Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

June 25, 2012 Customization Is the Future of Teaching, Harvard Researcher Says Rick Friedman for The ChronicleChris Dede (shown here on screen), a professor of learning technologies at Harvard, says classrooms of the future will have "a more complicated model of teacher performance that, when they know how to do it, teachers are going to appreciate."Enlarge Image By Jeffrey R. Young Most college courses are one-size-fits-all-a lecturer delivers the same information to everyone in the room, regardless of whether some students already know the material or others are utterly lost. It doesn't have to be that way, says Chris Dede, a professor of learning technologies at Harvard University. He outlines a vision of how technology can help personalize learning in a new book that he co-edited, called Digital Teaching Platforms: Customizing Classroom Learning for Each Student. His research focuses on elementary- and high-school classrooms, but he says the approach has implications for colleges as well. The Chronicle talked with Mr. Dede about his strategy, and why he sees big changes on the horizon. An edited version of the conversation follows.

Although faculty and students are the primary learning management system users, administrators and IT experts often select the system. This article stresses the importance of involving all stakeholders in the selection process, offers a step-by-step guide to LMS selection, and enables readers to develop a customized list of LMS features that align with their institution's instructional and learning priorities.