Tag Archives: e-learning resources

How One University Quadrupled Female Enrollment in Computer Science

April 7, 2014Teaching Tips & Strategiese-learning resources, Making a Computer Course Attractive, teaching tips for computer instructors, teaching tips for online course instructorslablearning

College Student — Source: freedigitalphotos

Despite the numerous successes of the Feminist Movement, female participation in tech-oriented programs remain low. However, evidence shows that this is not an insurmountable problem for colleges. Better still, there is reason to believe that the solution to increase female enrollment in computer science can be replicated.

Here are the three methods that Harvey Mudd College used to increase female enrollment in computer science:

First, Harvey Mudd College changed their course from “Introduction to Programming in Java” to “Creative Approaches to Problem Solving in Science and Engineering Using Python.” The change of name made the course less intimidating to interested individuals, while Python replaced Java because it is a more forgiving language. At the same time, the professors separated the class based on coding experience to improve its atmosphere.
Second, the college encouraged women to sign up for the course by showing them that women can be successful in tech-oriented industries. This was accomplished by bringing the students to the Grace Hopper Conference, which is meant to celebrate women in said industries.
Third, students were encouraged to use their skills to make something that mattered. Examples ranged from educational games to the conversion of popular software for use by new user bases. Their successes showed them that the tech-oriented industries were not out of their reach, with the result that large numbers of women switched over to computer science.

For materials that can be used in computer science courses, please contact us at Labyrinth Learning to speak about our products.

The Bright Future of Technology in the Classroom

March 31, 2014News & Eventse-learning resources, Labyrinth Learning, technology in the classroom, Using Technology in the Classroomlablearning

You know it better than anybody: college students can be very persuasive when they choose. And if you feel as though they’re pulling you along on the rising tide of technology in education, at least you can be assured that they have a good point, because technology usage in the classroom will become even more important in the future.

For now, you may be persuaded to allow your students to bring their smartphones to class to look up vocabulary words and translations, or in some cases, to take pictures of classroom notes and presentations. You might call this simple acquiescence; other colleges put a formal name to it: Bring Your Own Technology to School Day. Students also might be taking notes on their laptops, designing projects in Prezi and using the Smartboard to demonstrate just how adept they are at using technology in education.

In the future, when technology is further brought into the class, students might:

Collaborate regularly in real time with students across the globe, using Skype or a similar service.
Take a visual tour of a foreign country via a webcam, microphone and, of course, a reliable Internet connection.
Trade their laptops and tablets for wrist-mounted computers.
Take the extra step of having a computer chip implanted on their person so that they are literally wired for global connectivity.

Labyrinth Learning can assist you in helping students embrace technology in education, and become confident learners along the way. Contact us for more information, today!

Image Source: freedigitalphotos

Equipping Online Learners for Success

March 14, 2014Teaching Tips & Strategiese-learning resources, teaching in a computer lab, teaching tips for computer instructors, Tips on Teaching an Online Courselablearning

Online classes are creating more diverse “classrooms” than ever before. In addition to your traditional college students, class rosters may be peppered with high school students getting a head start, blue collar workers taking advantage of the flexibility of online education, or working professionals building on their current skill sets.

The following tools will help you equip all of these online learners for success:

The right educational software. Look for software specifically designed for online classes. It provides a single destination for both students and teachers, like a veritable virtual classroom. In addition to slide lectures, blog-style announcements, and immediate updates, teachers can also create grade books, assessments and polls.

Webcams and headsets. The largest hurdle for online courses is meeting the need for person-to-person contact. Webcams can be used to make group projects, live lectures, or virtual office hours more personable. Headsets improve sound quality and allow students to attend classes or special study sessions in public places, such as libraries or coffee shops, without disturbing those around them.

Social Media. Social media platforms provide another way for you and your students to stay connected. Did you know you can set up private Facebook pages for your classes, giving students a place to discuss information and share relevant sites and links? Use a blog to keep students on track, share additional resources, or to address current course challenges experienced by their peers.

Contact Labyrinth Learning to learn more about eLab and other tools to equip your online classes for success.

Image Source: freedigitalphotos

Create a Student Centered Classroom in 2014

February 24, 2014Featured, Teaching Tips & Strategiesassessing student performance, e-learning resources, teaching tips for adult students, Teaching Tips for New Teacherslablearning

As the new year gets underway, how are you planning to create a more student centered classroom? With the following tips you can refine your teaching skills and help your students learn more effectively in 2014 and beyond.

Promote interaction among students: The easiest way to encourage collaboration in the classroom is to arrange desks in groups facing each other, in lieu of rows facing the front of the room.
Use more thought-provoking assessments: In any old classroom, students might learn about the latest software by listening to a lecture, reading in a textbook, and answering multiple-choice questions. A student centered classroom gives students the hands on experience for a real-world situation. It may be easier to scan a bubble test and call it quits, but meaningful exercises are far more valuable for assessing critical thinking skills.
Respond to lack of interest: You may need to shift the original game plan if students fail to show interest. If it’s possible to teach them the material in more than one way, cater to their preferences whenever possible.
Make class enjoyable: The goal is to intrigue learners, so even if they weren’t required to come to class, they would. Make the journey an enjoyable one, both for you and your students.

With these tips, the first semester in 2014 can lead to happier, more interested learners. For more on creating a student centered classroom in 2014, please contact us today at Labyrinth Learning.

Image Source: freedigitalphotos

How the Digital Age Has Impacted Education

February 5, 2014Featured, Teaching Tips & Strategiese-learning resources, Labyrinth Learning, technology in the classroom, Using Technology in the Classroomkwalker

Every generation sees a shift in its perceptions about education. The advent of the digital age just makes this observation all the more evident. Here, detailed below, are some of the changes that a computer-oriented society has manifested for our children:

A Distributed Network – It is no longer necessary to show up for class in the literal sense when a student can just log in and attend a MOOC (massive open online course). The internet is just bursting with opportunities along this line.

An Emphasis on Skills – An increasingly technological workplace requires an ever more tech savvy workforce. This means that the skills necessary to navigate the Internet and the computer world will be in greater demand as the technology expands.

The Face of Traditional Colleges is Changing – Online courses are growing at a shocking rate, and as we look to the future, we may find more students taking lessons from the comfort of their own homes instead of the lecture hall. The students of the future may even be able to choose courses from multiple institutions from across the globe.

For more information on this and other advances in technology in education, please visit us at Labyrinth Learning. You will always find us online or you can reach us anytime at 1-800-522-9746.

The Effect of Technology on Education

January 22, 2014Featured, Teaching Tips & Strategiese-learning resources, Labyrinth Learning, technology in the classroom, Using Technology in the Classroomlablearning

In a world of rapidly advancing technology, it can be difficult to sort the useful benefits of tech in the classroom from the distracting noise of marketeers. Of course, for every example of social-networks causing trouble in schools, there’s a story of a self-taught go-getter utilizing Internet resources for something beautiful. Just like in any era, our status-quo has its problems and dilemmas, but embracing technological solutions for educational issues should be lauded as the solution, not the problem.

The Effect of Technology on Education — The chalk board is being tabled in many classrooms in lieu of interactive assignments utilizing technology.

Many teachers are already using technology in education to reach more students, to communicate better with students, to demonstrate complex-concepts to students, and to inspire students to do more with their potential than they ever thought possible.

A major aspect of their success is properly choosing which technology is best for their specific situation. However, any teacher who tries their best to introduce their students to the latest technologies rather than seclude them in the darkness of last decades textbooks and documentaries is having a positive impact.

Technology is and always has been a tool; finding the right way to wield it is just as important as the difference between using an axe to build a home and using an axe to wage a war. For example, when trying to get students to work together, some teachers realize that they are already connected via popular social-networking sites that have options to share data and insight as easily as selfie-photographs and gaming invites.

If you have an active interest in utilizing more technology in education for your students, contact Labyrinth Learning!

Image Source: morgueFile

Technology Can Help Lower the Cost of Post-Secondary Education

January 15, 2014Teaching Tips & Strategiese-learning resources, Labyrinth Learning, Tips on Enrolling in an Online Course, Tips on Going Back to Schoollablearning

The whole world acknowledges that a college degree is the key to success. Yet, nowadays the cost of higher education keeps many from attaining that goal. Technology in education has created great hope in lowering the cost of a college education.

Technology Can Help Lower the Cost of Post-Secondary Education — Technology has made earning a degree easier when costs are a factor.

The amount of free and reduced cost learning tools online is unprecedented due in part to the internet. Tools like YouTube and podcasts make it easy to create and distribute video and audio to anyone with an internet connection. Traditional universities, from Harvard to your local community college, are able to record lectures and other events from popular professors then share them online.

Online learning has made the cost of higher education more affordable for some. Working adults are able to take one or two courses at a time to complete associate, bachelor, master, and doctorate degrees. Students are able to read e-books, rent textbooks online, as well as access websites and databases that are tailored to the student’s program of study.

The cost of the tools needed to consume learning in an online environment has gone down as well. Smartphones and laptops can be purchased for as little as $200, making it available to those in lower economic brackets.

Technology in education has great potential to increase accessibility to those who may not have considered a college education. For ideas on how your school or program can utilize our tools for student success, give us a call at Labyrinth Learning.

Image Source: morgueFile

Does Digital Content Affect Reading Comprehension?

January 11, 2014News & Eventse-learning resources, Labyrinth Learning, teaching tips for online course instructorslablearning

Many critics of the digital revolution are quick to mention that reading from screens makes for inferior reading comprehension. There is a rising belief that any knowledge gleaned from a digital source is somehow inferior to knowledge gleaned from a traditional paper source. A study in Scientific American makes a number of statements claiming the legitimacy of these fears.

However, what these types of studies fail to note is the perpetually shifting dynamic of technology in education. For example, this specific study is really only comparing the benefits of uniform paper books over the currently ubiquitous scrolling technique popular on most computers and ebook readers.

For a number of logical reasons, the familiarity of the same passage always appearing on the same page, in addition to visually seeing how much total volume of “book” you have completed and are still working on, is a superior choice to fluctuating page locations, text sizes, and representative “books” that offer little sensory perception that currently commonplace in the digital world.

It is quite clear that digital media content does not inherently decrease reading comprehension. As technology improves, the gap between new information and traditional books will decrease, but in the meantime, there are many other aspects to focus on for the benefit of students and teachers alike.

To stay up to date on the latest wonderful advancements in utilizing technology in education, please contact Labyrinth Learning today!

How Technology is Changing the Landscape of Education

January 9, 2014News & Eventse-learning resources, technology in the classroom, Using Technology in the Classroomlablearning

In ancient times, a centralized university or library was the sole source of education for everyone in a given society. If you wanted to hear a lecture, you had to be physically present when the teacher spoke. If you wanted to read a book, you had to do so in the library itself. If you missed something, you could only go on your own intuition and the guidance of your peers.

However, today, with multimedia recording technologies and the rapid spread of information, any lecture, book, or educational concept is only a Google search away. Brilliant teachers are quoted on Facebook, shared on YouTube, and lauded on Twitter. If someone desires to learn, there is nothing in their way other than an imperfect Wi-Fi connection.

It’s no surprise that low-cost Internet-based educational opportunities are stealing students from traditional university environments. However, the best-of-the-best longstanding universities are embracing this technology in education, including Princeton, Yale, MIT, and Stanford who all offer Massive Open Online Courses utilizing the Coursera platform. These unique classrooms offer the same information available in a standard college format, but make them readily available to the masses.

Even still, as technology in education continues to become more important, expect the university of tomorrow to look nothing like what we see today. If you plan to be a part of the ongoing technological revolution in education, please contact Labyrinth Learning today to see how we can best help you change the way you impact the world.

How Technology Can Help Students Learn

November 4, 2013Featured, Teaching Tips & Strategiese-learning resources, Labyrinth Learning, teaching tips for computer instructors, tips for teaching computer skillskwalker

With the proliferation of social media sites and gaming apps, it’s easy to see why technology is oftentimes perceived to have a negative effect on our kids. But is it really that bad?

Technology isn’t entirely bad, especially when you consider the role of education technology (ed tech) plays in schools across the nation. When educators use technology in learning, these mentors are helping students use their mobile devices to their advantage instead of their detriment.

Here are a few effective ways to use technology inside the classroom:

Support open source technologies: You don’t have to spend a lot of money on ed tech. Open source applications are free, and they’re also stable and versatile. You won’t have to worry about limiting yourself to one platform.
Support technology adoption: Transitioning to new technology can be challenging, especially if a solution has a learning curve. Make time for familiarizing yourself with a new technology so that you’ll be comfortable using it.
Support teacher empowerment: Ed tech empowers both the students and educators. You can help your students more if you use a solution that gives you the ability to do your job more efficiently and easily.

Need more tips like these? Visit us at Labyrinth Learning or send us a message!