Illinois Lt. Governor looks to expand online classrooms in rural schools

By: Lindsey Harrison, Central Illinois Proud

Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti is looking to expand the virtual classroom to more rural schools around the state. Sanguinetti stopped by Heyworth High School Monday afternoon to talk to a few students about their experiences in a virtual classroom. Junior Garrett Houston is taking calculus. He says he just couldn’t make calculus fit into his schedule when the school offered it, so he’s taking it online. “I’ve always been ahead in math and now I’m getting to the point where they don’t really have a math course for me after calculus,” Houston explained. But his course options are expanded through the online classes. Houston says he’s also taken Mandarin through the virtual classroom.

http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/illinois-lt-governor-looks-to-expand-online-classrooms-in-rural-schools/861201553

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=34035

How can tech transfer offices evolve to support innovation?

by Pat Donachie, Education Dive

Colleges and universities should reframe the goals of their technology transfer offices away from a focus on revenue generation to how technology and innovation in the school can contribute to the health and prosperity of the surrounding community, region and economy, according to a new report from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities. “I think a lot of universities have realized that a transaction basis for technology transfer is not going to create an environment they need to be successful in an innovation-based economy,” Jim Woodell, an APLU Vice President for Economic Development and Community Engagement, said. “Success needs to not be measured by revenue, but by other signs of contributions universities make to technology.”

https://www.educationdive.com/news/how-can-tech-transfer-offices-evolve-to-support-innovation/511144/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=34015

South Dakota university to offer 18-day intensive courses

by Associated Press

Black Hills State University-Rapid City will offer block courses for students who want to focus on and finish one subject at a time, the Rapid City Journal reported. University officials said the offering will be the first of its kind in South Dakota. Traditionally, college courses are held at different times based on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday or a Tuesday-Thursday schedule, and vary by semester. Under the new block system, students will meet for three hour chunks at the same time in the morning or afternoon for 18 consecutive days. Each course will be separated by breaks of four days. Students will need to enroll in four blocks to qualify as full time. Gene Bilodeau, director of BHSU-RC, said that there’s evidence learning under the 18-day approach is the same as under the traditional structure, if not more encouraging.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-5097885/South-Dakota-university-offer-18-day-intensive-courses.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=34005

Country Music Legend Reba McEntire Launches Online MasterClass

by Parade

MasterClass, the online education platform, has gone country. The site, which features video courses taught by the likes of Dustin Hoffman (acting), Serena Williams (tennis), Aaron Sorkin (screenwriting) and Annie Leibovitz (photography), has added Reba McEntire to its impressive roster of instructors. In her class, the country legend will give students virtual insight into some of her greatest hits and teach them what it takes to make great country music through storytelling, connecting with your audience, singing, performance, vocal warm up, song selection, brand building and the business side of the industry. McEntire spoke with Parade about the course, her career and which celebrity instructor she’d like to take a master class from.

http://parade.com/524902/alison-abbey/country-music-legend-reba-mcentire-to-teach-online-masterclass/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=20690

Winner of educational award brings aspiring teachers into the virtual world

by Margaret Boylan, Troubadour Online

“Oftentimes, people say, ‘I don’t want to teach online, because I want to teach real students,’” said Dr. Susan Poyo, assistant professor of education at Franciscan University. “(But) any student that wants to learn, no matter what environment they’re in: whether they’re homeschooled, whether they’re Catholic school, if they’re public school or an online school they’re all real kids, and they all want to learn.” Poyo’s commitment to online learning is what led her to become the recipient of the 2016 International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) award.

http://www.troubonline.com/winner-of-educational-award-brings-aspiring-teachers-into-the-virtual-world/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=20678

5 Ways To Think, And Act, Like A Digital Technology Leader

by Joe McKendrick, Forbes

Moving to a digital enterprise — bringing in game-changing technologies such as cloud services and data analytics, as well as getting everyone to think in new ways — is great stuff, but also can be hard work. There are many different trends, technologies and opinions coming at you from many different directions. It may be helpful to examine the roles that may help guide progress through the digital realm, and the ways of thinking that may need to be applied to make things happen across the organization. Leading the charge with digital technologies, of course, requires technology savvy or skills, and we’ll assume some level of comfort with technology. Here are some ways of thinking to help in the journey.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2016/11/18/5-ways-to-think-and-act-like-a-digital-technology-leader/#4df9e51f72a3

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=20698

What role are mobile learning apps playing in the ed-tech revolution

by Ashok Subramanian P, Financial Express

E-education is commonplace now. A new trend we notice is edutainment, where companies have started blending education with entertainment to ensure that the process of learning doesn’t become boring after a point of time. E-education is a commonplace notion. A new trend that we notice in this space is that of edutainment, where companies have started blending education with entertaining environment to ensure that the process of learning doesn’t become boring after a point of time. In fact, we at ConveGenius recently launched Battle of Minds, a social edutainment network, which is aimed towards doing exactly this by ‘appifying’ the paradigms of learning and making it fun and rewarding, all at the same time. The benefits of such app-based, edutainment-driven learning are numerous.

http://www.financialexpress.com/article/industry/jobs/what-role-are-mobile-learning-apps-playing-in-the-ed-tech-revolution/169125/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14393

Online learning is for the disciplined

by Erik Rédli, Slovak Spectator

The seismic spread of free online courses for life-long education in some countries has caused an outflow of students from institutionalised online education. However, in Slovakia online learning is still a product offered by universities. They offer courses in management, marketing, communication, finances, human resource management and accounting. All of these fields require an active approach and constant learning, which is reflected in the profile of the students. Indeed, online study is different from day-to-day school attendance and isn’t suitable for lazy students. “Interactive online programs of LIGS University are for students who want to work on their skills and at the same time they consider their time carefully,” Dagmar Makovská, executive director at LIGS, said.

http://spectator.sme.sk/c/20064319/online-learning-is-for-the-disciplined.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14390

Students ‘flip’ over prof’s class, which blends online and in-class learning

by Julie Wurth, News-Gazette

Not everyone would show clips of the unfortunately named British game show “Golden Balls” to illustrate a microeconomics lesson, but Jose Vazquez is not a typical teacher. The UI professor no longer uses the centuries-old “chalk and talk” lecture style. Vazquez has chosen to “flip” his Principles of Microeconomics course — having students watch videos of his lectures online before coming to class in the cavernous Foellinger Auditorium.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2015-11-22/students-flip-over-profs-class-which-blends-online-and-class-learning.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14387

10 steps to promoting diversity in gaming

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

The key to successfully using games for education is in promoting a diverse “ecosystem” of gameplay complete with codes of conduct. In part one of this story, “#Gamergate—and what it means for gaming in education,” which discussed the cultural context of Gamergate and how it applies to education, MIT’s Education Arcade emphasized that “the key to fashioning the gaming world as a safe place for women and others is not necessarily censorship or making all games appeal to all potential players, but rather to create an ecosystem of games designed to appeal to players of different play styles, values, and backgrounds,” and nowhere is this ecosystem more important than education. “Games are one of the best learning mediums in education because it forces the learner to interact with information,” explained Sherry Jones—a Philosophy, Rhetoric, and Game Studies instructor at the University of Colorado, Denver.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/11/21/diversity-education-gaming-398/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/mtDf_XSOmV0/

EdX Hosts First Open edX Conference

By MEG P. BERNHARD and MICHAEL V. ROTHBERG, Harvard Crimson

EdX held its inaugural Open edX conference to bring together nearly 200 of the platform’s collaborators, who hail from as nearby as Cambridge to as far away as Japan. The conference comes a year and a half after edX launched the open-source initiative, which allows third-party groups to install, use, and develop the edX platform for their own educational purposes. “We open-sourced our platform in June of 2013 and since then we’ve seen a lot of adoption,” said Sarina Canelake, a software engineer for the company. “What’s cool about this conference is that we’ve seen a lot of people, from France and from Japan, who we’ve never had a chance to meet.” According to Canelake, more than 400 courses are offered through Open edX worldwide. Contributors to the platform include Google, the University of Queensland, and Tsinghua University in Beijing.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/11/20/EdX-hosts-open-conference/

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EdX Launching MOOCs with Free Certificates for Teacher Training and AP Prep

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

The teacher certificates will be issued for one year to all U.S. teachers who pass one of the teacher training courses. That will be extended for an additional four years for Title I teachers and others in high-need districts. Classes will train teachers on the use of technology in the classroom, teaching in a blended environment, and learning theory and leadership. Those classes will be available from Boston University, Davidson College, Teachers College at Columbia University and six other universities. The organization is also pursuing students in high-need and rural school districts around the country to take courses to help them prepare for advanced placement exams. Over the next five years students will be able to earn free, verified certificates in 40 different courses. AP prep MOOCs will be made available by the Cooper Union, Tennessee Board of Regents, Rice University and five other institutions.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/11/20/edx-launching-moocs-with-free-certificates-for-teacher-training-and-ap-prep.aspx

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10 Surprising Social Media Statistics That Will Make You Rethink Your Social Strategy

by BELLE BETH COOPER, Fast Company

If you’re managing social media for your business, it might be useful to know about some of the most surprising social media statistics this year. Here are 10 that might make you rethink the way you’re approaching social media.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3021749/work-smart/10-surprising-social-media-statistics-that-will-make-you-rethink-your-social-stra#!

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