University builds virtual reality CAVE for a new higher ed era

K-16 instructors perennially face the challenge of helping students understand complex processes and relationships, especially those that make sense only after they are explored in more than one frame of reference.

The differences between a partial and total solar eclipse on the Earth, for example, are best understood by visualizing observations not just from the surface of the Earth but also from the position of the Moon. The outcomes of historic battles may be better understood by exploring the relative ground positions of each opposing force. The full metaphysical message being conveyed by the frescoes in a cathedral is better understood with respect to the pieces’ locations relative to each other in the building.

Field trips or physical models can help immerse students in some topics’ different perspectives, but often budgets, time, or modeling details limit these tools’ usefulness. Thus, instructors are investigating Virtual Reality (VR) as a means for bringing students into interactive, immersive contact with their subjects.…Read More

2017 education survey reveals 135 percent increase in remote teaching and learning

Kaltura, a video technology provider, recently published its fourth annual State of Video in Education report, a comprehensive international study that examines the evolving use of video in education. A total of 1,000 respondents undertook the online survey between May and June 2017.

The results reveal a boom in the use of video for remote teaching and learning with 66 percent of respondents stating that their institutions now use these capabilities, up from 28 percent in 2016.

Interestingly, 39 percent of those surveyed state that students studying remotely at their institution are already using video-based solutions to join live classes and lectures, while a further 49 percent are keen to add these capabilities to their offerings. Remote video capabilities are also being used to let presenters who are not based at the institution to teach and lecture to students, with 54 percent of all respondents saying that they are already benefiting from this.…Read More

2 reasons why blockchain tech has big, tangible implications for higher ed

Sure, we’ve all heard of bitcoin and how cryptocurrencies could revolutionize the way we conduct business online. You’ve probably seen the topic buzzing around on LinkedIn feeds or in just about any recent article touting future technology predictions. While many of us may not be making important purchases in bitcoin in the near future, the tech behind bitcoin–called blockchain–has the potential to influence our daily lives in more ways than one might think, including in higher ed.

What Is Blockchain?

You’re not alone if your head starts to spin when you hear the term blockchain. Despite being around for about a decade, many institutions are still struggling to grasp just what blockchain is–and what it can mean to higher education.…Read More

5 ways to use AV to prepare students for 21st-century jobs

Critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity—these are the “Four Cs” that P21 has identified as critical skills for 21st century learning. As educators rethink their lesson plans to cater to these skills, one focus area that could help is AV and media skills.

In addition to facilitating learning in multiple subjects, media projects, presentations and online communications advance the uptake of all Four Cs of 21st century learning. Without a crystal ball that tells us exactly what skills our students will need in the future job market, AV projects are a great place to begin preparing students.

Teachers can leverage classroom technology such as projectors, headsets, audio systems and more to prepare students. Here are a handful of ways teachers can make the most out of AV tools for 21st century learning.…Read More

Open textbook initiative goes global

Rice University-based nonprofit OpenStax, which already provides free, high-quality, open textbooks to nearly 1.5 million college students per year, is partnering with Open University’s U.K. Open Textbook initiative to bring OpenStax’s textbooks to the United Kingdom.

The yearlong project is funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as part of its commitment to supporting learning resources that students can download, edit and share. The work is part of an ongoing OpenStax initiative to make its open-textbook model available to students around the globe.

OpenStax’s open textbook initiative is expected to save U.S. students more than $145 million in the 2017-2018 academic year, and the publisher is hopeful that its approach can have a similar impact on U.K. students.…Read More

Why every campus should provide today’s students with digital backpacks

Technology is a critical component in education delivery and growing moreso by the day, but the story of higher learning is not solely a technology story. It is a story about intellectual growth and delivering a consistent learning experience across the entire student population – agnostic of curricula, socioeconomic factors or hardware inventory.

Meshing the current information and technological tumult, these core modern challenges face colleges and universities especially acutely given the unique preferences and demands of today’s students.

Across the country, institutions of higher learning are increasingly exploring the transformative benefits of digital workspaces to ensure a consistent and democratic delivery of learning experiences for all students at any time, on any device, anywhere.…Read More

10 years after Virginia Tech: New tools for suicide prevention

When Virginia Polytechnic Institute senior Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17 others before taking his own life on April 16, 2007, it was a wakeup call about shortcomings in the way colleges and universities approached student mental health.

Cho had a history of depression and anxiety disorders dating back to middle school and had exhibited alarming behavior on campus, including stalking two female students and submitting disturbing creative writing assignments that prompted at least one professor to urge him to get counseling. Yet he slipped through the cracks, in part because of a lack of communication between different campus constituencies that were aware of his conduct.

One of the enduring legacies of the Virginia Tech tragedy has been an effort by campuses nationwide to augment their mental health and suicide prevention programs. Initiatives have ranged from establishing interdisciplinary teams to share information about students demonstrating signs of emotional instability, to integrating communication between health and counseling services, to training gatekeepers such as residence hall staff, academic advisors, faculty and students to recognize and respond to students in crisis.…Read More

How to enable digital workspace technologies campus-wide

Tucked away in Cullowhee, North Carolina, near the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains, Western Carolina University (WCU) is the westernmost institute in the University of North Carolina system. With more than 10,800 students, WCU provides more than 120 undergraduate majors and concentrations and more than 35 graduate programs.

WCU was the first campus in the University of North Carolina system to require its students to bring a computer with them to school. For some time, students have been utilizing a variety of devices: from desktop and laptop computers to tablets and smartphones. The university needed a way to provide students access to applications and data no matter what kind of device they have or whether they’re located on or off campus.

Tasked with providing a consistent, secure computing environment across the entire university population, WCU turned to VMware and its digital workspace solutions. Today, every student and faculty member has access to a virtual desktop, allowing them to work whenever and wherever is most convenient, from any device.…Read More

Why AI is going nowhere without help from colleges and universities

The first man vs. machine showdown happened on a checkers board.

In 1961, Arthur Samuel, the father of “machine learning,” taught an artifical intelligence (AI) program to beat the fourth-ranked checkers player in the country.

Samuel had both academia and private tech to thank for his success. His career took him from MIT to Bell Telephone Laboratories to the University of Illinois to IBM, where his checker program demonstration raised the company’s stock by 15 points. At his last gig, he taught PhD students at Stanford.…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

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