Category Archives: EdTechTimes

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SkilledUp Reviews Various Test-Based Online Credentials

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This article is cross-posted from edtechtimes.com, where I currently serve as editor-in-chief.

skilledup_logo-620x327As a portal for online courses and training, SkilledUp is a logical candidate to explore the future of the online credentialing world.  SkilledUp’s Content Director Brad Zomick releases the first in a series of feature posts on their blog seeking to broadly answer the question: “What does the degree of 2020/2030 look like?”  The entire series will explore 4 types of credentials available now – test-based credentials, online badges, completion certificates, and online certificates – and examine the following questions:

  • Why do these platforms exist? What purpose do they serve?
  • How do they assess skills, knowledge and intellect?
  • What is the value for employers? Job-seekers? Self-learners?

This first post focuses on test-based credentialing, with a small exploration into the world of badges.  Zomick dives into a description and review of the following modes of test-based credentialing:

  • ExpertRating
    • What it is:  ExpertRating is an India-based web-based testing and certification platform, with over 300 40-question tests that are used by all of the major freelance platforms, including: Elance, oDesk, and Freelancer.com. Tests are offered to freelancers for free, or a low price ($5), as a means to benchmark their skills and publish the results to their profiles.
    • Findings:  Tests on different platforms used the same exact 40 question test bank, with answer keys for the various test modules easily available online.  There were mixed reviews regarding the quality of ExpertRating’s testing.  Despite a less than stellar online reputation, however, ExpertRating’s tests are used tens of thousands of times a month. Anecdotally, employers found the value of the tests greater for narrowing down huge groups of similar candidates, rather than actually choosing a specific one.
  • Smarterer
    • What it is:  Smarterer uses crowdsourced questions that are then reviewed by the Smarterer team. Adaptive testing techniques allow them to accurately assess one’s abilities in 10 questions and less than a few minutes. Tests are very short and are designed to take no longer than a couple of minutes. Expert users can both contribute and create their own tests, and the crowdsourced nature of the questions reduces the potential issue of cheating.
    • Findings:  Smarterer is clever in how they address scoring, by using the Glicko scoring system, with a score output on an 800 point scale similar to the GMAT.  Smarterer may have a greater use in online education. Co-founder Dave Balter says, “The deeper we got, the closer we came to the realization that people were using the system for much more intrinsic purposes… to understand if they were growing or not.”  This potential use can help online learners to get the feedback that is often missing in a one-directional video lecture.
  • Programmer Testing – a few examples
    • Gild – Gild is a new approach to rating programmers — rather than have the individuals go through a specific series of tests, Gild instead finds users’ high quality code on Github or other popular programming hangouts online and grades users based on that.
    • CodeEval is a platform that enables companies to create online coding challenges and have applicants show their direct skills by enrolling in the challenges.
    • InterviewStreet combines the CodeEval challenge concept and the Gild employer-focused concept.  Rather than create an open platform where anyone can apply, InterviewStreet only allows client companies to invite candidates to take online challenges. Additionally, InterviewStreet has created a library of challenges and tests that any company can use, but also allows companies to create their own challenges.
  • Applicant Testing
    • ProveIt has over a thousand different assessments and has positioned itself as a talent management platform that can help companies attract and cultivate talented employees. In addition to testing job applicants, ProveIt is used to monitor employee engagement and gauge leadership potential.
    • EmployTest on the other hand is strictly focused on pre-employment testing, offering over 800 different tests.
    • Both offer multiple-choice assessments covering administrative, clerical, general computing, and industry specialties. As part of the job application process, companies can get a quick and accurate assessment of job skills, knowledge, behavioral tendencies and aptitude, and at the same time allow employers to quickly weed through large volumes of applicants.

On badges, SkilledUp provides a brief history of the badge movement, Mozilla’s Open Badges, badge supporters such as P2PU, Credly, and BadgeOS and other private badge developers, such as CrowdFlower.  Zomick notes that the badge movement could still be seeking some centralized organization in order to cement its promise as a credentialing tool.

Read the original post on SkilledUp’s blog.

About SkilledUp

SkilledUp.com is a portal for online courses and training. We believe that the best and worst thing about online education is that there is a lot out there and its hard to find what matches your needs. There are hundreds of people ready to teach you something via an online course. Some are free; some are expensive; some are wastes of time; and some are just a fabulous use of time. We’re trying to help make it easier to compare and make the right choice.

Exo Labs Brings iPad Capabilities to Microscopes

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This article is cross-posted from edtechtimes.com, where I currently serve as editor-in-chief.

Exo_Labs_LogoSeattle-based startup, Exo Labs, has launched a microscope camera that connects your classroom microscope to an iPad.  This innovation turns a time-honored, traditional “wait-your-turn” lab experience into a shared learning experience that allows students to interact with the world under the microscope.

The Focus Microscope Camera incorporates the following classroom-friendly features into its design:

  • App-based ability to take pictures, make measurements, add annotations to microscope images.  Users can pinch and zoom to control their image view on the iPad.
  • Versatility to adapt to different microscope eyepieces.
  • Image sharing through projection, email or embedding in documents.
  • Durable hardware construction for rugged classroom use.
  • Charging capability for iPad during camera use.
  • Interchangeable lenses for stand-alone use.

A single unit can be incorporated into microscope stations to simplify the unknowns of introductory microscope techniques.  Imagine an intro lab without “drawings” of students’ eyelashes, or the tapping of pencils drawing “dots” from unfocused dirty optics.

Additionally, microscope-based labs tend to exclude partially visually-impaired students from participating in the full richness of the microscopic world.  With this adaptive technology, students with light sensitivity no longer have to stare directly into a magnified microscope lamp, and students with other visual impairments can use the app in conjunction with iPad accessibility features to enhance their experience.

Exo Labs offers the Focus Microscope Camera on their website for $599, with an educator discount available by inquiry.

Xconomy and GeekWire provided early looks at the Focus Microscope Camera back in January, reporting on Exo Labs’ appearances in local and national startup competitions such as  Northwest Entrepreneur Network First Look Forum, Seattle Angel Conference investment competition, and the MIT Enterprise Forum Northwest Startup Demo.

Sheri Cheng can be reached at sheri@edtechtimes.com

Student Demand for Online Courses May Not be as Strong as Colleges Think

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This article is cross-posted from edtechtimes.com, where I currently serve as editor-in-chief.

CCRC_ColumbiaA new study from the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Columbia University’s Teachers College and a corresponding article from Inside Higher Ed digs into the student perspective of online courses at community colleges.  While the scope of this study was small and relied on in-person interview methods, it raised questions as to whether the enthusiasm of MOOCs in the community college setting may be misplaced.

From the study:

  • The study interviewed 46 of students who had taken at least one online course at two community colleges.
  • Students reported that they only took courses online if they felt they could learn the material on their own: If they expected a course to be difficult, or “really wanted to learn something,” they preferred face-to-face courses.
  • Students indicated a strong preference for a traditional classroom when taking courses they considered interesting or important, particularly those in their major.
  • The study suggests that without substantial improvements in online teacher-student interaction, it is likely that students will continue to prefer face-to-face courses in subjects they perceive as more challenging or incompatible with the online format.

The article from Inside Higher Education, highlights these additional insights from CCRC researcher Susan Jaggars:

  • While a good MOOC might make students feel like they know a professor, “it won’t make you think they know you,” and that loss of personal interaction and support can be problematic, particularly for students who need extra help.
  • Teachers always have other little things to talk about in the class, and stories and examples, which is something you don’t get quite as much with online instruction.

The same article offers some caveats within its reporting as well as in the comments:

  • Russell Poulin, deputy director for research and analysis at the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies, cited the limited sample size as a warning for drawing larger-scale conclusions.  However, Poulin also noted that given their tight budgets, community colleges need to be strategic about where to add online options, and that “being discerning makes sense.”
  • Commenter John Ebersole notes:  “While it is gratifying to see Teachers College involved in the study of online education, this particular study, and the larger effort that it is taken from, are seriously flawed in that they do not appear to have controlled for either student AGE or TYPE of online course…while interesting, there are too many unconsidered variables here to be much more than a provocative observation.”

Read the complete study.

Read the article at Inside Higher Ed.

About CCRC

The Community College Research Center (CCRC) is the leading independent authority on the nation’s nearly 1,200 two-year colleges. Founded in 1996, CCRC conducts research on the major issues affecting community colleges in the United States in order to identify practices and policies that expand access to higher education and promote success for all students.

EdReach, Stitcher Radio, Form Partnership to Take Education Forward

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This article is cross-posted from edtechtimes.com, where I currently serve as editor-in-chief.

EdREach-logo-Home-pagePopular education podcast provider, EdReach has announced a partnership with Stitcher Radio, a leader in Internet radio.  EdReach CEO Daniel Rezac announced today that a partnership with Stitcher helps EdReach broaden their audience with content distribution, accessibility, and increased exposure, establishing EdReach.us as a go-to broadcast network for education content.

EdReach’s podcasts are now available as a Stitcher channel, and followers can access the podcasts by downloading the Stitcher App, or through Stitcher’s website.  Currently, approximately 40,000 active teachers download EdReach podcasts each month, often listening and learning while on their morning or afternoon commute by listening to EdReach shows.

On EdReach, Rezac cites Stitcher’s presence as an innovator, its user-friendly flexibility between devices, and its richness of listener data as boons for their partnership.  He also offers the following endorsements from partners and users:

Rachel Eaton, Stitcher’s Director of Content Partnerships says:

“We are proud to be working with EdReach. We believe in their mission of Taking Education Forward and are happy to provide a platform that will help them reach their audience to expand that mission.”

Wesley Fryer, Oklahoma educator and edtech innovator says of EdReach:

“Amidst the negative barrage of news amplified by mainstream media outlets today, we need EdReach and the educator voices it seeks to amplify- more than ever. Check out the podcast shownotes for more links to follow and subscribe to EdReach. Consider not only becoming an EdReach Network follower, but also a contributor!”

EdReach has already appeared in the Stitcher Top 100 shows for educators, supporting their mission of “taking education forward, by bringing voices together.”

Find the original announcement over at EdReach.

Sheri Cheng can be reached at sheri@edtechtimes.com.

HotChalk Education Index Identifies Current Online Learning Trends

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This article is cross-posted from edtechtimes.com, where I currently serve as editor-in-chief.

HOTCHALK LOGOEducation technology company HotChalk announced the release of the HotChalk Education Index report at the Arizona State University/GSV EdInnovation Summit last Thursday, April 17. The HotChalk Education Index is based on the company’s analysis of more than 30 billion data points and 25,000 surveys collected during a 90 day window; representing teachers, parents, students, administrators and tutors from every wired country on the planet.

“Understanding our planet’s educational intent, from Internet users seeking education outcomes, is revolutionary,” explained Edward Fields, HotChalk Chairman & CEO. “The HotChalk Education Index helps education innovators, technologists, publishers and investors understand the online education market with unprecedented scale, depth and precision.”

The HotChalk Education Index is based on anonymized education data from the HotChalk Network, a proprietary collection of more than 160 education focused websites, serving more than 200 million pages of free content to 50 million unique visitors from around the world each month.

Some of the findings in HotChalk’s Q1 report include:

A mixed-bag on attitudes toward in-person/onsite and online education.  Both students and teachers in the survey seem to exhibit no preference towards in-person/onsite or online education.  This could be an indication that while the online education movement has great traction in the education media, its effects are still trickling down to the end users of the product, resulting in a state of no-preference.  As HotChalk continues to survey its users, it will be interesting to follow this question to see how attitudes towards in/person or online education may change over time.

2013_Q1_HC_Education_Index_Page_10

The favorite price is still free.  While this information in itself is not surprising, the breakdown of paid content usage habits generates new questions about who pays for content and why.  A higher percentage of administrators describe themselves as either exclusively using paid content or using paid and free content equally than students and teachers.  A higher percentage of teachers describe themselves as exclusively or mostly using free content than students or administrators.  By digging deeper into this type of data and other statistics, product developers will have to decide whether to respond to expectations or challenge the status quo for these different user groups.

2013_Q1_HC_Education_Index_Page_12

HotChalk will release the HotChalk Education Index quarterly providing data driven insights and surveys on topics including, free vs. paid education content; education technology efficacy; educator technology adoption rates; student access by geography; subject matter consumption rates; and more. The Index will be available for custom research projects beginning in Q3 2013.

For more information and to download a PDF copy of the report, visit www.educationinamerica.com.

ISTE launches White House petition to invest in school broadband connectivity

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This article is cross-posted from edtechtimes.com, where I currently serve as editor-in-chief.

iste

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) launched a petition to the White House today asking the Obama Administration to invest in school broadband connectivity.

ISTE’s website states that “only 13 percent of schools have the broadband they need to give students the same online access that most Americans have at home, work or even in a coffee shop.”  Without broadband online connectivity, students and educators are limited in their digital access of widespread educational technology resources available in the market.

Additionally, ISTE notes that, “as students and educators embrace personalized instruction, online and mobile learning, adaptive assessments and data-driven decision making, and develop critical thinking, collaboration, communication and digital citizenship skills, demands on school networks will continue to skyrocket.”  While acknowledging the success of E-Rate, established in 1996 to assist schools & libraries in obtaining affordable telecommunications and internet access, ISTE also notes that the program is not enough to meet rapidly growing broadband needs of schools.

How does this affect the larger educational technology community?  As part of a greater message, this petition helps to raise awareness that the expanding educational technology market is limited by this lack of broadband access.  Any product or service which relies on connectivity may have limited traction until broadband access becomes ubiquitous in schools.

Read the ISTE press release.

Read the White House petition.

 

 

Texas A&M professors know if you’re e-reading with CourseSmart

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This article is cross-posted from edtechtimes.com, where I currently serve as editor-in-chief.

coursesmart

Texas A&M business school professors know whether you’ve been doing your e-reading homework or not.  Along with eight other colleges, Texas A&M is testing CourseSmart technology which organizes digital textbook usage data by class so that each professor has comparative data at his or her fingertips.  Professors are now able to tell whether students have actually read e-textbook chapters as assigned, or if they are cramming at the last minute.

From the New York Times article, student reactions ranged from feeling “caught” to complaining about “software bugs” that didn’t accurately track all the times the textbook was open.  (According to CourseSmart, they are not aware of any such software bugs.)  Other students are concerned that by not using the tools provided with the e-textbooks, they will garner low engagement scores and create a negative perception about their study habits.

CourseSmart’s CEO, Sean Devine, sees the data collection as the beginning of further analysis. From the article, Devine says, “We’ll ultimately show how the student traverses the book.  There’s a correlation and causality between engagement and success.”

 

Read the New York Times article.

 

More articles about CourseSmart from EdTech Times:

CourseSmart Launches CourseSmart Analytics Beta, November 12, 2012

CourseSmart Releases A New Reader, March 16, 2012