Joy Resmovits Aug. 5, 2011 ""We have become increasingly concerned with the proposed contract," Michael Mulgrew and Richard Iannuzzi, who respectively head New York City's and the state's teachers' unions, wrote in the note. The letter is addressed to New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, state Commissioner of Education John King, Jr., and copied to State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. "It is especially troubling that Wireless Generation will be tasked with creating a centralized student database for personal information even as its parent company, News Corporation, stands accused of engaging in illegal news gathering tactics, including the hacking of private voicemail accounts," the letter reads. Murdoch acquired 90 percent of Wireless Generation for about $360 million last November. At the time of the acquisition, Murdoch said he saw K-12 education as a "$500 billion sector." Murdoch's first general move in the education sector had come just a few weeks earlier, when he tapped Joel Klein, then the chancellor of New York City's schools, to lead his education ventures. The Wireless Generation contracts were approved while Klein still ran the district, leading to speculation about the chancellor's intentions."

"Uploaded by moviesfortheblind1 on Aug 16, 2011 Audio description added for people who are vision-impaired or learning English: Vincent Price stars as a survivor of a worldwide plague, spending his days trying to protect himself against victims who have risen from the grave. Contains violence. 1964. Edited audio version in Movies For the Blind episodes 26 and 27. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 moviesfortheblind.com"

by spk7 - Aug. 19, 2011 "Some time ago, Head of the School of Engineering, Professor John Fothergill, with the help of son Henry, produced a very engaging and funny video focusing on his experiences of moving some of his teaching online. In order that his course could still run while he was on sabbatical, John worked closely with Beyond Distance in order to achieve the best online experience for his students. The video draws upon a number of comic influences, most notably Monty Python. We hope you enjoy it!"

Andreas Fuchs Aug. 18, 2011 "At CinemaCon 2011 in Las Vegas, the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) hosted a special Accessibility Demonstration for Digital Cinema. Alongside legislative mandates across many states and numerous community commitment programs that North American theatre circuits have in place, NATO deserves special credit for calling attention to the opportunities afforded by digital technologies in providing access to all guests."

"August 15, 2011. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has begun a rulemaking to strengthen and expand their current TV closed captioning standards for both English TV and French TV broadcasts. However, they will not be looking at standards for digital and new media platforms in this process. The CRTC seeks input on:"

"25 August 2011 Last updated at 02:17 GMT Help People who are deaf or hard of hearing have long complained that going to watch a film can be an unsatisfactory experience, with subtitled films on at unsociable times and often suffering from technical problems. But a solution could soon available in the form of special glasses which allow the wearer to see subtitles directly in front of their eyes, giving them the freedom of choice afforded to hearing people. Graham Satchell reports."

Posted by xarxatic (Jordi Martí) on Aug. 25, 2011 "... la autoformación del docente (mediante el apoyo de una comunidad -que no se encuentra en cursos reglados-) está siendo la única capaz de crear y mejorar las capacidades docentes del profesorado (a nivel de nuevas tecnologías y mejora de praxis). Por tanto, ¿a qué esperamos para reformular esta formación "oficial" y reconvertirla en esa formación individualizada y guiada que tanto se necesita? O, ¿por qué si la realidad demuestra que la autoformación en comunidad es la que da un mejor resultado, no se intenta aprovechar por parte de la Administración ese camino?"

"Buchem, I., Attwell, G. & Torres, R. (2011). Understanding Personal Learning Environments: Literature Review and Syntheis Through Activity Theory Lense. In: Proceedings on the PLE Conference 2011. List of References used for the literature review in alphabetical order:" Note: this is a wiki, so watch for updates (CA)

"August 25, 2011 In the U.S., as recently as last Summer, tablet and eReader owners tended to be male and on the younger side. But according to Nielsen's latest, quarterly survey of mobile connected device owners, this is no longer the case. Back in Q3 2010, for example, 62 percent of tablet owners were under the age of 34 and only 10 percent were over the age of 55. By Q2 2011, only 46 percent of tablet owners were under the age of 34 and the percentage of those over 55 had increased to 19 percent. Looking at the data by gender underlines key changes in the eReader category. Sixty-one percent of all eReader owners are now female, compared to a mere 46 percent in Q3 2010. (Smartphone owners are now evenly split between male and female and tablets remain primarily male.)"

"Bell, F 2010, Network theories for technology-enabled learning and social change: Connectivism and actor network theory , in: Networked Learning Conference 2010: Seventh International Conference on Networked Learning, 3-4 May 2010, Aalborg, Denmark. PDF - Published Version Download (236Kb) http://usir.salford.ac.uk/9270/1/Bell.pdf Official URL: http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/ Abstract Learning never was confined to classrooms. We all learn in, out of, before, during and after episodes of formal education. The changing sociotechnical context offers a promise of new opportunities, and the sense that somehow things may be different. Use of the Internet and other emerging technologies is spreading in frequency, time and space. People and organizations wish to use technology to support learning seek theories to frame their understanding and their innovations. In this article we explore Connectivism, that is positioned as a theory for the digital age, in use on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Connectivism and Connective Knowledge, in 2008. We then compare Connectivism with another network theory, Actor Network Theory, to explore possible synergies. We found that Connectivism enables educators and learners to legitimise their use of technology to support teaching and learning. Connectivism, a relatively new theory, can benefit from a richer empirical base as it develops. Since the scope of educational change can vary from a specific learning setting through organisational and societal settings, we can develop theories through empirical exploration of cases across the range of settings to support our understanding and actions."

"The best free cultural & educational media on the web Essentials Free Courses Free Audio Books Free Movies Free Textbooks Free Language Lessons Great Science Videos Smart YouTube Channels Intelligent Video Sites Life Changing Books Get our Daily Email Our Free iPhone App Archive About Us"

"Educador en mi primera versión, entusiasta digital en la segunda. Me dedico a juntar ambos mundos. http://hmart.cl/home/"

By Aaron Smith, Aug 15, 2011 "Overview Mobile phones have become a near-ubiquitous tool for information seeking and communicating--83% of American adults own some kind of cell phone--and these devices have an impact on many aspects of their owners' daily lives. In a nationally representative telephone survey, the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project found that, during the 30 days preceding the interview:..."

"It's clear that the world is moving faster than it ever has before. This infographic below, produced by Knewton, an adaptive technology platform based in New York City, tells us that education is a 7 trillion dollar industry, 570 times the size of the online advertising market. In a time when 30% of students in the U.S. fail out of high school, our current education system is broken, from the bottom up. But the landscape is changing. The Internet is bringing us digital content, mass distribution and personalized learning. Check it out here and click the image to enlarge."

"The Kentucky Virtual Library presents: How to do research! Step 1: Plan your project Plan your project tutorial Define your subject Brainstorm What do you already know? Group similar ideas Identify key words and phrases Make a quest strategy Gather your tools Step 2: Search for information Search for information tutorial The Kentucky Virtual Library The library catalog Encyclopedia Reference books: table of contents and index Magazines and newspaper articles Dictionary Search the World Wide Web What if you can't find anything? Step 3: Take Notes Take notes tutorial The KWL method Fact finder method Data sheets Clustering method (also called mapping or webbing) Venn diagram method Note cards Prints and photocopies Bibliography page Step 4: Use the information Use the information tutorial Scan the page first The five finger test Is the information true or bogus? Put it in your own words Organize the information Compare and contrast Put the information in order Add your own conclusions Step 5: Report Share what you've learned tutorial Step 6: Evaluate Ask yourself, "How did I do?" Glossary Back to the introduction page Portal | Home Base (Site Map) | Plan | Search | The Web | Take Notes | Use | Report | Glossary Teacher's Toolbox | Flash Version | Text Only Version Kentucky Virtual Library"

Sept. 6, 2011 "Matt Richtel's panoramic essay, "In Classroom of the Future, Stagnant Scores." weighs in this morning on the topic of "Grading the Digital School." I found myself cheering and jeering alternately throughout this piece. Why? Because it so quickly confuses "standards" with "standardized test scores" and technology put into classrooms with "preparing kids for a digital future (actually, the digital present: it's here, it's now, like it or not). These confusions are so pervasive in our culture and so urgent that I want to take a moment to focus on them. "

Started by Joel Josephson, Sept. 4, 2011 See also the various links provided in the discussion.