July+16,+2013

=Worthy of Note: July 16, 2013=



In this issue ...
SREB News SREB Publications Competency-Based/Personalized/Adaptive Learning in Higher Ed Blended Learning MOOCs Big Data Hopeful Change Pearson Debut Security Resources NEA Policy on Digital Learning Common Core/Infrastructure H.R. 2637 Policies/Lack Thereof Career and Technical Education Unique Broadband Access <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Blackboard Changes

SREB News
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">[|Abbiatti Joins SREB as Educational Technology Chief] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Atlanta — July 1, 2013 — Technology expert Michael Abbiatti joins the Southern Regional Education Board today as director of SREB’s <span style="color: #336699; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Educational Technology Cooperative <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, a program recognized as a national leader in helping states raise student achievement through the use of technology in public education at every level, K-20.

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">ETC Note: Welcome to SREB, Mike. We look forward to your leadership. Your thoughts are stimulating, and we are eager to join you in implementing new ideas and renewing relationships. //


 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">And a good-bye to Matlea Parker //**//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">: //

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">And we must say good-bye to Matlea Parker who has provided skillful leadership for five years in her roles at the Educational Technology Cooperative, especially overseeing the NOTY program and acting as the primary liaison between ETC and online teachers in the region. We wish you well, Matlea, as you pursue new dreams at Junior Achievement. We will miss you! //

SREB Publications
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SREB; Toward Better Teaching //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SREB’s Educator Effectiveness Series // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A view of evaluation policies, practices and lessons in SREB states.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SREB; Changing How Students Learn and Teachers Teach <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This publication presents teachers’ reflections on their early experiences using Literacy Design Collaborative and Mathematics Design Collaborative tools in their classrooms. In these vignettes they share doubts, challenges and revelations about their teaching styles — and amazement at how much their students learn when they are challenged with complex assignments to reach the depth of the Common Core State Standards.

Competency-based/Personalized/Adaptive Learning in Higher Ed
//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">ETC Note: There are several interesting articles here that describe disruptive education in the eyes of the business world. //

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Has a truly disruptive technology come to American education? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Scout Report, July 5, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Throughout the ages, many have thought that new and emerging technologies would transform the world of education. Some thought CD-ROMs might do it, while others placed their abiding faith in online videos. This week, the Economist offered some thoughts on adaptive technology being used in classrooms around the United States that might prove to be game-changers. There are six links to supporting information. Here is one: Catching on at last describes new technology that is poised to disrupt America’s schools, and then the world’s schools.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">E-ducation //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Economist (from the print edition), June 29, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Now at last a revolution is under way (see print article). At its heart is the idea of moving from “one-size-fits-all” education to a more personalised approach, with technology allowing each child to be taught at a different speed, in some cases by adaptive computer programs, in others by “superstar” lecturers of one sort or another, while the job of classroom teachers moves from orator to coach: giving individual attention to children identified by the gizmos as needing targeted help.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">School of Thought //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Pearson Innovation and Research Network // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">From the Center for Online Learning, Drs. Jeff Borden and Rob Kadel have crafted a vision of the future that integrates technology, neuroscience, and educational psychology into everyday life to make anytime, anywhere learning possible. These videos demonstrate how innovative connections among technology, content, and life beyond formal schooling can change how we think of learning.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Big Picture: Student-Centered & Competency-Based Learning //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tom Vander Ark, Getting Smart, July 6, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dennis Littky and Elliot Washor established Big Picture Learning in 1995. “After garnering considerable community support, the state legislature approved the concept for the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, informally referred to as ‘the Met’,” according to their site. The first of the six Providence area schools opened in 1996 with a freshman class of 50 students–mostly ‘at-risk’ students who ‘did not fit’ in conventional schools. As Littky describes in The Big Picture, a 2004 ASCD book, the innovative interest-based school model is focused on educating one student at a time. Read about the success.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">[|Online Learning: Myths, Reality & Promise] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Digital Learning Now! [|Smart Series] is a collection of interactive papers that will provide specific guidance for policy makers and educational leaders regarding adoption of Common Core Standards and the shift to personal digital learning.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The paper’s sections on myths and realities confront misconceptions about what online learning means for students, teachers and the system as a whole. Key topics include:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The range of students served by online learning;
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The power of personalized online learning;
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The daily experiences of online learners and teachers;
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The role of technology; and
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Evidence in support of online learning.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The paper brings together regular Smart Series authors from DLN and Getting Smart with co-author Susan Patrick of iNACOL – the leading advocate for online, blended, and competency-based learning. Read comments at Getting Smart (Tom Vander Ark and Carri Schneider).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Wisconsin's Competency-Based Degrees Approved //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Inside Higher Ed, July 12, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The University of Wisconsin System has earned approval from its regional accreditor for several competency-based programs, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. The low-cost, self-paced degrees, which will feature prior-learning assessment, include a handful of bachelor tracks, a certificate and a general education associate degree from the University of Wisconsin Colleges, a two-year system.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">How Competency-Based Learning Actually Works //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Katie Lepi, edudemic, June 24, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A report from The National Center for Education Statistics found that 38% of those enrolled in higher education are over the age of 25 and one-fourth are over the age of 30. The share of all students who are over age 25 is projected to increase another twenty-three percent by 20191. These findings demonstrate a significant shift in the traditional higher education student. While many developments, such as MOOCs, Open Educational Resources, flipped classroom models and accelerated three-year degree programs have entered the landscape, another great option for variety in learning is Competency-Based Learning (CBL).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">As defined by the U.S. Department Of Education, CBL transitions students away from “seat time” in favor of a structure that creates flexibility, allowing students to progress through a course as they demonstrate mastery of academic content, regardless of the amount of time they put in.2 Competency-based learning strategies provide flexibility in the way that credit can be earned or awarded, provides students with a personalized learning opportunity and gives students an option to reduce costs by speeding through courses, once they demonstrate competency.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Learning, Reimagined: Inside the New Classrooms Model of Personalized Instruction //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Joel Rose, EDTech Focus on K-12, July 1, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A former fifth-grade teacher and co-founder of the Teach to One instructional model explains how it enhances the teaching and learning experience.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Next Generation of (Personalized) Learning //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Blog of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Huff Post Education // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Did you know that less than half of the 2012 graduating class that took the ACT college entrance exam scored at the level that predicts earning a "C" or better in math as freshman in college? Only 24 percent scored at this level on all four sections of the ACT. And though results have improved slightly over the last few years, at the current rate of improvement, it will take 60 years for 80 percent of U.S. students to reach levels that indicate a readiness to succeed in college**.** So, the question is: how do we provide instruction to our children that meet all students' needs?

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">2013: The Year of Adaptive Learning //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Adam Newman, Impatient Optimists, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, April 10, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Adaptive learning offers an opportunity to enhance the instructional effectiveness of colleges and universities and to deliver more personalized pathways to students. This space remains nascent, often pinned between hyperbolic promises of technology-facilitated learning models and the challenge of understanding what exactly //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">is // an adaptive learning solution. Education Growth Advisors (EGA), a strategic advisory and consulting firm and investment bank, recently published Learning to Adapt: Understanding the Adaptive Learning Supplier Landscape<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, a report commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to serve as a guide for higher education decision-makers considering adaptive learning initiatives. The Impatient Optimists spoke with Adam Newman, founding and managing partner at EGA, about the current landscape of adaptive learning and where it’s headed.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Blended Learning **
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Carving a Place for Blended Learning in the Era of Teacher Evaluation //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Paul Roen, blog, July 11, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Earlier this year, the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) Project released its final report. It was the culmination of a three-year investigation designed to synthesize practical understandings and best practices from the fragmented world of teacher evaluation. The project represents just one part of the larger effort to strengthen and standardize the measures that are used to judge teacher effectiveness. - See more [|here].

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">What Blended Learning Looks Like in Kindergarten //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Alison Anderson, Getting Smart, July 12, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Lawrence School District of Kansas, sitting right in the University of Kansas’ backyard, has embraced blended learning, but not just for “college and career readiness” Last year Barbie Gossett volunteered to turn her Kindergarten classroom into a blended learning environment. Along with 7 other teachers from elementary to high school, these pioneers introduced blended learning to their students as well as to the entire district. In a district that serves about 11,000 K-12 students, 8 teachers is just a tiny sampling. But the results of these field tests have had a powerful impact on the direction and the decision the district as a whole is making for the future of their schools.

MOOCs
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Blackboard Co-Founders Says Online Education Set to Put Price Pressure On Traditional Schools //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Darrell Etherington, Tech Crunch, July 11, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Massively open online courses (MOOCs) represent the biggest disruption in the education space since colleges and universities started getting online, he said, and that’s going to mean a lot of upheaval to come. Chasen said that the changes he’s seeing now in the industry remind him of those that were going on at the time that he started Blackboard, when colleges were realizing for the first time that putting course materials and course management tools online made a lot of sense. Change was happening fast and haphazardly, and the results weren’t necessarily clear at the time. With MOOCs provided by startups like Udemy, Coursera and more, there’s a chance to flip everything on its head again.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">MOOCs: Born of Technology, a Perfect Fit for IT Learning //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Dean Tsouvalas, ComputerWorld, July 9, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Massive open online courses, the result of advances in information-sharing technology, are also ideally suited to the teaching of IT skills.

The MOOC Moment //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Inside Higher Ed // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This is a collection of articles -- in print-on-demand format -- about massive open online courses, or MOOCs. The articles aren't today's breaking news, but reflect long-term trends and some of the forward-looking thinking of experts on how MOOCs may change higher education. The goal is to provide these materials (both news articles and opinion essays) in one easy-to-read place. Download the booklet here.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This is the first in a series of such compilations that //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Inside Higher Ed // will be releasing in the months ahead, on a range of topics.

Big Data
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Big Data Helps Underperforming Students Succeed //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Bridget McCrae, Campus Technology, July 3, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Big data -- and the analytical systems used to dissect it -- are also changing college campuses, where underperforming students who once went semesters or even years unnoticed are now finding themselves subject to quicker identification and intervention. Generated by the myriad information systems used on campus, big data can be collected, analyzed, and compared to data across the entire student population. Administrators and professors can detect important trends and make quick decisions around specific students.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Hopeful Change: Technology and Higher Ed **
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">How Technology Will Change Entry-Level Higher Education //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Ariel Diaz, Wired, June 26, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">As technology continues to filter into higher ed and address some of the challenges at play, I believe that more students will have access to the amazing research and brilliant minds that higher ed has to offer. I’m hopeful that the technology community will step up and continue to deliver tools and platforms that help students, professors and institutions gain more choice in the cost and accessibility of educational content. Just as college students have to start from the beginning, the technology community should start with the 101 to catalyze further change in higher ed.

Pearson Debut
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Education Giant Pearson Debuts the First Class of Its Virtual Ed Tech Startup Accelerator //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Ki Mae Heussner, Gigaom, June 26, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Pearson Catalyst, the new ed tech startup program launched by publishing company Pearson, has announced the companies in its inaugural class. From a pool of more than 200, the company selected six for its first class. Take a quick look at the first startups in Pearson Catalyst’s class.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">In the past few months, plenty of other ed tech-only accelerators have opened their doors to startups, including Kaplan’sTechStars-powered program and Socratic Labs in New York. But Pearson’s program differs in a few key ways. For starters, it’s virtual, meaning that startups meet with mentors and receive training via videoconference, telephone and email (its demo day is in-person). And, Pearson doesn’t take an equity stake in companies. Accepted startups get $10,000, support from Pearson executives in relevant areas and the opportunity to launch a pilot program with the publishing giant.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">10 Steps for BYOD Security
//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">LeadInsight, ForeScout Technologies, 2013 // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This directive focuses on business but much is applicable to education. // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The best practices guide 10 Steps for BYOD Security outlines the important steps that an organization should undertake when implementing a successful BYOD program — one that contains the appropriate policies, procedures and security measures to protect your data and your network. Market research identifies the top three BYOD concerns of IT management today as network security, data security and device security.

Resources
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Teacher Technology Bucket List: Hurry You Have Until September to Complete It //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Brian Byrne, Digital Learning Environments // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">With less than two months to go in the school year I figure now is the perfect time to begin experimenting with technology so that it can be utilized from the beginning next year. Therefore, below I’ve created a Teacher Technology Bucket List. This is what I consider should be the bare minimum a 21st Century Teacher should be knowledgeable about and utilize during instruction time with students.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">50 Educators Worth Following in Twitter //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Educational Technology and Mobile Learning // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The chart noted here created by Onalytica 2013 features some interesting people to follow. These are basically educators and teachers who have been actively tweeting in ISTE13.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Help Fix Someone’s Computer Using Google Hangouts’ Remote Desktop //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Brian Croxall, Chronicle of Higher Ed, June 25, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Google’s Hangouts, which they introduced two years ago with Google+, has recently added remote desktop capabilities.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Good Read: Technology Is a Tool, Not a Learning Outcome //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tina Barseghian, Mind/Shift, July 12, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Short but to the point. Something about this very simple list struck a chord with many educators. Author Bill Ferriter explains: “Kids AREN’T motivated by technology. Instead, they’re motivated by opportunities to make a difference in the world; they are motivated by opportunities to ask and answer their own questions; and they are motivated by opportunities to learn together with like-minded peers.”

NEA Policy on Digital Learning
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Union's Digital-Learning Statement Critiques Online-Only Instruction //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Stephen Sawchuk, Ed Week, Digital Education, July 6, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Delegates to the National Education Association's convention have approved a new policy statement on digital learning that addresses some of the hot topics in the field, including new tools, online learning, and the qualifications and roles of educators.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">It is the union's first attempt to update its policies in this area in 11 years. And in a sense, it outlines the NEA's best hopes and worst fears about the exploding digital-learning movement and all it encompasses.

Common Core/Infrastructure
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A key priority for ed-tech leaders: Meeting Common Core needs //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">eSchool News staff, July 2, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">School superintendents and curriculum directors aren’t the only K-12 administrators worried about the changes being ushered in with the Common Core standards: In a recent survey, 83 percent of ed-tech leaders said preparing for Common Core assessments is among their top three priorities—and 62 percent fear they won’t have enough IT infrastructure to support online testing.

H.R. 2637 Higher Ed Regulations
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">House Members Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Eliminate Burdensome Higher Education Regulations //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Education and the Workforce Committee // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">WASHINGTON, D.C. | July 10, 2013 **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> - **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN), and Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) today introduced the Supporting Academic Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (H.R. 2637).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Building on bipartisan legislation that passed the House last year, H.R. 2637 will repeal three unnecessary federal regulations that restrict choice and opportunity in higher education: the gainful employment regulation, the state authorization regulation, and the federal credit hour regulation.

Policies (Lack Thereof)
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">How to Manage Mobile Device Mayhem //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">David Raths, Campus Technology, July 8, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">When it comes to mobile, can campus users be left to their own devices? Universities are increasingly turning to mobile device management solutions to create some order--and security--whether the devices are BYO or institutionally owned.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Study: Campuses lack mobile and BYOD policies, despite concerns //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Jake New, eCampus News, July 1, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Three quarters of university chief information officers (71%) say that the importance of mobility and bring your own device (BYOD) has increased in the last year, but just as many say their institutions have no BYOD policies in place, according to a report by Education Dive.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The report, which was underwritten by Sprint Higher Education Solutions, was based on a survey of 50 CIOs from around the United States and examined the policies, obstacles and successes of universities adopting mobile devices on their campuses.

Career and Technical Education
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Report Sees Strengths and Failings in America's Career and Tech Education //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Goldie Blumenstyk, Chronicle of Higher Ed, July 11, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Career- and technical-education programs offered by employers and colleges in the United States are diverse and decentralized, and those traits, according to a report (A Skills Beyond School Review of the United States) released on Wednesday by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, are both their strength and their failing.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The diversity of institutions, programs, credentials, and oversight policies carries a downside, Mr. Field said, speaking at a presentation about the report at the New America Foundation's headquarters here. "There is a risk that diversity can cause confusion in the minds of students and employers" about which programs are of high quality and worth the money.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Another concern, said the report's other co-author, Małgorzata Kuczera, is that accountability in the programs is "relatively weak and fragmented," especially given the amount of public and personal spending on such training. In 2008 that spending totaled about $68-billion, the report estimates. Read more….

Unique Broadband Access
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">West Virginia U. Provides ‘Super Wi-Fi’ Through Unused TV Channels //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sara Grossman, Chronicle of Higher Ed, July 12, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">West Virginia University has announced that it is now providing broadband Internet access to its campus and the surrounding area via unlicensed and unused television channels. This move away from traditional wi-fi hotspots makes the university the first in the nation to use television channels to provide Internet connectivity, said Michael Calabrese, director of the New America Foundation’s Wireless Future Project, which assisted in the transition.

Blackboard Changes
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Blackboard May Double or Triple Spending on Software Development //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Jeffrey R. Young, Chronicle of Higher Ed, July 11, 2013 // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Las Vegas //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> — Blackboard Inc. is changing, with plans to focus more on innovation than on simply fighting for market share, says the company’s new president and chief executive, Jay Bhatt, who took office just seven and a half months ago.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Blackboard Announces New MOOC Platform //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Jeffrey R. Young, Chronicle of Higher Ed, July 10, 2013 // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Las Vegas //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> — Blackboard announced at its annual conference here that it would create a new MOOC platform that colleges could use free if they were existing Blackboard customers. The company has already hosted a couple of dozen MOOCs on a service called CourseSites, but the new platform will be enhanced with features to help colleges run courses for large numbers of students—and it will let colleges make some connections between their on-campus courses and their free open courses, if they choose to.