10 WAYS TO USE FACEBOOK IN THE CLASSROOM

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

If you have not already started using Facebook in the classroom, now is the time. As teachers strive to keep their students engaged, Facebook is a unique tool that allows teachers and students to interact in a new way. As Kevin Hull explains, “As the most popular social networking website, especially among high school aged students, Facebook is a page that can seemingly integrate seamlessly into the curriculum by creating that sense of community and group learning possibilities.” When you begin to see Facebook as a potential education tool, you will discover several ways to integrate this platform into your classroom.

10 Ways to Use Facebook in the Classroom

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=32307

The 10 Gold Standards of Ensuring Online Course Quality

by Eduvation
Online courses represent some of the most accessible and potentially comprehensive learning available. Whether they come in the form of free online courses or classes from a university, online learning is extremely popular. However, online classes are meant to be more than assignments and reading without interaction; they need to be personal. Taking these steps can greatly enhance your e-Learning solutions and lead to a better online course.

http://www.focuseduvation.com/10-gold-standards-ensuring-online-course-quality/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=32297

A Strategic Focus on Outcomes: Shifting From Access to Success with Data

by Brenda Hellyer, Evolllution

Colleges and universities across the United States have historically been judged on the basis of their ability to create access for students, making enrollment numbers one of the key metrics in determining institutional success. Today, however, simply opening the door is not enough. Institutions are instead being judged on whether their students are earning credentials—be they degrees or certificates—and following through on their goals. In this interview, Brenda Hellyer reflects on the importance of switching gears from access to success, and shares her thoughts on the critical role data plays in making that switch a reality.

A Strategic Focus on Outcomes: Shifting From Access to Success with Data

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=32287

Does Presence Equal Progress? Tracking Engagement in Online Schools

By Steven Guttentag, EdSurge

Embracing online school requires a new mindset, as well as new criteria for measuring academic success—measures that take into account the nature of teaching and learning online, the types of students online schools serve, and the unique ways in which those students learn. Many valid questions have been raised about online schools. It’s true that not all of them are serving the best interests of their students. Each of us has seen headlines about an online school providing an unaccredited program that looks like a “diploma mill,” or a completely mismanaged school administration that was not prepared for high student mobility or other realities of online learning.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-09-25-does-presence-equal-progress-tracking-engagement-in-online-schools

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=18965

Focus On Online Learning Can Help Boost Ontario Math Scores

by Doina Oncel, Huffington Post

With the recent news release, that Ontario students are doing poorly at math, it is imperative to focus on this issue now as it affects not only our current students and schools but our economy in the long run. While STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) focused professions are the future of our economy they require a high level of math knowledge. For example, to enter an engineering field one must have a high understanding of math and, if not learned early it may be a loss that the next generation will have to deal with when losing opportunities in the future. While the idea of having a one hour blocked time for math learning in classrooms is a great solution, I am personally not convinced when it comes to the online learning strategy. It is very interesting to see how many kids and their parents will actually have access to online resources considering that, although we live in one of the best nations in the world, many people do not have a computer and Internet access at home.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/doina-oncel/online-learning-ontario_b_12121784.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=18953

Jefferson Forest course trains students in technology – and puts them to work fixing IT issues

by Rachael Smith, News and Advance

At 9 a.m. Friday morning in Jefferson Forest High School’s library, about 10 students are cleaning Chromebooks with compressed air. They are only the second group to enroll in “Cavalier Tech,” a high school course designed for students interested in the technology field that also serves as an internship worth college credit. The students work together to help peers and teachers resolve Level 1 technology problems, or basic issues, on hardware and software belonging to JF and to Bedford County Public Schools.

http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/jefferson-forest-course-trains-students-in-technology-and-puts-them/article_f1c7cdb2-086c-5f71-b02b-a326dff7d9c8.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=18941

Class time at the kitchen table for Lowell students

By Amelia Pak-Harvey, the Sun

For the Crompton siblings, school begins in the comfort of own living room, after they eat breakfast and do their morning chores. By 9 a.m., the two sets of twins meet their mother, Linda, for a Bible reading and prayer time. Then they’re back on their own, reviewing their tasks in the assignment book she creates for them. Correct pages 178 and 180 in grammar. Study Lesson 14 for vocabulary. Move on to the next section in math drills. The Cromptons are among 37 families in Lowell who have opted to home-school their children, a minority group of 56 children in a low-income district of roughly 14,000 students.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_28882620/class-time-at-kitchen-table-lowell-students

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13965

The success of blended learning

by Nichole Osinski, The Spectrum & Daily News

Technology is becoming a normal part of education and it may be the key to defining the success of students’ futures. Incorporating blended learning in classrooms leads to an increase of graduation rates among other positive benefits, according to a recent case study from the Evergreen Group and the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation. The study looked at 12 school districts in the U.S. that use blended learning within their curriculum.

http://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2015/09/26/success-blended-learning/72880952/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13962

Online learning becoming more than an alternative

By KURT HAUGLIE, Mining Gazette

When online learning was created, it was meant as an augmentation to actual classroom teaching, and according to Kipp Beaudoin, it was welcomed by many educators. “It was embraced,” said Beaudoin, who is principal at Hancock Middle School and Hancock Central High School. However, Beaudoin said he’s concerned online learning, such as the Michigan Virtual School, which is used in HCHS, may soon supplant rather than augment in-class instruction, which is not what it was intended to do.

http://www.mininggazette.com/page/content.detail/id/547835/Online-learning-becoming-more-than-an-alternative.html?nav=5006

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13959

MOOC U: The Revolution Isn’t Over

By Jeffrey Selingo, Chronicle of Higher Ed

These remain the early days of MOOCs. Remember the early days of the web? “No one knew what web search would become in 1998,” Ryan Baker, an associate professor of cognitive studies at Teachers College, Columbia University who has taught a MOOC, told me. “We had Infoseek and AltaVista, and Yahoo tried to do it like a phone book. And then Google came along, and that’s how we remember search today.” It’s during this time, after the phase of the initial and unrealistic hype, that the primary players—Coursera, edX, and their college sponsors—need to answer three fundamental questions about the position of MOOCs in the academic ecosystem if the technology is ever to deliver on some of its promises.

http://chronicle.com/article/MOOC-U-The-Revolution-Isnt/149039/

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

Student computer use raises privacy questions

by Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune

School districts moving to “one-to-one” programs, which provide students with computers they can take home, increasingly find their officials navigating new cyber territory, aiming to keep students safe while juggling privacy issues as advances in technology increase their ability to monitor their students’ online work at all hours. In Barrington, District 220 officials field emails sent by “cyber security agents” hired to monitor student activity, alerting them to inappropriate words or suspicious phrases that can indicate such things as sexting or bullying. “There is going to be some difficulty in balancing the rights of student privacy against the legitimate rights of the school to understand how the devices are being used,” said Jacqueline Wernz, a lawyer with the Chicago firm Franczek Radelet. For school districts, she said, “it might be a matter of protecting themselves.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-school-tablets-privacy-met-20140928-story.html#page=1

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/pzs22W0dRHA/

Researching And Assessing QualityLow-Cost Online Colleges Dedicated To Student Success

by Affordable Colleges Online

The continued rise in tuition and fees has many students and parents carefully analyzing the cost of college. Does community college make sense for two years? Is the private school worth the extra cash? Finding low-cost opportunities can be the key to more students getting the higher education they deserve. However, every family preparing to take the post-secondary plunge should make sure all college options on the table, especially the most affordable ones, have the proper accreditation. No matter which type of college, accreditation indicates a school has passed certain peer-based assessments and maintains faculty, staff and curricula dedicated to high-quality education. The following page examines low-cost colleges — both traditional and online — and how accreditation ensures that even the least expensive colleges maintain certain quality standards.

http://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/cheap-online-colleges/

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