Preschoolers played online games for a year — and became kindergarten-ready

by Kirsten Clark, Courier-Journal

Karen McLean didn’t want her twins to fall behind in kindergarten. “Kindergarten is not like it used to be,” said McLean, who is a literacy coach for New Albany-Floyd County Schools. “It’s not playtime anymore. It’s academic learning.” That’s why McLean enrolled Andrew and Marcus in Upstart, an online preschool program billed as a way to prepare children for kindergarten “in just 15 minutes a day, five days a week.” Andrew and Marcus were two of roughly a hundred Floyd County 4-year-olds to participate in a pilot program that brought the software to the Hoosier state, where lawmakers hoped it would be a game-changer for the state’s roughly 27,000 low-income children without access to quality preschool.

http://www.nearshoreamericas.com/e-learning-latin-america-solution-talent-shortage/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=30245

New guide designed to help Colorado educators combine online courses with traditional teaching

By MARISSA PAGE, Chalkbeat Colorado

A new guide released Monday seeks to help Colorado schools successfully introduce blending learning, a growing practice combining traditional classroom instruction with online coursework. The Colorado Blended Learning Roadmap, commissioned by state lawmakers, urges school officials to consider three main priorities: effective teacher training and increased support; flexibility in school policies to support the model; and access to quality technology and other tools.

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/07/25/colorado-blended-learning-roadmap-online-courses/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=30230

Why Apple Is Investing So Much in AR and VR

by Kate Murphy, Campos

What’s Apple going to do with the company’s patents and technology? No one knows, but Apple CEO Tim Cook has expressed enthusiasm over AR in particular. “Unlike virtual reality, which closes out the world, AR allows individuals to be present in the world but hopefully allow an improvement on what’s happening presently,” he told the Independent in February. “With AR you can, not be engrossed in something, but have it be a part of your world, your conversation. That has resonance.” Earlier this summer, Apple launched ARKit, a tool that adds augmented reality capabilities to iOS. A soon-to-launch app developed using ARKit called A R Measure, is a good example of what this means to consumers. The app will allow you to measure real-life objects by superimposing virtual measuring tape over the item when you look through your phone screen.

http://blog.campos.com/higher-ed/2017-consumer-trend-analysis-ar-vr-ai

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=30215

5 Assistive Technology Apps for Students with Special Needs

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

With so much talk about mobile devices at K-12 desks and teaching technology for the majority of students, it can be easy to overlook the strides also being made for students with disabilities when it comes to assistive technology, especially in the area of apps. These apps can be used with virtually any electronic device, including mobile phones. Also, many come no cost, and those that are fee-based are usually inexpensive. In this article, we will profile the best assistive technology apps on the market today.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/5-assistive-technology-apps-students-special-needs/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=30200

How to Choose the Right Digital Learning Device

by Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

Choosing the right digital learning device can be tricky. As more schools go one-to-one, offering every student a computer or tablet, they are faced with the difficult choice of picking one device that will work for all purposes. It can be tough to find a device that is tough enough to withstand everything students will throw at it, is easy to carry around, and can do everything teachers and students need it to do. Ultimately, there is no one right digital learning device for every school. But there are some basic guidelines that schools can follow to help them choose the right digital learning device for their needs.

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/choose-right-digital-learning-device/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=30190

Is Online Education a Jobs Engine?

By Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

Drawing parallels to one economist’s unorthodox view of e-commerce.I like nothing better than getting things wrong. When we are wrong, we learn something. So I interested to read a NYTimes piece on 7/10/17 on e-commerce, the tech sector, and job creation. For a while now I’ve thought that the growth of online shopping is killing retail jobs, and that this trend would inevitably result in overall job losses as less the role of sales people and cashiers is eliminated. But maybe I’ve been wrong. And if online shopping is really a jobs engine, couldn’t online learning also be a job creator for educators?

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/online-education-jobs-engine

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=30175

8 principles to help you advance to Flipped Learning 3.0

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News

Flipped learning pioneer Jon Bergmann outlined critical steps to building an effective flipped learning school. At ISTE 2017, flipped learning pioneer Jon Bergmann introduced session attendees to Flipped Learning 3.0, and described the 8 principles that are crucial to any school’s flipped learning journey. Bergmann referenced the Flipped Learning Network’s definition as a pretty solid explanation for educators who are unsure: “Flipped learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter.”

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/07/27/flipped-learning-30/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=30160