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.

How 3 prominent universities are becoming video trailblazers

How three institutions are championing collaboration through interactive and streaming video across the academic world.

video-universities-onlineIntegrate with your LMS, go mobile-friendly and, above all, make sure it’s user-friendly.

These were just three common must-haves when implementing a video platform across campus, cited by three massive universities during Internet2’s 2015 Global Summit on the topic “Collaboration through interactive and streaming video across the academic world.”

Purdue University, Arizona State University, and University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill all utilize different video platforms, but their basic requirements are the same: integrate with the university LMS, allow for all device, have a user-friendly structure, and allow for collaboration on campus and off-campus.…Read More

Higher-ed leaders say this is the future of research universities

University president says a new language is needed to secure funding and support.

research-universites-fundingInclusiveness, both of students and the community, is the key to obtaining the much-needed funding to secure the future of research universities, said Freeman Hrabowski, president of The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).

“I have a word I like to use, ‘Neoteny.’ It basically means a youngness of the mind and refusing to be cynical. It’s a ‘forever young’ way of thinking that doesn’t allow for the ‘been there, done that,’ or ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it’ mentality,” said Hrabowski during this week’s Internet2 2015 Global Summit keynote in Washington D.C. “We need to rethink, and reform, our strategies around securing public and private support for our research institutions.”

Hrabowski explained that earlier in the day, during an executive meeting on the future of research universities, higher-ed leaders and industry discussed three new ways to generate funding, each involving the concept of inclusiveness.…Read More

Mission is key to MOOCs, online programs

CIOs, IT leaders say the key to expanding online is knowing your goals and vision

mission-online-MOOCsBy now, most colleges and universities know that providing some type of online program—fully online, MOOCs, or blended learning—is critical to staying current in today’s changing higher ed landscape. But how do you determine your institution’s online readiness, and how can MOOCs work for everyone?

According to Elke Leeds, assistant vice president for Technology Enhanced Learning and executive director of the Distance Learning Center at Kennesaw State University, during her session at Campus Technology 2014, the one question all institutions must first ask themselves is: “Why would we want to do this?”

“We’re not Harvard or MIT, we’re a teaching-focused state university that produces teachers, nurses and business school grads; we don’t have classes like ‘Advanced computer analytics programming,’” Leeds explained. “So the questions that became most important to us were: ‘What is the value proposition, and what kind of MOOC is right for us?’”…Read More

The next big innovation in higher ed is…collaboration?

College and IT leaders say it’s not about the next tech, but about how teamwork and collaboration can revolutionize postsecondary education

collaboration-institution-hrabowskiPoetry, personal stories, laughs and boisterous arm and hand gestures are not what I was expecting at 8 in the morning, and, I’m nervous to admit, from a university president. Neither was the conversation aimed at inspiring collaboration among all departments and lessening boundaries and hierarchy.

“Lift up your eyes upon
This day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream.”

“That was Maya Angelou, for those who were wondering,” opened Dr. Freeman Hrabowski at the 2014 Campus Technology conference in Boston, “and I like to do this: tell stories and inspire. It’s part of being a good leader.”…Read More

Which schools will lead the pack in higher ed?

Schools must embrace the correct mix of technology and traditional learning to get ahead

schools-debateOn April 30, Future Tense, a partnership of Slate, the New American Foundation and Arizona State University, will hold a conference in Washington, D.C., called “Hacking the University: Will Tech Fix Higher Education?”

Addressing the ongoing global debate over the future of innovation in education, Paula Krebs, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Bridgewater State University, emphasizes that institutions must accept new opportunities offered by digital technology to provide students with critical 21st century skills.

“We don’t need to build more huge high-tech buildings to train STEM graduates – we can teach students to build wikis in class. We don’t need to require that they purchase the latest high-tech device – we can work with what they have…”…Read More

Will educators ever agree on the future of higher ed?

The debate over the future of innovation in education continues without a unified vision

educators-online-learningOn April 10, university leaders held a spirited debated over the future of education innovation at the Princeton-Fung Global Forum in Paris.

Princeton Humanities Chair Gideon Rose expressed a bleak outlook for the future of academics, claiming that Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) will replace the traditional educator-student dynamic.

Opposing this view William Lawton, director of Observatory on Borderless higher education in London, argued that online learning does not threaten universities. Lawton believes that institutions must combine the best elements of personal teaching interaction with students and technology with a blended learning model.…Read More

MOOC: ‘Every letter is negotiable’

What’s in a name? Or, more accurately, what’s in an acronym? Lots, it turns out, and every letter can have different meanings.

letter
MOOC means different things to different people in higher education.

That was the question at the center of a panel discussion Oct. 17 at the EDUCAUSE 2013 conference in Anaheim, Cal., called “To MOOC, or Not to MOOC?”

Massive open online courses were heavily featured in this year’s conference, the first year the annual instructional technology gathering devoted any sessions specifically to the popular online courses. The session was just one of at least nine on this week’s agenda to focus on MOOCs.

Jarl Jonas, director of CourseSites at Blackboard Inc., started the panel discussion by displaying the phrase, “MOOC, every letter is negotiable,” including the letter “M.”…Read More

EDUCAUSE 2013 to explore MOOCs, Big Data, and more

EDUCAUSE’s 2013 conference kicks off Tuesday, and eCampus News will be in Anaheim, Cal., bringing you the latest news, developments, and innovations from the annual instructional technology gathering.

EDUCAUSE
Several EDUCAUSE sessions will focus on MOOCs.

This year’s EDUCAUSE conference will feature hundreds of presentations, speakers, and exhibits touching on 18 themes, from crowd sourcing to cloud sourcing, and from communication to consumerization to a discussion of online courses.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, several sessions this week will focus on massive open online courses (MOOCs). To MOOC or Not to MOOC is one of at least nine sessions about the much-hyped type of online learning.

It will feature a panel of educators and experts discussing the online courses and why some instructors have embraced them.…Read More

InfoComm 2012 exhibitors prepare for record-setting show

Conference organizers expect a record-setting crowd.

InfoComm International, the trade association representing the commercial audiovisual industry, will hold InfoComm 2012, its annual commercial audiovisual show, in Las Vegas from June 13-15. InfoComm 2012 will showcase more than 925 exhibitors with integrated display, projection, audio, conferencing, lighting and staging, digital signage, and communications system solutions.

Corporations, government agencies, and educational, healthcare, and religious institutions from more than 90 countries are expected to crowd the 500,000 net square feet of show floor exhibits, special events and product demo rooms, attend education sessions, manufacturers’ training, networking events, and more.

“Support of InfoComm 2012 has been very encouraging,” said Jason McGraw, CAE, InfoComm senior vice president for expositions. “Trade show attendance is on the rise overall, and InfoComm 2012 is no exception. We are tracking well ahead of last year’s registrations to date, and our attendees will be exploring a Show floor that has never been larger.”…Read More

Six products that stood out at the Consumer Electronics Show

Tablet technology at CES could soon be seen on campuses.

Cheaper tablets, thinner laptops, and an array of sleeker TVs stood out at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

More than 140,000 people gathered there last week for an event that is growing in size, despite the absence of Apple and, more recently, the decision by Microsoft to make this the last year it participates.

A bevy of celebrities, including 50 Cent, Will.i.am, and Kelly Clarkson, stopped by to add glitz to the proceedings—but they were hardly the stars of the show. Here are some of the more significant gadgets that shined at CES:…Read More