Higher Ed

The German eLearning Journal put the Blackboard Learn platform to the test for their May edition. The magazine regularly tests various eLearning products in a number of categories, ranging from online solutions and video training to language training, online collaboration and learning management systems. Blackboard Learn 9.1 SP8 was thoroughly reviewed by a team of experts on 26 categories.  The experts awarded the platform great scores and the end verdict “Very Good”. In the report, the eLearning Journal states that: “One must attest that Blackboard Learn quite simply has, in all respects, what a modern LMS must have. The technical features such as scalability and adaptability achieved the same outstanding ratings as the administration did.” On flexibility and openness, the reviewers mention that “Blackboard doesn’t rely solely on its own standards; rather, it is so flexible, that, like a Lego brick, it can be integrated into a number of other systems and existing solutions.” Interested to learn more about this review? Click here to download the English version of the report and click here to download the German version of the report.

These days it’s almost impossible to have a conversation about education without hearing the rallying call for the adoption of new technology in the classroom – and with good reason! Technology and social media have changed traditional consumption patterns for today’s students, and consequently the priorities of educators may need to change accordingly. Here are some statistics that may surprise you:

• Forty-six percent of drivers aged 18 to 24 said they would choose Internet access over owning a car, according to the research firm Gartner. Getting the keys to your first car used to be the ultimate rite of passage (I know it was for me a more than a decade ago), but today’s learners are more interested in having easy access to the information highway than the interstate. Recognizing this shift drives home the need to create dynamic learning spaces that seamlessly integrate online and offline components.

When the Federal Government created new educational regulations stating universities must better prepare students for gainful employment, Troy University saw it as a chance to fine-tune its own efforts. With unemployment at record high levels, Troy decided to make internship placement more readily available to all of its students in an effort to help them gain employment after graduation.

Troy already had career centers at each of its four campuses, but an increasing number of students were taking classes online from remote locations without access to the on-campus centers. With roughly half of the student body online, Troy University needed a new solution to help the students find internships prior to graduation. “There was definitely a need for internship placement for the online students,” said Ronnie Creel, director of Education Technology at Troy.

At the beginning of the past school year the New York Times’ Tara Parker-Pope wrote an article diving into what she argued is one of the biggest shortcomings of school curriculums today: life lessons. The article explores research into what children are actually learning and argues that: “The ever-growing emphasis on academic performance and test scores means many children aren’t developing life skills like self-control, motivation, focus and resilience, which are far better predictors of long-term success than high grades.” As summer sets in, it’s worth it to take the time to sit back and evaluate how we can all go about incorporating goals of education for life, and not just for education’s sake, into our daily routine. We already know that modern learners have different needs and require an atmosphere of engagement, but what else can we do to set our students up for success?

Student affairs and technology blogger Eric Stoller is not afraid to lay things out and tell it like it is. His blog over at Inside Higher Ed takes a macroscopic approach to examining how student affairs practitioners can leverage technology in a variety of educational settings. His expertise and insight extend from high-level analysis of what it means when we talk about innovation in the classroom to the nitty-gritty details of new tech adoption.