Authentic Learning

Now, in theory, doing a 360 assessment (asking the people around the student, both before the formal learning program and, oh, six months after, for evaluations of behavior) is a pretty good technique. But 360's are also intrusive.

The bad news is that, well, who cares if someone can intellectually differentiate between different leadership styles? That is so old school. Further, simpler programs may get the same result, even if the knowledge is never used, (and the knowledge gleaned from old school programs also decays much more quickly after the program ends).

Multiple-choice questionnaires are biased towards proving what one knows, as opposed to presenting what one does. But I believe with some hacking of the medium, we can create better evaluations to guide us towards more productive programs.

Much of the teacher’s work is in the preparation, when mistakes and dead-ends are invisible to students.

Much of the teacher’s work is in the preparation, when mistakes and dead-ends are invisible to students.

Much of the teacher’s work is in the preparation, when mistakes and dead-ends are invisible to students.

We are trying to overcome the distance you feel in distance education by being socially connected," Snoddy said. "You develop socially as well as intellectually in college.

In an amazing experiment a Delhi-based IT professional has proved that kids can learn computer skills on their own. Over the years the results of Dr. Mitra’s experiments have been so spectacular that the National Geographic Channel has made a film on his unique research.

Again, to his surprise he discovered that the slum kids quickly taught themselves how to surf the Internet, read news and download games and music. Dr. Mitra then replicated the experiment in other locations, with the same results---within hours the children would teach themselves how to use the Net.

Key findings from the research are that: Media literacy, whether in traditional or convergent media contexts, is important for being engaged in society. Effective use of media and communications services is increasingly a prerequisite to broader citizen engagement including access to essential services. While the gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ is narrowing in terms of access to information and communications technologies, there is evidence of a digital ‘use/literacy’ divide associated with socio-economic status, age, workforce participation and household type. The promotion of media literacy is an important prerequisite to effective regulatory intervention designed to protect consumers, particularly for online and mobile services.

every time I go to the exhibit floor at a conference and see more tools for monitoring, accountability and security than I see tools for creativity, creation and collaboration, I see us move one more step away from the dream of what I believe our schools can be.

"People go in under the guise of being long-term Muslims," he says.

“In the rhizomatic model of learning, curriculum is not driven by predefined inputs from experts; it is constructed and negotiated in real time by the contributions of those engaged in the learning process. This community acts as the curriculum, spontaneously shaping, constructing, and reconstructing itself and the subject of its learning..”