Alabama to Offer Online Courses to All High School Students

by EdSurge Newsletters

Starting in the 2016-2017 school year, all public high school students in Alabama will have the option to take courses online, if Gov. Robert Bentley signs a bill passed by the state legislature. Over 27,000 Alabama high school and middle school students currently take online courses through the ACCESS distance learning program, which uses live video feeds of teachers and web-based assignments. Schools will have the option to offer ACCESS programs or contract with outside vendors.

https://www.edsurge.com/n/2015-04-28-alabama-to-offer-online-courses-to-all-high-school-students

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Goldwater Institute calls for update to Arizona’s online learning laws

by  Sonoran News

A new report says online learning has the potential to give Arizona students access to world-class teachers and classes, but that the state laws governing online schools and classes are woefully out of date. “Online learning provides educational flexibility and customizes learning by giving families access to the best teachers and coursework available, regardless of where they live or the quality of public schools in their neighborhood,” said Jonathan Butcher, the education policy director at the Goldwater Institute. “This past session, lawmakers considered a number of reforms to the state’s education laws. A growing number of students aren’t attending a brick-and-mortar school at all, and next legislative session, more should be done to improve the governance of and access to online learning.”

http://www.sonorannews.com/archives/2015/150429/news-goldwater.html

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Flipping learning around: Students watch lectures online at home, do hands-on work in class

By Julie Anderson, World-Herald

Before he began “flipping” his classroom several years ago, Contreras would have begun class by delivering a classroom lecture, then launching students on a lab activity, and, finally, sending them home with homework. Instead, the students this day quickly broke into small groups and rotated among microscopes trained on samples of different tissues, from bone to cartilage. Students consulted with one another about what they were viewing. Contreras worked the room. He pointed out that fat cells look clear because they resist stains used to make structures visible and praised a student who compared loose connective tissue, the hardest to identify, with a fishnet.

http://www.omaha.com/news/education/flipping-learning-around-students-watch-lectures-online-at-home-do/article_a40947e0-f7fa-5cd5-8307-c146e36a848a.html

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The Best Free Online Rubric Makers

By Sarah Muthler, Edudemic

Grading assignments can be one of the most tedious parts of teaching, but there are ways you can make it easier. Rubrics improve your efficiency and fairness by providing clear learning goals. They help you recognize exactly what you’re looking for as you read through that science report or history essay. Even better, rubrics help students know the purpose of each assignment. By sharing your rubric, or even having students help you write it, you are teaching them to think through and plan their work before they begin. We’ve gathered the best free websites for creating rubrics. Some of these sites allow you to build a rubric from scratch, and others offer ready-made rubrics that you can borrow or tweak. If you’re struggling to outline or explain an assignment, search for inspiration here. The more clear that you can be with students, the more likely that they will rise to your expectations.

http://www.edudemic.com/online-rubric-makers/

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Philosophy Online

by Education Technology and Mobile Learning

In today’s post we are sharing with you a terrific resource we uncovered through Open Culture. This is especially useful for philosophy teachers and students but is also ideal for anyone interested in learning more about the ‘mother of all sciences”: philosophy. Open Culture has this extensive list of free courses provided by a wide variety of leading universities and covering everything related to philosophical thought from philosophy of mind to Kant’s epistemology. The courses come in different downloadable formats that includes: video, audio and iTunes audio. You can browse through the selection and download the courses you are interested in and watch or listen to them at the comforts of your own couch.

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2015/04/tons-of-free-online-philosophy-courses.html

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Internet Security Tips For Online Learning

by Martinsburg College

It is increasingly important to stay aware and on the offense for cyber threats. The use of mobile technology in the virtual classroom of online learning has completely changed the way students access resources and educational services and enhanced collaboration with instructors. A recent survey conducted by Campus Computing and WCET found that almost 88% of the surveyed higher education institutions had begun offering online courses. Since internet-based learning, depends on the use of the internet for its execution, it unfortunately includes all of the internet’s inherent security risks as well. That’s why it’s critical to remain vigilant. Protect personal information even when doing the most common web activities like online banking, shopping or updating social media accounts with the following tips:

http://martinsburgcollege.edu/internet-security-tips-for-online-learning/

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Arkansas launches $13M school broadband upgrade

By Colin Wood, eSchool News

Arkansas started investing in technology for its K-12 system in the early 1990s through the development of the Arkansas Public School Computer Network. The network linked schools together, but in 2015, broadband internet connectivity is lacking. Recently elected Gov. Asa Hutchinson recognized a need for its students to get connected and the state is now launching an upgrade–totaling about $13 million annually–to its fiber infrastructure that will bolster education efforts and provide a stepping stone for further broadband development in the state.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/05/04/arkansas-broadband-upgrade-958/

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