By Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed Syndicated News A one-hour phone conversation between officials at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a regional accreditor was necessary for the creation of one of the biggest developments in the MOOC craze. Whether that discussion was a regulatory burden or a courtesy call depends on whom you ask. […]
The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday approved a proposal to spend $113 million to implement new learning standards, an issue that became surprisingly controversial and contributed to the resignation of the district’s No. 2 administrator. The plan for the money launched a protracted discussion that spanned three meetings and three weeks. The purpose
L.A. school board approves $113M budget for training in new Common Core curriculum Read More »
Business executives from a variety of fields continued a high-profile push to support the Common Core State Standards at an event in Washington today hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, stressing the importance of the standards to students’ ability to transition from school to the labor market and to improving the country’s
Business Executives Push Common Core Hard: Is it Moving? Read More »
Paying for Proof January 9, 2013 – Inside Higher Ed By Paul Fain Coursera will offer a fee-based pathway with identity verification for students who want to earn a more meaningful certificate of completion, the company said today in an announcement that also sheds light on an emerging business model for the largest massive open
via Education Week By Nikhita Venugopal on October 30, 2012 12:25 PM Tablet computers have been expanding their presence K-12 classrooms over the past few years and the pace of the expansion appears to be quickening. The latest chapter in the rise of tablet computing in schools involves technology company Samsung, which announced a
Samsung and Khan Academy Launch Pilot Tablet Program Read More »
via techcrunch.com Rip Empson Instructure launched Canvas in 2011 to give educational institutions an alternative to the ubiquitous (but much criticized) software of educational giants like Blackboard. Rather than forcing schools to spend six months integrating and learning how to use inflexible and bloated learning management software, Canvas offers an open source and cloud-native system
<< State Bans Free Education The Washington Posts Nick Anderson Sorts it out.. By Nick Anderson Minnesotans, rest assured: Your state government believes you are entitled to free online higher education. This had been a point of controversy until, well, a few minutes ago. In an earlier post this afternoon, I noted that the free
Minnesota State swiftly reverses ban: Free online ed is OK Read More »
Challenges in cross-border e-learning requires institutions enrolling state residents in postsecondary courses to secure state approval. How is presence defined? State approvals create challenges for MOOC’s how will they overcome? How is learning validated and credentialed – certificates, badges – real academic credentials?
Free Online Courses Banned – Minnesota Gives Coursera the Boot, Citing a Decades-Old Law Read More »
ASHINGTON — Worried your kids spend too much time with their faces buried in a computer screen? Their schoolwork may soon depend on it. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called Tuesday for the nation to move as fast as possible away from printed textbooks and toward digital ones. “Over the next few years, textbooks should be
Arne Duncan Calls For Textbooks To Become Obsolete In Favor Of Digital Read More »
Written by: Bianca Da Silva on Oct 10, 2012 at 12:58pm EDT MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses, are quickly become extremely popular within the world of online education. One of the biggest forces behind this trend is Coursera, which may have met some resistance in the beginning but is now proud to announce that
Coursera Welcomes Ohio State University as its Newest Partner Read More »
By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent The University of London’s international section is joining a rapidly expanding US-based online university project. It is part of the latest wave of new partners for the Coursera online platform – alongside universities in Hong Kong, Australia and the US. There are now more than 30 universities offering
London joins US-based online university Coursera Read More »
September 11, 2012 By Elizabeth Redden, Inside Higher Ed The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released its annual Education at a Glance report today, a 565-pager with statistics on a wide range of education topics, from early childhood to higher education. The report tracks trends across the OECD member countries, which are predominantly wealthy
PaidContent reports that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos will jointly announce the launch of the Kindle Mobile Learning Initiative on Wednesday, June 20th at 11 a.m. Eastern time at the State Department in Washington, DC. From the State Department’s press release: “This public-private partnership with Amazon.com and the U.S. government
ASCD Annual Conference – Philadelphia, PA | March 24-26, 2012 PDF Link – ASCD 2012 – Gilfus Education Group Innovation Showcase Theater Schedule
ASCD 2012 Conference – Gilfus Education Innovation Showcase Schedule Read More »
By QUENTIN HARDY Oracle’s planned purchase of Taleo is the biggest sign yet of how things are changing because of cloud-based computing technology. The effects will be felt in the workplace, on Wall Street, and not least within Oracle itself. Early Thursday February 9th, Oracle announced that it would pay $1.9 billion for Taleo, a provider of talent
Oracle to Buy Taleo, Speeding the Shift to the Cloud Read More »
– Maureen Downey for the AJC Get Schooled blog From the board of Regents on proposed consolidations of eight campuses, which are bound to spark political battles, turf wars and naming feuds: University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby is recommending to the Board of Regents that eight of the System’s 35 colleges and universities be
The 1-to-1 iPad programs at our schools are not identical; however, we share many similarities and have constantly collaborated throughout the entirety of our launches. Based on our experiences, we suggest that schools interested in iPad 1-to-1 programs must consider six critical areas for a successful iPad 1-to-1 implementation: leadership, cost, network function, security, philosophical frameworks, and pedagogy.
By Lyndsey Layton and Emma Brown, Published: November 26, 2011 WashingtonPost.com A Virginia company leading a national movement to replace classrooms with computers — in which children as young as 5 can learn at home at taxpayer expense — is facing a backlash from critics who are questioning its funding, quality and oversight. K12 Inc.
Virtual schools are multiplying, but some question their educational value Read More »
By Jeffrey R. Young – October 20, 2011 Chronicle of Higher Education Philadelphia—When Pearson officials talk about their new learning-management system, OpenClass, they like to mention Google. They note that the software is distributed through Google’s App marketplace, and say that it was inspired by Google’s popular e-mail and Web services platform. Pearson drops the company’s
Google Says Pearson’s New Learning System Is ‘Not a Shared Product’ Read More »
Gilfus Education Group Announces Webinar on Developing a Productive Workforce from 2011 to 2020 “Workforce Development: Transitioning from 2011 to 2020” Washington, DC (Thursday, August 11th, 2011) — Gilfus Education Group announced today that it will offer a webinar titled Workforce Development: Transitioning from 2011 to 2020. Attendees will be provided with an overview
Workforce Development Transitioning from 2011 to 2020 Read More »
Gilfus Education Group Announces Strategic Online Learning and SCORM Content Webinar “Strategic Online Learning and SCORM Content Webinar” Washington, DC (Wednesday August 10th, 2011) – Gilfus Education Group announced today that it will offer a webinar on Strategic Online Learning and SCORM Content. eLearning and online training products and services are one of the most rapidly
Strategic Online Learning and SCORM Content Webinar Read More »
By Jim Tice – Staff writer https://www.armytimes.com The eArmyU civilian education option that has provided distance learning support services to 64,000 soldiers over the past decade will be shuttered next year. The 1,429 soldiers enrolled in the program today may continue to register for eArmyU courses until March 31, 2012 even if a course runs past the shutdown
Monday, August 1, 2011 BY JOHN A. GAVIN STAFF WRITER The Record Print | E-mail HASBROUCK HEIGHTS — When eighth-graders take their first year of algebra next month, they will solve equations and plot linear graphs with a popular and intriguing tool — an iPad2. JOHN GAVIN/STAFF Buy this photo Hannah Christensen, left, and Rachel
Tuesday was kickoff day at EDUCAUSE, and we used the occasion to talk with a number of analytics leaders who have perspectives on new developments today and in the future. Their full interviews will be posted and linked to our site, as will white papers, case studies, and applications briefs. Keep following the posts over
Authors: Stephen Gilfus Foreword the Gilfus Education Group predicts that over the next few years, educators will make great progress in combining existing technology capabilities with the practices and theories of learning communities to develop a vigorous community learning platform which enables a richer set of educational experiences and facilitates the positive effects characterized by
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently announced the Next Gen Learning Challenges which will provide grants to innovators, build evidence of what works, and foster an engaged community of professionals committed to helping students and young adults prepare for college and successfully complete their postsecondary educations. The Foundation has engaged several leading edge organizations
Gates Foundation Ventures into Next Gen Learning Challenges Read More »
Get the most out of your Enterprise Resource Planning, Student Information System and Learning Management system with Gilfus Education Group expert Analytics team members and explore our exclusive capabilities. the Gilfus Education Group provides consultative services that can leverage out-of-the-box technology to get the most out of your education systems. For Blackboard Analytics, Moodle Analytics,
Analytics tools provide statistical evaluation of rich data sources to discern patterns that can help individuals at companies, educational institutions, or governments make more informed decisions. Colleges and universities can harness the power of analytics to develop student recruitment policies, adjust course catalog offerings, determine hiring needs, or make financial decisions. In a teaching and
7 Things You Should Know About Academic Analytics Read More »
San Jose, CA/Dartmouth, Jun 25, 2010 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) —-Ninety-five percent of colleges and universities use at least one form of social media to recruit prospective students. This was among the key findings of the study, “Social Media and College Admissions: Higher-Ed Beats Business in Adoption of New Tools for Third Year,” conducted by Dr.
More sophisticated educational dashboards may contain complimentary operational management and governance functionality as well, aiding in compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act as well as other federal, local, and state mandates—from facilities management to attendance tracking. As education becomes more progressive, the lines between student management and school management are becoming blurred, creating
As social learning experts have proven again and again, learning can be more productive if there is clarity about which role models to emulate. This is analogous to being informed about which news sources can be trusted for their reliability and credibility. Moreover, tools are also needed to administer and deliver rewards and incentives whether they are compliments, stars, stickers, points or grades.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger advocate of dashboards in higher education than Arizona State University’s John Rome. Like many academic institutions ASU already had a load of data around campus. It simply needed a way to make it valuable to various constituents. ASU needed a flexible development tool and design principles to put the icing on the cake. John chose a dashboard tool which enabled his team to create education dashboards quickly by pulling academic analytics data from any system, including the data warehouse.
The Public Forum on Action Analytics and the Action Analytics Community of Practice are now available to higher education institutions and technology vendors worldwide via edu1world.org. Funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to support the Action Analytics Education Partnership (AAEP), these online communities
Why Education Dashboards are becoming essential in Higher Education Most educational institutions have had some sort of visual reporting tool in use for about the last 10 years. Different departments have relied on these visual reports to consolidate and view their data. Institutions that had the foresight to develop a tool internally were especially ahead
Education Dashboards and Academic Anlaytics are becoming essential in Higher Education Read More »
Academic analytics is the process of analyzing institutional data captured university enterprise systems for decision making and reporting purposes (Campbell & Oblinger, 2007). Higher education is entering into a new era of heightened scrutiny as governments, accrediting agencies, staff, students and parents call for new ways of monitoring and improving student success (Campbell & Oblinger, 2007). The Bradley review into higher education in Australia specifically mentions benchmarking activities in areas like student engagement as indicators of institutional quality (Commonwealth Government of Australia, 2008).
Academic Analytics: Data rich, information poor. Read More »
by Marc Parry The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is closing a grant program that financed a series of high-profile university software projects, leaving some worried about a vacuum of support for open-source ventures. Mellon’s decade-old Research in Information Technology program, or RIT, helped bankroll a catalog of freely available software that includes Sakai, a course-management
In Potential Blow to Open-Source Software, Mellon Foundation Closes Grant Program Read More »
by John Bowers, Julie Dent, and Kathleen Barnes Offering campus technology training online is an effective, sustainable alternative to live training workshops that saves space, time, equipment, and paper. Video tutorials are short, Flash-based animated sequences of screenshots with voiceover narration that can be combined with assessments for more comprehensive online workshops. Video tutorials for
Sustainable Methods for Campus Technology Training Read More »
Apple Education Mobile Learning Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training Marc Prensky Blog M-Learning Org Mobile Learning thinking: Get on your skateboard to keep up! The Revolution No One Noticed: Mobile Phones and Multimobile Services in Higher Education Will at Work Learning Futures of Learning Cell Phones in Learning Mlearning World Mlearning Bibliography Kapp
About a week into any class at Rio Salado College, officials can make a pretty good guess as to which students will succeed and which ones will not. The Arizona community college, where more than half of the 64,000 students pursue their degrees online, has devised a system of predictive modeling that officials believe can
Applying the principles of business intelligence analytics to academia promises to improve student success, retention, and graduation rates and demonstrate institutional accountability. The Signals project at Purdue University has delivered early successes in academic analytics, prompting additional projects and new strategies. Significant challenges remain before the predictive nature of academic analytics meets its full potential.
ASU Academic Analytics Background Dashboards–succinct graphical summaries of information that are commonly used in business to present data to executives and managers–are now cropping up in universities. Well at the forefront is the work being done at ASU under John Rome, who is associate vice president, University Technology Office. ASU is a large and rapidly
Education Dashboards through Academic Analytics at ASU Read More »
September 25th 2009
Secretary Arne Duncan spoke about the vital role that colleges and universities play in ensuring educational equity for all students at a breakfast celebrating the 5th anniversary of The Associated Colleges of Illinois’ (ACI) Center for Success in High Need Schools in Chicago today.
Secretary Duncan Praises Colleges and Educators for Ensuring Educational Equity Read More »
Blackboard Inc. was formed on the joining of two companies. CourseInfo LLC, founded by Daniel Cane and Stephen Gilfus, and Blackboard LLC, founded by Michael Chasen and Matthew Pittinsky.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Meade
August 14th, 2009
While on the exhibit floor at NECC 2009 (The National Education Computing Conference) in late June in Washington, DC, I overheard an intriguing conversation about “social learning.” A very distinguished looking university professor was talking with a small group of graduate students. The professor pointed out to her younger colleagues that scores of exhibitors were promoting solutions for “social learning,” but that the vendors were misappropriating a term that had been established in the education field for a very long time.
She complained that today’s technology companies were simply cobbling together social networking tools such as blogs, wikis and bookmarking tools, pawning them off as “social learning” innovation. As an
e-learning innovator with over a decade of experience in the education sector, this conversation reminded me that several core educational principles were not being thoughtfully considered.
Posted on August 21, 2009 by barrydahl During this academic year I will be working on a project called Action Analytics with the Office of the Chancellor at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU). I will still retain my position at Lake Superior College, but part of my time will be devoted to this
August 3rd, 2009
Stephen Gilfus, a former founder of Blackboard inc, and a well known figure in the eLearning industry, today, that the Gilfus Education Group is sponsoring the “Social Technology and Education Conference”,
August 14th @ Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Looking for Educational Dashboards for Higher Ed or K12? the Gilfus Education Group provides capabilities to education organizations through Academic Analytics and Gilfus Analytics. Every kind of organization now employs a digital dashboard to keep track of the way the company is functioning and also in order to be able to plan for the future.
Implementing an academic analytics strategy holds the potential for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of programs and activities across campus. Such an undertaking, however, would not come without cost. Process reviews, increases in staffing, new training offerings, expanded communications, and software purchases to implement an academic analytics strategy will require resources.
Academic Analytics – Minnesota Commits to a Strategy Read More »
March 1st, 2009
Created for the enterprise, Liferay Portal provides a virtual space where you can centralize, share and collaborate. Built with the end user in mind, Liferay Portal’s award winning user interface is easy enough to master by even the least technical of users.
Campus EAI – CEAI uses LifeRay Open Source Portal Solution Read More »
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) (“FERPA”) imposes various requirements on educational institutions regarding the privacy of personally identifiable information contained in education records of students. On December 9, 2008, the U.S. Department of Education (“DOE”) published final rules amending the regulations that implement FERPA. Originally proposed
Department of Education Issues Final Regulations Amending FERPA Read More »
May 6th, 2008
As corporate and government organizations embrace the Web for delivering more education and training programs, a wealth of free and open source e-learning applications will help lower the barrier to entry. TechWorld looks at the options.
In January 2008, Ed Ayers, president of the University of Richmond, signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. This commits the university to creating a comprehensive action plan to move toward climate neutrality. Even before “sustainability” became one of the university’s overall goals, Information Services (IS) had already established a sustainability program through reusing (redeploying) and recycling computers. In line with this goal, the IS department at the university seeks to reduce costs and increase efficiency, with a special sensitivity for the environmental impact of the e-waste generated on campus.
Education Asset Management and Green Sustainability at the University of Richmond Read More »
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
Gilfus Education Group UPortal consulting services help in advising institutions on how to take full advantage of uPortal to meet their business objectives.
Still paying back loans for college after all these years? Maybe you think the taxes you pay for public schools just aren’t giving your children high quality education. Whether if it’s been ages since you’ve been in a classroom or are still in school, you should know Blackboard Inc. (BBBB) is moving education into the
CourseInfo LLC CourseInfo, one of the two companies forming Blackboard Inc. was founded in 1997 by Dan Cane and Stephen Gilfus while at Cornell University. They joined together to officially form the partnership known as CourseInfo and developed the company into a small course management software provider. The product at the time was called the
September 15, 2006
Learning Management Systems have emerged from an auxiliary role to a critical one in higher education. Current college students are technologically savvy and demand their faculty to use technology and Learning Management Systems.
Overview of Open Source Learning Management Systems Read More »
Purdue’s academic analytics correlate data from the course management and student information systems, to create predictive models that can support student retention strategies. IN A PROJECT begun in 2005, researchers at Purdue University (IN) are developing models to predict academic success: academic analytics that will eventually be used to create interventions for at-risk students. Their
Academic Analytics – Data Mining for Academic Success Read More »
December 16th, 2004
A robust list of java based Open Source Learning management Systems – By Carlos Perez at https://www.manageability.org/
Open Source Learning Management Systems (LMS) Written in Java Read More »
October 24th,2004
“E-learning is going to disappear as a [distinct] concept,” predicts Matthew Pittinsky, chairman of Blackboard Inc., whose course-management and other software served 15,000 students in 1998 and six years later reaches 12 million in 50 countries.
Bricks and Clicks – Brandon Hall and Elliot Maisie Read More »
October 1st, 2004
A Networked Learning Environment in the Internet age applies new technology to a very old con-cept—that learning is much more than classes and grades. It is about the learning that takes place in a vibrant community of people and resources. The Internet has removed the limits of time and proximity that once restricted this community. In a true Networked Learning Environment, any student, instructor or researcher can access any learning resource at anytime from anyplace.
October 1st 2004
Once again, technology potentially comes to the rescue with the Course Management System (CMS). A CMS or course management system is Internet-based software that manages student enrollment, tracks student performance, and creates and distributes course content. In this way, the Course Management System enables teachers to extend the classroom beyond its traditional boundaries of time and space.
Course Management Systems and the Reinvention of Instruction Read More »
JULY 20, 2004
Blackboard (BBBB ) entered the market on June 18 at $14 a share, then rose to $23.38 and finally closed the day at $20.01. With 5.5 million offered shares, representing 21.5% of the company, Blackboard raked in $77 million. IPO analyst Tom Taulli liked what he saw: “This IPO seemed to excite investors, and they seemed to go ahead and jump on the bandwagon,” he says.
April 23rd, 2004
The Gilfus model, based on Blackboard adoption in over 2000 institutions, is interesting as it attempts to define the emergence of a new curriculum paradigm. Teachers can be switched on to using ICT for a number of reasons but let’s not forget that a key catalyst to eLearning will be students themselves and their expectations that the technologies they take for granted in their everyday lives (instant messaging, mobile devices etc) should be available for them as learners.
Educational Technology Framework – (Gilfus Model) Read More »
4/24/2001 , Washington, D.C. – Microsoft Corp. and Blackboard Inc., the leading Internet infrastructure software company for e-education, today announced a global alliance to redefine and simplify the e-learning experience for students and faculty in higher education. Students and faculty using Blackboard~s learning platform, built on Microsoft® .NET technologies, will be able to more easily
WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 25, 2000 Blackboard received the honor for its innovation in helping colleges and universities worldwide harness the power of the Internet for teaching and learning. “The Laureates in this year’s Collection are extending the boundaries of technology in some very exciting ways that are bringing about tangible benefits to society in so many
May 18,1999
Stephen Gilfus, company co-founder and VP of Marketing and Sales and Head of Product Strategy and Development at Blackboard will discuss the CourseInfo package recently purchased by Maricopa and discuss features of their new enterprise product, Campus.
Stephen Gilfus Blackboard Founder to Present at Maricopa Community College System Read More »
May 14th,1998
“Few people know IMS better than Blackboard” stated Michael Pettit, Blackboard’s Chief Systems Architect. “We think IMS will quickly become a viable architecture on which to build on-line education related systems, and a strong competitive advantage for Blackboard’s product line.”
Blackboard Announces Development of IMS-based Course Delivery Tools Read More »
April 29th, 1998
Recent CourseInfo clients also include the Ithaca Unified School District and University of Pittsburgh, according to Daniel Cane and Stephen Gilfus who will also be joining Blackboard’s Board of Directors and Management Team pending the successful completion of a Blackboard/CourseInfo merger.
October 21st, 1997
For professors who have decided to do so, that new industry offers a dizzying array of tools for developing Web courses. Of the dozen or so leading software packages, some require the use of expensive servers and the support of an information-services department, while others are designed to let professors create on-line course materials with little or no support.
Colleges Sort Through Vast Store of Web Course Tools Read More »
October 16th, 1997
CourseInfo employs 11 Cornell undergraduates and one alumnus, making up the company’s three basic departments: finance, product development and sales and marketing. While nine of the employees major in the College of Engineering, three, including Cane, are agricultural, resource and managerial economics majors (ARME) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Senior’s company helps to produce Web pages for college courses Read More »
July 14th, 1997
CourseInfo is a young growing company that has been providing educational technologies to academic institutions for several years. CourseInfo’s initial product “The Teachers ToolBox” was adapted for use at Cornell University and many other institutions in order to evaluate uses of such a product. After months of research and evaluation CourseInfo developed the Interactive Learning Network. The Interactive Learning Network was designed to run on UNIX systems with a version for Win NT dated in the end of ’98 and provides instructors with technologies that allow them to create interactive teaching environments.
The U.S. Department of Education announced today that it will hold a second round of public input meetings to listen to and learn from assessment experts and practitioners. To date the department has convened seven meetings in three cities (Boston, Atlanta and Denver). Thirty-seven States joined department leadership and nearly 700 members of the public