Emerging technologies for learning (volume 1)

Collection of 5 articles on emerging technologies and trend

Integrating Second Life into an EFL Program: Students’ Perspectives

Second Life (SL) is a three dimension virtual world imagined and created by its users. To explore various facets of language learning within SL, faculty members of an American university and a Chinese university took an evaluation research approach to search for appropriate ways to integrate SL into an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) program. This paper reports a part of the research efforts with a focus on the Chinese students’ perspectives of an EFL Program in SL. Specifically included in this paper are (a) the Chinese students’ perceived technology readiness to use SL for EFL learning, (b) their perceptions of SL, and (c) the EFL Program implemented in SL. The paper reviews related literature and theoretical support, describes the study’s context and its implementation procedures, and discusses the evaluation results and implications. Finally, the paper shares with the audience some considerations for integrating SL into an EFL progra

The Evolution of the Chief Technology Officer and the Modernization of Technology in Education

The role of technology in education has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. From the advent of individual workstations to networked labs to one-to-one technologies, computers have transformed how teachers and students consume information. School districts today support hundreds if not thousands of devices and end users. Technology supports mission critical systems like financial, human resources, library, and student information systems and ensures they are integrating rostering information to numerous third-party programs like Clever, Classlink or textbook specific websites. They also support the district operations as well by assisting in or managing building automation controls which can include lighting, heating and cooling along with physical security which includes security cameras and access control systems. With this rapid change of technology’s usage, the rise in the individuals who support these systems and maintaining them have rapidly grown as well. Gone is the position that began as a part-time teacher who knew a little bit about computers. Now this person is a visionary leader for the school district. A pillar to any administrative team today is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) who is tasked with being a leader, a bridge between technology, operations and instruction, is collaborative and has a wide, diverse skill set. Today’s CTO is paving the way forward integrating new technologies in the classroom, onsite and virtually, while ensuring that it is done in the safest and most secure ways. CTOs are looked upon as experts in their field who constantly research new opportunities, stay on top of trends and whose department has a hand in working with every employee in a school district. With the rapid rise of cloud computing and more student data residing in the cloud, CTOs have been susceptible to third-party vendors data breaches or malware attacks. This is in addition to similar attacks that can happen internally with DDoS, ransomware or malware attacks on a school’s internal systems. CTOs must have a balance on understanding the needs of the present, looking at new future trends, and improving from the past

A Review of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Movement: Achievements, Challenges, and New Opportunities

Examines the state of the foundation's efforts to improve educational opportunities worldwide through universal access to and use of high-quality academic content

STUDENTS` ACHIEVEMENT IN ONLINE TEST AND MEASUREMENT COURSE IN SYNCHRONOUS AND ASYNCHRONOUS E-LEARNING PLATFORM

Studies reviewed on student’s achievement in synchronous and asynchronous learning shows mixed results. This study determines whether there exists a significant difference in the achievement of students in online test and measurement course in synchronous and asynchronous e-learning platform. The participants consist of 348 under graduate students of National Open University of Nigeria in online test and measurement course. The researchers employed ex-post facto research design for the study and the instrument used for data collection was the Students Test and Measurement Course Proforma (STMCP). The result revealed that synchronous e-learning improved students` academic achievement more than asynchronous e-learning. It was also found that gender of students significantly influenced their academic achievement in both synchronous and asynchronous learning in favour of the male students. The findings of this study will assist education planners and policy makers in planning decision making process which must come from the students as well as the society in general. Thus, education planners need to review the policies and distance learning curriculum in order to emphasize the importance of distance learning as well as facilitate decisions that will make available relevant and quality distance learning materials which will invariably improve students. Article visualizations

FACILITATING TEACHER PARTNERSHIPS FOR CROSS-CLASSROOM COLLABORATION

Collaboration between classrooms, in a digital environment, was explored using the self-identifiers of connectivity, constructivism, and collaborative comforts to partner teachers. The research question investigated was, how might emerging research on connectivity, constructivism and collaboration within the digital environment inform the design of an interactive website that enhances the ways in which teachers are able to collaborate with colleagues around the world based on the development of a more complex partnering system? The Design as Education Research Framework was used to implement the ‘design as research’ method and resulted in the design of the research object, an interactive website, TeachersConnecting.com. Multiple data sources that informed the design process were: the research object, a development journal, feedback from a development panel, and academic literature in the field. Reflection via a virtual convener, practical applications of connectivism and constructivism, as well as the impact of a development panel on ‘design as research’ were described. Cross-classroom collaboration projects were organized into a matrix that was developed based on the comforts

Telemedicine system in the South Atlantic. Phase VII (I)

The information technology and communications (also known as ICT) are an essential part of the evolution in the economy and society. Access to information has become a vital tool for the development of a community. Consequently, there has been a phenomenon known as "digital divide", which refers to differences between countries that have access to ICT and those without. This project aims to provide a small gesture to reduce the gap between what is often called "differences between North and South", providing an improvement in the telemedicine system that the NGO Telecos Sense Fronteres is developing to the Region of South Atlantic of Nicaragua since 2006. This seventh stage of the project has tried, first of all, to make a careful maintenance of the infrastructure and equipment which currently has the Hospital Ernesto Sequeira Blanco of Bluefields; to improve their performance by incorporating a system of virtual desktops. In addition, the VoIP telephony system has been expanded to other departments of the hospital and other health centres of Bluefields, plus designing a virtual private network for their internal use. Secondly, there has been worked in a radio-link to bring telemedicine to Monkey Point, a rural community, isolated and without access to telecommunications. Finally, it has been emphasized the fact to bring the project to the community of Bluefields in order that they appropriate it and not see it as mere spectators. Related to this, some collaboration agreements have been closed with various local institutions that can contribute to self-management of the project, such as Bluefields Indian & Caribbean University (with engineering students) or the Sistema Local de Atención Integral en Salud (both with the economic and health sides).Català: Les tecnologies de la informació i les comunicacions (també anomenades TIC) són una part essencial dels canvis en l'economia i la societat actual. L'accés a la informació s'ha convertit en una eina vital pel desenvolupament d'una comunitat. Arran d'això, ha sorgit un fenomen conegut com a “bretxa digital”, el qual fa referència a les diferències entre països que tenen accés a les TIC, i aquells que no. Aquest projecte pretén aportar un petit gest per tal de disminuir aquesta bretxa entre el que freqüentment s'anomena “diferències entre Nord i Sud”, proporcionant una millora en el Sistema de Telemedicina que la ONG Telecos Sense Fronteres està desenvolupant a la Regió de l'Atlàntic Sur de Nicaragua des del 2006. En aquesta setena fase del projecte, s'ha pretés, en primer lloc, fer un manteniment acurat de la infraestructura i els equips dels quals disposa l'Hospital Ernesto Sequeira Blanco de Bluefields, millorat-ne les prestacions amb la incorporació d'un sistema d'escriptoris virtuals. A més, s'ha ampliat la xarxa de telefonia VoIP per tal de fer-la extensiva a altres departaments de l'hospital i a altres centres de salut de la població, concretant una xarxa privada virtual pel seu ús intern. En segon terme, s'ha treballat en un radioenllaç per fer arribar la telemedicina a Monkey Point, una comunitat rural, aïllada i sense accés a les telecomunicacions. Finalment, s'ha fet èmfasi en apropar el projecte a la pròpia comunitat de Bluefields amb la finalitat que se l'apropiïn i no el vegin com a mers espectadors. En aquesta direcció, s'han establert convenis de col·laboració amb diferents entitats que poden contribuir a l'autogestió del projecte, com són la Bluefields Indian & Caribbean University (amb estudiants d'enginyeria) o el Sistema Local de Atención Integral en Salud (amb la part econòmica i relacionada amb la salut)

\u3ci\u3eWickard\u3c/i\u3e for the Internet? Network Neutrality After \u3ci\u3eVerizon v. FCC\u3c/i\u3e

The D.C. Circuit’s January 2014 decision in Verizon v. FCC represented a major milestone in the debate over network neutrality that has dominated communications policy for the past decade. This article analyzes the implications of the D.C. Circuit’s ruling, beginning with a critique of the court’s ruling that section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 gave the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the authority to mandate some form of network neutrality. Examination of the statute’s text, application of canons of construction such as ejusdem generis and noscitur a sociis, and a perusal of the statute’s legislative history all raise questions about the propriety of the court’s conclusion. Moreover, the precedents on ancillary jurisdiction and common carriage impose limits to the FCC’s section 706 jurisdiction, preventing the FCC from regulating content before or after it is in transit and likely barring the FCC from imposing a strict nondiscrimination mandate. A revised rule based on commercial reasonableness as initially proposed by the FCC could accomplish many of the goals of network neutrality without running afoul of these prohibitions. Reclassification of broadband Internet access to bring it within the regulatory regime governing traditional telephone service (known as Title II) faces substantial statutory obstacles, would not prevent prioritization of services, and ignores the longstanding problems associated with common carriage regulation and forbearance. The legislative history of section 706 also suggests that the FCC has the authority to preempt the concurrent jurisdiction accorded to state regulatory authorities. Moreover, calls to extend network neutrality to interconnection between networks overlooks the fact that such arrangements are not universal and instead are based on some type of reciprocity and that requiring zero-price interconnection would ignore the important role played by prices and by bilateral negotiations. The article closes by examining five early examples of network neutrality disputes: MetroPCS/YouTube, AT&T/Apple FaceTime, Verizon/Google tethering apps, Verizon/Google Wallet, and the Amazon Kindle/zero-rating programs. These cases demonstrate the difficulties surrounding the implementation of network neutrality rules