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5 Easy Mistakes to Make When Collecting Feedback for Your Online Course Spread the loveGetting feedback from learners about your online course is important. Feedback from course goers tells you what you can do to improve the course for future students. Asking for feedback from existing students also makes them feel that you value their input, which means they might enroll with you for another course. Asking for feedback from students on your online course can make you feel somewhat uncomfortable, but it can only help you to improve your courses and gain more students. Let’s look at some of the mistakes to avoid when you’re collecting feedback about your online course. …

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The Real Reason Your School Avoids Machine Learning Spread the loveEducation has embraced machine learning. Some educators, however, still find themselves reluctant to join their colleagues in its adoption. They understand that artificial intelligence can improve job performance, but they shun machine learning altogether. They would rather dig in and do everything themselves even though machine learning could increase their job satisfaction. Machine learning provides text analysis, automated grading, and tutoring systems. These benefit students and teachers. As the scope and quality of artificial intelligence continue to improve, we’ll continue to see it included more routinely in every aspect of instruction. Many teachers rely on machine learning for …

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How BERT Will Change the Way You Search Spread the loveGoogle has been working on changing the way the internet responds to searches. Where Google once preferences preferred mobile-first technology, it has now switched partners and opted for AI-first technology. Artificial intelligence is making internet searches quicker and more accurate in yielding desired results. How many times a day do you turn to Google to search for something? At any given time, it seems like we want to find out who someone is or what’s going on. The top three most popular keywords on Google, however, are weather (24,440,00 monthly searches), maps (20,400,00 monthly searches), and translate (18,310,000 …

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Digital dawn: open online learning is just beginning Spread the loveThis article was written by Craig Savage Universities are traditionally seen as exclusive institutions for the few, not the many. But that is changing as a new wave of online courses throws open the doors of academia to all. Led by world renowned American institutions like MIT and Harvard, this push to democratise learning is being taken up in Australia too. A new way of learning In contrast to traditional higher education, which closes learning off from the world, open learning is transparent and accessible to anyone with internet access. Such openness could do a lot to improve …

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Humanizing our Digital Pedagogy Spread the loveIt is necessary to develop the appropriate pedagogical tools to deal with edtech, and digital pedagogy is an effort in that direction. Obviously, critical assessment of digital tools is an important step in creating a valid digital pedagogy. But it isn’t the only step. It is also important that we humanize our digital pedagogy. Here are four ways to do that: First, care needs to be taken on the topic of digital communication. Students often do not understand that, without the nonverbal aspects of traditional modes of communication, messages can be garbled and thus misunderstood. So a key …

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10 EdTech Research Journals That You Should Read Spread the loveIf you are involved in education technology in any way, you must stay up to date on the latest news and trends. Educational technology is growing at immense speed – practically changing every day. The best place to find out quality information from trustworthy sources is in EdTech research journals. These journals publish articles by EdTech entrepreneurs and educators providing the information you need. British Journal of Educational Technology This journal, while published by British Educational Research Association, provides worldwide coverage of developments in educational technology for all levels of education. Computers and Education A journal aimed at …

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Using Tech to Keep Students Accountable Spread the loveIt may be the most challenging aspect of teaching: How do you keep students accountable? After all, teachers are vastly outnumbered by their students, and students often lack the motivation to stay on task. It’s definitely a problem. Fortunately, there are some tech tools that teachers can use to keep students accountable. Rubrics The National Education Association recommends using rubrics to keep students accountable. It seems that students are more likely to stay on task when they know precisely what that task is. They devote more effort to a project when they feel that they control the outcome …

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Machine Learning to Predict Childhood PTSD Spread the loveMore than 20% of children in the United States will experience a traumatic event before they are 16 years old, but only some will go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). How can we know which child is at risk for PTSD so that it can be prevented? More than two- thirds of children experience at least one traumatic event by age 16. Some 10 – 40% of these children will go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a serious debilitating psychiatric condition that can have a significant impact on a child’s functioning and, …

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Digital Learning and the Importance of Usability Spread the loveThe needs of users should always be the top concern when it comes to digital solutions. While usability is the most important aspect of any digital solution no matter the product, it’s especially true of digital learning. It won’t matter how many resources the system provides if it’s not easy for learners to use them. Data security, rich feature lists, and back-end interoperability are all important. But if user experiences are unpleasant because the system is difficult to use and incompatible with the applications they’re accustomed to, then learners won’t engage and the system will fail. Companies like …

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How a Smartwatch Can Help You Become a More Effective Teacher Spread the loveSmartwatches are loaded with functionality that makes a teacher’s life easier. And they are becoming increasingly popular. According to a Technavio report on the global classroom wearables technology market, the wrist-worn wearables sector held the largest share in the market in 2017. There are many ways that wearable technologies can enhance student-teacher communication and make learning more interactive, but a wearable like a smartwatch holds specific benefits for a teacher. Never miss an email or a call again Smartwatches use vibration alerts. Vibration on the skin is very noticeable and can’t be ignored. Vibration alerts mean you won’t …

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MOOCs: learning about online learning, one click at a time Spread the loveThis article was written by Gregor Kennedy Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, took the world by storm in 2012. After years of experimentation at the fringes of higher education, prestigious universities from around the world progressively surged towards MOOCs, developing free online courses that were open to anyone, anywhere, with access to the internet. Almost as quickly as universities climbed aboard, the backlash began. Commentators criticised the teacher-centred, content-heavy online pedagogy often seen in the design of MOOCs. Thorny questions arose, and still remain, about the certification of students’ learning in MOOCs, and how this fits with …

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The Responsibilities of Leading with Technology Spread the loveThe flowering of edtech over the last decade has created an amazing landscape. Being a leader in this field is truly an astounding opportunity to connect students with the digital tools that can motivate and engage them and, hopefully, prompt improved learning outcomes. But with this incredible opportunity comes important responsibilities. Here are four of the responsibilities of leading with technology: First, digital equity is a key concern. There is an important obligation for everyone working in the edtech space to be sure that no student is denied equal access to digital tools. This may require an investment …

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9 Ways That Artificial Intelligence Helps Improve Student Outcomes Spread the loveI receive a lot of correspondence from teachers, professors, and education administrators who are interested in finding our out how they can leverage artificial intelligence in PreK-12 and higher education. More specifically, they want to find out how they can use artificial intelligence to improve student outcomes. I usually respond by referring them to some of the general articles that I have written on the topic of artificial intelligence. Although these articles discuss the use of artificial intelligence in education, I wanted to produce a piece of content that focuses in on the use of AI technologies to …

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8 Steps to Successfully Piloting an Edtech Project Spread the loveThere are many new edtech tools on the market, and each claims it will improve student learning. Before your district can put promising new technology in the classroom, however, you’ll need to assess whether the tech lives up to its marketing claims. These steps will help you pilot edtech successfully. Determine your goals The first thing you need is a clear vision of what you want to achieve with the new technology. Whether it’s improved test scores or higher literacy rates, you need to ensure the goal is stated and shared. The goal should be tied to your …

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Schools Are Turning to Virtual Doctors for Sick Kids Spread the loveIn today’s economic climate, it is common for both parents to work. When a child gets sick at school one of the parents must fetch the child and arrange a doctor’s appointment, which may not be possible on the same day – there goes two days off work for the parent. In winter months and in families with more than one child in school, this situation can happen multiple times: unacceptable for employers and a nightmare for parents. Enter the digital age and the arrival of the virtual doctor. Advances in technology have made it possible for a …

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As learning moves online, trigger warnings must too Spread the loveThis article was written by Dana Ruggiero When I was a first-year student at university, our class of 300 students watched Jodie Foster get gang raped in the film The Accused. Our professor, an experienced teacher, told us before the movie that: “anyone not comfortable with scenes of violence against women could leave and complete an alternate assignment”. Nobody left. Now, 15 years later I am a senior lecturer in a university and we are still having debates about these kind of trigger warnings that lecturers give their students before reading or watching graphic material. Since then, the …

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5 Edtech Trends That are Influencing Student Engagement Spread the loveIn the not-so-distant past, student apathy seemed to be at an all-time high. Children would fill classroom seats but their minds weren’t engaged in the material, even during the lesson itself. When they left their desk at the end of the hour, they hardly ever considered the material again in their daily life. The paradigm is shifting as student engagement rises alongside the introduction of edtech into the modern, blended classroom setting. Are you curious which attributes have led to this significant shift to engaged learning? You’ll want to see these top five trends that influence student engagement. …

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Emerging Technologies Supporting Personalized Learning Spread the loveThe hottest trend in education is personalized learning, where studies are individualized according to interest and competency, learning happens not only in the classroom but beyond the confines of the school walls and bell schedule, and students take ownership of their courses of study. Teachers have long been aware that no two children learn the same way, have the same interests, or even demonstrate the same needs when it comes to instruction. For many teachers, the only way to address the variety of needs in the classroom and deliver personalized instruction is with technology. Emerging technologies are meeting …

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Technology Addiction: Concern, Debates, and Finding Balance Spread the loveStudies show that teenagers are spending more than one-third of their days using technology, amounting to nearly nine hours on average. But is this merely an obsession with technology, or is it a technology addiction? Officially, Internet addiction is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), and psychologists are divided on whether it should be included. Some theorize that social media and interactive games are simply new ways for kids and teenagers to feel connected. Thus, what appears to be excessive use may be “an expression of [kids’] desire to interact with friends in …

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8 Reasons Why Schools Ban Kid-Friendly Smart Watches Spread the loveThe parents buy smartwatches for their children so they can track and monitor them, but not everyone is convinced that it’s a good strategy. In 2017, Germany regulators banned the sale of smartwatches aimed at children referring to them as spying devices. In addition, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) also issued a public service announcement regarding security and privacy concerns surrounding children’s smartwatches. Many schools are also banning smartwatches for kids. They have their reasons. 1 Privacy concerns According to the BEUC, smartwatches for kids pose a serious threat to children’s privacy. Manufacturers of these devices don’t follow …