Using technology for better education

Education Technology

Article | August 4, 2022

If you’re a Revel® user, I suggest you examine your aggregate class data from the easy-to-access dashboard view before automatically copying the current course into the next term’s course shells. The dashboard view gives you a wealth of actionable data. The Revel dashboard is a completely different tool for analytics than I have ever used in terms of providing numbers that reflect what was working and what needed improvement. The data helped to inform my decisions about the efficacy of the current course and implied changes I could make to the current design to increase students’ engagement and content proficiency next term. Let’s walk through what I found most helpful.

Education Technology

Article | July 15, 2022

The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked protests across the world, bringing to the fore the numerous ways structural racial inequalities persist in Western countries. Testimonials and mounting data have shone a light on these inequalities across many aspects of life. The UK higher education sector is not immune to these inequalities. Significant and well documented racial disparities persist: Black students face a 26 per cent attainment gap when compared with their white counterparts; continuation and progression rates have similar gaps; there are very few Black professors or senior leaders (and few of them are women); and structures for reporting racial harassment are often underdeveloped.

Education Technology

Article | October 7, 2022

Due to the increased exposures and positive COVID-19 cases, the educational industry is adapting to the fourth industrial revolution more swiftly than intended. Both students and educational institutions are realizing the requirement of technology to support the learning process. It has also led to the development of digital badges and the adoption of blockchain in this sector. But, why should we adopt blockchain? Blockchain which is originally known as being the support of digital currencies like bitcoin is not new to the academe. Blockchain can be used as a validation tool for learning. With blockchain as the backbone of the educational system, institutions will become able to list courses, manage training badges, and issue certificates to the students. It will in return reduce the chances of issuing fraudulent certificates. Moreover, having high-end encryption, even the most experienced hackers will not be able to tamper the credentials. And, what’s a digital badge? A digital badge validates the accomplishment, skills, and certifications of students. It can also be offered to the student after completing internships. In the educational sector, a digital badge can be acquired by a student after learning a skill or completing a course. It should be considered by every institution to help students in showcasing their skills in the job market as well. The digital badges are multipurpose. It can be used for certifications to show the acquired skills, transparency for other universities or schools to collect key details of the student, and validation to show that the individual has participated in a workshop or training program. Besides the basic reasons discussed, how these digital badges can help and why should institutions opt for digital badges? Why Should Educational Institutions Opt For Digital Badges? Among numerous reasons why an educational institution should go for digital badges, let’s check some of the most important reasons. Personalized Learning Micro-credentials help in dividing the part of the subjects into certain skills that enables students and educational institutions to design plans according to their needs. With the availability of personalized learning, a learner can complete the course anywhere regardless of the time and earn a badge. Skill-Based Learning A digital badge can enable students to showcase their skills while applying for an internship or part-time job. These badges must be connected with professional capabilities that confirm that it is worthy to the students. These skill badges either can be for technical skills like programming or soft skills like leadership, teamwork, and so on. Open Standards As we know that digital badges are verifiable, it offers a chance for students to learn something outside their typical classroom. It increases the achievement and abilities of the students creating a new opportunity for them at the time of recruitment. Some of the companies and institutions that are using digital certifications include Certif-ID, Stamford University, Georgetown University, and MIT. For those who want to implement blockchain and digital badges in their educational institutions, you can easily hire developers that will build a powerful system to glorify the entire education process. Wrapping it up! To maintain educational records, a digital badge is the most innovative solution. Moreover, the education industry is gradually moving towards record maintenance on blockchain to eliminate fake degrees due to which many deserving candidates lose their chance to attain better opportunities. It is also beneficial for the companies as they will not have to hire less staff for cross-checking the information which will increase their profitability and productivity as well. Despite the increasing acceptance of digital badges and blockchain in the education sector, many educators are unaware of their power. Plausibly, it is about to change soon.

Article | August 21, 2020

This spring, COVID-19 led administrators across the country to close school buildings and support students learning from home. We asked three educators about how they handled this disruption and found creative solutions to keep students motivated and engaged using the online literacy program, Reading Plus. We looked at what we had at our disposal that would help with reading, the overall environment, and engagement. In the past, we used Reading Plus as an intervention. We considered how we could utilize it with more students during distance learning.