Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The 25 most international universities in the world


Times Higher Education has compiled a list of the top 25 most international universities using the “international outlook” indicator from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. This examines a university’s international student numbers, its percentage of international staff and the proportion of its research papers published with a co-author from at least one other country.



Schools monitoring online bullying with slang translation software


theguardian.com -  More than a thousand British schools are monitoring pupils’ online communication for bullying and self-harm using software that analyses and translates slang for teachers. The software uses a constantly updated dictionary which includes words that most adults would not understand.

 



Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Digital books for teacher development


If you are interested in finding out how to create your own digital e-book and discovering some of the problems I come across and some of the resources I find to overcome these problems, then you can follow my digital magazine on Flipboard, where I’ll be sharing some of the ups and downs and insights into the project.



The 25 most international universities in the world

timeshighereducation.co.uk - Most major research universities view their international standing as a vital part of their strategic plans. With powerful global networks universities can find the best academic talent, attract the brightest students and produce collaborative, innovative research that exploits the resources of multiple institutions and tackles matters of global concern. Times Higher Education has compiled a list of the top 25 most international universities using the “international outlook” indicator from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings .

Monday, January 27, 2014

Why massively open online courses (still) matter


2013 was a year of hype for MOOCs (massively open online courses). Great big numbers and great big hopes were followed by some disappointing first results.


Teaching the Essential Skills of the Mobile Classroom


Think back 20 years. Pay phones still worked, and only doctors carried pagers. Laptops weighed as much as bowling balls, and few of us had Internet access. In fact, much of what we now consider commo


World Economic Forum Launches "Forum Academy" MOOC Portal Using edX Platform

edx.org - For decades, the World Economic Forum has enabled leaders in business, policy and academia to meet and learn from one another at events held in Davos, Switzerland and many other locations around the world. These gatherings have provided the setting for an exchange of ideas that have helped set the direction for solutions to critical global problems. Now, with the creation of Forum Academy , the World Economic Forum (WEF) will provide a much wider audience with the opportunity to participate in a discussion addressing global, regional and industry challenges through courses created using the cutting-edge platform and tools innovated by edX.

Friday, January 24, 2014

The 2013 Survey Of Online Learning


Recently, the Babson Survey Research Group and Pearson released the results of a survey about online learning. The report was based on responses from over 2,800 academic leaders and found that over 7.1 million higher ed students are learning online. 

The report quantified many things that those involved in education already knew (or at least, suspected). Participation in online learning is increasing. Learning outcomes are largely positive. Interestingly, what this study does show is something that I hadn’t quite expected – that many of the numbers that had been continually rising over the past years were starting to show a slight decline. For example, the proportion of chief academic leaders that say online learning is critical to their long-term strategy dropped from 69.1 percent to 65.9 percent. Many believe that MOOCs are not a sustainable form of online learning for higher education institutions to pursue.

 

What It's Like to Be the First Person in Your Family to Go to College


When Harry arrived at Vanderbilt University in 2008, he became the first person in his family to attend college. His parents were immigrants from Nicaragua, and he had attended a so-called “academically and economically disadvantaged” high school on the North side of Miami. Even after completing a rigorous IB program as a high-school student and receiving a scholarship, he arrived on campus feeling like an outsider.

“Never before had I truly felt such an extreme sense of estrangement and alienation,” he says of his first few months. “I quickly realized that although I may look the part, my cultural and socio-economic backgrounds were vastly different from those of my predominantly white, affluent peers. I wanted to leave.”

 



Wednesday, January 22, 2014

15 Technologies That Were Supposed to Change Education Forever


Today we take a look back at 15 technologies that were supposed to radically change the way that people are educated around the world. Some innovations were mostly hype. Others had an undeniably meaningful impact.



Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Educational search engines


Free resource of educational web tools, 21st century skills, tips and tutorials on how teachers and students integrate technology into education


A review of a Harvard/MIT research paper on edX MOOCs


Ho, A. et al. (2014) HarvardX and MITx: The First Year of Open Online Courses Fall 2012-Summer 2013 (HarvardX and MITx Working Paper No. 1), January 21 This 32 page report provides a range of data and statistics about the first 17 MOOCs offered through edX by MIT and Harvard. Methodology MOOCs raise a number of interesting challenges when doing research, such as measuring participation, and defining success. In any interpretation of the results, these methodological challenges need to be considered. The researchers identified the following challenges: -


See more at: http://ift.tt/1cTNCom



Saturday, January 18, 2014

'Design thinking' fuels engagement, learning


eschoolnews.com - These Kentucky schools have embraced a new approach called “design thinking”—and it’s paying off with higher achievement. At Eminence Independent School in Henry County, Ky., elementary students walk through halls painted like Disney storefronts and, during lunch, glide through a tube slide that drops down into the cafeteria. Half the high school students travel to Bellarmine College in Louisville two days a week to take college classes. When teachers worried about lost time traveling, Eminence officials created the first Wi-Fi bus, so students could use their school laptops while traveling to and from classes.



Carpentry - Introduction to Formwork and Joinery Online Course


This ALISON free online course will introduce the learner to the basic practices involved in formwork and joinery. The course explains the general types of concrete, concrete mixing information, and the test carried out to measure the workability of fresh concrete. The course also outlines the key components and terms associated with windows, exterior doors, and stairways used in residential construction. This course will be of great interest to all construction professionals who would like to learn more about the carpentry skills involved in finishing and closing off a structure. It will also be of interest to all learners who want to further develop their career in carpentry and the construction trade.



Friday, January 17, 2014

Robots Can Now Teach Other Robots, Thanks To The Robo Internet

fastcoexist.com - Robots are getting quite a bit smarter: Earlier today, in a mocked-up hospital room in the Netherlands, one robot taught another how to serve a patient a drink in bed. While some might see this burgeoning robotic intelligence as an early sign of the robo-apocalypse, it also might be the beginning of much greater roles for robots than their current status assembling car parts at factories or vacuuming your floor.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

2020 Vision: Outlook for online learning in 2014 and way beyond


iTunesU, MIT's Opencourseware, OpenLearn, and MOOCs are early prototypes, but content quality in the future will be greatly improved in terms of pedagogical and media design to accommodate online learners.


Mobile learning: Will 2014 really be the year?


Mobile learning is no longer the next big thing. With smartphones and tablets more affordable and accessible than ever, mobile learning is fast establishing itself as a mainstream learning technology. New figures from Towards Maturity’s 2013/2014 Benchmark Study show mobile learning deployment has risen to a staggering 71% this year, up from 45% in 2012. Furthermore, the use of mobile apps is set to rise from 25% in 2012 to 59% in 2014.

 

As we move towards the new paradigm of learning anywhere, anytime, on any device, here are five key trends to watch out for in 2014:



Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

4 Key Considerations For Student Tablets


edudemic.com - It’s common to see students bringing along their tablets when they go to school. These devices have become powerful that they are now


Deeper Learning: A Definition And A Free Course For Teachers


teachthought.com - The following is an edited transcript of an interview with Laura McBain and Ryan Gallagher of High-Tech High, a public charter school ba


Monday, January 13, 2014

Practice may not make perfect after all, study suggests

medicalnewstoday.com - We are all familiar with the saying "practice makes perfect." But new research from psychologists at the University of Sheffield in the UK suggests that when it comes to learning new skills, the way one practices is more important than the frequency of practice. To reach their findings, published in the journal Psychological Science, the research team analyzed data from 854,064 players of an online computer game called Axon.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

OLPC Still Bringing Tech 'Dreams' To Needy Kids With Very Cool Green Gadgets


forbes.com – One Laptop Per Child, launched in 2005 by Nicholas Negroponte out of MIT’s Media Lab, continues its mission to help impoverished kids through low-cost laptops and connected devices. And as always, proceeds from sales of the XO laptops it released in 2007, designed by Yves Béhar, and new tablet are used to help fund devices for even more needy kids.

 



Saturday, January 11, 2014

Problem-Solving Activities With the Help of Technology


Problem-solving comes with numerous benefits. Teaching kids the art of problem-solving has many associated advantages, like, it teaches them how to avoid conflicts in school and in their daily lives, it strengthens their empathy skills, it helps them develop positive attributions and it is utmost required for school readiness and academic success. Generally, we would solve problems by identifying the problem, listing its possible solutions, weighing them one by one, choosing a solution to try, putting it into practice and evaluating it. Though this technique works for us most of the times, it has now become conventional and tedious. With the introduction of technology in every domain of our lives, why not introduce it to problem-solving as well. Now, when technology comes to aid us in problem-solving, it can quite revolutionize and rejuvenate the entire experience of it.




40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World


If you’re a visual learner, then you know maps, charts and info graphics can really help bring data and information to life. Maps can make a point resonate


Friday, January 10, 2014

Why mobile learning?


Mobile learning is seen by many as a disruptive technology. This is because it has been identified as a technology which holds great potential to transform the learning and teaching within a classroom.

This video is a mash up presented at the NSWDEC 5th biennial equity conference in 2011 which explains some of the issues.

 

Best Education Blogs to Watch in 2014


Find out which top education blogs you should be watching closely in 2014 and which rising stars are catching up with the big fish. Read more here.

 

 



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