Author Archive

New Leaders program

Study: Schools with principals from New Leaders program show higher student learning gains

K-8 students with the same principal, who was trained by the nonprofit, for at least three years get higher math and English language arts scores than those with other leaders.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/study-schools-with-principals-from-new-leaders-program-show-higher-student/549011/

Principals trained and supported by New Leaders — a New York City-based nonprofit — are contributing to higher student achievement and staying in their jobs longer than those hired through other preparation programs, a new RAND Corp. study shows.

Students attending K-8 schools that have had a New Leaders principal for at least three years score at least 3% higher in math and roughly 2% higher in English language arts (ELA) than students with school leaders prepared in other ways.

The RAND researchers found that specific aspects of being a leader — specifically competencies related to instruction, and adult and team leadership — were more closely associated with increases in student achievement.

What New Leaders calls “cultural capital,” which includes skills related to “cultural leadership” and “operational leadership,” was more closely linked to retention.

2017 Stanford University study showed that academic growth among CPS students in grades 3-8 was increasing at a faster rate than in most districts in the nation.

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more of EDAD in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=edad

Depression and Anxiety Teenagers

By Karen Zraick  

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/health/teenage-depression-statistics.html

The survey found that 70 percent of teenagers saw mental health as a big issue. Fewer teenagers cited bullying, drug addiction or gangs as major problems; those from low-income households were more likely to do so.

Some psychologists have tied a growth in mental health issues among teenagers to increased social media use, academic pressure and frightening events like terror attacks and school shootings.

A study released in 2017 found that the number of children and adolescents admitted to children’s hospitals for thoughts of self-harm or suicide had more than doubled from 2008 to 2015, echoing trends in federal data.

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more about depression in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=depression

Machine Learning and the Cloud Rescue IT

How Machine Learning and the Cloud Can Rescue IT From the Plumbing Business

 FROM AMAZON WEB SERVICES (AWS)

By Andrew Barbour     Feb 19, 2019

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-02-19-how-machine-learning-and-the-cloud-can-rescue-it-from-the-plumbing-business

Many educational institutions maintain their own data centers.  “We need to minimize the amount of work we do to keep systems up and running, and spend more energy innovating on things that matter to people.”

what’s the difference between machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI)?

Jeff Olson: That’s actually the setup for a joke going around the data science community. The punchline? If it’s written in Python or R, it’s machine learning. If it’s written in PowerPoint, it’s AI.
machine learning is in practical use in a lot of places, whereas AI conjures up all these fantastic thoughts in people.

What is serverless architecture, and why are you excited about it?

Instead of having a machine running all the time, you just run the code necessary to do what you want—there is no persisting server or container. There is only this fleeting moment when the code is being executed. It’s called Function as a Service, and AWS pioneered it with a service called AWS Lambda. It allows an organization to scale up without planning ahead.

How do you think machine learning and Function as a Service will impact higher education in general?

The radical nature of this innovation will make a lot of systems that were built five or 10 years ago obsolete. Once an organization comes to grips with Function as a Service (FaaS) as a concept, it’s a pretty simple step for that institution to stop doing its own plumbing. FaaS will help accelerate innovation in education because of the API economy.

If the campus IT department will no longer be taking care of the plumbing, what will its role be?

I think IT will be curating the inter-operation of services, some developed locally but most purchased from the API economy.

As a result, you write far less code and have fewer security risks, so you can innovate faster. A succinct machine-learning algorithm with fewer than 500 lines of code can now replace an application that might have required millions of lines of code. Second, it scales. If you happen to have a gigantic spike in traffic, it deals with it effortlessly. If you have very little traffic, you incur a negligible cost.

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more on machine learning in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=machine+learning

Reconstructive Analysis

Carspecken’s (1996; 2007) reconstructive analysis procedures was performed. This analysis involves identifying meaning fields, validity horizons, sequence analysis, and role analysis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Carspecken

Toombs, A., Gray, C., & McKay, C. (2016). Meaning Reconstruction as an Approach to Analyze Critical Dimensions of HCI Research. Critical Theory and Pedagogy, 328–340.

Instructional Strategies for Forming Online Collaborative Teams

Thus in online environments, the course design should explicitly include ice breakers, “getting-to-know-you” activities, and warm ups to initiate the kind of meaningful encounters that lead to more engaged and productive relationships (McDonald, Zydney, Dichter, & McDonald, 2012; Settle-Murphy, 2013).

rather than ask only whether particular instructional group strategies do or don’t work, it is important to look beyond the strategies to understanding what is happening among students or individually that influences students’ experiences in a class. Significant attention should be paid to situations in which a planned strategy does not work and additional strategies should be considered to promote a more collaborative setting.

zSpace and Labster

https://zspace.com

zSpace is a technology firm based in Sunnyvale, California that combine elements of virtual and augmented reality in a computer. zSpace allows people to interact with simulated objects in virtual environments as if they are real.[1][2][3]

zSpace is known for its progressive developments in human-computer interaction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZSpace_(company)

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https://www.labster.com/

Give your students the chance to learn science in an engaging and effective way with Labster’s virtual labs.

Labster offers students a true-to-life lab experience at a fraction of the cost of a real lab.

You can supplement your teaching with virtual labs to prepare your students for the wet lab, to help them understand difficult concepts, to engage them with your science course, and more.

n our virtual lab simulations, students work through real-life case stories, interact with lab equipment, perform experiments and learn with theory and quiz questions.

Thanks to engaging 3D animations, students can explore life science at the molecular level and look inside the machines they are operating.   https://www.labster.com/why-choose-labster/

Integrates with D2L and the major LMS

a technologically literate graduate

Profile of a technologically literate graduate

By Jorge Valenzuela 1/7/2019

https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=2329

When school leaders set out to create a profile of their ideal graduate, many trip up on defining technological literacy and subsequently struggle to select the right edtech to get students there.

digital equity and digital citizenship

use your divisionwide or statewide profile of a graduate.

STEP 1: Have a model and unpack it

In my state of Virginia (like many other states), we focus on these four:

  • Content knowledge
  • Workplace skills
  • Community engagement and civic responsibility
  • Career exploration

STEP 2: Tag team with colleagues to plan instruction

In step one we created our graduate profile by brainstorming and identifying both the personal and professional knowledge and skills that our future graduates need. Now it’s time to formulate plans to bring the profile to fruition. To ensure student success, implementation should take place in the classroom and tap the expertise of our colleagues.

Student  success is never due to one teacher, but a collaborative effort.

STEP 3: Identify and leverage the right industry partners

Technological literacy requires students to create authentic products using appropriate edtech, therefore developing technologically literate graduates should not be left entirely to teachers and schools.

Soliciting the help of our industry and business partners is so crucial to this process

Step 4: Create career pathways in schools

schools create systemic K-12 career pathways — or pipelines — for their students and give teachers ample time and space to plan and work together to maximize the learning aligned to well-developed graduate profiles.

Mark Prensky on new education plan

To RSVP ahead of time, or to jump straight in at 2 pm EDT this Thursday, click here:
https://shindig.com/login/event/ftf-prensky

On Thursday, February 21st, from 2-3 pm EST, we’ll be joined by Marc Prensky, creator of “Civilization-level Alternative Education.”

Coiner of the term “Digital Native” and author of seven books and over 100 essays, Marc has spoken in over 40 countries, and his writings have been translated into a dozen languages.  He currently promotes a new civilization-level alternative in global education, championing an emerging new “Real-World-Impact Education” paradigm that more directly benefits students and the world in which they live.

Previously in his career Marc taught French, mathematics and music and headed an alternative school in New York City, worked as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (and was its first Product Development Director), and founded and ran a computer game company. Marc holds an MBA degree from Harvard, with distinction, and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Yale.

his new education plan would work in practice.  What would it take to get there from here?

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more on Future Trends in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=future+trends

Online course, storytelling, data

Online Course | A Thousand Words and a Picture: Storytelling with Data

https://events.educause.edu/courses/2019/a-thousand-words-and-a-picture-storytelling-with-data

Part 1: March 13, 2019 | 1:00–2:30 p.m. ET
Part 2: March 20, 2019 | 1:00–2:30 p.m. ET
Part 3: March 27, 2019 | 1:00–2:30 p.m. ET

Overview

A picture is worth a thousand words, but developing a data picture worth a thousand words involves careful thought and planning. IT leaders are often in need of sharing their story and vision for the future with campus partners and campus leadership. Delivering this message in a compelling way takes a significant amount of thought and planning. This session will take participants through the process of constructing their story, how to (and how not to) incorporate data and anecdotes effectively, how to design clear data visualizations, and how to present their story with confidence.

Learning Objectives

During this course, participants will:

  • Develop a story that elicits a specific outcome
  • Identify and effectively use data elements to support a compelling story
  • Learn how to tell your story in a clear and effective way

NOTE: Participants will be asked to complete assignments in between the course segments that support the learning objectives stated below and will receive feedback and constructive critique from course facilitators on how to improve and shape their work.

Facilitator

Leah LangLeah Lang, Director of Analytics Services, EDUCAUSE

Leah Lang leads EDUCAUSE Analytics Services, a suite of data services, products, and tools that can be used to inform decision-making about IT in higher education. The foundational service in this suite is the EDUCAUSE Core Data Services (CDS), higher education’s comprehensive IT benchmarking data service.

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more Educause webinars in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=educause+webinar

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