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Increasingly, universities are using technology to provide students with more flexible modes of participation. This article presents a cross-case analysis of blended synchronous learning environments-contexts where remote students participated in face-to-face classes through the use of rich-media synchronous technologies such as video conferencing, web conferencing, and virtual worlds. The study examined how design and implementation factors influenced student learning activity and perceived learning outcomes, drawing on a synthesis of student, teacher, and researcher observations collected before, during, and after blended synchronous learning lessons. Key findings include the importance of designing for active learning, the need to select and utilise technologies appropriately to meet communicative requirements, varying degrees of co-presence depending on technological and human factors, and heightened cognitive load. Pedagogical, technological, and logistical implications are presented in the form of a Blended Synchronous Learning Design Framework that is grounded in the results of the study.

"When did Technology become a tool in our lives? A quick synopsis of technology as adopted throughout history."

Reeves et al. Authentic activities in online There has been a renewed interest in the role of student activities within course units as constructivist philosophy and advances in technology impact on educational design and practice. This paper proposes ten characteristics of authentic activities, based on a substantial body of educational theory and research, which can assist teachers to design more authentic activities for online learning environments. The paper includes a short review of the literature, together with the list of characteristics attributed to appropriate authors and theorists. The paper concludes with a discussion of how the affordances of Internet technologies can facilitate the operationalisation of authentic activities in online courses of study.

K-12 Education Technology Conferences and links

""Most learning needs today are becoming too complex to be addressed 'in our heads,'" Mr. Siemens wrote in a 2008 blog post. "We need to rely on a network of people (and, increasingly, technology) to store, access, and retrieve knowledge and motivate its use. The network becomes the learning.""

Connectivism and the Use of Technology?Media in Collaborative T&L

cMOOCs are different from xMOOCs

"An LTA is an activity or application of information technology that is reliable, accessible, easy to learn, non-intimidating and incrementally low-cost in time, money, and stress."

A lot of food for thought is provided in this post - -MOOCs as the potential answer to the education crisis? Local vs. global; Digital & Social exclusion; Formal vs. Informal; Post colonial tensions; Individual vs. Networked learning; Closed vs.OERs; Technology & infrastructure; Digital Identity

Authentic Learning for the 21st Century: An Overview

"Key Takeaways Large lecture courses are often required of an institution's newest learners, who lack skills to help them succeed. To open alternative paths through these courses, a team at Ohio State University redesigned an intro-level econ course that typically serves more than 600 students at a time. Part of the redesign includes offering these students a hybrid flexible (HyFlex) lecture option that lets them choose to experience lectures in the classroom or online through a live stream at a location of their choosing. Other technologies reduce logistical overhead, letting instructors spend more time teaching and helping students, and less time dealing with basic questions about course rules, schedules, and so on."

Social Media is a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content. (Kaplan & Haenlein 2010: 61)

George Siemens

How Authentic Learning is Transforming Higher Education

The framework consists of four parts: Collect, Relate, Create, and Donate. In Schneiderman's framework, projects begin with a chance to Collect knowledge, and students research the factual building blocks of their learning project. From there students Relate with one another - since collaboration and cross-cultural communication skills play essential roles in our economic and civic spheres. Based on the collection of building blocks and relating their knowledge to one another, students the Createsome kind of tangible demonstration of their understanding. The final part of an activity is to find a forum to Donate the student work so that students can enjoy the opportunity to publish their work and be of service to others.