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This year’s entering college class of 2016 was born into cyberspace and they have therefore measured their output in the fundamental particles of life: bits, bytes, and bauds. They have come to political consciousness during a time of increasing doubts about America’s future, and are entering college bombarded by questions about jobs and the value of a college degree. They have never needed an actual airline “ticket,” a set of bound encyclopedias, or Romper Room. Members of this year’s freshman class, most of them born in 1994, are probably the most tribal generation in history and they despise being separated from contact with friends. They prefer to watch television everywhere except on a television, have seen a woman lead the U.S. State Department for most of their lives, and can carry school books--those that are not on their e-Readers--in backpacks that roll. 

They have always lived in cyberspace, addicted to a new generation of “electronic narcotics.”

Having grown up with MP3s and iPods, they never listen to music on the car radio and really have no use for radio at all.

Very low level of development of learning assets specifically for mobile devices.

Just-in-time knowledge: Short bursts of information and learning assets that can be consumed anywhere in just a few minutes.

Moderate to high levels of technology frustration in making learning assets fully viewable and optimized on devices — Flash on an iPad, for example.

The student-centered classroom harnesses the flexibility of new media to provide a diverse range of students with multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. The student-centered classroom harnesses the flexibility of new media for the teacher, providing a rich set of tools and resources to elevate and differentiate teaching. In that rich environment, the teacher can be both a content provider and the classroom’s most experienced and savvy teacher/learner, a model of the kind of expert learner students can emulate.

Through a combination of blended learning, individualized instruction, and enthusiasm, online biology teacher Leslie Fetzer’s dedication to helping her special-needs students develop core learning skills contributed to her new title as the 2012 National Online Teacher of the Year for K-12 education.

Fetzer said that teaching online lets her instantly individualize instruction for her students, and she is able to personalize lessons to appeal to each student’s own areas of interest or preferences. Access to different online tools and technologies is an added benefit.

“What we are seeing today is a certain amount of familiarity for the millennial generation around using technology. Whether it is a mobile phone, a tablet or computer, or also doing things with television, video recordings, gaming, there is a particular set of skills that they have developed,” says Akhtar Badshah, senior director of Global Community Affairs at Microsoft Corp. “However, we also know that just because you’ve had familiarity with the use of a device, it may not necessarily lead to proficiency in the use of technology where youth are effectively using technology to better their lives through a job, start something, or undertake further studies.”

Step 1 – Show: You start a SlideTalk video by uploading the slides or images that makes your presentation. Any type of image is valid: powerpoint slides, pictures, screenshots, scanned images… Step 2 – Describe: You type a text description for each slide. This is the text that will be rendered to audio by text-to-speech. You can at any moment listen to the way the audio will sound in the final video, allowing you to fine tune the text to get your message through. You can also choose among a wide selection of high quality voices (by Acapela Group) including more than 70 voices in more than 20 languages. Step 3 – Share: When the video is produced, it is immediately published on YouTube, ready to be shared with your audience. Depending on your subscription level you will also be able to download or control the access to the video as it suits you.

1.Rapid growth in for-profit post-secondary

2.Expanded online learning offerings

3.Massively open online courses (MOOC)

Number of Graphics and Multimedia elements Levels of Interactivity Instructional Designer and Subject Matter Expert Time

Many inputs go into the costs behind a blended-learning school: the number of teachers and administrators; their specific salaries; the instructional materials and technologies; student services; and other school operations.

The paper reaches the conclusion that the costs of blended learning are significantly lower than the $10,000 national average for traditional brick-and-mortar schools. They find that, on average, the costs range from $7,600 to $10,200.

Our own view is that blended learning will and should help schools--and ultimately the public--save money. But the overriding reason to adopt a blended-learning school isn't because of its cost savings, but instead because of the benefits for students that can result. Ultimately blended learning should help schools and policymakers move our education system to a student-centric one that educates children both more effectively and efficiently.

Nowadays, when someone talks about a “21st century field trip,” they are most likely referring to a virtual field trip. Virtual field trips are incredible examples of how the Internet can change the learning experience for students today. They can take a tour of Versailles, cruise around with the Rovers on the surface of Mars, even travel back in time and “walk” around Ancient Egypt in a format that was unimaginable just a few years ago.

1. QR Code map

2.  Today’s Meet Chat

the market for interactive textbooks is taking off (Kno, one of the biggest publishers of e-textbooks, has compiled enough data from extensive use of its platform to publish data on student effectiveness), iPads are everywhere, the Kindle Fire is seeing significant adoption, and Google's Nexus 7 already has solid retail and pre-order traction outside of the technorati who usually represent Google early adopters.

Saylor.org is a free and open collection of college level courses. There are no registrations or fees required to take our courses, and you will earn a certificate upon completion of each course. Because we are not accredited, you will not earn a college degree or diploma; however, our team of experienced college professors has designed each course so you will be able to achieve the same learning objectives as students enrolled in traditional colleges.