Worthy of Note:January 2017                                                 
This issue of Worthy of Note focuses on 8 of the 10 Critical Issues in Educational Technology — predictive analytics, bandwidth, emerging technologies, new learning models, student digital literacy, technology security, accessibility and policy.

 
Predictive Analytics

• “Atificial Intelligence Could Help Colleges Better Plan What Courses They Should Offer”
• EdSurge News, December 8, 2016, Jeffrey Young
  • If Amazon can stock its warehouse based on consumer buying predictions, then colleges should be able to offer programs based on predictions for future job opportunities, according to the president of the National Laboratory for Education Transformation, Gordon Freedman. A new data warehouse, the National Center for Opportunity Engineering and Analysis, will hold information on current skills employers need and degree offerings from colleges; it will use artificial intelligence to predict future job trends. The University of Chicago, the San Diego Supercomputing Center and Argonne National Laboratory will assist with the National Center for Opportunity Engineering and Analysis. Although LinkedIn and Burning Glass Technologies have tons of job data, Freedman says he wants better information from employers, jobseekers and the colleges. He plans to “fully connect the labor market with the skill and educational institutions all in a one-stop shop.”

 

• “A Siri for Higher Ed Aims to Boost Student Engagement”
• EdSurge News, December 7, 2016, Marguerite McNeal
  • Chatbots are making their way into higher education. The artificial intelligence program simulates conversation with students, responds to questions and prompts students to participate in online discussion forums when students are online. Chatbot prompts for student interaction at BI Norwegian Business School have had better results than faculty prompts, perhaps because the chatbot contacts the students at times when they are active in the course rather than during faculty office hours. An upcoming pilot will tie the chatbot with a new learning management system, Differ. Other colleges, including Georgia Institute of Technology, have used artificial intelligence as teaching assistants. The computer science instructor used IBM Watson without telling students until the end of the semester. Students were surprised that they were interacting with artificial intelligence.

 
Bandwidth

• “5 Infrastructure Concerns for District Technology Leaders”
• eSchool News, November 9, 2016, Laura DeVaney
  • The growth of students using personal devices, online assessments and digital content continues to drive the need for higher capacity bandwidth in schools. A COSN survey notes that 57 percent of school districts identified recurring costs as the biggest barrier to robust connectivity in schools, even though monthly unit costs are decreasing — with 46 percent of school districts paying less than $5 per Mbps per 1,000 students. Rural districts often pay more than $50 per Mbps. Although school leaders identify the digital divide as a priority, 63 percent have no strategy for providing off-campus connectivity to students.

 

• “K-12 Leaders Can Now See Who Pays What for District Broadband”
• Ed Week, November 15, 2016, Michelle Molnar
  • A new website (Compare and Connect K12) launched last November 15 by EducationSuperhighway shows prices for specific bandwidth speeds by school district — gathered from federal eRate applications. The beta site, launched in January 2016, has already helped districts negotiate better rates with providers. Most districts are using the tool to get more services for their same budget — a promising sign for service providers.  These providers can also use the tool to identify districts that are in need of a service upgrade.

 

• “Passive Wi-Fi Could Boost Internet of Things”
• Ed Tech Magazine, October 12, 2016, Mike Unger
  • Normally, Wi-Fi drains the battery power of connected devices, but the University of Washington created a passive Wi-Fi that consumes 10,000 times less power. This could revolutionize any device that needs power for connectivity, and the cumulative effect could substantially transform the Internet of Things (IoT).For example, security cameras and motion sensors could have batteries that almost never need replacement, and even battery-less devices are possible. Replacing passband or analog frequency radio systems with “backscatter” (the reflection of waves or signals back in the direction they came – a technology already used in astronomy and ultrasound) results in the ability to use reflections to create Wi-Fi packets while consuming almost no power. This breakthrough could be a significant technology shift for higher education, which would permit students to bring more IoT consumer devices to campus.

 
Emerging Technologies

• “Advances in Computing, Neuroscience Will Change How Students Learn”
• Converge, October 27, Tanya Roscorla
  • By blending artificial intelligence and neuroscience about how learning occurs, researchers are greatly increasing the learning potential of children and adults. Researchers have developed cognitive computers to become intelligent tutors and virtual teaching assistants that can use data to help students learn. Pearson plans to embed the intelligent tutor, IBM Watson, into its higher education courseware over the next 18 months to answer student questions and analyze their responses to improve student learning.

 

• “Gartner Symposium: CIOs Should Build a Digital Platform”
• Computer Weekly, November 7, 2016, Cliff Saran
  • Peter Sondergaard, Gartner senior vice president, says rather than cutting IT budgets, computer information officers (CIOs) should invest in digitization and IT platforms as assets. He warns that in modern digital businesses, measuring IT costs per employee is the wrong metric. CIOs need to implement an Internet of Things (IoT) platform to support their organizations’ digital strategy and explore how it fits into a digital ecosystem, much like Uber and Airbnb did with transportation. Gartner sees a shift from monolithic applications to service-oriented architecture and an enterprise service hub.

 

• “Brady Launches XOEye Technologies’ Wearable Technology Platform”
• BradyServices.com, December 6, 2016
  • Brady Services, an HVAC supplier to industrial and commercial businesses in North Carolina and Tennessee, streams audio and visual content to its senior technicians through smart glasses worn at job sites by field technicians. This strategy helps field technicians gain support from off-site senior technicians in resolving problems that arise on site. The senior technician can see and hear the field equipment and control panels through the glasses of the on-site technician and is more likely to be able to diagnose problems and suggest solutions. The smart glasses have helped the company address a skilled-labor shortage and have provided field technicians with critical, timely information to solve problems. The company has experienced a significant return on investment, and it now archives the sessions between the field and senior technicians for training.
  • WON editor comment: This type of augmented reality (AR) service could be significant for aging baby boomers who have a significant knowledge base but limited mobility, whether climbing on ladders or traveling to distant sites. Emerging technologies, such as this one, could benefit schools and colleges by augmenting the teaching labor force and enriching curriculum, for both traditional student populations and adults. Both younger and older student groups can gain from understanding the functionality of and potential uses for AR.

 
New Learning Models

• “Understanding Competency-Based Education: An Interview With Allison Barber”
• UncompromisingEDU.com, October 27, 2016, Todd Zipper
  • Chancellor of Western Governers University-Indiana, Allison Barber, says traditional universities continue to view competency-based education (CBE) as a threat. She recognizes that financial aid presents significant challenges, too. She also acknowledges the difficulty in mapping competency-based courses to credit-hour courses to show competency — something that accrediting agencies consider important.Even so, CBE can accelerate the time to degree for adults who have developed expertise in the workforce and want to get credit toward a degree for applicable skills and knowledge. The benefits of CBE generally outweigh the hurdles when the goal is to have a better educated workforce. “…In 2014, the Gallup-Purdue Index collected data on approximately 4,000 Western Governors University students and found that 79 percent of students who graduated in the last five years are employed. The national average is 66 percent.”

 

• “Quality and Competency”
• Inside HigherEd, October 21, 2016, Paul Fain
  • A group of colleges that offer competency-based education (CBE) released voluntary quality standards to help institutions design and scale high-quality CBE programs. While the U.S. Department of Education knows the potential of CBE, it has been critical of the role of faculty in these types of programs. But faced with more than 600 colleges wanting to offer new CBE programs, the department saw these standards as having the potential to help differentiate good programs from bad ones. C-BEN (Competency-Based Education Network) has created a portal for feedback on the draft standards and encourages colleges to provide feedback. Much is at stake for CBE (and even traditional education), since the CBE focus on rigor and proof of learning could influence traditional education.

Student Digital Literacy

• “What Is Digital Literacy?”
• Education Week, November 8, 2016, Liana Heitin
  • “Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills” (per the American Library Association's digital-literacy task force). It is contrasted with off-line, passive reading on a computer. Digital literacy includes active online reading using hyperlinks, videos, audio clips, images, interactive graphics, share buttons and interaction with comments. The process of finding digital content to meet specific needs requires skills to query a search engine using keywords and navigate the results for usable responses; the process requires assessments of source and website bias and reliability. Digital literacy also includes the ability to create digital content, either individually or collaboratively, and the ability to share and communicate through evolving technology tools.

 

• “Children Should Be Taught Resilience and Problem-Solving to Deal With Digital Disruption”
• Computer Weekly, November 17, 2016, Clare McDonald
  • Computing is a compulsory part of curriculum in the United Kingdom, but does it go far enough? Regina Moran of Fujitsu believes students should be taught to adapt to new environments, to problem solve, and — if a change is necessary – to determine the human impact of that change. Why are these key to curriculum? She argues that as people use their own devices at work and as technology enables more global businesses, technology infrastructure has accelerated the pace of change. People are required to adapt more quickly to changing environments, to solve emerging problems and to be creative. She argues that teaching computer skills alone in a curriculum does not guarantee that students will be able to survive in a digital world. Without the ability to adapt to change and to solve problems that arise in new environments, students will not be able to keep up with the accelerated rate of global change.

 

• “Stanford Researchers Find Students Have Trouble Judging the Credibility of Information Online”
• Stanford Graduate School of Education, November 22, 2016, Brooke Donald
  • A recent study shows dismaying results of college students’ ability to discern bias in information they see on the internet. Over 90 percent of these students were unable to flag a lobbyist’s website as a biased source of information. Fewer than 20 percent of high school students knew that looking at a single photo online is insufficient research to gauge if an event is really happening, not considering that a photo could be altered. And, 80 percent of middle school students did not understand that “sponsored content” on a news organization’s website is paid advertising. The students included 7,804 students in 12 states. The Stanford History Education Group created social studies curriculum that teaches students to evaluate primary sources and it has been downloaded 3.5 million times.

 
Technology Security  

• “Alert: Ransomware Plaguing Higher Education”
• eCampus News, October 24, 2016, contributing author from Plixer.com
  • A recent report states that one in 10 education networks have been infiltrated by ransomware — files held for ransom until payment is made, usually in bitcoin. The attacks usually start with a phishing campaign through email, during which login credentials are falsely obtained or an employee is directed to a malicious website where the ransomware files are unknowingly downloaded to an employee’s computer or device. Colleges need to be proactive in teaching faculty and students about safe computing. Pennsylvania State University reports that it has spent about $2.85 million in responding to attacks. Plixer, a provider of network incidence response systems, developed a free app to help employees and students spot and avoid phishing attacks.

 

• Advancing the Science of Cybersecurity
• National Science Foundation, press release 16-145, November 30, 2016
  • The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $76 million in research grants to support interdisciplinary cybersecurity research through its Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program. The 241 funded projects across 36 states and 129 institutions are to study the scientific, engineering and socio-technical aspects of cybersecurity. The projects focus on “hardware, software, network security, human incentives and behaviors, and the integration of computation with the physical world.” Fay Lomax Cook, NSF assistant director for social, behavioral and economic sciences notes that "technology and behavior are intrinsically linked in the world of cybersecurity, and NSF's support for interdisciplinary research reflects that." Three NSF $3 million grants include:
  • Living in the Internet of Things. L. Jean Camp, Indiana University; Tadayoshi Kohno, University of Washington
  • Verifiable Hardware: Chips That Prove Their Own Correctness. Abhi Shelat, University of Virginia; Siddharth Garg, New York University; Michael Taylor, University of California, San Diego; Mariana Raykova, Yale University; Rosario Gennaro, CUNY City College
  • Computing Over Distributed Sensitive Data. Yaacov Nissim Kobliner, Harvard University; Marco Gaboardi, University of Buffalo.

Digital Accessibility

• “College Board Makes it Easier for Students With Disabilities to Get Accommodations”
• Education Week, December 2, 2016, Christina Samuels
  • After scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice, the College Board announced that starting in January 2017, students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs), or 504 Plan testing accommodations, can receive the same accommodations to take the SAT exam as they receive for other exams. Additionally, English language learners may take the SAT in their native language if the student takes the test as part of a state-funded program during the school day; they can also receive more time for taking the exam. ACT previously announced it would make these same accommodations in fall 2017.

 

Policy
 

• U.S. Students Still Lag Behind Many Asian Peers on International Math and Science Exams”
• Washington Post, December 6, 2016, Emma Brown
  • The 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS, results show that eighth-graders have improved in science and math, but fourth-grade scores have dropped 2 percentage points since the 2011 test. “On TIMSS, the average score of U.S. fourth-graders in math put them behind students in 10 other systems (in order of highest scores first): Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Russia, Northern Ireland and Ireland, Norway, and the Flemish portion of Belgium.” In both fourth and eighth grades, the gender gap has narrowed or closed in both science and math. The TIMMS test has been administered every four years since 1995 by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.

 

• Education GPS”
• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, December 6, 2016
  • The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently released 2015 test results for 15-year-old students from 72 countries who took the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test, which is administered every three years. The students are assessed in mathematics, science and reading. The U.S. ranks 35th in math, 15th in reading and 18th in science. All of the U.S. mean scores are lower than those in 2009 and 2012. Singapore ranked the highest of all countries, with several other Asian countries consistently leading in science and math. North Carolina and Massachusetts participated nationally and at the state level, providing them with state scores, and Puerto Rico scores for the state level were not included in the overall U.S. sample. North Carolina scores were slightly above the U.S. mean scores, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

 

Editor:  Wanda Barker, director of SREB’s Educational Technology Cooperative, Wanda.Barker@SREB.org