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Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

15 Hot Edtech Trends for 2017

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With every new year comes new ideas. To get a glimpse into what the next 12 months will hold for everything from professional development to digital learning, and from communication to virtual reality, 15 ed tech luminaries looked back on 2016 edtech trends to help predict what’s in store for 2017. Here’s what they said:

 

stephen_downes2016 was The Year of Video…Read More

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7th grade scholarships for MOOC completion

Qualified 7th grade students can earn special consideration for Cooke Scholarships by completing an edX MOOC

Outstanding 7th grade students from families with financial need can earn special consideration for a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship if they complete a free college class offered by online course provider edX, the two nonprofit organizations announced.

The Cooke Young Scholars Program provides high-achieving students entering 8th grade with many benefits, including: individualized counseling to set academic goals; guidance on applying to colleges; and funding for summer educational programs, study abroad, internships and some school expenses.

Up to 70 students will be selected to begin the Young Scholars Program when they start 8th grade in September. Young Scholars must have earned grades of mostly As in school since 6th grade, with no grades of C in English, math, science or social studies. They must live and attend high school in the United States or a U.S. territory.…Read More

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Missouri high school to offer MOOC

Union High School students will soon be able to attend prestigious universities without leaving campus, The Missourian reports. Dr. Justin Tarte, director of curriculum and support services, said administrators are in the process of putting together a program where students can opt to take a free Massive Open Online Course, or “MOOC,” to fulfill elective requirements for juniors and seniors. MOOCs are offered by universities worldwide, including some of the most highly accredited U.S. institutions such as Harvard, Yale or MIT. They cover just about any subject imaginable, from The Beatles to the Big Bang Theory, or foreign languages to physics…

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Free administrator MOOC focuses on digital learning

New K-12 MOOC connects school and district leaders to implement digital learning initiatives

mooc-digitalA new, free Massive Open Online Course for Educators (MOOC -Ed), designed to help district and school leaders, will focus specifically on helping administrators effectively implement digital learning.

The MOOC, “Planning for the K–12 Digital Learning Transition,” offered by the Friday Institute at NC State University and the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE), began on September 30 and will continue for the next eight weeks.

This course is designed for busy district, school, and teacher leaders and teams; thus, the MOOC is structured enough to help guide administrators through the content, but accommodates a demanding schedule. This MOOC-Ed will help district leaders “understand the potential of digital learning in K–12 schools; assess progress and set future goals for their schools or districts; and develop a plan to achieve those goals,” said Project 24, which is part of AEE.…Read More

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New MOOC helps with ed-tech planning

Two ed-tech organizations are repeating their MOOC for educators.

ed-tech-MOOCLast spring, the Alliance for Excellent Education and the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation teamed up to offer a Massive Open Online Course for Educators (MOOC-Ed), a free online course designed to help school and district leaders plan for effective ed-tech use.

The course proved so popular that the organizations have decided to offer it again this fall.

Called “Digital Learning Transition,” the MOOC-Ed aims to help participants understand digital learning’s potential in K-12 education, assess progress and set goals for their schools or districts, and develop a plan to achieve those goals.…Read More

MOOCs: How will they affect your K-12 classroom?

MOOCs could have big implications for K-12 learning

MOOCs-educationThe term “MOOCs”–an acronym for massive open online courses–is no stranger to the higher-education community. Providers such as Coursera, edX, and Udacity have helped to boost MOOC mania, with some courses boasting tens of thousands of participants.

Supporters point to MOOCS’ easy accessibility and potential cost savings for students and colleges alike, while critics note the courses’ low retention rates and potential impact on college faculty hiring practices. Some universities are exploring whether or not they can offer credit for MOOC participation.

While the higher-education MOOC debate continues, more and more ed-tech advocates are linking MOOCs with K-12 education. MOOCs hold great potential to expand K-12 hybrid, or blended, learning, and also offer potential to increase student access to courses that might not be available in their brick-and-mortar schools, such as expanded language or Advanced Placement classes.…Read More

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Digital learning MOOC now open to school leaders

Participants will study the elements necessary for a successful digital learning transition.

Enrollment opens today for a first-of-its-kind Massive Online Open Course for Educators (MOOC-Ed) that will help school district leaders make the shift to digital instruction in their schools.

This free online course is offered by the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE) in partnership with the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University. A component of AEE’s “Project 24” initiative and the first of a series of MOOC-Eds planned by the Friday Institute, the course was first announced during Digital Learning Day in February.

Titled “Digital Learning Transition,” the course will examine how the effective use of digital learning can help school districts meet educational challenges, including implementing college- and career-ready standards for all students and preparing teachers to make effective use of technology to enhance teaching and learning.…Read More

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Open online course prepares students for biology exam

Massive open online courses (MOOCs), which have skyrocketed in popularity in the last year, offer the draw of college classes that anyone with an internet connection can take free of charge. Now, the University of Miami has launched what it calls the world’s first MOOC for high school students—a three-week, six-session class that will prepare students for the SAT subject test in biology.

“We created this from scratch, so we’re pioneers in that respect,” says Craig Wilson, headmaster of UM Global Academy (UMGA), the online high school based out of the University of Miami’s Division of Continuing and International Education. “We recognized a need to help high school students prepare for college, and we wanted to use the MOOC model to give them that opportunity without having to worry about going through a pay-for-preparation aspect.”

About 200 high school students, some as far away as China, were enrolled as of press time to take UMGA’s “MOOC SAT BIO” course via Skype and an electronic classroom platform. The class will air live, allowing students to pose questions in real time—a rarity for a MOOC, according to Wilson.…Read More

Top campuses jump into the free online course game

Two universities gave millions to Coursera this week.

A dozen of the country’s top universities will make courses available for free on the open online class site Coursera by the beginning of 2013. The announcement was made on that same day that investors — including two campuses — invested millions in the web-based learning site.

By January, Coursera officials expect the site to offer 100 free courses in the arts, computer sciences, health, mathematics, history, literature, and other disciplines. All courses will be free for any individual with a computer and internet connection to enroll.

Coursera was founded in the fall of 2011 by Stanford Computer Science Professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, and in April 2012 announced that Princeton, University of Michigan, Stanford and Penn were entering into agreement with Coursera to bring course content online for free.…Read More