Education IT News For VARs — April 21, 2014
By Amy Taylor, contributing writer
The news includes an article that examines the question of the best uses for student data without infringing on student privacy. In other stories, technology is part of the plan to avert a potential achievement gap in schools across California, and 15 years after the tragedy at Columbine High School, school security remains a top concern in the nation.
Conquering The Student Data-Privacy Balancing Act
EdSurge reports on the developments with the current momentum in schools to move education data from isolated tanks to connected pipes with active flows by mixing and matching resources. Success in mining and analyzing education data on the smaller scale reaps benefits in programs like Purdue University’s Course Signals, Root-1 mobile app Word Joust, and, potentially, Knewton.
Technology Upgrades In School Receive Big Proposal In New York
The Republic says former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was appointed to advise New York on how to spend a proposed $2 billion for technology upgrades in schools. If approved in November, the “Smart School Bond Act” will be used to improve high-speed broadband Internet and other technology in schools statewide.
Volunteer Task Force Seeks To Avoid A Technology Achievement Gap
EdSurge reports a California task force is offering a vision of how classrooms can embrace education technology to enhance learning, embracing the mantra, “no child left off-line.” A recent report found that more than 9 million Californians are unable to connect online at home, and the task force seeks to ensure that a technology skills gap does not become the new achievement gap.
Education IT Talking Points
The Herald Citizen reports on the 15th anniversary of the tragedy at Columbine High School and how “School security improved greatly since Columbine.”
Michael S. Teitelbaum, a senior research associate at Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife program asks the Los Angeles Times, “Is the U.S. losing the tech race?” and examines the efforts taken to improve math and science programs in K-12.
Fast Company reports that the world’s largest provider of online courses, Coursera, is claiming that MOOCs are the answer to getting ahead in the new economy. In a high-skills economy, the labor market requires constant infusion of up-to-date skills, which massive online course provide.
Regional state schools are making a significant impact in the world of higher education, according to a Slate article, which claims the most important sector of higher education is to embrace opportunities offered by new digital technology. Administrators and faculty must be willing to refocus their mindset to mimeographs and social media.
For more news and insights, visit BSMinfo’s Education IT Resource Center.