The ed tech trends on the cusp of mainstream

By Stephen Noonoo, eSchool News

First preview of K-12 Horizon Report notes big ed tech shifts. This year, BYOD and makerspaces have their stars on the rise—they could be in 20 percent of classrooms by year’s end. And over the next few years, 3D printing, adaptive software, and even wearable technologies in schools could do the same, according to an advanced preview of this year’s K-12 Horizon Report, an annual trendsetting look at the current state of technology and learning produced by the New Media Consortium

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/05/11/horizon-report-trends-844/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/yvkC7GW2Ojc/

Lawmakers eye options for virtual education

by NOEL K. GALLAGHER, Portland Press Herald

Proposed bills would establish fee-based or free access to online learning resources for Maine’s teachers and students. State legislators are considering various ways to offer online school resources to Maine teachers and students, from fee-based individual courses to creating an entirely state-run virtual academy that would be open to all Maine students for free. “We have a lot of poorer districts that can’t afford to provide a range of courses,” said Rep. Brian Hubbell, D-Bar Harbor, who is sponsoring L.D. 391, one of two virtual education bills up for public hearings Thursday before the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee. “This might be a less expensive way for those districts to offer that content. In some cases, it might be accessing a course for several hundred dollars as opposed to hiring a full-time staff person.”

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/05/04/lawmakers-eye-options-for-virtual-education/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/npzsOrHlD5c/

Has the Flipped Classroom already become the norm?

by Rebecca Paddick, Education Technology

The first well-documented flipped classroom rang into session only back in 2007, when a pair of chemistry teachers began looking for a way to provide lecture materials for students who had to miss class. Using simple screen recording software to capture their PowerPoint slides, the two then uploaded the recordings to YouTube for every student in the class to review. Right away the two teachers noticed the tenor of the classroom had shifted. Students came to class prepared with a better understanding of the day’s material. Right away, class time began to shift away from passive lecturing and toward increased student interaction and greater discussion of the details of the lesson and how the subject related to other lessons. In short order a new pedagogy was born — and its adoption throughout the world of education has been nothing short of astonishing.

http://edtechnology.co.uk/Article/has-the-flipped-classroom-already-become-the-norm

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/SoUJ7eR1lTU/

UK’s Most Popular MOOC

by Rebecca Paddick, Education Technology

The British Council’s Exploring English MOOC has so far received more sign-ups than any other online course on the FutureLearn platform. Chris Cavey, Open Learning Manager at the British Council, tells us the secret to its success. The British Council has been involved in English language teaching for more than 70 years and has very successful websites for learners and teachers that attract around five million users a month, so we already have a large online audience. We decided to make the course about UK culture as well as English language because we’re aware, from the work we do, of the huge interest in UK culture around the world. We also thought it was a good idea to focus on an area where everyone who joined the course would have something to share – their opinion about the UK and something about their own culture.

http://edtechnology.co.uk/Article/how-do-you-create-the-most-popular-mooc

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/o72TKXX5RvE/

How 3 prominent universities are becoming video trailblazers

By Meris Stansbury, eCampus News

How three institutions are championing collaboration through interactive and streaming video across the academic world. Integrate with your LMS, go mobile-friendly and, above all, make sure it’s user-friendly. These were just three common must-haves when implementing a video platform across campus, cited by three massive universities during Internet2’s 2015 Global Summit on the topic “Collaboration through interactive and streaming video across the academic world.” Purdue University, Arizona State University, and University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill all utilize different video platforms, but their basic requirements are the same: integrate with the university LMS, allow for all device, have a user-friendly structure, and allow for collaboration on campus and off-campus.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/university-video-internet2-281/

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/arAcVUH4_-U/

South Carolina District Taps Partners To Launch Home Internet Access Pilot

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

Spartanburg School District Seven has teamed with a local housing authority and two private partners in a project that will provide home Internet access for students living in public housing. For two years, the district has been providing students in grades 3-12 iPads or MacBook Airs. Following a survey, the district estimated that half its students didn’t have home Internet access and began partnering with local organizations such as businesses and churches to provide Wi-Fi access in the community for those students. Some students, however, were not even able to access those locations. As a result, Spartanburg School District Seven, Spartanburg Housing Authority, Novatel Wireless and Kajeet have partnered to launch a pilot project that will “provide students in public housing with filtered Internet connectivity to access online textbooks, apps, emails, documents and Web sites, as well as communicate with their teachers,” according to a news release.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/05/01/south-carolina-district-taps-partners-to-launch-home-internet-access-pilot.aspx

Share on Facebook

from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/YgJdRzEgg-0/

WiFi on Wheels Puts Two Districts on the Fast Track to 24/7 Access

By Bridget McCrea, THE Journal

Internet-enabled school buses keep students connected on the road, in school parking lots and in their own neighborhoods. School buses used to serve one purpose: getting students to and from school. But driven by a mandate to provide Internet connectivity to all students, some creative districts have deployed mobile wireless technology to transform their buses into moving WiFi zones, stationary hotspots or both. Among the students at Coachella Valley Unified School District (CA), 24/7 Web access is not a given. According to Superintendent Darryl Adams, “Only about 60 percent of the student population has Internet access at home.” To solve the problem, he put his own spin on the concept of mobile learning. “They’re putting WiFi in cars now,” he said, “so I thought, ‘Why not put it on a school bus?’ ”

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/04/30/wifi-on-wheels.aspx

Share on Facebook

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