eCampus of the Month: Lone Star College is a shining example of ed-tech innovation

Lone Star recently won a grant from the Gates Foundation.

With more than 95,000 full-credit and continuing education students for fall 2011, Lone Star College is the largest and fastest-growing community college system in Texas. Lone Star College is recognized globally for its student success and innovation, with faculty grants that encourage ed-tech innovation and international programs for students among its many achievements.

Shah Ardalan serves as the system’s chief information officer and recently was named chief executive officer of its newest college, LSC-University Park. Here, he describes the system’s ed-tech accomplishments and its keys to success.

How do you use technology to advance student learning? …Read More

Textbooks are coming to students’ Facebook news feeds

Seven in 10 students say they would be likely to use a Facebok app that might improve their grades.

In between commenting on photos, posting videos, and updating statuses, college students will be able to read textbooks, study with classmates, and post questions on Facebook after a California-based digital textbook company released its eBooks to the world’s most popular social network.

Kno, an educational software company that grabbed the attention of campus technologists in July with the release of a controversial eBook survey, announced Aug. 10 that it would make more than 100,000 digital textbooks readable via Facebook.

Read more about Facebook in higher education……Read More

The 10 biggest higher-ed tech stories of 2010

eCampus News counts down the 10 biggest higher-ed tech stories of 2010.

Campus leaders get better at leveraging the power of social media … Data breaches continue to hit higher education, with possible legal ramifications … A new federal law enlists colleges in the fight against online piracy: These are among the many key developments in campus technology in the past year.

In this special retrospective, the editors of eCampus News highlight what we think are the 10 most significant campus technology stories of 2010. To learn more about each story, click on the headlines below.

What do you think? Do you agree with this list? Did we leave anything out? Share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.…Read More

Obama: Community colleges central to economic recovery

Obama spoke to more than 100 community college officials at the White House.
Obama spoke to more than 100 community college officials at the White House. (Courtesy White House photographer Pete Souza)

During an Oct. 5 White House summit, Obama administration officials and community college leaders discussed ways to position two-year colleges as training hubs that could be instrumental in the country’s economic recovery. And technology, they said, would be a centerpiece to enrolling more students and boosting completion rates.

The gathering of more than 100 community college decision makers from across the country was the White House’s first-ever Summit on Community Colleges, where top federal officials lauded two-year colleges as a bridge to jobs and four-year universities, and a way to lead the world in college graduates by 2020.

The Community College Summit was held a day after President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board announced its Skills for America’s Future program, which aims to connect businesses with community colleges to help better match workers with jobs during the economic recovery and beyond.…Read More

Do students need more online privacy education?

One privacy expert says colleges should stress internet-use policies in the aftermath of the Rutgers suicide.
One privacy expert says colleges should stress internet-use policies in the aftermath of the Rutgers suicide.

Privacy advocates say the rules regarding internet privacy and appropriate online behavior should be stressed at colleges and universities, especially among incoming freshmen, in the wake of a Rutgers University student’s suicide after a video of him having sex was posted on the web without his consent.

A lawyer for Tyler Clementi, who was a freshman at Rutgers in New Brunswick, N.J., confirmed that Clementi had jumped off the George Washington Bridge last month. Clementi’s suicide came days after the student’s private sex acts were made available in an online broadcast set up by two students—Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, both 18—who were later charged with invasion of privacy, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan.

The investigation began “after Rutgers police learned that the camera had been placed in the 18-year-old student’s dorm room without permission,” according to a Sept. 28 release from Kaplan’s office. Kaplan said Wei was released after surrendering to Rutgers University Police Sept. 27. Ravi was released on $25,000 bail.…Read More

House Democrats punt on net neutrality

Net neutrality was the Obama administration's top campaign pledge to the technology industry and a major priority of the current FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski
Net neutrality was the Obama administration's top campaign pledge to the technology industry and a major priority of the current FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski

In the latest development in the fight over so-called “net neutrality” regulations, House Democrats have shelved a last-ditch effort to broker a compromise between phone, cable, and internet companies on rules that would prohibit broadband providers from blocking or degrading online traffic flowing over their networks.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., abandoned the effort late on Sept. 29 in the face of Republican opposition to his proposed net-neutrality rules. Those rules were intended to prevent broadband providers from becoming online gatekeepers by playing favorites with traffic.

The battle over net neutrality has pitted public interest groups and internet companies such as Google Inc. and Skype against the nation’s big phone and cable companies, including AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., and Comcast Corp.…Read More

New site helps students compare private loans

The student loan application process can hurt a student's credit score.
The student loan application process can hurt a student's credit score.

Students at private, nonprofit colleges and universities in 12 states can use a new online service to find a school loan, avoiding complex web searches that discourage students from finding the best deal.

The Marketplace, a web site launched in August, offers private loan options that show student applicants how much they will be charged before submitting their loan application.

Without the one-stop-shopping site for private school loans, students are left to manage a circuitous route through various sites that make it impossible to compare loans and interest rates.…Read More

For-profit schools hit back as ED finalizes regulations

Duncan has received a series of letters from members of Congress opposing a for-profit crackdown.
Duncan has received a series of letters from members of Congress who oppose a for-profit crackdown.

The U.S. Education Department (ED) will take longer than expected to formulate new regulations for for-profit colleges, and private-sector school officials expect about 1,000 students to speak out against the government’s measures at a rally planned for Sept. 29 in Washington, D.C.

For-profit colleges have campaigned hard against the “gainful employment” rule, which would cut off federal aid to college vocational programs with high student debt levels and poor loan repayment rates. They’ve lobbied Congress, purchased newspaper ads, and helped students and others register complaints with ED.

The government was to publish its final rules by Nov. 1, but ED officials announced a new timeline on Sept. 24, saying sections of the plan would be ready by Nov. 1 and the remaining portions will be published in early 2011.…Read More

University libraries not hurrying to the mobile web

UC San Diego's mobile library site is among the relatively few in higher education.
UC San Diego's mobile library site is among the relatively few in higher education.

The University of California, San Diego, has joined a small list of schools with library web sites accessible through any smart phone as campus technology leaders try to meet student demand for anytime, anywhere access to library databases.

UC San Diego officials announced the new web site—designed for iPhones, Droids, and other popular smart phones—Sept. 23, highlighting the “Ask a Librarian” feature that lets students chat, text message, or call library staff using the mobile site.

Students also will have easy access to library hours, directions to the building, and a library catalog where they can look for books and other resources and request items to pick up.…Read More

Viewpoint: Ed tech helps with tough-to-teach courses

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Web-based tools helped one instructor teach one of the toughest psychology classes at his university.

As a former computer science undergraduate major who has done graduate work in cognitive science, I have been following the development of new internet-based, interactive, and adaptive higher-education platforms currently on the market.

These programs incorporate the most recent developments in cognitive science and artificial intelligence to customize the learning process while providing instructors with new course preparation and administrative tools.

The reason I decided to switch to internet-based education tools was mainly because of Introduction to Psychology, which is known as one of the most difficult courses in the psychology curriculum to teach. Classes tend to be very large, and students come to the course with a wide range of prior knowledge, expectations, and preconceptions.…Read More

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