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.

Tech-savvy doesn’t mean internet-savvy

A commitment to quality instruction on how to access, evaluate, and synthesize online information needs to be a top priority

tech-savvyMany people, pundits and educators alike, operate under the assumption that the current generation of students is the most technologically savvy in history.

While today’s young people certainly are surrounded by technology, and they use it in their everyday lives, this is not the same as mastering technology as a task-specific learning tool, especially for gathering online information for research reports, reviews, and syntheses.

While the vast majority of students may consult their smart phones dozens of times a day to view Facebook and Instagram or to send text messages, far fewer know how to access and evaluate quality information online to help them complete academic tasks and assignments.…Read More

Universities to explore Internet with…cars

Internet2 will provide electric vehicles to universities experimenting with the Internet of Things

electriccarresizedThe nonprofit computer networking consortium Internet2 will provide electric vehicles to four colleges and universities to be used in research of the Internet of Things.

The type of vehicle, unveiled this week at the Internet2 Global Summit in Denver, was created by Innova Inc. Based on European micro-car technology, the small car is called the Innova Dash and can move up to 35 mph. It can go about 100 miles before needing recharged.

“Our goals are for campuses to use this electric vehicle to enhance sustainability research involving data collection and data transfer across campus networks, and to adopt advanced identity management technologies,” said Steve Wolff, Internet2 chief technology officer. “At the same time, the vehicles will demonstrate a low-carbon-footprint campus transportation alternative.”…Read More

Coming soon to the internet: The .whatever address

A quarter-century after the creation of “.com,” the agency that assigns internet addresses is loosening its rules and allowing suffixes named after brands, hobbies, political causes and just about anything else, the Associated Press reports. Under guidelines approved Monday, Apple could register addresses ending in “.ipad,” Citi and Chase could share “.bank” and environmental groups could go after “.eco.” Japan could have “.com” in Japanese…

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Senators propose granting president emergency internet power

CNET reports that a new U.S. Senate bill would grant the president far-reaching emergency powers to seize control of or even shut down portions of the internet. The legislation announced June 10 says that companies such as broadband providers, search engines, or software firms that the government selects “shall immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed” by the Department of Homeland Security. Anyone failing to comply would be fined. That emergency authority would allow the federal government to “preserve those networks and assets and our country and protect our people,” Joe Lieberman, the primary sponsor of the measure and the chairman of the Homeland Security committee, told reporters on June 10. Lieberman is an independent senator from Connecticut who caucuses with the Democrats. Because there are few limits on the president’s emergency power, which can be renewed indefinitely, the densely worded 197-page bill is likely to encounter stiff opposition…

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Technology makes student aid more accessible

Students have increasingly looked to the web for financial aid.
Students have increasingly looked to the web for financial aid.

Over the past decade and a half, the internet has made it easier for families to learn about, find, and apply for college scholarships, government grants, and other types of student financial aid. This transformation of the financial aid industry continues even today with a simplified federal aid form and a new XML data standard that will make applying for scholarships easier than ever.

I have acted as a catalyst for some of these major developments and have a unique perspective on the role of the internet in paying for college.

I founded the FinAid web site in the early 1990s to help people plan for and pay for college by making the process easier to understand and more efficient. FinAid was one of the internet’s first web sites, not just one of the first web sites about student financial aid. It is also one of the oldest web sites still in existence.…Read More

What Bill Gates is learning online

Bill Gates' new web site reveals his thoughts on open courseware, school reform, and more.
Bill Gates' new web site reveals his thoughts on open courseware, school reform, and more.

It’s no surprise, really, but it turns out Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates is a strong supporter of the open-courseware movement that has swept through higher education in the last few years.

On a new web site that Gates launched this past week, he discusses some of his favorite sources for online lectures and other learning materials. He also offers his thoughts on education reform and a host of other topics.

“There are some great examples of how technology can enable almost anyone to learn from the world’s greatest minds,” he posted to GatesNotes.com.…Read More

Has Google developed the next wave of online education?

Google Wave marks the next step in collaboration capabilities for group projects, some in education say.
Google Wave marks the next step in collaboration capabilities for group projects, some in education say.

Combining text, audio, and video chat with features like drag-and-drop documents and interactive polls, Google Wave is a free web program that could add unprecedented depth to student interaction, many educators say.

Programmers who designed Google Wave, a tool still in development and only available through limited invites, started with a question: What would eMail look like if it were invented today?

The answer is a format that merges social networking with multimedia in an online meeting space where students and instructors can see each other type in real time, conduct private conversations, and edit documents simultaneously.…Read More