Which Assessment Strategies Do Students Prefer?

By: John Orlando, Faculty Focus
While most faculty stick with the tried-and-true quiz and paper assessment strategies for their online courses, the wide range of technologies available today offers a variety of assessment options beyond the traditional forms. But what do students think of these different forms? Scott Bailey, Stacy Hendricks, and Stephanie Applewhite of Stephen F. Austin State University experimented with different assessment strategies in two online courses in educational leadership, and surveyed students afterward on their impressions of each one. The students were asked to score the strategies using three criteria: 1) enjoyment, 2) engagement with the material, and 3) transferability of knowledge gained to practice. The resulting votes allowed investigators to rank the various strategies from least to most preferred by students.

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/assessment-strategies-students-prefer/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=33201

8 MUST HAVE DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP APPS, TOOLS, AND RESOURCES

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate
Teachers should not only be digital citizens themselves, but they must also teach their students how to be mindful digital citizens. As technology takes a prominent role in education, it is up to educators to make sure students know how to research, interact, and collaborate online safely and appropriately. Fortunately, there are valuable resources that can help educators teach digital citizenship skills that are relevant, educational, and fun. Below, we are listing eight must have digital citizenship resources for students and classrooms.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/8-must-digital-citizenship-apps-tools-resources/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=33191

Learning to Code Is Easy With These 5+ Apps

by Jeff Butts, Mac Observer
Programming can be a very rewarding endeavor, but most people don’t know how to get started. With so many options available, most of which quite frankly suck, folks need to know which educational coding apps are worth the space they take up on their iOS devices. The Terminal Tinkerer is coming to the rescue with my top five apps for learning to code.

https://www.macobserver.com/tips/quick-tip/learning-to-code-fun-easy-5-apps/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=33181

What Makes a Great Makerspace?

By John K. Waters, THE Journal

“A makerspace is more of a mindset than a toolset,” said Casey Shea, curriculum coordinator for maker education for the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE). “Many of the most successful makerspaces I’ve seen started with very little equipment and a lot of creativity. It’s a fundamental mistake to think that dropping a 3D printer into a room will turn it into a makerspace.” Shea has been involved with the maker education movement almost from its inception. He was teaching math at Analy High School in Sebastapol, CA, north of San Francisco, during the 2011-2012 school year when Dale Dougherty, the publisher of Make Magazine and founder of the Maker Faire, approached him about an experimental maker education project. Shea ended up leading a class of about 30 young makers, who met at the magazine’s nearby headquarters twice a week.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/10/20/what-makes-a-great-makerspace.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=19872

An Open Repository of Learning Space Design

by Meg Loyd, Campus Technology

The Flexible Learning Environments eXchange (FLEXspace) was born out of that initial work at SUNY. And thanks to the support of a cross-institutional team of core contributors, the effort grew into a highly searchable, peer-reviewed repository of technology-enhanced learning spaces, freely available to the higher ed community. It has since been expanding its mission and services to address the need for extensive global conversations on learning impacts and to provide other, new formats for productive information exchange. FLEXspace uses the Artstor Shared Shelf platform to create its open education resource and share it with the higher education community. The online repository focuses on innovation, design and technology, providing extensive examples and high-end photos and illustrations as well as descriptive information and data. Shared Shelf provides a highly accessible, trusted environment that safely and securely stores institutional data, and contributions will remain intact and available in FLEXspace for the long term.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/10/12/an-open-repository-of-learning-space-design.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=19864

3 Easy Ways to Embrace High-Impact Learning

By Rebecca Pope-Ruark, Chronicle of Higher Ed

According to Randy Bass, who leads innovative learning initiatives at Georgetown University, we have moved into the “post-course era” at a time when the traditional credit-hour model has been called “inadequate” and even “irrational.” We know from high-impact-learning experiences such as internships, study abroad, and undergraduate research that students learn when they are challenged to live with, and make sense of, complexity. If focused, immersive engagement, rather than seat time, is important for learning how can we introduce high-impact experiences into our traditional course settings, working within or around the traditional credit hour?

http://www.chronicle.com/article/3-Easy-Ways-to-Embrace/238111

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=19852

Online Education: Top 4 Websites For Quality Content

by mattwriter, Say Campus Life

Online education has become a trend these days. There are innumerable websites that are offering online education for students around the world. Some do this free of charge, and some charge money for access. Online education is an important tool for us because it brings the education directly to our houses. It brings education to a place we are comfortable and where we have a peace of mind. Therefore, some of the websites that provide top notch learning are linked below.

http://www.saycampuslife.com/2015/10/26/online-education-top-4-websites-for-quality-content/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14191

Google Designs Low-Cost Degree On Building Startups, Gives Business Schools Competition

by Gregory Ferenstein, Forbes

Next on Google todo list: teach everyone how to build a tech startup. The search giant recently announced a partnership with online course provider, Udacity, for a 4-month long curriculum on how to build, monetize, and manage their very own business. All of the courses are free, with project feedback and coaching for a monthly fee of $200. Why would Google get into the business of business school? Google is vying for the same “app economy” as Apple. It needs countless developers to build amazing applications for their smartphone software, Android, web browser, Chrome, and various other products. The more developers build for Google (as opposed to Apple or Facebook), the more attractive their native products are to users.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregoryferenstein/2015/10/25/google-designs-low-cost-degree-on-building-startups-gives-business-schools-competition/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14188

University takes 4 Steve Jobs steps to engage students

by Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

A California school successfully improved enrollment thanks to a human-centered design system. Now, multiple others are following suit. When students have negative interactions with a school’s online systems, it hurts the brand and the bottom line—problems that are all too common in higher education. Luckily, there’s a relatively painless design fix that’s proven to increase enrollment. Steve Jobs built a corporate empire around the concept that tech products should be elegant and easy to use. Unfortunately, higher education didn’t get the memo. That’s what California State University, East Bay (CSUEB) Continuing Education (CE) discovered when it embarked on an ambitious program to overhaul the user interface of its existing systems. The problem wasn’t the systems per se—it was the way students were forced to interact with them.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/human-centered-design-771/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14193

Adaptive technologists develop online STEM course of the future

By Ron Bethke, eCampus News

Using “the science of memory,” and recent advances in personalized learning, an adaptive courseware provider is developing a STEM course aimed at engaging and retaining at-risk students. A recent recipient of the the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Next Generation Courseware Challenge, Cerego says its future course, StatsPL, will allow for such personalization of STEM learning that the course could reach more than 1 million low-income students by 2018.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/cerego-personalized-courseware-918/

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/txNeVMXOH9M/

Learning about a job-specific online degree option for some adults

BY DIANE STAFFORD, Kansas City Star

WGU provides a straight shot, on a student’s own time, to study and pass tests tied to specific, career-related competencies. Its headline description is “accredited degree programs for busy adults.” This isn’t a university experience in the traditional sense. There are no elective requirements, no mind-expanding forays into other disciplines. But the option could, at less time and expense, help people prove mastery of professional material and gain degree credentials necessary to move up in their jobs.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/workplace/article3324840.html

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/HsiI77oQlvc/

Community engagement goes cyber: new nonprofit classes at Indiana State

by Indiana State University

“Enrollment in online programs is increasing all over the country and higher education has seen a simultaneous significant increase in community engagement and service-learning” said Nathan Schaumleffel, associate professor in the department of kinesiology, recreation and sport. “And these two things haven’t really collided yet nationally. There are very few people doing community engagement and service-learning in the online environment.” Schaumleffel is campus/executive director of Indiana State’s Nonprofit Leadership Alliance Certification Program, which earned national Sprint Campus of the Year honors in 2013. Alliance members are dedicated to educating, preparing and certifying professionals to strengthen and lead nonprofit organizations. Schaumleffel completed five online courses during his spring 2014 sabbatical, all focusing on online instruction and e-service-learning.

http://www.indstate.edu/news/news.php?newsid=4133

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/vONi3ds8_mc/

The mobilization of education

By Jennifer Moody, Albany Democrat-Herald

School districts across the nation are studying the feasibility of providing laptops, iPads, Kindles or other mobile technology to their students as part of their approach to 21st-century education. In February, Apple reported having sold more than 4.5 million iPads to education facilities throughout the United States, and by June, had sold some 10 million to education institutions worldwide. In spite of problems with hacking by students, the nation’s second-largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, is still committed to providing iPads to all students at its 47 schools. Locally, the Corvallis School District provided mini or standard iPads this fall to every student at Mountain View Elementary School, along with devices for all the students in the English-only classes at the Lincoln and Garfield dual immersion schools. Students in the college-preparatory classes known as AVID at Corvallis and Crescent Valley high schools also have iPads.

http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/the-mobilization-of-education/article_f9fb2f61-2e63-5334-a1fc-6ae78d5cc31c.html

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/1U2tzAVP-BU/

Florida education needs a tech surge

BY JOHN LEGG, The Tampa Tribune

Per the 2012 Cyberstate report, Florida is ranked 1st in computer training; 2nd in space and defense high-tech industries; 3rd in engineering services; 4th in Internet and telecommunication services; and 5th in tech employment. It is imperative that our education system equips Florida’s students with fluent digital and technological skills so they will be the leaders of this changing economy. Many of Florida’s business and education leaders have seen firsthand the need for policies and investment in technology in our schools. We are working with our universities for short-term and long-term investments in technology. We must continue to march swiftly to excellence by equipping our students with the skills they need in order to lead in an ever-increasing digital economy.

http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-commentary/education-needs-a-tech-surge-20131027/

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/Jzgee-1PxTg/

Education Going High Tech

by John Kopp, Delaware County Daily Times

There is no chalk for the class clown to slip inside any erasers in Sarah Coletta’s Haverford High School classroom. That tired prank is as long-gone as the chalkboards themselves. Instead, the 17 students each intently stared at the iPad Mini in their hands, using an app to complete a problem Coletta had forwarded to the entire class from her own device. Using the iPad’s touchscreen, the students needed nothing more than their index finger to write out their answers. On her own mobile device, the teacher can monitor each student as he or she attempts the problem. With a simple tap, Coletta also can project any of her students’ work onto a Smart Board for the entire class to view. The iPad Minis, utilized two or three times a week, create a learning environment that is more “streamlined and seamless,” Coletta said. She also has noticed students who are too shy to complete a problem on the whiteboard are more willing to share their work when using an iPad.

http://www.delcotimes.com/20131028/education-going-high-tech

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/UdxqEmVle24/