How can states improve data innovation in ed systems?

by Pat Donachie, Education Dive

States must support K-12 and higher ed initiatives to introduce students to the kinds of skills that will help them compete and fill jobs in the burgeoning data economy, and there also must be support for training opportunities for individuals in the workplace to garner new skills, according to the author of a recent report from the Center for Data Innovation that ranked the states which have been the best in data innovation, including creating available datasets, investing in new technologies and helping to develop “human and business capital.”

http://www.educationdive.com/news/how-can-states-improve-data-innovation-in-ed-systems/505884/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=32262

Cyber Classes Offered to Hazleton High School Students

by Jessica Albert, WNEP

Rocco Petrone is the principal of Hazleton Area High School. He says the district gets a large number of students that enroll after the school year has already started. Which means there’s a lot of students playing catch up. “Our thoughts here is to give the students the best opportunity for the best educational environment and the best education overall,” said Petrone. Petrone came up with the idea for a cyber classroom designed for new students who have been out of school for a while and have missed at least 22 days of the semester. These students will be able to take online classes so they can get caught up at their own pace.

http://wnep.com/2017/09/29/cyber-classes-offered-to-hazleton-high-school-students/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=32272

DISTRICTS NEED TO SET UP WI-FI FOR STUDENTS IN PUBLIC HOUSING

by Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate

Students who live in poverty are among the most at-risk students in the public school system. There is extensive research to show that students from low-income families struggle more with behavior and academics for a wide variety of reasons related to poverty. Often, this means that students who come from poverty are left behind in the classroom. Many students whose families live below the poverty line also don’t have internet access at home. This creates all kinds of problems as well. Students who have access to the internet can go home and get online to work on homework, do research, or just learn about something they’re interested in for fun. Students without the internet may struggle with completing assignments, or feel stuck when they can’t get easy homework help.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/districts-need-set-wi-fi-students-public-housing/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=32252

Curriculum and Instruction: Brewing a Better Vocabulary

By Jeff Mao, THE Journal

One of the challenges of the education profession is the lack of a standardized professional vocabulary. Doctors, lawyers, car mechanics, barbers and IT workers have them — if I say “mullet,” “French braid” or “flat top,” I bet you have pictures in your head that are the same as the next person. However, get a room full of educators and ask them about digital learning, blended learning, hybrid learning, personalized learning or individualized learning, and you’ll likely end up with more definitions than people in the room. This lack of a standard vocabulary is particularly noticeable, and particularly important, in the ongoing conversation about technology use. When and how is using technology in learning a good idea? If your district adopts a model that gives you a common vocabulary, that conversation is much easier.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/09/21/curriculum-and-instruction-brewing-a-better-vocabulary.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=18933

Data Can Help Schools Confront ‘Chronic Absence’

By Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal

Half of “chronically absent” students are found in just four percent of the country’s school districts. Thirty districts in Texas and California alone account for 10 percent of the country’s total chronically absent kids. About 500 districts have chronic absenteeism that surpasses 30 percent — more than twice the national average. The data cited here isn’t new. It was shared in June by the Office for Civil Rights, which compiled it from a 2013-2014 survey completed by nearly every school district and school in the United States. What is new is a report from Attendance Works and the Everyone Graduates Center that encourages schools and districts to use their own data to pinpoint ways to take on the challenge of chronic absenteeism. Both of those organizations promote improvements in school practices that will lead to higher graduation rates.

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/09/22/data-can-help-schools-confront-chronic-absence.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=18921

Scriyb: A new live streaming tool for online learning

by Washington Business Journal

Scriyb is different from other online class tools in that it uses live streaming video and allows interaction through a moderated chat room, where students can interact with each other, and a teacher can guide his or her lecture by seeing responses from the students. The chat was inspired by the chatrooms of online video games, and the streaming follows similar programing that apps such as Periscope use. It now competes against leading learning management systems like Blackboard and Canvas, but it is also designed to sit on top of an existing platform. The program takes, for example, 300 students who are signed up for a class, and then places them into groups of 30 students, whom they would interact with. It attempts to make a large class more intimate by putting it online.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2016/09/23/scriyb-a-new-live-streaming-tool-for-online.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=18909

Why My Kids Finished Their MOOC—When Most Adults Don’t

by Alex Hernandez, EdSurge

My 9-year-old twins recently completed a five-week MOOC (massive open online course). I thought I’d be a proud, high-fiving dad, but MOOC completion rates hover around 6%, so when they completed the MOOC, I was mostly puzzled. Something went terribly… right. Brain Chase is an online learning experience geared for 2nd to 8th graders designed to cure summer learning loss and provide afterschool enrichment. Each week, children work on a variety of online programs such as Khan Academy, myOn and Rosetta Stone, submit a piece of writing and read–a substantial investment of 5 hours a week during the summer. Brain Chase takes a standard set of online learning programs like Khan Academy and Rosetta Stone and layers a Hollywood-like treasure hunt–reminiscent of the National Treasure or Indiana Jones movies–over the top. Once kids meet their weekly goals, a video is unlocked which reveals clues to find a buried treasure.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-09-21-why-my-kids-finished-their-mooc-when-most-adults-don-t

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13956

Decatur, Hartselle planning different ways to grow virtual programs

By Deangelo McDaniel, Decatur Daily

Fewer than 90 students have enrolled in virtual classes through Morgan County’s two city school systems, but school leaders in Decatur and Hartselle expect the number to rise as they reach out beyond the Tennessee Valley. Hartselle, which has 37 students taking virtual classes, is opening its virtual doors to students from anywhere in the state, said Dee Dee Jones, director of teaching and learning.Decatur City Schools has 46 students in its virtual program and is looking to expand through more class offerings, said Tommy Davis, director of secondary curriculum/career tech. “We’re very pleased with our first-year numbers, but we see an opportunity to grow through what we are offering,” he said. Davis said 20 of the virtual program students are full time and nine are out-of-district students who paid $500 to be considered Decatur City Schools students.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/news/local/decatur-hartselle-planning-different-ways-to-grow-virtual-programs/article_50c6c3ba-2f29-54b4-b92e-ed80c639ea4f.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13953

U of Toronto courses adopt the inverted classroom

by Joshua Grondin, THE VARSITY

In an age of technology and readily available information, course instructors are experimenting with the inverted classroom teaching format. Gaining popularity among academic institutions around the world, the inverted classroom model requires students to cover lecture material at home through online lecture videos, learning modules, and supplementary readings. During scheduled class hours, students then have the opportunity to actively engage with their professor to gain further understanding of the material. The purpose of this alternative approach is to give students the opportunity to improve their skills in a more interactive environment.

http://thevarsity.ca/2015/09/21/u-of-t-courses-adopt-the-inverted-classroom/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13950

How To Bridge the IT Communication Gap

By Michael Hart, Campus Technology

A little finesse goes a long way in communicating with tech-challenged users — and more important, it can bolster IT’s strategic role across the university. Failed communication is just one symptom of the chasm that sometimes exists between IT professionals and the faculty, students and administrators they serve. And while it’s tempting to blame the user, the truth is it’s up to IT to find a way to get the right messages across. “You’ve got to go to where people stand,” exhorted Joanna Young, vice president and CIO at Michigan State University. In other words, put yourself in the user’s shoes; listen as much as you talk or fix; and learn how to speak on his terms.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/09/25/how-to-bridge-the-it-communication-gap.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/5O3kx6yxvtU/

Wikipedia grows up on college campuses

By Bruce Maiman, eCampus News

A trusted bromide in academia is that you become a better student when you become a teacher. Gradually and informally, educators who repeatedly warned students to avoid Wikipedia like the plague began making it part of their course curriculum, assigning students to contribute content, either by writing original Wikipedia articles or editing existing ones. Since the program’s launch in 2010, nearly 10,000 students in some 500 classes have contributed 44,000 printed pages of content, editing thousands of existing articles and creating 1,900 new ones, all of it overseen by academics while students get credit. Participating schools run the gamut from Ivy League to community college. The California contingent includes Berkeley, Davis and San Francisco, the California Maritime Academy and Pomona College.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/wikipedia-grows-college-campuses/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/AFwO7cGCy0A/

New tech offers virtual field trip to an aquarium tank

By Cynthia Sewell, eSchool News

A Boise, Idaho, company is taking armchair adventuring and learning to a new level by letting anyone on the internet take command of a remotely operated underwater vehicle. The LiveDiver device from Reach-In is now installed at the Aquarium of Boise. By logging into the aquarium’s website, users can control a small mini-submarine in the shark and fish tank to get a diver’s perspective of the marine life.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/09/29/virtual-trip-aquarium-090/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/nJ7RZMuR_sI/