cait Etherington, eLearning Inside

Dr. Polly Haldeman, FLVS’s Chief Customer Officer: “We’re in our 20th year. We started in 1997 under a grant. The idea was to serve students who were looking for an option to do course work outside the traditional format. We now serve kindergarten to 12th grade students in Florida and have a global school that serves students outside Florida.” CE: How many students are currently enrolled at FLVS PH: We have an open enrolment program, but in 2016 to 2017, we served over 206,000 students, and we had over 470,000 semester completions. The majority of our students are taking a single course. In Florida, there’s an online graduation requirement, which we have had in place since 2011, so this accounts for some but not all of our enrolments.

https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/yales-most-popular-class-ever-teaches-how-to-live-a-happier-life-heres-what-students-learn.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=37040

Warsaw Community Schools approve e-learning to make up for snow days

by Heather Black, WSBT 22

Warsaw Community Schools will now be able to make up two of their snow days through technology. The Board of Trustees voted 7 to 0 to approve E-Learning. It’s an online course where students can complete school work. All Indiana schools are required by law to have 180 student instructional days. E-learning is one option the Indiana Department of Education gives schools to make up missed days. The board has wanted something like this for years.

http://wsbt.com/news/local/warsaw-community-schools-approve-e-learning-to-make-up-for-snow-days

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Online Platform Teaches Dying Languages To Save Them From Extinction

By Holly Brockwell, Gizmodo UK

There are heaps of ways to learn languages online, from intensive tutored courses to fun cartoony apps. You can even learn made-up languages, like Dothraki, Klingon and Esperanto – a fact that must be somewhat frustrating to Inky Gibbens, founder of the Tribalingual platform for dying languages. Gibbens is half Buryat – a subgroup of the Mongols – and set up the platform when she realised that the Buryat language of her maternal grandparents is classified as endangered by UNESCO. A language dies every two weeks according to the UN, with half of the current 7,000 languages expected to be gone by the turn of the century.

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/02/online-platform-teaches-dying-languages-to-save-them-from-extinction/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=24219

How to Create a Makerspace in Any Space

BY DRMATT, Tech Edvocate

Makerspaces are spaces for hands-on interactive learning. These spaces have become popular in many communities, schools, and libraries due to their emphasis on creative learning and STEAM subjects. Both educators and parents have seen the impact of makerspaces on the ability of children to learn twenty-first-century skills. These spaces have sprung up across the country and can be found in a variety of locations. The primary aspect of any makerspace is the fact that creative hands-on learning opportunities are provided to users.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/how-to-create-a-makerspace-in-any-space/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=24189

Federal #GoOpen Campaign Gains Support from Districts, Tech Sector

By Dennis Pierce, THE Journal

40 school districts and 13 states now involved in the push to use open educational resources. The United States Department of Education’s push to have schools use open educational resources (OER) is building momentum. “Since we launched #GoOpen on October 29th, we’ve seen real energy around this topic in K-12 education,” said Andrew Marcinek, chief open education advisor at ED, who oversees the initiative. #GoOpen kicked off with 10 school districts having pledged to replace at least one textbook with openly licensed digital resources for the 2016-2017 school year, and with six “ambassador districts” that are already using OER promising to mentoring these launch districts.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/02/26/federal-goopen-campaign-gains-support-from-districts-tech-sector.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15181

Chicago becomes the first city to make computer science a core subject, required for graduation.

by Hadi Partovi, LinkedIn

Today Chicago becomes the first major city in the United States to announce it will make computer science a graduation requirement for all high schools after a vote by the School Board. Each student deserves to learn how software and computers work and gain skills to help them pursue the best opportunities in any future career. At a time when computer science is only offered in a quarter of American schools — with black and Hispanic students and girls especially underrepresented in the field as early as high school — this news is a major step in ensuring that every student in the nation’s 3th-largest school district will leave school with a foundation for success.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/chicago-becomes-first-city-make-computer-science-core-hadi-partovi

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15178

Ultimaker, University of Illinois and Coursera push 3D printing education for all

By Kira, 3Ders

3D printer manufacturer Ultimaker, the University of Illinois, and Coursera, an online education platform, have formed a wide-reaching, strategic partnership to further 3D printing education for learners around the world. The first aspect of this partnership is a series of free online classes about 3D printing, wich will be open and accessible to learners located practically anywhere via the Coursera platform. In addition, Ultimaker has agreed to equip the Illinois MakerLab with 17 new Ultimaker 3D printers, and it is sponsoring “Free Print Wednesdays,” an initiative at the MakerLab that will give Illinois students the opportunity to experience 3D printing hands-on.

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20160225-ultimaker-university-of-illinois-and-coursera-push-3d-printing-education-for-all.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=15175

Competency-Based Education Network announces new cohort of member institutions

by C-BEN

Thirteen institutions and two public systems representing 40 campuses join colleges and universities addressing shared challenges to designing, developing, and scaling high-quality competency-based degree programs. The Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) on Tuesday announced 15 new members. This cohort will join the network, supported by Lumina Foundation and managed by Public Agenda, on March 3 when the national group comprising a total of 30 institutions and four public systems with 82 campuses meets for a three-day working session in Austin. Competency-based degree programs are promising approaches to helping educate more Americans, because they hold potential as a better way to plan, organize, deliver, and support education for students who are not well served by traditional academic instruction. C-BEN was formed a year ago in response to clear demand from colleges and universities that had been building competency-based models in isolation. Today, these leading institutions are working collaboratively to accelerate progress on shared challenges around program design and integrity, business processes and systems, and vendor relations to build models capable of scaling to serve many more students from all backgrounds.

http://www.cbenetwork.org/sites/457/uploaded/files/CBEN_Announces_New_Members.pdf

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Our Schools: The new era of learning in the digital age

by Beth Burt, the Huntsville Item Online

What do most high school students have today? They have a phone, or other electronic device. Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) allows students to bring and use their own personal electronic devices to school for educational purposes. However, students must also learn about the importance of exercising good digital citizenship, so at Huntsville High School we are teaching students how to be safe online, what appropriate use of technology is and how to communicate academically and productively. The use of computers, tablets and other digital devices have moved us far past the days of mere word processing and playing games.

http://www.itemonline.com/news/our-schools-the-new-era-of-learning-in-the-digital/article_aef99e50-ba6d-11e4-a6b7-73794ee4743f.html

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Innovative learning options can help build workforce

by Veronica Stidvent, My San Antonio

According to estimates by the Texas comptroller, between 2000 and 2010, the younger-than-18 population in Texas grew by 17 percent — a full 6.5 percent faster than the U.S. average. Those 979,000 young Texans could become the most skilled workforce in the nation if even half of them attain some level of education beyond a high school degree. Then there are the more than 3 million adult Texans who have yet to earn a college degree. The right education and core competencies in high-demand fields must be met. Texas has quantity, but we need to ensure that the growing population in Texas also includes high quality college graduates. Traditional two- and four-year college degrees are an important part of the solution for developing a quality workforce in these fast growth fields. But we need state leaders to embrace policies and funding that ensure Texans have access to a variety of affordable and flexible options for education and training.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Innovative-learning-options-can-help-build-6092633.php

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Google Fiber Shortlist Cities Eyeing Free Gigabit Internet for Schools

By Leila Meyer, THE Journal

Google has announced a shortlist of 34 cities in nine metropolitan areas that could be next to receive Google Fiber, and the company may also provide free gigabit Internet service to some schools in those cities. Google Fiber is the company’s fiber optic Internet infrastructure being implemented in select cities throughout the United States. According to information on the company’s site, it provides connection speeds of up to 1 Gbps, also known as gigabit Internet, which is “100 times faster than today’s basic broadband.” Homes in the neighborhoods served by Google Fiber can subscribe to the company’s gigabit Internet and TV services. The company also provides free basic Internet service of 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speed to anybody in the areas served by Google Fiber.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/02/21/google-fiber-shortlist-cities-eyeing-free-gigabit-internet-for-schools.aspx

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NASA Links Science Education with Sports in its STEM-in-Sports Online Series

By D ROBERT CURRY NewsStar

Reaching out to get kids excited about learning by connecting sports with science education, NASA may have hit a home-run of its own with its innovative online educational program. Dubbed the “NASA STEM Mania”, this online distance-learning educational program allows teachers and students to learn, among other things, the science behind scoring a touchdown, making a slam-dunk or a hitting a homerun.

http://newstaar.com/nasa-links-science-education-with-sports-in-its-stem-in-sports-online-series/3510007/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/LHqIT4ep5f8/

10 Awesome Tech Tricks From David Pogue

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Short, watchable snippets of useful information, thought provoking questions, personal stories, inspiration, and learning. While I always take something away from every TED talk that I watch, some stick with me more than others. That said, most don’t come with a specific list of takeaways meant to help you with your everyday life. This talk, from David Pogue, offers 10 time saving tech tips. Most are for technologies that we use every day. They’re simple, easy-to-do, they’ll save you time, and make you feel like a suave tech person who can (seemingly) make their technology do whatever they need it to do with little effort. The video is embedded in the link below, but we’ve typed out the handy list also at the link below for you to reference later.

http://www.edudemic.com/tech-tricks-david-pogue/

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