July+1,+2013

=Worthy of Note: July 1, 2013=



In this issue ...
SREB News Online Learning Broadband and the Digital Divide Resources Future Technologies Cloud-based LMSs MOOCs Student Success and Digital Technology ISTE Highlights Mobile Apps Faculty Development Privacy vs. Security Technology Readiness Just Interesting

SREB News
Kentucky Governor Beshear Elected Chair of the Southern Regional Education Board Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky was elected chair of the Southern Regional Education Board at its annual meeting in New Orleans in June.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A Decade of Progress: How SREB States Achieved Exceptional Gains //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Jeff Gagne, director of Education Policies, Joan M. Lord, vice president // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This report is a tribute to the SREB states that made substantial progress in the last decade on key measures of the National Assessment of Educational Progress and on high school graduation rates: Five SREB states led the nation in gains on NAEP in at least one subject, grade level and proficiency level. Four of the nation’s top five states in gains on high school graduation from 2002 to 2009 were SREB states. In addition, four of the nation’s top five states with significant increases in the numbers of graduates over the period were SREB states. This brief profiles Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee and Texas, which made significant progress over the decade in these areas and reveals how they each made a significant improvement in one key policy area.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">2013 SREB Fact Book on Higher Education <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The //SREB Fact Book on Higher Education// includes data on the population and economy, enrollment, degrees, student tuition and financial aid, faculty and administrators, revenue and expenditures. With more than 100 tables of detailed information, the Fact Book is one of the nation’s most respected and most comprehensive collections of comparative data on higher education.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A Generation of Success: The SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program Celebrates 20 Years <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This brochure celebrates the success of the SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program on its 20th anniversary and describes the continuing need for — and contributions made by — minority faculty on the nation’s college campuses. It includes a timeline of program milestones and a look at the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring (also celebrating its 20th year). The accomplishments of many program graduates are highlighted.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Common Core State Standards Networking Conference //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SREB and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Common Core State Standards Networking Conference is a first-of-its-kind event that will feature proven tools and strategies for implementing the Common Core State Standards and other rigorous standards through the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and the Mathematics Design Collaborative (MDC). //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">July 15 - 17, 2013 // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Westin Charlotte, 601 South College Street, Charlotte, NC // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Phone: 404-875-9211 //

Online Learning
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Why Education Leaders Can't Ignore Online Classes //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Education, June 25, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A 2013 Trends in Online Learning Report released at ISTE on Tuesday, June 25, looked at online learning from the perspectives of thousands of teachers, parents, students and administrators. Project Tomorrow analyzed results from the 2012 Speak Up survey to produce this report with Blackboard K-12.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Forty-three percent of parents with school-aged children have taken online classes. And when they go through online classes for work or their own education, they increasingly want an online learning experience for their students, said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow. That's why 48 percent of them want more online classes at their high schools.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Universities in Consortium Talk of Taking Back Control of Online Offerings //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Steve Kolowich, ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">e Chronicle of Higher Education, June 19, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">As online learning and its associated technologies become more integrated into traditional university curricula, the provosts would prefer to retain, where possible, ownership over the intellectual property and distribution channels, she said. And a consortium-based approach might give them the best shot at that.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Panel backs introduction of digital learning in US //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Education Week, Digital Directions, June 13, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">WASHINGTON (AP) — A week after President Barack Obama called for 99 percent of American students to be connected to high-speed Internet within five years, an independent panel that spent more than a year reviewing the lack of technology in U.S. schools says the wiring can be done even sooner.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The LEAD Commission is finalizing a five-point plan that it says will bring digital learning to schools by 2016. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the panel's blueprint on Wednesday; the full plan is expected to be formally released in the coming weeks.

Broadband and the Digital Divide
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This Chart Shows the Digital Divide Is Still a Real Problem //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Alex Fitzpatrick, Mashable, June 14, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The White House released a new broadband report <span class="aqj" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Friday <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> that's chock full of interesting information about the state of American broadband. A key chart, however, comes on page nine and shows the digital divide is still very, very real.

Resources
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">8 Free Collaboration Tools for Educators //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Bridget McCrea, Campus Technology, June 5, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Ready to bring collaboration into your classroom? Here are eight free apps and tools you can use to get students working -- and learning -- together, in and out of the classroom. (Note that while some of the app developments may charge for "premium" versions of these products, all of the following apps are free to use at a basic level).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Two English Teachers Start IncitED, a New Crowdfunding Site for the Education Space //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">DK Row, The Oregonian, June 17, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Crowdfunding has become so trendy that it seems as though a new site opens every week -- and often by people with a lot of passion but little experience. The expected post-beta launch is set for <span class="aqj" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">August 1 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">. Source: OregonLive.com Take, for example, the folks behind Portland-based IncitED, a crowdfunding site geared toward the education space that launched in April.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">New OER Exchange Opens with 680,000 Free Learning Objects //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal, June 24, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Educational technology company Pearson has launched its OpenClass Exchange for instructors. Out of the gate, the new open education resource (OER) catalog will include links to 680,000 instructional and learning items. Pearson also said it has updated its learning environment, OpenClass. The announcements came during ISTE 2013, the annual conference for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">OpenClass Exchange lets instructors search and get to digital content culled from e-textbooks, course resources, videos, and other educational content that's free and open. They can also create and add content to the exchange. For example, the catalog will include pointers to videos from YouTube EDU, Khan Academy, and TED-Ed as well as materials from Washington State's Open Course Library, and other sources.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Federal Site for Free Education Resources Grows and Gets Mobile Facelift //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal, June 25, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">A site for accessing freely available education materials from public agencies has just been revamped for the third time in its lengthy history to include a cleaner interface and many more listings. The Federal Registry for Educational Excellence (FREE) helps educators, students, and others find digital teaching and learning resources maintained by the federal government. The latest version, released in beta form, also includes listings of free materials from private organizations.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The catalog uses the Learning Registry, an open repository of data about digital learning objects on the Internet developed by the United States Department of Education.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">EduClipper Launches Its “Pinterest For Education” To Bring Better Crowdsourced Curation & Sharing To The Classroom //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Rip Emson, Tech Crunch, June 2, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">After a year in development, this week the teacher-turned-entrepreneur officially launched eduClipper, a platform that allows teachers and students to explore, share and contribute to a library of educational content. In both function and design, it’s essentially a Pinterest for education, with one notable difference: Because eduClipper is built exclusively for teachers and students, unlike Pinterest, you probably won’t find it blocked by your local school.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Anatomy of A Tweet- Must See Guide for Teachers //<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;">Using Twitter for educational purposes starts with understanding how this social networking and microblogging platform works. This is best done via going through the tutorials found in its FAQ page or through videos other volunteers created and posted in YouTube or Vimeo.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Now that your students have understood how to create their profile on Twitter, they will need to know what a tweet is all about. This is where "anatomy of a tweet" comes in handy. By dissecting the tweet into its constituent parts and showing students what each part is about, they will not only make a head start in tweeting but will also transform their tweeting experience.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">OpenEd Launches Comprehensive Catalog of Common Core Content //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tom VanderArk, Getting Smart, June 25, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">OpenEd Institute offers a free open catalog of educational content aligned to the Common Core. Co-Founder Lisa Blum calls it the biggest on the web.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The simple search feature provides access to over 120,000 videos and 80,000 educational games, searchable by keyword, grade and standard. The content was selected and tagged by a group of teachers throughout the U.S. Teachers can mark their favorites and recommend the best resources for each standard.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">How to create a classroom website //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Edgalaxy.com, June 18, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A classroom website can be one of the best tools you can utilize to showcase the great things happening in your classroom.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">15 Tips on Using Social Media to Develop Course Communities //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Sue Beckingham, Sheffield Hallam University, Slideshare, June 19, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">A quick review of 15 tips on how to use social media to connect students.

Future Technologies
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Professors Envision Using Google Glass in the Classroom //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Sara Grossman, Wired Campus, June 20, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The new digital eyewear that can display e-mail messages has sparked a mix of curiosity and skepticism in the popular press, but several academics are rushing to try it out.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Are Remote Presence Mobile Systems the Future of Reference? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Brian Mathews, ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 14, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This is a look at how libraries might use remote-presence mobile systems.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">From Wikipedia: Remote presence consists of two participating parties:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The **Pilot** controls the remote presence device, typically through a computer and keyboard, mouse, joystick, or other haptic interface
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The **Locals** are people in the same location as the device, interacting with the pilot through the device
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The pilot and locals are typically in two different locations, separated by a long distance, connected by a network link with sufficient bandwidth to transport their audio, video, and data communication.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Future of Technology Isn't Mobile, It's Contextual //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Pete Mortensen, Co Design // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Machines that understand you and everything you care about, anticipate your behavior and emotions, absorb your social graph, interpret your intentions, and make life, um, “EASIER.”

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Cloud-based LMSs **
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Ultimate List of Cloud-Based Learning Management Systems //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Christopher Pappas, eLearning Industry // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Are you looking for a Cloud-Based Learning Management System? This post contains a list of 16 Cloud-Based Learning Management Systems that will be updated regularly.

MOOCs
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Inside a MOOC in Progress //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Karen Head, Chronicle, Wired Campus, June 21, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">After months of preparation, we finally started our MOOC, “First-Year Composition 2.0,” at Georgia Tech. We are now through the first few weeks of the eight-week course, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This is a look at the beginning and a final report will be offered after the course is over.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">ISTE 2013: How will MOOCs affect your K-12 classroom? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Meris Stansbury, eSchool News, June 24, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Experts say high schools are about to get a MOOC awakening

Student Success and Digital Technology
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Digital Technologies Boost Student Success Rates //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">John Baker and John Smallwood, Center for Digital Education, June 26, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">New statistics from the National Student Clearinghouse show why traditional strategies in education are failing students and taxpayers alike. In the fall of 2012, the Clearinghouse looked at the success rate of nearly 1.9 million first-time degree-seeking students who had entered college full-time or part-time six years earlier. Barely more than half, 54 percent, had graduated. Such a high dropout rate means that the nation’s finite teaching resources are not being put to their best use, not to mention the squandering of students’ (and their parents’) time and money.

ISTE Highlights
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">2013 Trends in Online Learning: Virtual, Blended and Flipped Classrooms <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">//Whitepapers, BlackBoard// //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Presented by Julie Evans at ISTE, June 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The digital conversion means different things to different education leaders in K-12. But this year's Speak Up Survey data reveals an exciting new trend - they seem to agree that online learning options are providing more ways to engage students.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Game-Based Learning Ideas from ISTE //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Andrew Miller, Edutopia, June 26, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">As ISTE closes, there are many free resources that I saw either introduced or highlighted around game-based learning (GBL), from educational games to gamification in the classroom. I'm always looking for free! (Aren't we all?) Some of these tools and concepts have already been featured in news reports about education, but following are a few ideas as you consider using them.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Press Release: SIIA 2013 Vision K-20 Survey Results: U.S. Schools and Universities Express Continued Interest and Desire to Expand Use of Technology //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">eSchool News, ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Washington, D.C., June 25, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) today released the full report from the 2013 Vision K-20 Survey, its sixth annual national survey to measure U.S. educational institutions’ self-reported progress toward building a framework that embraces technology and e-learning. SIIA presented the results during the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Conference in San Antonio. The comprehensive report surveyed nearly 1,500 educators and education administrators. The final 2013 report is available here.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">New OER Exchange Opens with 680,000 Free Learning Objects //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dian Schaffhauser, THE Journal, June 24, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Educational technology company Pearson has launched its OpenClass Exchange for instructors. Out of the gate, the new open education resource (OER) catalog will include links to 680,000 instructional and learning items. Pearson also said it has updated its learning environment, OpenClass. The announcements came during ISTE 2013, the annual conference for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">OpenClass Exchange lets instructors search and get to digital content culled from e-textbooks, course resources, videos, and other educational content that's free and open. They can also create and add content to the exchange. For example, the catalog will include pointers to videos from YouTube EDU, Khan Academy, and TED-Ed as well as materials from Washington State's Open Course Library, and other sources.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">ISTE 2013: How will MOOCs affect your K-12 classroom? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Meris Stansbury, eSchool News, June 24, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Experts say high schools are about to get a MOOC awakening.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">ISTE keynote: Gaming has huge educational potential //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Laura Devaney, eSchool News, June 24, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Gaming–educational gaming in particular–has supporters and skeptics. During the ISTE 2013 opening keynote, speaker Jane McGonigal,, a gaming researcher and author of //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Reality is Broken: Why Games make Us Better and How They Can Change the World //, laid out a vision of how gaming can help boost student engagement and positively impact societal problems.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">ISTE’s Top Ten Conversations <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Check out the top ten conversations overheard about everything new at ISTE this year. Among other topics: Google Glass, Gamification, and Virtual Schools and Online Classes.

Mobile Apps
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">App-ology Accepted //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Mary Grush, Campus Technology, June 4, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Who gets up daily at 4 a.m. to review the deluge of new mobile apps and alert colleagues around the globe about those with particular relevance to education and workforce skills? Robbie Melton, that's who. In her position as associate vice chancellor for mobilization and emerging technologies for the Tennessee Board of Regents, Melton plays an instrumental role in TBR's groundbreaking Mobile App Education and Workforce Resource Center.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">This spring, Melton shared her passion for 'strategic mobilization'--and the related policies and team practices she has implemented at TBR--with attendees at CT Forum 2013 in San Diego. We asked Melton to explain the goals and vision behind TBR's commitment to mobilization.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Find out why Robbie has been named the <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">world's first "appologist"?

Faculty Development
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">In Indiana, Tech Training for Teachers 'Flipped,' With a Twist //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Benjamin Herold // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, Education Week, Digital Education, June 26, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">When it comes to using the new iPads at Cathedral High in Indianapolis, "the adults definitely need a lot more help than the kids," says 16-year old sophomore Jimmy Kacius. ISquad is a team of 25 students that provides on-the-spot tech support to teachers and students at their school.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">5 Keys to Engaging Faculty with IT //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Linda L. Briggs, Campus Technolgy, June 6, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Faculty development remains one of the biggest impediments to the wider use of technology in education. CT looks at five strategies that schools have implemented successfully to increase faculty engagement.

Privacy vs. Security
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Hey! Big Brother is Watching Everything You Do Online //<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;">From the Bill of Rights to Edward Snowden, there has always been a battle between the right to privacy and the prying eyes of the government. Should privacy be compromised for security, or security for privacy? Following is a great graphic on some events that took us from the Fourth Amendment to Prism.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Data Security Is a Classroom Worry, Too //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Natasha Singer, New York Times, June 22, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Like many privacy-minded parents of elementary students, Tony Porterfield tries to keep close tabs on the personal information collected about his two sons. So when he heard that their school district in Los Altos, Calif., had adopted Edmodo, an online learning network connecting more than 20 million teachers and students around the world, he decided to check out the program.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Mr. Porterfield, an engineer at Cisco Systems, examined Edmodo’s data security practices by registering himself on the site as a fictional home-school teacher. As he went about creating imaginary students — complete with cartoon avatars — for his fictitious class, however, he noticed that Edmodo did not encrypt user sessions using a standard encryption protocol called Secure Sockets Layer. Read about his findings.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Transparency Report: Making the web a safer place //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Google Official Blog, June 25, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Two of the biggest threats online are malicious software (known as malware) that can take control of your computer, and phishing scams that try to trick you into sharing passwords or other private information.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">So in 2006 we started a Safe Browsing program to find and flag suspect websites. This means that when you are surfing the web, we can now warn you when a site is unsafe. We're currently flagging up to 10,000 sites a day—and because we share this technology with other browsers there are about 1 billion users we can help keep safe.

Technology Readiness
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Education Technology Readiness - Preventing the Unexpected //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Brandt Redd, Of That, June 22, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Technology readiness is a new concern for state and district technology directors. With high-stakes assessments going on, concerns are even higher. The RTTA Assessment Consortia have collaborated on a Technology Readiness Tool that states and districts are using to survey and report on their preparedness to perform assessments. Smarter Balanced and PARCC have added Technology Readiness Calculators that help districts and schools perform capacity planning.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">But there are a bunch of things that go wrong that are overlooked by conventional planning and testing. Some of them are even missed by experienced network technicians. It's not that the tools above are flawed. It's the nature of these kinds of problems that require them to be addressed in a different way. Today I hope to prevent them from biting you. The following list isn't comprehensive. But it's a good start.

Just Interesting
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">5 Emerging Technologies Every Office Will Have In 2020 //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Natasha Baker, Forbes, May 21, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">What revolutionary technologies are on the radar today? Here are five technologies that today’s experts are discussing and could very well be commonplace in offices by 2020.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Texting Generation More Likely To Read Books and Use the Library Than Older Americans //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">David Nagel, THE Journal, June 25, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">This research, conducted by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and underwritten by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, found that not only is the texting generation (aged 16 to 29) using technology to access books and other library resources more frequently than older Americans, they're also dominating in traditional media as well.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">A full 75 percent of Americans aged 16 to 29 reported reading a book in print within the last year versus just 64 percent of older adults. (That jumps to 85 percent for those in the 16 to 17-age bracket.)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">10 Dubious Claims about Technology and Learning //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed, June 23, 2013 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The false, the misleading and the half-truths. Following along the lines of Arthur M. Hauptman's excellent essay 10 Dubious Claims About Higher Ed Decline, I offer a similar list for technology and learning.