Online Learning
News
Week of March 10, 14
Below is a collection of news and information gatherings on online learning and resources
that can support online learning that were gathered the week beginning March 10, 14.
More Information about online learning and online learning material can be found at
www.milearnsonline.org
Collaborative Approach to Literacy - Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) supports better reading and
writing across the curriculum by helping teachers to build engaging Common Core-aligned units. The
basic building block is a module–two to four weeks of study comprised of literacy-rich performance
tasks and supports that help students complete the task.
Coursera debuts its iPad app (finally) - Coursera has released an iPad application loaded with over
600 courses on topics like finance and psychology. It’s a no brainer that the ed-tech startup would
invest in the development of tablet apps. Tablets are optimized for watching videos and reviewing
written study material. The iPad app also offers educational quizzes, so you can gauge how much
you’ve learned.
Free badges available for your site at Moodlebadges.com - Moodlebadges.com is a new site that
provides loads of free badges to employ at your Moodle site. 100 badges were created and made
available for download by LearnBrite , a Moodle hosting company (non partner).
Full demo of new features for Moodle 2.7 available March 24th Moodle 2.7 is due out in a few
months this summer (for the northern hemisphere), Moodle HQ already hard at work on all of the
changes, new features and enhancements that will be part of the core. In about 2 weeks a full demo
of new features will be available according to the Moodle Integration Announcement.
Is blended the same as half-distance? by Anders Norberg - A common description of “blended
learning” is combination of face-to-face and distance education practises, or methods, or tools, or
content, or cultures….well, a combination of two existing concepts anyway. Perhaps also a meeting
of the traditional and the new, of the ordinary in education and the project based. Some questions to
ponder…
The Next-Big-Thing in Online Education…Learning in Real Time by Debbie Morrison
Communicating in real-time from a distance has never been easier. There are numerous new
platforms and applications (apps) available free-of-charge that are easy-to-use and facilitate
seamless communication between geographically distant people with access to a smart phone or
laptop. After reading a WSJ article reviewing several smart phone apps that facilitate real-time
communication among small groups seamlessly, I realize that the time is coming where synchronous
tools will bring online education to the next level
Khan Academy to offer free SAT prep by Zach Miners, PC World
The Khan Academy will offer SAT test prep materials for free, the online learning platform said
Wednesday, through a partnership with the College Board that aims to help level the playing field in a
college admissions process that has increasingly favored wealthier applicants.
Looking at MOOCs Rapid Growth Through the Lens of Video-Based Learning Research by Michail
Giannakos, Letizia Jaccheri, John Krogstie
Video learning is becoming an increasingly important part of contemporary education. In the decade
there has been an increase of many and diverse forms of research efforts on video learning. This
paper focuses on the video learning research of the last years based on 166 peer-reviewed published
academic papers. A categorization is then derived from these papers, delineating some basic
characteristics of video learning. The taxonomy attempts to look at MOOCs rapid growth through the
lens of video-based learning research. We also provide some directions for future research related to
the use of video learning.
Moodle 2.6.2, 2.5.5 and 2.4.9 are now available by Michael de Raadt
In addition to a number of bug fixes and small improvements, security vulnerabilities have been
discovered and fixed. As always, we recommend that you upgrade your sites to these latest versions
as soon as possible. All admins of registered Moodle sites have been notified with security issue
details.
The Importance of Teaching Students About New Media By: James Walker
What is new media? It’s the website with comments integrated into the text; it’s the web video
accompanied by captioning, transcripts, and the “like on Facebook” button; it’s the mobile game, the
social media platform, the encyclopedic research site. Simply put, it’s the way we communicate and
share information, every day.
The Next-Big-Thing in Online Education…Learning in Real Time by Debbie Morrison
Communicating in real-time from a distance has never been easier. There are numerous new
platforms and applications (apps) available free-of-charge that are easy-to-use and facilitate
seamless communication between geographically distant people with access to a smart phone or
laptop. After reading a WSJ article reviewing several smart phone apps that facilitate real-time
communication among small groups seamlessly, I realize that the time is coming where synchronous
tools will bring online education to the next level.
Where is the app integration and innovation in K-12? By Steve Young, CIO Advisor
I came back from TCEA, underwhelmed, not by the myriad of great presenters, but by vendor product
offerings. Where were the companies transforming education and interconnecting systems so that
educators can leverage multiple platforms as needed to help provide a better, more integrated
learning experience? Most of what I saw was just incremental improvements of existing products.
While there were some standouts, I was not wowed.
Why is Adoption of Educational Technology So Challenging?… ‘It’s Complicated’ by Debbie Morrison
“If an institution’s stated strategy is to promote the use of educational technology, that institution must
establish an adequate framework for faculty to use technology successfully. This includes not only
formal incentive structures but also the development of a sufficient educational technology
infrastructure and a satisfactory framework for educational technology support.” Faculty Adoption of
Educational Technology by F.Z. Moser Technology Integration can be complicated After reading the
paragraph above readers will likely nod in agreement…yes, yes that makes much sense. Yet most
institutions fail to recognize the complexity of introducing educational technology into the classroom
and curriculum.
And Don’t Forget www.milearnsonline.org/giveandget