Digital Curriculum Results in Greater Achievement for Boston Public Schools

PR News Wire

Boston Public Schools (BPS) recently announced a historic milestone with the graduation rate at the highest level in recorded history. Data released by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) shows the 2014 four-year graduation rate stands at 66.7 percent, up from 65.9 percent in 2013 and continuing an upward trend since 2006 when that figure was 59 percent. The data also shows the district’s annual dropout rate has dipped to a record low at 3.8 percent. Director of Online and Blended Learning for BPS High Schools, Janice Manfredi, attributes the increase in achievement in part to the use of Apex Learning digital curriculum for the district’s credit recovery program, which targets students most at-risk of dropping out.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digital-curriculum-results-in-greater-achievement-for-boston-public-schools-300103845.html

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Online Learning with a Social Twist, Learnquiq.com Launches to Give Teachers Income and Students Knowledge

by Digital Journal

It’s free to access and free to teach. How did education get so simple? Launched in May with an innovative approach, Learnquiq.com combines social networking with online learning. Quite literally becoming an ‘information super highway’ the new platform already offers over 75 self-paced courses and an education-based newsfeed. Illuminating students on everything from self-improvement to technology one could ask, what’s in it for the teachers? Answer being, a commission-based payout structure and the satisfaction of working with students hungry to learn.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2594775

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More steps toward online school

by The Virginian-Pilot

Every Virginia student enrolling in high school this fall must take a course online, or part of a course, in order to fulfill state-mandated requirements for graduation. The move, approved three years ago by state lawmakers, was designed to familiarize students with technologies reshaping education, business and every other aspect of contemporary life. Online learning has grown exponentially in the past decade, particularly in higher education, where more and more colleges and universities have embraced the flexibility it allows. And Virtual Virginia, the commonwealth’s online high school program, is poised to recruit as many as 100 students to pilot the state’s first full-time online diploma program.

http://hamptonroads.com/2015/06/more-steps-toward-online-school

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Designing Learning Spaces for Both Online and On-Campus Delivery

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

It isn’t easy to set up a production learning space on campus for the online learner. Even harder is setting up a classroom that can accommodate the remote learner while also handling presentations for face-to-face students. That was the challenge handed over to Phil Conrad, director of technical operations for the Engineering Professional Education program at Purdue University. The program delivers courses online and in person to working professionals who are pursuing a graduate degree in engineering via distance learning. In Spring 2015 it encompassed nearly three dozen classes and 10 different departments catering to about 610 students.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/06/24/designing-learning-spaces-for-both-online-and-on-campus-delivery.aspx

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Personalized eLearning: A Customized Approach To Accelerated eLearning

by Marina Arshavskiy, eLearning Industry

The concept of “Personalization” can easily be understood from taking a closer look at some of the existing digital technologies that all of us use. For instance, from the browser that you use to roam the Internet, to the email and messaging systems that you use to stay connected with friends and family, to the digital boxes you use to watch TV shows and movies online – they all offer personalization and customization options. However, when it comes to eLearning systems, “personalization” takes on a whole new meaning. Personalized eLearning is the act of customizing:

The learning environment (e.g. how the content appears to the learner – font sizes, colors, backgrounds, themes etc.)

The learning content itself (e.g. audio, video, textual, graphical etc.)

The interaction between facilitator, student and the learning content (e.g. mouse, stylus, tap/swipe, keyboard; e.g. using “Gaming”, Quizzes, Online discussions, Demonstrate-do-check-reinforce, Adaptive learning approaches, Tutorials)

http://elearningindustry.com/personalized-elearning-customized-approach-accelerated-elearning

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Harvard, MIT Presidents Share Lessons From Online Learning Experiment

by WGBH The Takeaway

Three years ago, Harvard University and MIT embarked on a unique experiment when they launched a nonprofit called edX. The start-up promised a free online education, with university-level classes for anyone living anywhere across the globe. The massive open online courses (MOOCs) offered by edX held the promise of potentially revolutionizing higher education and helping with the problem of skyrocketing college costs. The Takeaway talks with Drew Gilpin Faust, the president of Harvard, and Rafael Reif, the president of MIT, about the most important lessons they have learned from their pioneering venture.

http://blogs.wgbh.org/on-campus/2015/6/23/harvard-mit-presidents-share-lessons-online-learning-experiment/

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Report: Ed Sector Target of More Malware Events than any Other

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

More than a third of all malware events in 2014 occurred within the education sector, according to NTT Com Security’s 2015 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR). The report, which analyzed more than 6 billion attacks for trends, points to the rise of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs. “[C]onnecting large amounts of users to public networks through a variety of devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones), cyber criminals know to target this vulnerable audience segment, resulting in this sector having the most detected malware-related events,” according to a news release. “Students and staff use these vulnerable networks to check grades, schedule meetings, log into financial assets and more, opening up their personally identifiable information to criminals.”

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/06/23/report-ed-sector-target-of-more-malware-events-than-any-other.aspx

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