LAe-R: A new learning analytics tool in Moodle for assessing students’ performance
Ourania Petropoulou, Katerina Kasimatis, Ioannis Dimopoulos, Symeon Retalis, Bulletin of the Technical Committee on Learning Technology, May 16, 2014

This paper summarizes the state of the art in Moodle analytics tools and presents "a new cloud-based assessment tool, called Learning Analytics Enhanced Rubric (LAe-R), which has been developed as a Moodle plug-in (version 2.2+). More...

Bitnami
Bitnami, May 15, 2014
This is very nice. "Bitnami is an app store for server software. Install your favorite applications in your own servers or run them in the cloud. Select one app to get started or learn more about what makes Bitnami special." No, it's not free (of course). There are demo modes, but they're short-lived. For your own cloud server you'll need to enter your Amazon Web Service credentials. More...

ALT Members views on Learning Analytics
Martin Hawksey, ALT Online Newsletter, May 13, 2014

Interesting set of reflections from the Association for Learning Technology. I liked the distinction between educational data mining, which is focused on "developing methods for exploring the unique types of data that come from educational settings," and learning analytics. More...

Educational Technology and Related Education Conferences, June - December, 2014
Clayton R. Wright, Stephen's Web, May 9, 2014

Clayton R. Wright has distributed his seminal calendar of education technology related events once again, as usual in MS-Word format. More...

Assembling University learning technologies for an open world: connecting institutional and social networks
John Hannon, Matthew Riddle, Thomas Ryberg, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Networked Learning 2014, May 7, 2014

Perhaps this is why I understand traditional academics less and less as time goes by: "many academics still prefer - knowingly or otherwise - to replicate the ‘real’ in the virtual world, rather than unfetter themselves from tradition and the familiar and create new selves, constructs, relationships and opportunities for engagement." By contrast, I feel myself and my work adapting and growing as technology grows. More...

Writing Instructor, Skeptical of Automated Grading, Pits Machine vs. Machine
Steve Kolowich, The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 5, 2014
It's one of those stories the Chronicle loves to print - grizzled gadfly argues against computers in education - but in this case the critic has a point. Les Perelman, who in the past has had heated exchanges with promoters of automated essay grading, has authored a computer program that writes essays composed of gibberish but which score well in automated essay graders. More...

Many Schools Choose to Stick with Traditional Yearbooks Although CD-ROMs are Gaining Ground
This is another case of new technology reshaping an old standby, as schools are replacing the traditional school yearbook with a CD-ROM. It's a great idea, not only because it lowers production costs but because it allows students to record video and other media that would have been impossible for a yearbook. More...

One Quarter of Online Americans Have Heard of VOIP
This shortish report (more of a memo, really) from Pew documents what observers have been sensing for some time: that voice over internet (VoIP) is catching on and is well into the 'early adopter' phase of the technology cycle. More...

Personalized News? Findory News Has Them
Robin Good points us to this resource, Findory, that cretaes a personalized online newspaper, providing a short description and link to a Findory page containing news reports about Findory (nice). More...

Italy School Foils Cheats by Blocking Phone Signals
Tech fights tech - this short item, describes the use of jamming equipment to block cell (mobile) phones during tests at a school in Italy. Heh. More...