by Jennifer B. Kahnweiler, CIO Make sure development suits introverted employees — they have more influence than their quiet dispositions might suggest. Imagine this scenario: For the fifth time that morning, the management training facilitator asked if there were any questions. The roomful of mostly introverted engineers fell silent. Rather than engage people in small groups or ask them to write down their ideas, she continued to run her class the way she had always done — geared toward extroverts. The result? The quieter folks in the room weren’t heard, nor were they engaged with the material. The extroverts who might have benefited with their questions and contributions also lost out. Learning methods are often not created with introverts in mind, but they should be. http://www.clomedia.com/articles/6498-is-your-learning-introvert-friendly Share on Facebook

by Audrey Mullen, EdSurge We asked San Jose high school sophomore Audrey Mullen to share how she and her peers actually use various edtech tools and how they really feel about their teachers’ blended learning approaches. The result is a straight-from-the-source playbook that no blend ed teacher-or entrepreneur-will want to skip. And don’t miss Audrey’s list of four "tools that save my life," below. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-09-25-a-cat-is-not-a-dog-and-other-advice-for-blended-learning-teachers Share on Facebook

by MIT Shigeru Miyagawa, professor of linguistics and the Kochi-Manjiro Professor of Japanese Language and Culture at MIT, has earned a reputation as a leading voice for the use of technology and digital innovation in education. Since the earliest days of the Web, he has worked to realize its potential as a tool for teaching and learning, and he was a member of the faculty committee that recommended the creation of MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) in 2001. He has continued to advocate for the open sharing of educational materials, for which he was honored with the 2012 President’s Award for OpenCourseWare Excellence. Most recently, "Visualizing Japan" — a massive open online course (MOOC) inspired by "Visualizing Cultures," co-taught by Miyagawa, Dower, Harvard University historian Andrew Gordon, and Duke University art historian Gennifer Weisenfeld — has been nominated for the Japan Prize in Education Media. This is a prestigious international prize awarded to educational broadcast and digital media programs selected from around the world. http://news.mit.edu/2015/visualizing-japan-mooc-nominated-for-japan-prize-0925 Share on Facebook

By LORI GABLE, Rochester Business Journal Rochester Institute of Technology is launching an online bachelor of science degree program, the university said Friday. The degree in applied technical leadership program is aimed at working professionals who have associate degrees in fields such as technology, public service, military and health. As part of RIT Online, all courses are taught online. The curriculum is multidisciplinary and draws on several RIT programs and colleges, officials said. The required upper-level core courses include applied leadership, human resource development, crisis intervention, environmental health and safety law, and service quality from the College of Applied Science and Technology; project management from the School of Individualized Studies; financial accounting from the Saunders College of Business; and public policy and technical communication from the College of Liberal Arts. http://www.rbj.net/article.asp?aID=219248 Share on Facebook

by Kurt Eisele-Dyrli University Business Fulfilling a connection need: Troy University’s Trojan Cafe (left) has had more than 19,000 users in the past year, and Northern Virginia Community College’s virtual student union (right), still in expansion mode, has had about 500 users so far. For all the advantages of online learning—flexibility, personalization and affordability among them—there can be downsides for some students. Traditional, on-campus students can take advantage of a wide variety of social and extracurricular opportunities, but online students may feel isolated and disconnected from their peers and from their college or university—and risk losing the engagement so crucial to student success. Linked below are reports from three higher ed institutions in various stages of addressing these issues via a virtual student union. http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/keeping-remote-college-students-connected Share on Facebook

By Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive The number of video game design programs has increased dramatically in recent years, responding to demand from students more than demand from employers. Many of these programs are at the community college level, giving students associate degrees to take into the job market. The problem is, there were only 6,000 jobs posted in video game design last year, according to Matt Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass Technologies. Out of those 6,000 jobs, 89% required a bachelor’s degree or higher, and fewer than 5% were open to candidates with no prior experience. Sometimes the jobs students are being prepared for in college degree programs don’t match the need in the economy. Share on Facebook

by Brooke Lennington, KSNT In the small town of Clay Center, Kansas is a grandma, who is battling cancer and homework all at the same time. She does it all just to fulfill a promise before she dies. It started out as a bad cough five years ago. The x-rays revealed a spot: Stage 4 lung cancer. "They did a biopsy immediately and, by that Thursday, they took my right lung," said Judy Renton, cancer survivor. Realizing her cancer diagnosis could leave her with little time, she went online and found her guardian angels, The Insight School of Kansas Adult School Learner program. "Everything is done online," Leatha Hall, Judy’s school counselor said. "Classes are live so they open their computer, they login, they see a live class session." She started taking her online classes, while at the same time getting chemotherapy at the Topeka Cancer Center. "I could spend those 6 hours in chemo to do my homework and even go to class," Renton said. http://wric.com/2015/09/26/kansas-grandma-cancer-survivor-goes-back-to-school-to-fulfill-promise-2/ Share on Facebook

by Brian Rashid, Forbes Fifteen million people have made a choice. They chose to learn and grow and expand and advance. They sat in their apartments in New York City or their flats in London or their huts in Colombia. They came to learn from the four corners of the world. They opened their computer screens or turned on their mobile devices. These 15 million people had two things in common. They used Coursera. Their lives improved. As of today, Coursera launched more than 100 new courses in Spanish from the some of the best Universities across Latin America. That is 10 times the amount of courses previously on the platform. They also have 60 courses that have been subtitled or fully translated in Spanish. A majority of these offerings are career-focused courses like business english, IOS development, data analytics, green marketing, and entrepreneurship. Oh, and the mobile app is now also available in Spanish, making it easier for its users to navigate. http://www.forbes.com/sites/brianrashid/2015/09/29/coursera-expands-to-latin-america-in-big-ways/ Share on Facebook

by Jed Lipinski, The Times-Picayune Prior to Hurricane Katrina, most colleges in New Orleans provided few if any online courses. But the widespread displacement that followed the storm forced many local schools to find ways of allowing students to continue their education remotely. In the 10 years since the storm, online learning in higher education has gone from a fringe concept to one many New Orleans colleges and universities see as an integral part of their institution’s future. http://www.nola.com/futureofneworleans/2015/09/new_orleans_universities_gradu.html Share on Facebook

By Anna Burleson, Jamestown Sun Distance learning and part-time enrollment continue to grow at the University of North Dakota, according to new figures from the university. Official enrollment data released this week showed 78 percent of students were attending classes on campus. Over the last five years, the percentage of all enrolled students who are taking courses solely on campus has decreased by 9 percent to 9,691 this year. The percentage of the student body enrolled solely in distance or online courses has increased from 16 percent in 2010 to 22 percent this year. http://www.jamestownsun.com/news/state/3848725-distant-learning-grows-und Share on Facebook