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25 Best Pinterest Boards in EdTech
From Sociable Blog
Blogs and Twitter aren’t the only social tools out there that can help you keep up with the latest and greatest developments in educational technology. Pinterest is rapidly becoming a favorite tool of educators all over the nation, and many have amassed some pretty great collections of edtech-related pins that teachers and students alike can use to explore new ways to learn, share, teach, and grow. While it would be nearly impossible to highlight every edtech pinboard out there, we’ve shared some of the boards we think stand out among the crowd here. Many are maintained by major educational websites, key figures in edtech, and well-known bloggers, but others were created by teachers just like you who simply want to share resources and tips with others in education.
Visit: http://www.sociableblog.com/2012/09/24/pinterest-boards-in-edtech/
Guiding graduate students for the global workforce
By Wagdy Sawahel
Thirty-four higher education leaders from 15 countries have agreed on a set of principles to guide universities and graduate schools in preparing doctoral and masters students to meet the demands of the global workforce and economy.
The International Guidelines Created for Supporting Global Skills and Careers were approved at the Sixth Annual Strategic Leaders Global Summit, “From Brain Drain to Brain Circulation: Graduate education for global career pathways”, held in Bavaria, Germany, earlier this month.
The conference, organised jointly by the US-based Council of Graduate Schools and the Technische Universität München, included deans and leaders of graduate schools and representatives of national and international associations devoted to graduate education.
Along with Germany and the US, the countries represented were Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China (including Hong Kong), Denmark, Hungary, Luxembourg, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa and South Korea.
Visit: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120921143322858
Research War on Affirmative Action
By Scott Jaschik
With the U.S. Supreme Court about to hear arguments in a case that could decide the fate of affirmative action in admissions, a research war has broken out. Defenders and critics of the consideration of race are releasing new studies (some of which were submitted in briefs to the court) on the impact of affirmative action.
Several studies presented Friday at the Brookings Institution suggested that eliminating the consideration of race would not have as dramatic an effect on minority students as some believe, and that the beneficiaries of affirmative action may in fact achieve less academic success than they would otherwise. The studies were criticized by some present for being one-sided.
Reports Highlight Colleges Where Minority Success Rates Have Soared
By Jennifer González
Educational attainment levels for young Americans in minority groups still lag, but a number of institutions are making significant progress toward improving that picture by increasing the number of black and Hispanic students they graduate, according to a pair of new reports from the Education Trust.
The shift is significant because students of color are a growing demographic group, and more of them need to graduate in order for the nation to reach its college-completion goals, the advocacy group says. Graduating also means a fighting chance at decent employment, given that many future jobs will require a postsecondary degree.
The two reports, based on a study called “Advancing to Completion,” list Virginia Commonwealth University, Texas Tech University, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook among the institutions that had significantly increased graduation rates and closed attainment gaps among their minority-student populations.
Visit: http://chronicle.com/article/Reports-Highlight-Colleges/134560/
Read the report: http://www.edtrust.org/dc/press-room/news/advancing-to-completion
As Online Courses Grow, Sites Offering Unauthorized Academic Help Get More Brazen
By Alisha Azevedo
Plenty of Web sites offer to write students’ papers or complete their assignments for a fee. But they appear to be growing more aggressive in promising to get students good grades for no work; some even promise to take entire online courses for students.
One new site is sure to worry officials embracing massive open online courses, or MOOC’s. It’s called We Take Your Class, and its marketing text says: “We do it all. Tests, Homework, Discussions, Projects, and More!” After all, the site states, “Life is too short to spend time on courses you have no interest in.” Managers of the site could not be reached for comment.
One key concern about the latest moves to embrace online education has been ensuring that students taking the courses are who they say they are. Some new online efforts have formed partnerships with testing centers where students can go to take tests in a place where their identity can be confirmed and proctors can watch for cheating.
Understanding the priorities of nontraditional college students
By Julie Bryant
How do the satisfaction levels of adult and online learners compare to those of “traditional” students? To answer that question, I looked at data from students who took the Adult Student Priorities Survey and Priorities Survey for Online Learners, then compared their responses to students who completed the Student Satisfaction Inventory, which is taken primarily by traditional-aged students. (Note that some nontraditional students may have completed the Student Satisfaction Inventory in the traditional-student data sets.)
About Adult Student Priorities Survey: https://www.noellevitz.com/student-retention-solutions/satisfaction-priorities-assessments/adult-student-priorities-survey
About Priorities Survey for Online Learners: https://www.noellevitz.com/student-retention-solutions/satisfaction-priorities-assessments/priorities-survey-for-online-learners
What influences nontraditional student enrollment?
By Julie Bryant
Every year, hundreds of campuses administer the Adult Student Priorities Survey™ (ASPS) to their adult undergraduate and graduate students and the Priorities Survey for Online Learners™ (PSOL) to students enrolled in online programs. In addition to the items rated for importance and satisfaction on the general student experience, both the ASPS and PSOL include items that address factors in a student’s decision to enroll (nine items on the ASPS and ten items on the PSOL). The 2012 national research report The Factors Influencing College Choice Among Nontraditional Students focuses on data from more than 5,500 students and 17 public and private four-year institutions that completed the ASPS and 17,000 online learners from 16 institutions that completed the PSOL during just the fall of 2011. There is special emphasis in this report on the different perceptions of undergraduate and graduate students in both data sets.
A Positive Solution for Plagiarism
By Jeff Karon
We know that students plagiarize. We suppose that plagiarism, as well as academic dishonesty in general, has increased over the past few years, decades, or century—depending on which academic ax we choose to grind.
The caveats are familiar: Perhaps cheating just is easier than it used to be (most honors students who are caught plagiarizing say they did so because it was “easy”). Perhaps we are better at detecting plagiarism because of software such as Google and Turnitin. Or perhaps we forget that every generation, at least since the ancient Romans and Greeks, complains that the next one is composed of lazy, possibly illiterate, youngsters willing to cut ethical corners.
Mature Market for Online Education
By Paul Fain
The market for online higher education aimed at adults may be reaching maturity, according to a new report from Eduventures. And without a better-defined product, the report’s author said online learning faces a risk of petering out and being little more than a back-up alternative to on-campus education for students.
“We feel this is the watershed moment,” said Richard Garrett, vice president and principal analyst for Eduventures and the report’s author. “After years of endless growth, we’re definitely coming to more of a plateau situation.”
Eduventures is a research and consulting firm that works with colleges and higher education-related businesses. The study was based in part on the newly-released results of a survey of 1,500 U.S. adults on their attitudes about online education. Released today, the company has conducted a version of the survey (of 18- to 70-year-olds) sporadically since 2004.
Citing survey findings and market data, the report found that 38 percent of prospective adult students prefer to study fully or mostly online. That portion remains virtually unchanged since 2006, when 37 percent said they preferred online learning. Similarly, there was only a small bump over the last six years in the percentage of adult students who said online college is equal in quality to campus learning.
Study Shows What Teachers and Parents Really Think About Education Technology
By Katie Lepi
We already know that there’s a lot of buzz about technology in education – that’s why we’re all here, right? But how do people feel about integrating technology into learning? Do teachers, parents, and students have differing opinions about it? Check out what this poll from the LEAD Commission shows: Nearly all good news for technology in education.
A few highlights:
– The majority of respondents support greater use of technology in education.
– The majority of respondents believe that integration of technology is important and will give students an advantage.
– The majority of respondents would choose to spend money on internet -connected devices rather than textbooks.
– The majority of teachers feel as though they need better training in integrating technology in their classrooms.
Focus on Adult Learning . . . Innovation through Inquiry 