Banning Electronics Works in One OSU Class

All first-year students at The Ohio State University, Columbus, are receiving iPad Pros this fall as part of an initiative between the institution and Apple to enhance the learning experience. The devices are welcomed across campus, except for an economics course taught by Trevor Logan.

Logan banned all electronics from his courses during the spring semester. Instead of complaints, he saw student performance on the midterm exam improve significantly.

The students even seemed to like the policy, telling Logan the ban helped them maintain their focus in class and take better notes. They also said it helped them enjoy the class.

“I thought I would get much more pushback on this from students, and I didn’t think student outcomes would be so significant,” Logan wrote in a Twitter thread. “Given these results, I’m very encouraged to continue with the policy.”

The one concern was the electronics ban might be an issue for students with learning disabilities who rely on technology. Logan allowed students to petition for an exception, but no student did during the spring term.

“A deep understanding of when and how the use of smart devices and other technologies should be diluted or entirely removed from the learning environment remains elusive,” John Craven, associate professor of education at Fordham University, New York, NY, said. “Dr. Logan’s willingness to shed light on this topic is commendable, particularly given the potential of rebellion from students who are currently all too often addicted to their smart devices.”

Study: Adult Learners Aren't Digitally Ready

Many adult learners are either uncomfortable with or don’t want to use the electronic tools necessary for online learning, according to a report by the Pew Research Center. The study identified five stages ofdigital readiness among adult learners, grouping 52% of the respondents in a “relatively hesitant” category when it comes to using digital tools in online learning.

“The analysis shows there are several distinct groups of Americans who fall along a spectrum of digital readiness from relatively more prepared to relatively hesitant,” wrote John B. Horrigan in DigitalReadiness Gap. “Those who tend to be hesitant about embracing technology in learning are below average on the measures of readiness, such as needing help with new electronic gadgets or having difficulty determining whether online information is trustworthy. Those whose profiles indicate a higher level of preparedness for using tech in learning are collectively above average on measures of digital readiness.”

The survey found that 33% of American adults are “reluctant learners” when it comes to using electronic devices. Another 31% are considered “cautious clickers” who are confident in their ability to use the tools, but have no plans to take advantage of learning opportunities either online or offline.

Of the relatively hesitant group, 5% are active learners who simply prefer using traditional means of study and 14% are not prepared for online learning in any form. Just 17% of the respondents consider themselves digitally ready for online learning.

Making Tech Work in the Classroom

Technology in the classroom can be a distraction or it can be used to enhance students’ classroom experience. Stephanie Cole, an associate professor of history at the University of Texas, Arlington, has chosen the latter.

“Using technology changes not so much student behavior as my behavior,” Cole said in an article for Campus Technology. “It makes me craft lectures so that I can apply information and create questions and quizzes. You’ll be amazed at how it makes you rethink how to get information across.”

Cole uses an active learning platform that combines lecture-capture with student engagement, learner analytics, and content-management tools. The system allows her to lead discussions and field questions in real time, and also makes it possible for students to use their mobile devices to ask questions.

The mobile nature of the platform gives student the option to skip her class and watch lecture videos later, so Cole uses it to take attendance and rewards students for their engagement in the classroom. However, the 24/7 access to the course materials and lectures has led to higher grades.

“Great access to lecture material—that is, being able to hear a lecture that you missed or to listen to all or part of a lecture a second time—offers good students an advantage, especially if English isn’t your first language,” she said. “For those students, or where this course is their first exposure to U.S. and American history, keeping up with the class is easier because they can review the lectures at any time. I see more A’s and B’s from these hard-working students.”

Apple Updates Its Education Platform

The Google Chromebook has become the tech tool of choice for many K-12 schools, but Apple isn’t going to let the business just walk away without a fight. The computer company is revamping its iOS education platform that allows student sharing of a single device.

“Apple is clearly gunning for Chromebooks,” Eric Zeman wrote in a post for InformationWeek. “The iPad maker would prefer to see students using its tablet instead of Google’s inexpensive laptops.”

Using the new Apple platform, students will be able to log into any school-issued iPad with their Apple ID and find their individual apps, books, and documents on the device. The Shared iPad feature uses a photo login system so students find their assigned iPads. There’s also a PIN system to make it easier for younger children to log on.

The new iOS 9.3 upgrade lets teachers launch and close apps remotely. The Screen View feature allows teachers to view what’s on a student’s iPad at any time and provides locks to keep students on task, according to a report in MacRumors.

“Apple’s strategy means to make tablets more flexible in the classroom, both for teachers and their students,” Igor Bonifacic wrote in a tech blog for MobileSyrup. “With iPad sales stalling over the last two years, this could be a way to spur sales, especially of older, less expensive models.”

More Learning Innovation Needed

The New Media Consortium listed adoption of digital textbooks, mobile learning, innovations in web and print design, and the merging of online and learning analytics as the trends that are reinventing what course materials can do for students. However, the potential has yet to be realized.

“Each of these trends is spurring new visions of what digital course materials could look like and how they can foster more engaged learning; together, they are fueling a grass-roots wave of innovations,” authors of the report Course Apps wrote. “Two of the trends in particular, digital textbooks and design, have not yet reached their full potential in higher education, and there is space for institutions and education-focused companies to take them to the next level in service of teaching and learning.”

Textbook publishers are taken to task in the report for watching from the sidelines as others innovate. Digital tools still need to include “social, interactive, and immersive capabilities inherent to the connected devices on which these materials are experienced.” The report also pointed out that most content creators don’t have the expertise to develop their own materials.

“There is a need for user-friendly tools that empower faculty to design the kinds of compelling resources that will comprise the next wave of instructional resources and materials,” the authors wrote.

Too Much Tech Doesn't Help Learning

A study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that moderate use of technology by students tends to produce better learning outcomes. The research also noted that students who use computers frequently often have much worse learning outcomes.

The report, Students, Computers, and Learning: Making The Connection, evaluated students from 31 countries in areas such as digital skills and comparing reading comprehension between print and digital formats.

Students from Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, and Canada were the top performers in the digital skills assessments. Students from the United States and Canada performed better in digital reading, while those from Poland and Shanghai were stronger in reading print formats.

“School systems need to find more effective ways to integrate technology into teaching and learning to provide educators with learning environments that support 21st-century pedagogies and provide children with the 21st-century skills they need to succeed in tomorrow’s world,” Andreas Schleicher, OECD director for education and skills, said in an article in eSchool news.  “Technology is the only way to dramatically expand access to knowledge. To deliver on the promises technology holds, countries need to invent more effectively and ensure that teachers are at the forefront of designing and implementing this change.”

Mobile Learning Isn't Just about the Device

Mobile learning isn’t necessarily learning on the go or only performed on smartphones. Mobile learning is also not about the technology or just another form of e-learning, according to a pair of South African researchers.

“M-learning holds much promise and provides exciting opportunities for open and distance learning (ODL),” wrote the authors of the report Mobile Learning: Moving Past the Myths and Embracing the Opportunities. “In order to understand the opportunities, we first need to understand what m-learning is all about.”

For instance, the authors found that students do use mobile devices to learn while riding in a bus, but also when they are sitting at home.  Laptops and tablets should also be part of the mobile-device conversation, if they aren’t already.

In addition, the authors contended that mobile is not just for distance learning, but can be useful in the classroom. They found that m-learning doesn’t mean accessing course materials on a device or only using current teaching and learning methods.

“As with new phenomena, myths and misperceptions exist regarding what m-learning does and does not entail,” they wrote. “In order to understand the fundamentals of m-learning, we have to define what m-learning is by addressing the major misperceptions and outlining some of the possibilities that m-learning offers to the enhancement of open and distance learning.”

Texting May Not Always Be a Distraction

While studies find that mobile devices in the classroom can be a distraction, they are not going away any time soon. Jeffrey Kuznekoff, professor of integrative studies at the Miami University branch in Middletown, OH, decided to take a closer look. He found that students who used their smartphones to text about course content earned scores on par with those who put their phones away in class.

In his study, Mobile Phones in the Classroom: Examiningthe Effects of Texting, Twitter, and Message Content on Student Learning, 145 randomly selected undergrads in communications classes were asked to take notes while watching a 12-minute video lecture on interpersonal communication theories. Students were divided into groups and exposed to different smartphone distractions during the video.

After the distractions, students were allowed a short review period before taking two tests. The first asked students to recall as much information from the video as possible and the second was a 16-question multiple-choice exam on the content.

Students in a control group did score a letter grade higher than those texting on topics unrelated to the lecture, but students who texted about the content had scores similar to the control group. In addition, students asked to tweet every 60 seconds on the content of the video scored higher than those who tweeted every 30 seconds.

“They’re still engaging with the content in some fashion, still mentally processing it,” Kuznekoff said in an article for Inside Higher Education. “That appears, in this short-term experiment, to not have a significantly detrimental effect on learning.”

EdCasting Is a New Form of MOOC

From massive open online courses (MOOCs) have sprung mini-MOOCs.

EdCast, a free open-source audio encoder used to create Internet streaming, has launched EdCast, a social media platform that allows people to post video snippets of educational content, or what is being called “EdCasting.” The content is similar to tweeting, although each post has a video or link that can be described without the 140-character limit, according to a report in eCampus News.

There were 10 EdCasting channels available at the launch, with topics ranging from entrepreneurship to robotics from more than 100 experts in each field. The platform is meant to be an informal learning network that allows users to follow channels, groups, or individuals while allowing educators to organize the content for followers.

“Imagine following teachers or mentors and continuing to see content they endorse on an ongoing basis,” Charlie Chung, chief editor for the MOOC aggregation platform Class Central wrote. “Unlike Twitter, this is not mixed with personal comments or the latest news—it is a pure-play channel for educational content. Also, there is no ‘re-tweeting,’ so that the information flow is not diluted with recycled information. Everything in your feed is a hand-selected link or video.”

Environmental Gaming Pilot at ASU

A series of five story-based environmental games is being piloted by Arizona State University, Tempe, on its ASU Online site. Students take leadership roles in the game to help the community in each story face environmental and sustainability issues.

“I’m excited by how these authentic experiences will add a ‘human element’ to the learning process,” Tahnja Wilson, senior manager for EdPlus at ASU, said in an article for eCampus News. “The interactive features will be a great complement to the other course components.”

Students will be able to download information, take notes, and respond to questions using mobile phones or emails in the game’s day-in-the-life tools. The game is designed to get students to think about real-life environmental situations, with students and instructors receiving a performance summary at the end of each module.

EdX, DOJ Reach Accessibility Agreement

A compliance review by the U.S. Department of Justice has led to an agreement with edX to make its massive open online courses (MOOCs) more accessible to people with disabilities. EdX agreed to make its website, mobile applications, and learning management system fully accessible within the next 18 months.

As part of the settlement, edX will provide guidance for course creators on best practices in creating accessible online courses, hire a web-accessibility coordinator, and develop a web-accessibility policy. The settlement acknowledges that edX has taken steps to improve access, but needs to do more.

“We were very aware in 2012 or so about the emergence of MOOCs and the importance, or the potential importance, that they offer to students who have distance barriers and cost barriers to getting good educational content,” Eve L. Hill, deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights, said in an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. “And they offer a potentially really good avenue for students with disabilities.”

Details of what was wrong with the edX platform were not provided, but Hill told The Chronicle that common website accessibility problems include videos without captions and pop-up windows that can’t recognize screen-reader applications used by the visually impaired. 

Text Messages Used to Boost Student Success

Most schools use technology to push information to students. A Texas college is using text messaging to get the word out.

A study conducted at Cisco College provided text messages to half of a class of developmental psychology students. The messages included notes on readings and quizzes that would take place during the upcoming week, current events the students should review for the class, student-specific notes on ongoing work, and a message asking students to send questions, comments, or concerns to the instructor.

The students who received the text messages scored higher on quizzes, papers, and exams than the control group, which did not receive the messages. Students also reported they spent more time on assignments because the information was made convenient.

“Digital natives—basically everyone in a K-12 classroom today—are comfortable using handheld devices to interact and communicate,” Scott Hamm, director of online education at Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, TX, wrote in an article about the research for EdTech Magazine. “Staying connected through one’s smartphone is an ambient part of communication habits today, and texting is the primary communication medium of 14- to 18-year-olds.”

Students Going Mobile to Study

Every college store professional knows students on campus are practically tethered to their mobile devices. Not surprisingly, new research from McGraw-Hill Education found that use of the technology for studying is on the rise as well.

The survey, The Impact of Technology on College Student Study Habits, reported that 81% of students who responded said they used a mobile device to study, a 40% increase over the 2014 findings. In addition, 77% said they believe using the technology can lead to better grades.

Mobile devices are still second to laptops for studying, but 66% of the students reported that it was moderately to extremely important to have them available for study. The technology saved time, according to 48%, while 62% said using mobile technology helped them feel better prepared for class.

“The rise of studying via mobile isn’t simply due to the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets on campus; it’s a case of mobile suiting the way students study now,” said Sharon Loeb, vice president of marketing for McGraw-Hill Education. “The feedback we’ve received from students and instructors suggests that today’s students tend toward shorter, more concentrated bursts of studying anywhere they’re able, rather than waiting for several hours to hunker down in the library.”

Study Shows Need for Technology Access

A study on the impact of mobile devices on teaching and learning found technology is helping students achieve more in their studies. Making Learning Mobile 2.0, a two-year study by wireless service provider Kajeet and the educational nonprofit organization Project Tomorrow, looked at one-to-one tablet implementation to evaluate how students used the devices in and outside of the classroom.

The research focused on 127 fifth-graders from Chicago. A majority (93%) of the students were low-income and 45% were considered English language learners. About a third said they didn’t have home Internet access at the beginning of the study.

The report found that home Internet access increased by 53% after the tablets were issued, which led to more reading and writing homework and an increase in reading and writing fluency. In addition, 60% of the students said the tablets helped them improve their reading and writing skills.

“As technology spreads through schools, students are proving eager to embrace it, but that same technology increasingly demands mobile Internet connectivity—preferably broadband—to be fully effective as a tool,” Daniel Neal, CEO and founder of Kajeet, said in an article for eSchool News. “There are still many schools without adequate wireless Internet connectivity to allow mobile devices to function to their full capability. Studies like this one show teachers, students, parents, and administrators the value of not only the technology, but the necessity for connectivity as well.”

More Educational Apps Needed

A study of smartphone application usage found users spend 50% of the time on their devices accessing digital media, while the 18-to-24-year-olds are the heaviest users. Smartphone owners also spend about three times longer using apps vs. browsing websites, according to the study by comScore.

While many colleges and universities are launching smartphone apps, are they missing the potential of apps in the educational process?

“Apps are purpose-built, so it’s not a stretch to imagine one app for Economics 101 and another for Psychology 110,” Ryan Craig, founder of University Ventures, wrote in a VentureBeat post.  “Apps are ideal for simulation and gamified learning experiences. They’re also perfect for incorporating real-world inputs (such as location of the student) into learning.”

Most schools aren’t using apps for mobile learning, focusing instead on course selection and campus maps. Even the Blackboard Mobile Learn product doesn’t access course materials, according to Craig.

“So, although most online degree programs are now delivered via learning management systems that claim to be ‘mobile platforms,’ believing that the solutions to the mobile problem is simply allowing mobile access to a course with traditional online architecture is tantamount to believing your institution’s online strategy is effectively addressed by putting lectures on YouTube or iTunes,” he wrote.

Learning App Allows 'Real-Time' Access

Technology continues to up the ante when it comes to mobile learning.

The online learning company WizIQ developed a mobile app allowing teachers to schedule live classes that students can join from anywhere. In addition, students can use the app to access recorded classroom sessions, course videos, class documents, and presentations via their smartphones or tablet computers.

The platform makes it possible for teachers and students to communicate in real-time, allowing them to stay current on classes, tests, and assignment deadlines. The app is an enhancement to the cloud-based management system WizIQ launched in the fall and requires no dedicated IT support.

“After all, people are now accessing more content on mobile devices than anywhere else,” WizIQ CEO Harman Singh told CampusTechnology. “Why should education be any different?”

The app is available through the App Store for iPhones and will soon be launched in the Google Play store for Android devices.

Ed Tech Will Continue to Grow in 2015

Educational technology has become very big business, according to a market study from Futuresource Consulting. The firm reported that classroom tech spending reached $13 billion in the United States last year, up 11% since 2012, and predicted it will continue growing over the next three years.

“Despite a lull in some technology markets, education technology continues to perform, even with pressure being applied to education budgets across the world,” said Colin Messenger, senior market analyst for Futuresource. “Our annual strategic report also shows that there’s growth aplenty to come, with the total value expected to reach $19 billion by 2018.”

All that spending is an opportunity for ed-tech developers. Optimized distribution tools and video streaming for flipped classrooms, device-agnostic services, more mobile learning applications, and better personalized blended-learning experiences are just a few, according to Harman Singh, CEO of the education platform WizIQ, in a column for InformationWeek.

“Different approaches to learning, such as project-based learning, maker education, game-based learning, and more will continue to be explored as part of personalized blended-learning models,” Singh wrote. “Accordingly, such innovations will push ed-tech vendors to deliver more than technology or content, but will require them to demonstrate how their product or service improves learning outcomes.”

Study Finds Texting Helps Students Succeed

Researchers at Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, TX, found that text messages can help student learning. The study focused on communication formats used by students as a way to get them to learn outside the classroom setting, according to a report in eClassroom News.

“A text from a friend saying ‘LOL’ isn’t on the same level as an email from a professor trying to impart some knowledge necessary for the future,” said Scott Hamm, director of online education at Hardin-Simmons. “It doesn’t matter how important the email is, they won’t pay as much attention to it as a text message.”

Initially, the researchers used texting to assign classwork and to engage with students in real time. Now, they use it to give quizzes, while students complete assignments and have questions answered by the instructor.

“It’s really a personal connection where if I need to get a hold of such-and-such student, this is how I can do it,” said Chuck Ruot, professor of fitness and sports sciences. “It sounds weird, but it builds a rapport with the students.”

Students Value Online Learning Experience

A majority (68%) of college students think online classes are important to their educational experience and that social media will eventually be required in all classes. They’ve also taken at least one online course, with 42% saying they got better grades in the online class compared to in-person courses.

The study, conducted annually by Wakefield Research for VitalSource Technologies, found that 45% of the students said they didn’t go more than 10 minutes without accessing some form of technology during the school day. However, students may be learning how to regulate their usage as the average time they said they could possibly go without digital interaction increased from 59 minutes in the 2013 study to 64 minutes this year.

Most students (62%) said they have used interactive textbooks and 44% use mobile learning. The report also found that 77% said a professor had used or asked them to use at least one social media site for a class.

“The findings validate students’ dependence on technology to increase their productivity and job prospects in this competitive, globally connected world, while also providing insights into market trends that will affect the next generation of educational technology,” Cindy Clarke, vice president of marketing for VitalSource, said in a report in eCampus News.

UT Creates Mobile-First Competency Courses

The University of Texas System is taking competency-based education mobile. It is creating a new program to offer adaptive degrees and certificates aligned with industry standards and available through mobile technology developed by the UT System.

The educational pathway will be supported by a platform of technologies and services known as Total Educational Experience (TEx). The tools available in TEx can be adapted to a student’s preferences and adjusted to meet the student’s level of mastery.

“We made the decision to initially deliver TEx on mobile devices to ensure we meet students where they are, with the technology that they are used to,” said Marni Baker Stein, chief innovation officer for the Institute of Transformational Learning, which is developing the TEx program. “The experience will still be available on the web, but the mobile delivery will allow them to take their education with them wherever they go.”

The program will launch in fall 2015, offering science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and medical science courses. It will be offered in online and hybrid formats available for students from high school through postgraduate levels.

TEx tools will also provide students customized advising and mentoring on career objectives. In addition, it will support teaching methods in the classroom.

“We are developing a new model of education that provides an alternative and potentially accelerated pathway to a UT-quality degree,” Baker Stein said. “Our degree and certificate programs are designed to build on critical skill sets so that students achieve enduring mastery that better prepares them for the workplace of the future.”