Author: IBL News

IBL News | New York

As U.S. troops left Afghanistan, ending a 20-year war, but failed to defeat the Taliban, hundreds of students, their relatives, and staff of the American University of Afghanistan were turned away and couldn’t evacuate.

According to The New York Times, the university administration sent an email on Sunday to approximately 600 students and alumni to go home, as there would be no more rescue flights.

The group stayed seven hours in a safe house, waiting for permission to enter the airport.

Moreover, the gathering was alarmed after learning that their names had been shared with the Taliban fighters guarding the airport checkpoints.

When the Taliban took over Kabul on Aug. 15, one of the first sites they captured was the modern American University campus. Men in traditional Afghan outfits bearing AK-47 rifles brought down the university flag and raised the flag of the Taliban.

The Taliban commented on social media that this University was where America had trained infidel “wolves” to corrupt the minds of Muslims.

In 2016, the Taliban attacked the campus with explosives and guns in a terrorist assault that lasted 10 hours and killed 15 people, including seven students.

The American University of Afghanistan opened in 2006, receiving most of its funding from the United States Agency for International Development, which gave $160 million. It was one of the U.S.A.I.D.’s largest civilian projects in Afghanistan.

IBL News | New York

LEGO Education announced this month a hands-on STEM program and set for primary school students in grades 1 to 5 intended to engage them through playful problem-solving and storytelling.

SPIKE Essential is part of a suite of solutions that includes SPIKE™ Prime, Education BricQ Motion Essential, and Education BricQ Motion Prime.

Denmark–based Lego states that “its learning system puts students on the path to become resilient and independent thinkers, while sparks joy and a love of learning in students that never stops.”

The LEGO Learning System also claims that it allows cultivating essential skills like creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication.

IBL News | New York

The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday that it will cancel $1.1 billion in student debt for 115,000 borrowers who attended the now-defunct ITT Technical Institute and didn’t complete their degree.

Since January 2021, the total amount of debt canceled approved by the Federal Government reaches $9.5 billion, affecting over 563,000 borrowers.

Under the U.S. Department of Education, borrowers who attended an institution that shut down between November 1, 2013, and July 1, 2020, will receive a discharge.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona [in the picture above] addressed the wrongdoing of ITT and other predatory institutions, highlighting the need for accountability throughout the federal financial aid system.

“For years, ITT hid its true financial state from borrowers while luring many of them into taking out private loans with misleading and unaffordable terms that may have caused borrowers to leave school,” he said.

IBL News | New York

Cybersecurity and cloud-related courses are the top-paying certifications in the corporate world, with salaries over $150,000, according to research released last week by Global Knowledge, a Skillsoft (NYSE: SKIL) owned company.

Corporate digital learning company Global Knowlege extracted data from over 3,700 U.S. IT professionals and decision-makers. Its 15 Top-Paying Certifications List reveals the most in-demand skills and technology areas for organizations, as well as the average salaries associated with them.

It also points out that learning new skills or earning a certification can result in a raise upwards of $12,000 a year.

“Certifications are an excellent way of infusing vital skills into an organization while boosting employee productivity and investing in ongoing professional development,” said Michael Yoo, General Manager at Boston-based Skillsoft.

The research states that 76% of decision-makers struggle with the existing skills gaps, are challenged with talent recruitment and retention, and face overwhelming workloads.

This is the list:

[ Disclosure: IBL Education, the parent company of IBL News, works for Global Knowledge / Skillsoft ]

IBL News | New York

The organizers of the 12th Annual ASU+GSV Summit – which took place August 9-11 in San Diego – released yesterday all of the videos of the recorded talks on the Global Silicon Valley’s (GSV) YouTube channel.

A total of 346 videos capture the essential talks and conversations, “with a shared focus on scaling innovation in Pre-K to Gray learning,” as the event promoter said.

Additionally, ASU+GSV posted a collection of almost 300 downloadable, free pictures.

The 2022 ASU+GSV Summit — the most significant event in the EdTech industry – will take place four months before what is usually scheduled. It will take place in the same location of San Diego, California, on April 4-6, 2022.

This 2021 annual edition attracted around 3,000 attendees, featuring 600+ speakers on a variety of subjects tackling higher-ed, K-12, workforce, and global education concerns.

Arizona State University (ASU) President, Michael Crow [in the picture below], was once again the involuntary star due to his permanent focus on innovation. “We are at the beginning of innovation. Everything has been transformed except education,” he said.

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IBL News

• Michael Crow Proposes a Radical Change in Higher Ed through Technology-Enabled Design [Video]

• The ASU+GSV Summit Attracts Thousands of Attendees in San Diego

IBL News | New York

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) announced an expansion of its AI for Workforce Program to 18 community colleges across 11 U.S. states, with a total of 800,000 students. The company plans to expand to 50 more community and vocational colleges in 2022.

Learners who complete the program will receive a certificate or an associate degree in artificial intelligence (AI).

“The next-generation workforce will need skills and training in AI to develop solutions to the world’s greatest challenges, and community colleges play a huge role in unleashing innovative thinking,” said Pat Gelsinger, CEO at Intel. “AI is one of the superpowers fueling innovation, economic growth, job creation, and advancements across every aspect of society.”

With technical support from Dell Technologies, the Intel AI for Workforce Program includes courses on data collection, computer vision, AI model training, coding, the societal impacts, and ethics of AI technology.

To date, over 80 community college professors have received professional development from Intel and have been certified as Intel AI trainers.

Started in 2020 as a collaboration between Intel and a community college in Maricopa County, Arizona, the program has the following participating schools: Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California; Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque; College of Southern Nevada in North Las Vegas; County College of Morris in Randolph, New Jersey; Maricopa Community College in Maricopa County, Arizona; Folsom Lake College in Folsom, California; Foothills-DeAnza in Los Altos, California; Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wisconsin; Houston Community College; Ivy Tech Community College in Lake County, Indiana; Lonestar Community College in The Woodlands, Texas; Middlesex College in Edison, New Jersey; Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania; Morris County Vocational School in Denville, New Jersey; Ocean County College in Toms River, New Jersey; Santa Ana College in Santa Ana, California; Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon; and Lansing Community College in Lansing, Michigan.

IBL News | New York

The Boston-based Online Learning Consortium (OLC) announced yesterday the winners of its 2021 Accelerate Conference awards, which will take place on October 5-8 in Washington, DC.

“The OLC Awards program is an opportunity to showcase leadership and innovation in the field of online, blended, and digital learning,” said Dr. Jennifer Mathes, Chief Executive Officer of the Online Learning Consortium.

Michael Tassio, Aaran Zachmeier, and Nandina Bhattacharya of the University of California Santa Cruz: Excellence in Faculty Development for Online Teaching award, for their submission entitled Integrated Course Design for Remote Instruction.

The Center for Online and Continuing Education at Florida Atlantic University: Excellence and Innovation in Online Teaching Award (Instructional Design) for their submission entitled Engaging Online Students in Immersive, Interactive Science Lab Experiences. The virtual lab gives students an interactive visual exploration of the laboratory space, with a particular focus on what they need to know to achieve course objectives. Exploration of the lab environment is made possible through the use of relatively inexpensive 360-degree cameras and virtual reality goggles or computers, tablets, or smartphones.

Sandhya (Sandy) Maranna of the University of South Australia: Excellence and Innovation in Online Teaching Award (Faculty) for her submission Creation of Innovative Digital Assessments to Enhance Higher Order Thinking in Medical Sonography Students Studying Courses Related to Women’s Health.

Dr. Sheryl Burgstahler of the University of Washington, Seattle: Leadership in Equity and Inclusion in Online Learning Award for her contributions to the field of digital learning exemplifying the principles of equity and inclusion in spaces of accessibility.

Dr. Sherri Restauri of Coastal Carolina University: Gomory-Mayadas Leadership Award in Higher Education for her contributions and recognition of her leadership in the online education community.

Dr. Barbara Means Executive Director of Learning Sciences Research at Digital Promise: Online Learning Journal Outstanding Research Achievement Award in Online Education, for her article Teaching and Learning in the Time of COVID: The Student Perspective (co-authored with Dr. Julie Neisler).

Dr. Mariann Hawken and the Instructional Technology team in the Division of Information Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County: Effective Practice award for their project entitled Planning Instructional Variety for Online Learning (PIVOT).

Linda Merillat of the School of Nursing at Washburn University: Effective Practice award for her project entitled Interactive Teaching Design (ITD): A Proven Faculty Enrichment Program for Online Teaching. ITD combines key elements from teaching and learning with principles from interaction design.

Dr. Liz Owens-Boltz, Brittany Dillman, and Candace Robertson of Michigan State University: Effective Practice award for their project entitled MA in Educational Technology (MAET) Blog Series and Mini-MOOC on Remote Teaching.

A panel discussion and celebration at the OLC Accelerate Virtual Awards Gala will take place on Monday, September 20, 2021, at 7:45 PM as a part of the OLC Accelerate virtual program.

IBL News | New York

Study resources platform, Course Hero announced yesterday the acquisition of CliffNotes, creator of iconic literature and test prep guides used by high school and college students.

The Redwood City, California – based start-up also bought QuillBot, a platform that includes a grammar checker and citation generator.

None of the transaction amounts of those deals were reported.

Other recent purchases of Course Hero include LitChart and Symbolab.

Founded in 2006 by college student Andrew Grauer, Course Hero has grown from a resource for students to share notes into a learning platform used by a global community interested in academic resources.

The online learning platform claims that it now offers more than 60 million course-specific study resources as well as 24/7 tutor help. The range of learning materials includes practice problems, study guides, textbook solutions, videos, class notes, and step-by-step explanations for every subject.

Over 70,000 faculty across the U.S. and Canada use Course Hero to share their resources with the community, collaborate with other faculty, and hone new strategies for instruction.

Course Hero, an #EdTech unicorn on a mission to make edcuation resources and tools more affordable and accessible has acquired GSV portfolio company Quillbot, as well as CliffsNotes! https://t.co/m6pJJqhPX6 pic.twitter.com/idSJQaAgY5

— ASU+GSV Summit (@asugsvsummit) August 19, 2021