Live at EDUCAUSE23—eCampus News exclusive coverage

From the Educause show floor 2023: Promethean

Powered by Promethean’s patented ActivSync technology, the ActivPanel 9 responds to the evolving educational environment by breaking down barriers between devices, enabling increased connectivity and collaboration, and supporting hybrid and in-classroom learning. It provides busy, overworked teachers with the ability to create seamless workflows, design engaging and interactive lessons, customize their personal panel settings, and experience greater mobility.


7:00 p.m: eCampus News IT Leadership Dinner

Edtech executives from around the country came together to discuss what is the most pressing concern on campus—cybersecurity.…Read More

EDUCAUSE 2018 and beyond

The 2018 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference is October 30 through November 2 in Denver, Colorado, and the edtech showcase promises to be both robust and inspiring. In a recent survey, our members told us they wanted to see more on emerging technologies and EDUCAUSE is thrilled to welcome 47 companies this year―our largest number yet―to Start-Up Alley.

Start-Up Alley is the premier showcase for young companies that use technology in innovative ways to address key issues in higher education. Conference participants can watch these start-ups “pitch” their innovative solutions and business models in front of a panel of judges comprised of business thought leaders and entrepreneurs in the Under the Ed Radar Pitch Competition.

This year’s Exhibit Hall will also sport some fun activities that get attendees more “hands on” with today’s emerging tech. For example, participants can experience the power of real-time analytics by taking part in a basketball competition at the back of the Exhibit Hall (no sneakers required). They’ll see how Google uses data science and predictive analytics based on the data captured while shooting baskets. Not only will they be part of the data-creation process; they’ll also receive performance data for their own analysis.…Read More

CIOs: OER will storm campuses in next 5 years, “high cloud” just isn’t happening

Eighty-two percent of institutions say open educational resources (OER) will be an important source of course content in 5 years, according to a survey of CIOs detailed in an annual report that takes a look at campus IT. [Read last year’s Campus Computing results here “CIOS: 5 campus IT priorities for 2016 and beyond.“] The results of the report were released during the recent EDUCAUSE 2017 conference held in Philadelphia, Pa.

This year saw small gains in formal institutions support for using OER in course materials, but faculty concerns remain about the quality of OER and updates surrounding the materials, according to the annual Campus Computing Project.

Video is increasingly important for hybrid, flipped and online classes, and the growing use of video lecture capture has surpassed audio in institutions. Overall, universities have much more capacity for video, according to the report.…Read More

World-renowned futurist Michio Kaku: This is what higher ed should be teaching students right now

“The jobs of the future will be those that focus on intellectual capitalism, not commodity capitalism,” said Futurist, Physicist and Bestselling Author Michio Kaku during the recent 2017 EDUCAUSE conference keynote, held in Philadelphia, Pa.

This was the big reveal to the thousands of EDUCAUSE attendees ranging from college and university faculty to CIOs, and from some of the world’s leading tech companies to some of the country’s most prominent higher ed provosts and presidents—all anxiously awaiting what the crystal ball of the postsecondary future had to say through Kaku’s educated guess.

The Good News…Read More

Blockchain-based credentials may catapult credentialing movement

Leaders from Learning Machine, MIT Media Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University engaged in a groundbreaking conversation with a packed house of EdTech vendors and education leaders at the annual EDUCAUSE conference. Together, they introduced Blockcerts, the open standard for issuing secure, verifiable digital credentials.

Hosted by Learning Machine CEO, Chris Jagers, the panel brought together research from the MIT Media Lab (Principal Engineer Kim Duffy), real-world perspective from the Registrar of Carnegie Mellon University (John Papinchak), implementation details from Learning Machine leadership (COO Dan Hughes), and the societal implications of distributed technologies (Learning Machine Anthropologist Natalie Smolenski). The panelists described a future in which learners are able to act as their own lifelong registrars with blockchain credentialing.

Chris Jagers began the discussion by acknowledging the uncharacteristic interest in this new technology from universities worldwide: “There’s been a lot of genuine excitement about using the blockchain within higher education because the promise is immense. The promise is that it will enable students to hold and share their own official records directly with others in a manner that is safe, tamper-proof, and trusted. We’re talking about degrees, transcripts, certifications, badges–everything.”…Read More

10 must-know takeaways from EDUCAUSE 2016

If you’re at all interested in higher education innovation and technology, the annual EDUCAUSE conference is a must-attend. And EDUCAUSE 2016 didn’t disappoint its over 7,000 attendees and 1,800 institutions from 46 countries thanks to a relevant focus on student success and campus-wide collaboration.

Held in sunny Anaheim, Calif., the sessions, poster presentations and keynotes seemed more inclusive than usual, spanning topics that weren’t necessarily IT-department specific, but could have implications for IT as mission-oriented institutions become increasingly focused on student services that demand excellent technological support.

With a conference that brings together so many attendees, “it’s difficult to identify any single stand-out topic, since those attending are each so unique,” said EDUCAUSE president, John O’Brien, in an interview with eCampus News. “The main strength of the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference is the depth and breadth of topics we delve into that are important to our community.”…Read More

New data: Higher ed has massive misconceptions about low-income student success

Contrary to a commonly-held belief that low-income students are more likely to struggle in a four-year institution, new data indicates students from low-income households are, in fact, likely to thrive in four-year institutions, according to a new survey.

Higher education institutions are relying on predictive analysis to make decisions about admission and resource allocation, but that process could perpetuate the under-representation of minority and low-income students, according to a survey released by vibeffect at EDUCAUSE.

The comprehensive survey includes data from students in 5,000 households, spans 1,000 institutions and covers 260 variables. Four comparison groups are used for analysis:…Read More

EDUCAUSE: The top 10 IT issues in 2017

It’s that time again when almost every attendee part of the annual EDUCAUSE conference crams next to each other in a convention ballroom to hear about what their higher ed peers have to say about the IT issues and challenges they expect to face next year.

“EDUCAUSE’s annual IT issues report is published in January, but this session provides a great preview of what’s to come,” said Michele Norin, senior vice president and chief information officer at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Attendees were granted an exclusive preview of ‘2017’s Top 10 IT Issues,’ and panel members discussed the issues and their importance. [Editor’s note: See the 2016 issues here.]

According to Susan Grajek, vice president of data, research, and analytics for EDUCAUSE, there were three new issues mentioned by higher ed panelists this year: strategic leadership, higher education affordability, and next-generation enterprise IT.…Read More

Students: Use our data to transform our college experience

It’s no secret that today’s college students are generally comfortable sharing personal information online and through social media. But they have expectations, too–a new survey reveals that students expect institutions to use their personal data to deliver enhanced learning experiences.

Overall, 82 percent of surveyed students said they believe the use of personal data and information will transform the college experience in 10 years.

The Ellucian survey, conducted by Wakefield Research, defines personal data and personal student information as any data a school manages about a student, from application to meal plan.…Read More

Cox Business launches Contour on Campus

Now when college students get the itch to catch up on “The Walking Dead” while on campus, they need only to pull out their smartphones, tablets or laptops.

Contour on Campus, a new offering from Cox Business, provides students with an easy way to watch TV on campus via mobile device, while universities gain another selling point for their millennial residents.

Those interested in seeing the technology in action can visit with Cox at the 2016 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference in booth #110. There, Cox Business representatives will be discussing the early adopters such as Hollins University and the success the organization has had in using the technology to incentivize on-campus living for students.…Read More

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