Education
Microsoft Doubles Down On Education With 'Minecraft,' LEGO, And More
The Windows maker is looking to entice students to learn more about STEM and enjoy the experience at the same time. For instance, Minecraft will soon get a Chemistry Update that will be utilized for students to experience "hands-on experimentation" on building compounds, the purpose of which is to stimulate the young minds and steer them into the basic concepts of chemistry.
We Asked Teachers What They Want From Edtech. Here's What They Said.
At the end of the day, edtech can feel like one more thing on a teacher’s plate. From IBM’s test scoring machines in the 1930s to the Speak & Spells of the 70s, innovators and educators have been trying to improve education with technology for decades. But these efforts have fallen short of meaningfully transforming learning.
Google for Education Launches Beta for 'Create Your Own' Virtual Reality Experience
Educators and their students can now be part of a beta program to create their own Google Expeditions virtual reality experiences. The opportunity was unveiled this week at Bett, the world’s largest educational technology show here. Classes enrolled in what Google calls its “pioneer program” will be able to create their own immersive virtual experiences with a 360-degree camera and the Google app.
H-1B reform bill seeks to expand annual quota
Republican Senators Orrin Hatch and Jeff Flake introduced legislation on Thursday that aims to increase the annual quota of H-1B visas from 65,000 to 85,000. The H-1B is a common work visa granted to high-skilled foreigners to work at companies in the U.S. It's valid for three years, and can be renewed for another three years.
2018 to See More Emergency Hiring to Cover STEM Teacher Gap
Calling it an "old strategy," 100Kin10 is also watching as lawmakers increasingly turn to legislation to streamline emergency credentialing of teachers to address crisis-level teacher shortages. In Virginia, for example, the governor turned to executive directive to allow state colleges and universities, which have previously only offered graduate level teaching degrees, to offer undergraduate majors in teaching too.
Microsoft unveils cheap laptops and more tools for education
When it comes to the lucrative education market, Microsoft doesn't want to be left behind -- especially when that Google's Chromebooks are increasingly popular with schools. Microsoft's big selling point this year? More cheap Windows 10 notebooks starting at $189, and a Minecraft: Education Edition update focused on chemistry.
What Does Good STEM Education Look Like?
What makes a STEM program excellent? I spoke with Eric Iversen, vice president for Learning and Communications at Start Engineering, which promotes STEM education in grades K-12, by email to learn what an excellent STEM program looks like. Iversen says STEM is tricky in an institutional setting, but the best programs put resources into the following areas...
How this local engineer is using a podcast to support STEM education
The path to more women in STEM sounds simple enough: introduce the concepts to girls well before they reach ninth grade. “High school is too late,” said Pius Wong, an engineer, teacher and founder of Pios Labs. “It appears girls make decisions on what they want to do early on. If we can expose them to cool science projects or role models who are mathematicians, scientists and engineers early, that makes a big difference.”
Does a lack of talent threaten to undermine tech diversity?
When it comes to diversity in tech, the question that has haunted the industry for the past several years is ‘are we doing enough?’ “I don't know if I'll ever be able to say we're doing enough because I don't think I'll be able to say that until we're at 50%,” confesses McAfee Chief HR Officer Chatelle Lynch, “but we're sure doing everything I know how right now.”
4 Expectations for Online Education in 2018
As more students seek flexible alternatives to traditional, on-campus courses, online education continues to evolve. Among other trends, 2017 saw the proliferation of smaller credentials beyond online degrees, rising online course enrollment at nonprofit universities and the use of big data to track student performance.
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