5G: The next great media disruption

by Luke Richards, ClickZ

The advent of 5G has the potential to be massive for marketers. When it does hit, mobile download speeds are expected to average 100mbps, and latency will drop to near zero. Consumers in dense urban environments will suffer fewer problems with overloading networks, and those in remote regions will experience new levels of connectivity. 5G is an opportunity for brands and marketers to reach more consumers, to be even more innovative with how they engage people, and to strive to be more responsible as customers give over more of their private space to a swathe of newly connected devices.

https://www.clickz.com/5g-the-next-great-media-disruption/113675/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=33041

Rethinking MOOCs

by Duke Chronicle Editorial Board

Education innovators thus must work with academic partners who are willing to invest in bridging the gap in quality, prestige and credibility between four-year institutions and online education without increasing costs for users. These investments will most likely have to come from philanthropic and public-sector actors. Until then, MOOCs, while a boon for democratizing information, still have a long way to go before they actually fulfill their ambitious promise of providing affordable higher education to the digital masses.

http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2017/10/rethinking-moocs

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=33031

What Parents Need to Know about Blended Learning

By Cait Etherington, eLearning Inside

While virtual K-12 schools may not be widespread yet and may never become the norm, blended learning is already widespread and likely here to stay. However, as blended learning, which includes the use of online learning systems and virtual strategies (e.g., the flipped classroom), expands, parents now face new challenges on the homework front. So, how can parents support their children as the classroom increasingly merges with the family home?

https://news.elearninginside.com/what-parents-need-to-know-about-blended-learning/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=33021

A new report reveals how school PLCs have a major impact when used correctly

by eSchool News

When professional learning communities (PLCs) meet frequently to examine and analyze student work and data, higher levels of teacher morale emerge, according to a new report from the Learning Sciences International (LSI) research team. The report, Did You Know? Your School’s PLCs Have a Major Impact, expands on existing research about the role that human and social capital, collaboration, and knowledge sharing all play in education. Researchers looked at teacher morale and student achievement as they relate to PLCs.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/10/21/are-you-using-your-schools-plc-to-its-fullest/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=19721

3 ways to set students up for success in an online course

BY JARROD MORGAN, eCampus News

Getting creative can help enhance the learning experience for students in an online course. Online learning gives students more options and flexibility and a growing number of them are taking advantage of online courses in order to pursue their degree in a way that works for them. According to the 2015 Survey of Online Learning, there was an 3.9 percent increase in the number of higher education students taking at least one online course. Additionally, there are no signs that this upward trend is going to change any time soon. For colleges and universities, as well as for instructors, this means supporting students who aren’t attending a brick and mortar classroom on a regular basis, if at all. Having served as director of technology at an online university, I’ve seen firsthand how institutions have risen to this challenge by getting creative in order to enhance the online learning experience.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/online-learning/online-course-success/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=19709

Library, online resources aid business

By Jeff Fox, the Examiner

A wealth of free and insightful information is available to local businesses to help them target customers, understand the demographics of their markets and look for opportunities. “You’re not alone,” Kim Nakahodo, assistant to the Blue Springs city manager and the city’s public information officer, told business owners and others at Thursday’s Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon. She was joined in the presentation by Jacqueline Reed, manager of the Mid-Continent Public Library Blue Springs South branch. Nakahodo outlined a world in rapid change: 3 billion of Earth’s 7 billion people are online now, and 75 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020. Also, the county is at a demographic point that presents specific challenges to businesses trying to connect with customers. “For the first time ever, we have four generations working side by side,” she said.

http://www.examiner.net/news/20161021/library-online-resources-aid-business

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=19697

Shmoop Offers Customizable Online Courses, Giving Teachers the Flexibility They Need

by Benzinga

With Shmoop’s new customizable course option, teachers are no longer subject to the whims of online course providers. Now they can create the course that works best for their students. J.K. Rowling might not be thrilled if fans decided the Harry Potter books were better read in reverse order. But Shmoop (http://www.shmoop.com), a digital publisher known for its award-winning Test Prep and certified Online Courses, is all about mixing things up. Users with a Shmoop subscription or license can now mix and match any of Shmoop’s course content to fit their needs, whether those needs lean more toward Hufflepuff or Dark Lord. No one’s judging. Shmoop still provides the teen-friendly content—over 200 courses ranging from short units on Photoshop to year-long core courses in ELA, math, and history—but educators can now take it apart and put it back together again however they’d like.

http://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/15/10/p5935812/shmoop-offers-customizable-online-courses-giving-teachers-the-flexibili

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14154

UT system offers free online courses to high school students

by KSAT

The University of Texas System is the largest state institution in the country that offers free online college-level courses to high school students. Four courses were made available this fall and do not have prerequisites. They are Intro to Engineering, Discover Pre-Calculus, Intro to Sociology, Solving Problems using Python and Human Geography. A fifth course is in the works, the UT System said. Instructors for the courses are at the UT Arlington, UT Austin and UT Permian Basin campuses. The engineering course runs 13 weeks and teaches students to use math to solve engineering problems. The Python programming course provides an understanding of writing Python code to solve problems.

http://www.ksat.com/news/ut-system-offers-free-online-courses-to-high-school-students

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14151

McKinney Public Library offering online language learning system

by Chris Beattie, McKinney Courier-GazetteNews

The McKinney Public Library System is now offering the Pronunciator online language learning system for residents who want to learn a new language. The service is free for all library cardholders and can be accessed from home or office. The service offers 80 foreign languages and 50 ESL (English as a Second Language) courses for non-English languages. Pronunciator includes the ProCitizen course, which is available in English and Spanish and is preparation for the civics, reading and writing portions of the Naturalization Test administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

http://starlocalmedia.com/mckinneycouriergazette/news/mckinney-public-library-offering-online-language-learning-system/article_b5bd4c40-768e-11e5-bac2-0f7bac5fefce.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=14148

Ultimate Guide to the Paperless Classroom

By Edudemic

Many top educators and administrators view the idea of a paperless classroom as an inevitability in education. In today’s digital age, these educators believe that a paperless classroom promotes a more efficient and organized classroom while preparing students for the practical world outside classroom walls. In other words, if every facet of life is becoming increasingly reliant on technology, then why not equip students accordingly? “We need technology in every classroom and in every student’s and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time,” said author and educator David Warlick. “It is the lens through which we experience much of our world.”

http://www.edudemic.com/ultimate-guide-paperless-classroom/

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Technology’s impact on higher education

by Raechelle Clemmons, Green Bay Press Gazette

For anyone who has children in school — regardless of whether they are in elementary school or in college — it seems abundantly clear that technology is changing the way teachers teach and students learn. In some cases, technology has simply offered a new way to complete a traditional assignment, like typing a report on a computer instead of writing it by hand. But in other cases, technology has created opportunities for new methods of teaching and learning, as is the case with mobile devices in the classroom.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/money/2014/10/21/technologys-impact-higher-education/17693719/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/U8BCGFAiV1E/

Poll Shows Students Choosing Online School to Escape Bullying

by Barchart.com

As part of their initiative to support National Bullying Prevention Month, K12 Inc. engaged Edge Research to repeat a 2013 survey that focused on suitability of online schools as an alternative for students experiencing bullying. Over 2000 parents with children currently enrolled in online schools using the K12 program completed the survey. 21% of all responding parents and 31% of parents with high school students who responded cited bullying as one of the reasons they chose online learning. 97% of the parents who enrolled children for this reason would recommend a K12-powered program to a family with a student who is being bullied.

http://www.barchart.com/headlines/story/3022081/2014-k12-inc-poll-shows-students-choosing-online-school-to-escape-bullying

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