4 Recommendations for Closing Broadband Equity Gaps

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal
The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) and Education Networks of America (ENA) have released a new report examining the steps states are taking to close the gaps in wireless access between their schools and districts.

The report offers four recommendations for policy makers and school leaders:

Increase infrastructure to support student-centered learning;
Design infrastructure to meet capacity targets;
Ensure equity of access for all students outside of school; and
Leverage state resources to increase broadband access.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/09/20/4-recommendations-for-closing-broadband-equity-gaps.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=32179

Cornell, Carnegie Researchers Aim to Hold Computers Accountable for Their Decisions

By Joshua Bolkan, Campus Technology

A team of researchers led by professors at Cornell University will launch a project designed to ensure that automated decision-making systems respect privacy and come to their decisions fairly. “There’s a lot of new technology being deployed in a variety of important settings, and we don’t fully understand all the ramifications,” said Thomas Ristenpart, associate professor of computer science at Cornell Tech and co-principal investigator for the project, in a prepared statement.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/09/18/cornell-carnegie-researchers-aim-to-hold-computers-accountable-for-their-decisions.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=32159

Smartwatches Deemed Least Valuable Technology in the Classroom

by Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

Smartwatches may be one of the hottest gadgets in the consumer market — making up nearly a third of all wearables sales this year — but the climate in the classroom is noticeably cooler for the wrist-worn devices. In our 2017 Teaching with Technology Survey, smartwatches came in dead last in the list of technologies faculty consider essential or valuable for teaching and learning. Just 9 percent of faculty called the devices “valuable” (an increase from 5 percent in 2016), and not a one deemed them “essential.” What’s more, 9 percent of respondents considered smartwatches “detrimental.”

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/09/13/smartwatches-deemed-least-valuable-technology-in-the-classroom.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=32169

How to sharpen students’ critical thinking skills online

BY IAN JAMISON, eSchool News

With smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices, students have 24/7 access to news, information, and opinions—not all of which are well-informed or well-intentioned. In truth, we are flooded with a constant stream of information online, from legitimate news and facts to websites and social media posts taking sides in intense political debates. In an age when students get the majority of their information from the internet, how can we make sure they know that not everything they find online is reputable? How can we help students become critical thinkers and smart consumers of information who also have empathy for others?

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/09/22/sharpen-students-critical-thinking-skills-online/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=18832

5 major cloud considerations for education

BY BRIDGET MCCREA, eSchool News

It’s no secret that being able to access enterprise applications and other types of software online—in a 24/7/365 environment—beats having to install, maintain, and upgrade individual applications across multiple desktops and laptops. Especially when maintaining software at school, classroom, teacher, and individual student levels is such an arduous task. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or “cloud computing” has helped districts and schools streamline their applications while at the same time introducing new challenges to the mix—such as online privacy and security concerns. These and other obstacles aside, cloud computing has been growing in popularity lately due to its low entry costs, short installation/implementation times, and the fact that it lessens the burden on schools’ IT teams when it comes to software maintenance and upgrades.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/09/21/5-major-cloud-considerations-education/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=18820

How To Stop Online Harassment: Google Uses Machine Learning Tools To More Accurately Spot Abusive Content

By SUSMITA BARAL, International Business Times

A subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, Jigsaw, is using machine learning to fend off online trolling, reports Wired. The New York–based think tank is building open-source AI tools, collectively called Conversation AI, to filter out harassment and abusive language. “Few things poison conversations online more than abusive language, threats, and harassment,” reads the Conversation AI website. “We’re studying how computers can learn to understand the nuances and context of abusive language at scale. If successful, machine learning could help publishers and moderators improve comments on their platforms and enhance the exchange of ideas on the internet.”

http://www.ibtimes.com/how-stop-online-harassment-google-uses-machine-learning-tools-more-accurately-spot-2419964

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=18808

Survey reveals why teachers aren’t embracing social media

By Laura Devaney, eSchoolNews

A new survey finds that just 13 percent of participating educators have used social media as part of their classroom learning. The University of Phoenix College of Education survey of 1,002 U.S. K-12 teachers found that 87 percent of those surveyed said they have not embraced social media platforms. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed said they are reluctant to use social media in the classroom, compared to 55 percent of participating educators in a 2013 survey.Fewer than half of teachers surveyed (44 percent) said they believe social media can enhance a student’s educational experiences. Lack of training could be to blame. Although 95 percent of surveyed educators said they have had training related to classroom technology integration, 62 percent said they had either minimal or no training around how to interact with students and parents through social media.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/09/25/social-media-teachers-052/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13931

In the Mind of a Student

by Jacqueline Thomsen, Inside Higher Ed

Imagine if schoolteachers and college professors were immediately able to identify how each of their students learns, what learning style works best for each child and what new topics he or she is struggling with. Research faculty members at the University of Wisconsin at Madison are hoping that this can be the future of education. Their research uses a combination of psychology and computer science to determine how best to optimize teaching for individual students. This means teachers and professors will be able to immediately know what subjects students are struggling with and be able to address those needs, instead of teaching an entire class of students with ranging difficulties.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/25/researchers-uw-madison-hope-their-work-will-optimize-teachers-time-students

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13928

Rubrics Can Work Across Colleges

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

A cross-institutional experiment to see whether rubric-based assessments can scale and whether students are actually learning what the assessments are intended to measure has been called a success. The project, known as the “Multi-State Collaborative,” brought together 59 colleges and universities in nine states, including 28 four-year institutions and 31 two-year schools. The pilot was undertaken by two organizations: the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO).

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/09/24/rubrics-can-work-across-colleges.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13921

How iPads Can Refresh Traditional Classrooms

by Jenny_Collins, Edudemic

Following the trend of mass mobile device adoption, educators increasingly contemplate possibilities of using iPads in classroom. State-of-the-art mobile technology is getting more and more popular in different settings and schools are no exception. Adoption of mobile devices is transforming traditional classrooms into a place that delivers real-world knowledge using efficient tech resources.

http://www.edudemic.com/learning-ipad/

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/qyewbRr0teY/

Five-Minute Film Festival: Culturally Responsive Teaching

by Keyana Stevens, Edutopia

The changing racial and cultural landscape of America is certainly a much-discussed topic — some researchers studying U.S. Census data and demographics even say that America could be a “minority majority” country as early as 2050. While the barriers between countries continue to come down, and globalization continues, how can teachers address the needs of students from a variety of cultural backgrounds and upbringings? This collection of videos introduces culturally responsive teaching (CRT), and includes some techniques that you can use to help students from diverse backgrounds succeed together.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/five-minute-film-festival-culturally-responsive-teaching

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/z9bwc_G3_Ro/

Coursera Co-Founder Promotes Artificial Intelligence ‘Deep Learning’ at SEAS

By KAY LU, Harvard Crimson

Andrew Y. Ng, co-founder of Coursera, talks in a crowded lecture hall on Thursday at Maxwell Dworkin about deep learning in computer programs, inspired by human neural networks. Deep learning, a subfield of computer science, is currently being developed by computer scientists to handle massive amounts of information and data, which can be applied to speech and image recognition. Ng, who is also the chief scientist at the Chinese search engine Baidu and an associate professor of computer science at Stanford University, said that the main goal of his presentation was to “share with [the audience] some strategic views about deep learning and give [them] some general ideas about whether to work on deep learning in the future.”

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/9/26/ng-deep-learning-talk/

Share on Facebook



from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/q649MrEdwnA/