Analytics technologies, makerspaces, and redesigning learning spaces are just a few of the numerous technology developments and trends outlined in a preview of the forthcoming annual Horizon Report.
The Horizon Report was on shaky ground after the New Media Consortium unexpectedly shut its doors in early 2018, but EDUCAUSE acquired the rights to the report and continued the research.
The annual report outlines issues, technologies, and trends that higher-ed leaders should follow and keep in mind as they outline institutional priorities.…Read More
Budgeting in higher education will be the primary pain point for technology leadership in the next decade
Budgeting in government and higher education used to be difficult.
It has always been a challenge to rally for increases to accommodate technology purchases in historically tepid budget-growth environments.
For high-number, like-valued purchases, guesswork could often be removed by initiating standard equipment “refreshes” on comfortable cycles – 2 year, 3 year, 4 year – resulting in chunks of capital dollars.…Read More
Colleges are using innovative technologies to advance student learning.
As educational technology becomes more prevalent in higher education, administrators are hoping to improve student outcomes, boost their school’s visibility and prestige, and aid in student recruitment and retention. Here’s how four institutions are doing just that.
1. Rhodes College (Memphis, Tenn.)
Here’s what Robert M. Johnson, Jr., vice president of student and information services and chief information officer, had to say:…Read More
Three programs have been recognized for their ed-tech creativity in higher education.
A program that offers math development to disadvantaged students, a streaming video service for higher education, and an educational app repository are winners of the 2012 WCET Outstanding Work (WOW) winners, a program from the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET).
WOW is an annual nationwide competition that honors colleges, universities, and organizations for their creative and innovative uses of educational technology in higher education.
“The significance of the WOW Award is more than just some cool, new technology tools,” said James Bowey, professor at Winona State University and chair of the WOW Awards Committee, in the official WCET press release. “At the heart of the award and this year’s three honored projects is that each addresses a real and important need that is shared widely across higher education. It’s the innovative, often collaborative, way in which these projects were carried forward that merits the award, as well as the fact that each serves as a model for others to replicate.”…Read More
There is a widespread belief among teachers that students’ constant use of digital technology is hampering their attention spans and ability to persevere in the face of challenging tasks, according to two surveys of teachers being released on Thursday, the New York Times reports. The researchers note that their findings represent the subjective views of teachers and should not be seen as definitive proof that widespread use of computers, phones and video games affects students’ capability to focus. Even so, the researchers who performed the studies, as well as scholars who study technology’s impact on behavior and the brain, say the studies are significant because of the vantage points of teachers, who spend hours a day observing students. The timing of the studies, from two well-regarded research organizations, appears to be coincidental…
Almost 8 in 10 people view another screen while watching TV.
Prospective college students might not browse a school’s website exclusively on their smart phones, but that’s often where the browsing starts, making the site’s mobile friendliness paramount in higher education’s tug-of-war for new students.
Responsive web design (RWD) has proven a hot topic in educational technology circles over the past few years, and a study conducted by Google, “The New Multi-screen World: Understanding Cross-Platform Consumer Behavior,” offers good news for colleges that have invested in RWD, which makes a school’s site readable on an enormous desktop screen or a shrunken smart-phone display.
Nine in 10 respondents to Google’s survey-based research said they moved from one screen to another to accomplish a goal—from smart phones to PCs, for example, or tablet computers to PCs.…Read More
Here are our readers’ top picks for educational technology products and services in 2012-13.
Here are the results of our 2012-13 Readers’ Choice Awards, which recognize the educational technology products and services that have had the greatest impact in our readers’ schools.
This past spring, we asked readers to give us their top picks for school hardware, software, websites, and services. Nearly 1,300 readers responded.
In nominating their favorite ed-tech products, we asked readers to tell us how they’re using these products to improve teaching, learning, or school administration—and to what effect. We then chose the 50 best responses, which appear alphabetically by product name and grouped into two categories: K-12 and higher education.…Read More
Ed-tech innovators received investment capital 127 times in 2011.
Big-money investors poured more money into educational technology companies in 2011 than during the heady dot-com days of the late-1990s, according to a national market analysis that credits investor knowledge, in part, for the funding boom.
After a slump in investment capital during the mid and late 2000s, companies focusing on classroom technologies—including social media-centric solutions—are benefiting from a never-before-seen influx of funding from private investors and investment firms.
In a report released this week, “Fall of the Wall: Capital Flows to Education Innovation,” GSV Advisors, which assists education entrepreneurs and tracks investments in educational companies and products, documented a steady rise in investment that peaked last year.…Read More
Interoperability presents an issue for educational technology leaders who often must integrate diverse products made by different developers.
When school technology directors purchase an innovative product from one vendor and an exciting upgrade from another vendor, schools can find themselves in a tangle of incompatible formats. A primer released this spring by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) explains how adoption of interoperability standards can streamline technology systems in K-20 education.
Interoperability, the ability of different systems to work together, presents an issue for educational technology leaders who often must integrate diverse products made by different developers. Those developers, too, must walk a fine line when trying to create products that encourage brand loyalty but also can be readily adapted to diverse systems.
SIIA’s report, titled “Primer on K-20 Education Interoperability Standards,” provides a framework for understanding interoperability standards that facilitate the exchange of content from different technology applications and systems. To provide a context for standards’ development and implementation, the primer surveys the challenges and benefits of adopting interoperability standards.…Read More
