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Students want more control over their own learning experiences through technology and want to define their own educational destinies and determine the direction of their learning. "This free agent learner is one that is technology-enabled, technology-empowered, and technology-engaged to be ... an important part of driving their own educational destiny. To some extent they feel ... it's a responsibility. They also feel it's a right to be able to do that. So technology has enabled this free agent learner. We have the opportunity in education to make sure they're on the right track and to be supportive of their learning experiences." Ive been waiting for this! This is exciting it points to the idea that students will co-create their curriculum. In my mind it will become imperitive that individuals choose their highest bliss-subjects and projects that reflect their passions. In the new collaborative work environments students will be more highly valued for their contributions to areas that they are most naturally motivated to explore. Their resulting contributions will result in inventiveness and cutting edge investigations via passion, self motivation and peer inspiration and direct access to thought leaders/mentors in the field. Teachers might become guides to ensuring students intentions are achieved- teachers as arbiters of human potential. Students will no longer be compared to each other. They will score according to their own self affirmed destinations-allowing of course for reviews and changes of destiny.Teachers might also need roles in law and ethics to ensure students are safe in their online world activities, monitoring students and their online peers, intercepting or prompting inside the conversations?

Of those who have some interest in gaming, responses were varied as to its value in education. Sixty-five percent said it appeals to different learning styles; another 65 percent said it increases student engagement. Others said it allows for student-centered learning (47 percent), helps develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills (40 percent), helps develop creativity (39 percent), allows students to gain experience through trial and error (37 percent), and helps students visualize difficult concepts (35 percent). But perhaps the most significant trend in education technology, Evans said, is the emergence of the student as a "free agent learner": Students want more control over their own learning experiences through technology and want to define their own educational destinies and determine the direction of their learning. "This free agent learner is one that is technology-enabled, technology-empowered, and technology-engaged to be ... an important part of driving their own educational destiny. To some extent they feel ... it's a responsibility. They also feel it's a right to be able to do that. So technology has enabled this free agent learner. We have the opportunity in education to make sure they're on the right track and to be supportive of their learning experiences."

"I searched out and visited a bunch of sites with free educational games and selected the ten I thought were most useful and appropriate to education. In addition to a brief overview of each site, I have also attempted to define the grade range that each site is applicable to. I made my own judgement for most sites since it often wasn't indicated (feel free to weigh in if you think I'm off target on any of these). Most of these sites are geared towards K-12 (with many leaning towards K-6 or so), but some do have fun games that will challenge the Higher Ed student and adults as well. Take one for a spin today!"

In addition to Social Network sites the Internet offers many popular services that have become part of most teens social network including chat, instant messaging, blogs, peer-to-peer networks, text messaging and gaming. What are your thoughts about the use of social networks in the classroom, teachers connecting with students in online social environments and social networking sites in general for education?

We call DJEEO an outdoors computer game for children. DJEEO combines advanced IT technology with outdoors activities in a multimedia treasure hunt/orientation run. DJEEO is designed to: Facilitate learning through physical activity and play. Strengthen cooperation and communication. Increase intensity and activity for all participants. How do you win? To win a mission a team needs to score the most points. A team scores points by solving problems and finding posts in the field. The game can only be completed through close cooperation between the agents in the field and the control center. DJEEO in Education The problems that need to be solved can be tailored to the subject being taught in class. In other words DJEEO can be used as an educational tool in almost any subject at primary school. After a session where 20 teachers participated we asked them which subjects they thought DJEEO could be used in. Their answer: “Mathematics, social studies, geography, language, physical education, etc. We then discussed DJEEO’s usefulness as an educational tool. All agreed that the ability to adjust the level of difficulty and the tailoring of questions to subject matter, allowed by the flexible project module, makes DJEEO a valuable tool for almost any subject.

awe and some! Complexity connectivity simplified Blogpost by Vanessa Miemis