Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Coding bootcamp now bigger than any university computer science program

Coding Dojo, a coding school for aspiring software developers with campuses across the US, recently announced it produces more graduates each year compared to the nation’s largest computer science program at a four-year higher education institute.

In 2016 the University of California at San Diego had the most students in the country complete undergraduate computer science degrees with 465 graduates. In comparison, Coding Dojo had 811 graduates at its campuses and an additional 176 from its online program for a grand total of 987 graduates in 2016–112 percent more than University of California at San Diego. In 2017, Coding Dojo projects it will have 1178 in-person graduates and 474 online for a grand total of 1652 graduates.

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University improves retention rates of first-gen low-income students by thirteen percentage points

Ivy Tech Community College, the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system, and Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), the state’s premier urban public research university, recently announced the latest results of their multi-year initiative to improve persistence rates among first-generation, low-income students.

In partnership with student success company InsideTrack, both Ivy Tech and IUPUI increased the retention rates of first-year 21st Century Scholar students by approximately 13 percentage points over the last 3 years, with improved results each year.

Now entering its fourth year, the coaching program continues to show impressive results. At Ivy Tech, where all 21st Century Scholars were coached, fall-to-fall retention has increased to 49.6 percent, from a historic average of 36.9 percent, a 34 percent improvement. IUPUI’s coaching program focused on the most “at risk” 21st Century Scholars and saw a similar increase, from a historic retention rate of 50 percent to 63 percent this fall, a 26 percent gain.…Read More

Career centers only help 5 percent of students get jobs; this platform helps the other 95 percent

What is the problem with college career centers?

According to technology platform, Vocate, there are more than 20M college students in America. Student debt is skyrocketing. The average borrower has $37k in debt and that number is growing 6 percent each year. 11 percent of borrowers are currently in default.

Even worse, nearly 80 percent of students graduate without a job, says Vocate. Fewer than 5 percent receive jobs through campus centers.…Read More

New platform will help schools match students with funding for college

CampusLogic, a student financial services platform, recently announced the private beta launch of ScholarshipUniverseSM, a unique technology solution that enables colleges and universities to match prospective students with scholarships and manage applications, review, and awarding—all in an easy-to-use, mobile experience.

Rooted in an adaptive matching engineSM, ScholarshipUniverse provides students and families with one source for both institutional and vetted external scholarships. The launch stems from an ongoing partnership between CampusLogic and the University of Arizona. In addition to UA, Oregon State University and three additional institutions are among the first to join the beta network as advisory partners for ScholarshipUniverse.

First rolled out on the University of Arizona campus, over 70 percent of prospective UA students have used ScholarshipUniverse to identify scholarship opportunities. “Before ScholarshipUniverse there was no streamlined place for students to find scholarships. That had to change,” said Rebekah Salcedo, director of Scholarships and Financial Aid at the University of Arizona. “With ScholarshipUniverse, we’re improving accessibility to education, reducing the amount some UA students owe, and providing the best student experience.”…Read More

OER becomes much more accessible, thanks to new tech and pricing

Cengage, an education and technology company, recently launched OpenNow, a suite of digital products for general education courses with open educational resources (OER) content. OpenNow from Cengage is designed to help higher education institutions and instructors easily access and use OER by delivering curriculum-aligned OER content on an intuitive, outcomes-based platform.

The product starts at $25 per student per course, offering students access to high quality materials at an affordable price point.

OpenNow delivers content through a flexible platform that aims to engage students and boost confidence with assessments and analytics. The content is curated with the licensing rights ensured and mapped to proven course objectives.…Read More

Leading edtech investor backs company to accelerate innovation in higher ed fundraising

EverTrue, a software company that aims to modernize fundraising efforts at educational institutions, announced that it has secured $6MM in additional funding led by University Ventures with participation from existing investor Bain Capital Ventures. The financing will be used to drive further software innovation as the company continues its mission to power the future of higher ed advancement. This most recent round brings EverTrue’s total funding to $23.5MM.

Over the last three decades, the number of nonprofits has increased by more than 200 percent, leaving only 15 percent of total philanthropic dollars for education. As colleges and universities adjust to this shift, advancement leaders are focused on building strong, long-term and sustainable strategies to connect with alumni and build donor bases more efficiently, intelligently and collaboratively.

“Throughout the last 40 years, advancement teams have played it safe, but this status quo approach is costing us donors and dollars,” said Josh Newton, president and CEO of the UConn Foundation. “It’s time for our industry to adapt and embrace a more modern, omni-channel and personalized outreach strategy that engages alumni based on their interests. As UConn begins to change course, we are lucky to have a forward-looking partner like EverTrue to help us navigate this uncharted territory and provide the valuable insights we need to help inform our strategy.”…Read More

New partnership aims to improve Texas higher ed tech, sustainability

Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas (ICUT) is partnering with Johnson Controls to assess and evaluate campus-wide infrastructure needs for more than 40 member institution campuses. Through this collaboration, ICUT and Johnson Controls are helping members make campuses safer, smarter and more sustainable.

“We are excited about the opportunities this partnership provides for our members,” said Ray Martinez, ICUT’s President. “This means better access to valuable information about planning facility upgrades, ultra-efficient campus technologies, and programs and tools that make it all possible.”

With a long history of completing more than 3,000 major infrastructure projects in North America, Johnson Controls will provide ICUT members with an array of professional services and training on issues relating to improving aging infrastructure. Members will learn about topics like environmental and energy management programs, campus security, smart technology, and the use of renewables.…Read More

Digital textbook rental for students just got an upgrade

iFlipd, the first pay-as-you-go weekly textbook rental platform, has teamed up with McGraw-Hill Education, the learning science company, to allow students to rent select McGraw-Hill Education titles in both print and eBook formats for just $15 a week.  After eight weeks, students are given the option either to own the book or to earn a $50 rebate.

“We’ve spent a lot of time listening to students throughout the country, and understand their need for affordability and choice when it comes to course materials,” said Mark Dorman, president of Higher Education, Professional & International. “We’re excited to be working with iFlipd, as well as other channel partners, to expand the options students have for easily and affordably accessing high-quality McGraw-Hill Education materials to support their success.”

Every rental includes an eBook (accessed immediately on iFlipd) as well as a printed and bound book, if the student desires it.…Read More

Research university taps innovative solution as student demand for video surges

Augusta University has expanded its partnership with Echo360 to offer real time access to academic content and lectures across the university’s nine colleges and schools.

The expanded partnership is the result of a joint effort between the University’s instructional technology and academic departments to select a video platform that will enable pedagogical flexibility, and maximize efficiency and reliability across multiple locations. Because Echo360’s video platform incorporates tools to enable active learning, it also forms a central component of Augusta University’s efforts to increase student engagement and retention.

“At Augusta University, we take pride in being on the forefront of innovation, both as a research university, as well as a teaching institution,” said Amy Triana, associate director of IT Field Services at Augusta University. “That means being thoughtful and creative about how to optimize the investments we’re making in technology from both the IT side, as well as the academic side. Echo360’s ability to support pedagogical innovation, while ensuring reliability at scale, generated near universal enthusiasm from our IT and academic leadership.”…Read More

Nearly 1.5 million college students to use free textbooks this school year

Nearly 1.5 million U.S. college students are expected to save an estimated $145 million in the 2017-18 academic year by using free textbooks from OpenStax, the Rice University-based publisher of open education resource materials.

“The adoption of OpenStax nationally is taking hold and saving students and families money,” said Daniel Williamson, managing director of OpenStax. “Individual faculty as well as institutions can make tremendous gains in college affordability by using OpenStax textbooks.”

OpenStax projects this year’s savings to be nearly double last year’s impact on students’ wallets. Since 2012 OpenStax has saved nearly 3.5 million students more than $340 million by offering 29 textbooks for the most-attended college courses. The free, peer-reviewed, openly licensed books include College Physics, Biology, Concepts of Biology, University Physics, Principles of Microeconomics, Psychology, American Government and College Algebra, among others.…Read More