EdTech

Education Technology is a multi-billion dollar sector of companies innovating in both software and hardware for teaching, learning, and running schools, districts, and state and federal education departments. We document some of the most essential technical innovations and companies that support learning, teaching and more.
EdTech

ASU Boosts Completion Rates With Data & Developmental Math

Tom Vander Ark

Dean Regier said completion rates for his online students--mostly working adults with prior college credits--are different than they are for 18 year old freshman but the basics still apply: build a foundation of basic skills, track progress, and get them on a path to a degree that makes sense for them.
EdTech

Q&A: Jeff Mao Shares the Inside Scoop on Maine’s 1:1 Program

Getting Smart Staff

Jeff Mao, the Learning Technology Policy Director of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) at the Maine Department of Education, joins us today to chat about the ways that Maine forged the path of 1:1 learning with the first and only statewide 1:1 laptop program. He tells us more about the challenges the state faced, the ways the program has benefits students and educators, and how the program is evolving to adapt to the needs of the future.
EdTech

Automated Essay Scoring Demonstrated Effective in Big Trial

Getting Smart Staff

A direct comparison between human graders and software designed to score student essays achieved virtually identical levels of accuracy, with the software in some cases proving to be more reliable, a groundbreaking study has found. The study, which was underwritten by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and managed by Open Education Solutions will be released here on Monday, April 16th, at the annual conference of the National Council on Measurement in Education.
EdTech

Ed Leaders Meet for the ASU SkySong Ed Innovation Summit

Getting Smart Staff

Education leaders meet in Scottsdale, AZ April 16-18, 2012 for the Education Innovation Summit 12, hosted by Arizona State University (ASU) SkySong, to discuss major trends in personalized and adaptive learning, new models for delivering education, and traditional degrees in the context of those new models.
EdTech

Q&A: CK-12 Says OER & Tech Can Unlock Cheaper, Better Learning

Getting Smart Staff

Neeru Khosla, the Co-founder and Chair behind the growing open educational resources (OER) nonprofit CK-12 Foundation, joins us today to share her motivation, aspirations and goals in bringing higher quality educational materials to more educators and students across the globe – for free. Khosla attended Stanford University’s education and…
EdTech

Digital Learning: The Future of Schooling?

Getting Smart Staff

The Nord Family Foundation, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and KnowledgeWorks invites the education and learning community to join in a timely, nonpartisan discussion about digital learning and where it may lead education in Ohio - and the nation - in the years ahead. The event will take place May 17, 2012 from 1:00pmET to 4:30pmET at the Governors Ballroom in the Sheraton at Capitol Square and on a live webcast at www.edexcellence.net.
EdTech

Big Data Partnership: Promise & Problems

Tom Vander Ark

The Department of Education announced a data partnership with SRI called Evidence Framework for Innovation and Excellence in Education. The first paper is Enhancing Teaching and Learning Through Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics: An Issue Brief. The data partnership should advocate more nimble forms of evidence gathering, recognize the important role of state policy, and take on the issue of comparability.
EdTech

Finally, Math Apps Show R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Marie Bjerede

There are no really good math apps out there. I’ve been convinced of this for some time based on nearly a decade of trying everything from online courses to video-game-like drills to the more recent iPad apps and flash cards. Available offerings tend to be inauthentic, in that they encourage rote procedures over real problem solving.