How digital badges are shaking up teacher PD

BY JOHN JENNINGS AND BEN ROOME, eSchool News

The topic of teacher professional development has dominated discussions about teacher quality and retention for years. While some progress has been made, there is still no standardized means for teachers to develop a portfolio of credentials aligned with the always-evolving set of skills and strategies they bring to their classrooms. Digital badging has arrived on the scene as a leading contender to close this gap and help provide teachers with a clear path to professional growth, and the micro-credentials to prove it. This is an important breakthrough for a profession in which a lack of career mobility too often leads to top talent leaving for administration roles or private sector jobs.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/08/31/digital-badges-shaking-teacher-pd/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=31479

Keeping K-12 Students Safe Using Ed Tech

by Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate

While technology is certainly a necessary – and beneficial – tool in educating 21st century students, it also comes with its own inherent set of dangers and risks. Schools need to work harder than ever at keeping their students safe. Now, not only must they contend with physical threats, but they must also work to keep cyber threats at bay as well. Furthermore, students may need to be protected from themselves. Schools can work to prevent cyber bullying or restrict access to some technological features that put kids at risk for jeopardizing their futures through misappropriation of technology resources.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/keeping-k-12-students-safe-using-edtech/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=31469

Ten Ways Neuroscience Can Chance Education

by Matthew Lynch, tech Edvocate

The recent focus of neuroscience on what facilitates lifelong learning has led to breakthroughs in the education world. Schools, teachers, and parents have the opportunity to approach and understand learning like never before. Here are 10 ways the research of neuroscience can change education.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/10-ways-neuroscience-can-change-education/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=31459

Harmony School Board to consider participation in online learning program

By Dianne Byers, the Progress

At Tuesday’s Harmony Area School Board meeting, the board will be asked to consider a partnership with Central Intermediate Unit No. 10 for a pilot program that would allow Harmony students currently enrolled in cyber schools to participate in online learning offered by the school district. Although there would be an upfront annual cost to Harmony of $5,000, the partnership has potential. Superintendent Terry Young said she believes to save the district thousands it spends to educate Harmony students at cyber schools by getting students to return to Harmony for their education. Young told the board the district has 12 students who currently utilize cyber schools for a variety of reasons including discipline problems, family situations and emotional-social difficulties. The use of cyber schools by those 12 students costs the school district more than $161,0000 per year in its basic education funding received from the state.

http://www.theprogressnews.com/progress_news/harmony-school-board-to-consider-participation-in-online-learning-program/article_93694dab-16e5-53c1-b388-c6e9ed1d0e74.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=17971

Big Companies That Help Older Workers Finish a College Degree

By Lisa Rabasca Roepe

Nearly 3 ½ million Americans age 50 or older have taken some college courses but haven’t earned a degree or certificate, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Some big employers, such as Starbucks, JetBlue, Fiat/Chrysler and Pizza Hut are now helping them finish a college degree. These companies have launched programs allowing their employees of any age to earn a college degree online for little or no out-of-pocket costs. (The specifics vary for each program and are noted at the end of this article.) It’s a win/win for employees and employers. “When people are working on improving themselves, their productivity and performance improves,” says John Fox, director of dealer training, FCA Performance Institute, Fiat/Chrysler. Others offering college-completion programs say this benefit helps them with recruitment, retention and employee engagement.

http://www.nextavenue.org/ompanies-help-older-workers-finish-a-college-degree/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=17981

A free online university course will teach you Mars survival skills

By ARIEL BOGLE, Mashable

We could be living on Mars by the year 3000, so it’s time to get prepared. To help us earthlings ready ourselves for the journey, Monash University in Melbourne, Australia is offering a free online course focused on how to survive the red planet. Developed by astrophysicist Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway and chemistry professor Tina Overton, the course “How to Survive on Mars: The Science Behind Human Exploration of Mars” will run over four weeks, three hours per week with the first instalment beginning on Oct. 24. According to Lazendic-Galloway, the course emerged from she and Overton’s love of Andy Weir’s bestselling novel, The Martian, which was made into a 2015 film starring Matt Damon.

http://mashable.com/2016/09/01/university-mars-survival-course/#cof70vhIU8ql

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=17961

Online learning offers another alternative

by the Daily Comet

The clear advantage there is that those who might fall behind in a traditional classroom can spend the time they need to spend on a particular lesson without slowing everyone’s progress. And those who might work ahead can do so without being held back by the class as a whole. “Now they’re working on their own level, not competing with anyone else,” said Tobey Naquin, whose two children are enrolled in eLearningK12, which has offices in Houma and Thibodaux. “The advanced student can move on and not be held back. The one that struggles cannot move on until they master that skill.” In addition to the advantages it can offer the students, online learning can offer families more flexibility by allowing children to take their studies with them on vacation, for instance.

http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20150903/OPINION/150909893?Title=Online-learning-offers-another-alternative

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13750

Online Tools Support Professor’s Commitment to Student Success Through Course Evaluation and Feedback

By: Cassie Lipp, University of Cincinnati

While statistics may be a difficult subject for many students, UC’s Chris Swoboda makes it easier for students to learn by breaking his Statistical Data Analysis I and II courses up into small online modules and units. Swoboda, an assistant professor in the School of Education, said making the courses available online has made the course accessible to more students, and it also creates an environment that allows them to personalize their learning experience. The course formats include extensive use of discussion boards, online tests and quizzes, web links, electronic feedback on homework, and instructions for Lynda.com and other web-based resources. Course videos include recorded lectures, tutorials for sample problems and explanations for discussion board questions.

http://www.uc.edu/profiles/profile.asp?id=22152

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13747

Colleges Struggle to Blend Tech, Teacher-Training Lesson Plans

by the Hechinger Report

It’s a matter of “re-paradigming,” say faculty and administrators at some of the nation’s top teachers colleges, describing the task they face. They need to get teacher candidates to “re-think” how they use devices that most have grown up with. In essence, instructors must tell their students, “You can’t take that into a school and use it the way you know how to use it,” said Laurie Mullen, former associate dean at Ball State University Teachers College in Muncie, and the newly appointed dean of the College of Education at Towson University in Maryland. Although there are more than 2,100 schools of education nationally, graduating more than 190,000 new teachers annually, there are no national standards for teachers of educators when it comes to integrating educational technology into the curriculum, according to the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, a voluntary national association of teacher preparation programs.

http://www.usnews.com/news/college-of-tomorrow/articles/2015/09/01/teachers-colleges-struggle-to-blend-technology-into-teacher-training-lesson-plans

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=13744

California Shores up Support for Computer Science Education

By Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Ed

California computer science legislation could open doors for students to learn about a subject that’s gaining national attention. Computer science education is getting plenty of attention in the California Legislature, with four out of eight bills passing both the Assembly and Senate. And the Golden State’s efforts are part of a national push to bring more computer science into schools. With the national Hour of Code campaign last year and recent legislation in many states, lawmakers and educators on both sides of the aisle are making computer science education a priority. In 23 states, computer science now counts toward high school graduation requirements for math or science, according to Code.org, the nonprofit that drove the Hour of Code campaign.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/California-Computer-Science-Education.html

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Equipped for interaction on campus: Hardware for the collaborative classroom environment

By Esther Shein, University Business

Montana State had already standardized on switching and control gear, and officials opted to use several solutions from the same vendor, including a system that allows users to send 1080p video and high-definition audio, and shared Ethernet over a single cable. “From the most basic standpoint, it’s a massive reduction in cables,” says Packwood. The transmitters at the tables and the receivers at the flat panels can be remotely powered from the switcher location. In other words, an electrician isn’t needed to bring in additional power to transmit-and-receive locations, and the placement of these devices is much more flexible.

http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/equipped-interaction-campus

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How Students Could Get Access to Courses Their High Schools Don’t Offer

by Lindsey Burke, Daily Signal

Less than two-thirds of high schools across the country offer physics. Just half offer calculus, according to Michael Horn, an education innovation guru. That only half of high schools offer calculus might come as a shock to a large portion of parents, who have worked to ensure their children have adequate educational opportunities. And it’s just one more reason why choice in education should be universal and not confined to choice among schools. What exactly is course choice? Course choice enables students to craft an à la carte education uniquely tailored to their learning needs. Louisiana’s course choice program enables K-12 students to take courses from colleges, public high schools, virtual schools and private online providers.

http://dailysignal.com/2014/09/02/students-get-access-courses-high-schools-dont-offer/

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