States need to find common ground on personalized learning, SETDA’s Tracy Weeks says

by edScoop

States need to develop a common definition for personalized learning if they hope to pursue it as a common goal — that was one of the biggest takeaways from the recent gathering of state edtech leaders, according to Tracy Weeks, executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA). The SETDA Leadership Summit drew state and affiliate attendees from 47 states and territories, as well as speakers from Code.org and Future Ready Schools, among others. This year’s meeting gave special attention to the topic of personalized learning and how state leaders can leverage technology to make it work for students.

http://edscoop.com/tv-radio/states-need-to-find-common-ground-on-personalized-learning-setdas-tracy-weeks-says

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=33525

7 Edtech Tools I Would Use if I Were Still in the Classroom

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

Remember the days schlepping a big bag home every night of teaching in the classroom? As the grading period ended, it was often two bags, and sometimes three.  The classroom was even worse, cluttered with learning materials – books, manipulatives and work station activities that left little room for anything else, including students and the teacher. It was important to have every conceivable teaching tool ready for the students in the event of a “teachable moment.” Today’s teachers have edtech on their side. Edtech teaching and management tools have streamlined processes, and providing engaging learning opportunities that go far beyond the materials I could create for students learning. If I were still in the classroom today, I’d use these 7 edtech tools:

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/7-edtech-tools-use-still-classroom/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=33515

Building A.I. That Can Build A.I.

by Cade Metz, NY Times

They are a dream of researchers but perhaps a nightmare for highly skilled computer programmers: artificially intelligent machines that can build other artificially intelligent machines. With recent speeches in both Silicon Valley and China, Jeff Dean, one of Google’s leading engineers, spotlighted a Google project called AutoML. ML is short for machine learning, referring to computer algorithms that can learn to perform particular tasks on their own by analyzing data. AutoML, in turn, is a machine-learning algorithm that learns to build other machine-learning algorithms. With it, Google may soon find a way to create A.I. technology that can partly take the humans out of building the A.I. systems that many believe are the future of the technology industry.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/technology/machine-learning-artificial-intelligence-ai.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=33505

Online courses continue to grow in Memphis

by Sydney Neely, The Commercial Appeal

U.S. colleges recorded a 3.9-percent rise in students who take online courses from 2013-2014. The University of Memphis increased its online courses by 30 percent since the 2011-2012 year. 1,960 students at Southwest are enrolled in 205 online courses, compared with 2,067 students and 193 courses in 2015. The online faculty has grown at the University of Memphis by 11 percent since the 2011-2012 year.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/education/educate-memphis/2016/11/02/online-courses-continue-grow-memphis/91541306/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=20198

Even Top Students May Drop Out After Losing Aid

By Andrew Kreighbaum, Inside Higher Ed

Students are more likely to drop out of college if they lose even small amounts of financial aid — regardless of their grade point average — according to a study from the Education Advisory Board, a research and consulting firm based in Washington. The study also found that the more financial aid a student loses, the more likely they are to drop out. On the other hand, students who receive more financial aid are more likely to persist in completing a degree, according to the study.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/11/03/even-top-students-may-drop-out-after-losing-aid

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=20186

Coding boot camp partners with major universities

by eCampus News

Trilogy Education Services, the education platform that powers skills-based technology programs for colleges and universities, announces today that it has partnered with University of California, Berkeley Extension to launch a 24 week web-development program geared towards adult learners and part-time students. This brings the total number of university partnerships to twelve, as Trilogy continues to expand its nationwide reach in preparing students for high-growth careers in the digital economy. Throughout the digital economy, coding skills are increasingly in demand across a broad range of careers, including data analytics, marketing, engineering, scientific research and design. As noted by job market analytics firm, Burning Glass, 7 million job openings in 2015 required coding skills with programming jobs growing 12 percent faster than the market average.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/curriculum/coding-boot-camp-trilogy/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=20174

Making Lectures More Interactive

By Dennis Pierce, Campus Technology

Produced by Su-Kam Intelligent Education Systems (SKIES), named after co-founders Julius Su and Victor Kam, the app enables students to construct an interconnected web of knowledge around a topic as the professor is teaching — turning a traditional lecture format into a shared, interactive learning experience. “Students learn best not when they are passive recipients of content, but when they are actively involved in their own learning,” Su said. With the SKIES app, he said, “teachers and students can be creating and constructing knowledge together. That makes the classroom more lively, engaging and democratic — and just a great place to be. It turns into a better environment for learning.”

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/11/04/making-lectures-more-interactive.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14265

18-Year-Old Switches To Online Classes To Better Pursue Art

By REBECCA THIELE, WMUK

Geoffrey Simmons is only 18, but he’s already well on his way to becoming a full-time artist. It all started about three years ago when he began collecting glass art. That led to glass blowing classes, which led to spray paint, body paint, digital art, and just about everything else. “I just found all these other mediums and just decided if I’m going to be an artist, I want to be creative in every single area I possibly can,” he says. Eventually Simmons was doing so many art projects that going to school all day was just getting in the way. So he stopped going to class and enrolled in online classes. “I’m definitely not the normal learner – we could just put it that way. So normal school in general wasn’t working out the best anyhow. So once I made that switch and I had found that new passion, I just took off,” he says.

http://wmuk.org/post/18-year-old-switches-online-classes-better-pursue-art

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14263

Young Adults More Likely to Own Smartphone Than PC

by eMarketer

There is a proliferation of devices in the marketplace. When it comes to ownership, young adults ages 18 to 29 are more likely to own a mobile phone or smartphone than a desktop or laptop, pointing to how mobile is becoming an all-purpose device that users are increasingly relying on. According to a July 2015 survey by the Pew Research Center, ownership of desktop and laptops, game consoles and MP3 players among US young adults has dropped since 2010. Alternatively, smartphone ownership among these respondents has grown from 52% in 2011 to 86% in 2015.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Young-Adults-More-Likely-Own-Smartphone-Than-PC/1013202

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14260

Microsoft refreshes Office for iPad, iPhone; more features now free for consumers

by Mary Jo Foley, ZDNet

Microsoft is releasing updated versions of its Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps for iPad and iPhones that make more of the core functionality available for free. The new Office for iPad and iPhone apps are available as of November 6 in the Apple App Store. The new Office for iPad apps will be available here. Word for iPhone, Excel for iPhone and PowerPoint for iPhone are available separately.

http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-refreshes-office-for-ipad-iphone-more-features-now-free-for-consumers-7000035513/

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Once taboo, cellphones now encouraged at some Treasure Valley schools

BY BILL ROBERTS, Idaho Statesman

If you want your Boise district school to start bring-your-own-device instruction, talk with your school principal, says David Roberts, district technology administrator. A student caught with a cellphone at school used to face almost certain doom. There was the trip to the vice principal’s office. Or the administrator slipped the phone into his desk drawer till the final bell rang. Or, worst of all, there was the dreaded call to parents. Teachers and principals once viewed cellphones as distractions and enemies of education. Now, increasing numbers of them are encouraging students to bring their electronic devices to class as an instrument that can deepen their learning.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/11/04/3465954/valley-students-cellphones-amp.html?sp=/99/101/

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Getting Started with Google Glass

By Jim Dutcher, Campus Technology

SUNY Cobleskill has embarked on a rigorous pilot using Google Glass for hands-on, experiential learning. To kick off a series of articles chronicling the experience, the institution’s CIO shares the origins of the project, the support team involved and the plans that are already unfolding for future campus and corporate collaborations. From the pedagogical side, we will be focused on discovery and answering:

Does the use of wearable technology speed acquisition of student competency?

What effect does the introduction of wearable technology have on instruction and peer (and patient) interaction?

Does the use of instructor point-of-view video help bridge student understanding of theory to applied practice?

How does the use of wearable technology translate across different instructional programs (Paramedic Training vs. Animal Hoof Health)?

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/11/05/getting-started-with-google-glass.aspx

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

From Flipped Classrooms to Flipping with Peer Instruction

by Julie Schell, Turn to Your Neighbor

During the 2010- 2011 academic year, Peer Instruction Network Members Troy Faulkner and Rob Warneke embarked on a quest to reach this ultimate goal. They were looking for something to help their students chart new paths as mathematically confident and proficient learners. They saw great opportunity in the Flipped 101 Model, where instructors put lectures online for students to watch before coming to class; during class, students work on homework problems with their peers with an instructor close by ready for any critical intervention. When they flipped their classrooms at Byron High School, they were surprised at the results. Rob and Troy were able to improve student achievement by a few percentage points on proficiency exams over lecture. Their transition to flipped teaching took a lot of effort and energy. Seeing their students improve just a bit and not radically, Rob and Troy didn’t throw up their hands and revert back to tradition to make their lives easier after just one try. Turn to Your Neighbor interviewed Troy and Rob at FlipCon13 about what they did next and why they stuck with their Flipped 2.0 version.

http://blog.peerinstruction.net/2013/11/04/from-flipped-classrooms-to-flipping-with-peer-instruction/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/JQ6DHwsHouE/

My School’s Path to Personalized Learning

by Amanda Hobson, Students First

In the short time since the school year began, there has been a positive shift in school culture. Students have ownership not only of their behavior, but their learning as well. Teachers are working with students to unpack standards and create learning pathways to master those standards. As we continue to implement personal mastery, there will be more project-based and challenge-based learning opportunities, which will provide rigor and meaning to learning. Personal mastery is the future of education, providing a renewed promise that all students will receive the education they need and deserve.

http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/my-schools-path-to-personalized-learning

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SUNY program offers cost-free digital textbooks

by Madeline Gottlieb, Pipe Dream

In an effort to combat the rising costs of higher education, SUNY Open Textbooks, a new program to provide textbooks online for free, will be made available in early 2014. In an effort to combat the rising costs of higher education, SUNY Open Textbooks, a new program to provide textbooks online for free, will be made available in early 2014. The SUNY Open Textbooks program is providing textbooks online for students to read, rather than purchase, for their classes. “SUNY libraries have been concerned with the rising cost of textbooks for years. One common strategy, placing textbooks on reserves has high use, but it is a limited and expensive solution. We need to add new strategies that reduce the cost of textbooks,” wrote Carey Hatch, associate provost for academic technologies and information services of SUNY.

http://www.bupipedream.com/news/25094/suny-program-offers-cost-free-digital-textbooks/

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