By Khairil Imran Ghauth and Nor Aniza Abdullah in Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 2010, 26(6), 764-774. From the abstract, "we propose a new e-learning recommender system framework that uses content-based filtering and good learners' ratings to recommend learning materials, and in turn is able to increase the student's performance."

Presented by the Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt University, this guide provides excellent resources to a wide range of cooperative learning publications, from a guide (Students Working in Small Groups) to key articles on the topic. There are two case studies, provided by instructors who have adopted some cooperative learning practices in the classroom.

Excerpted from Biehler/Snowman, Psychology Applied to Teaching, 8th ed., 1997, this page is part of Houghton-Mifflin's Project-Based Learning Space. This review of cooperative learning resources looks at the models of the Johnson Brothers, Slavin, and Sharan & Sharan, comparing and contrasting each. This page includes resources, results, and methods for using cooperative learning in the classroom.

From Channel Thirteen's Ed Online, books, articles, and websites that promote collaborative and particularly cooperative learning.

This explanation, from (channel) Thirteen/Ed Online, defines collaborative learning as the larger category of students learning in groups. Cooperative learning, a subset, is where students are in small groups, working together on structured activities. Work is assessed both individually and as a group.

By W. Norton Grubb, et al., published by Routledge NY 1999. The WorldCat page also enables a preview (through Google Books), which makes the table of contents available. From the WorldCat summary, "Based on extensive research on community college teaching to date, this book examines the nature of teaching and the institutional forces that shape it."

PA's comment: "There's an interesting book by Norton Grubb entitled Honored But Invisible based on a thorough qualitative study of pedagogy in a whole bunch of community colleges. His basic point is that while we claim to be "teaching" colleges, there is little support for improving teaching."

From the Overview page, Next Generation seeks to "identify, improve, and scale solutions and will stimulate adoption of the many ways technology can deepen, accelerate, and support learning." The Gates Foundation is one funder.

PA brought this to our attention in October Coffee Klatch, having read several articles about the new initiative.

By Liz Willen on The Heckinger Report, October 29, 2010. Remedial education is often an obstacle to college completion. Students required to take developmental courses become frustrated and are more likely to drop out than those who don't have to enroll in these courses. Research is underway to identify alternative models.

By Susan Blau and Kathryn Burak, published by Houghton Mifflin, Boston in 2007.

NH is using this text in her class (Fall 2010).

From About page, "EdTechTalk is a community of educators interested in discussing and learning about the uses of educational technology. We webcast several live shows each week." Webcast categories include 21st Century Learning, EdTech Weekly, EdTechTalk, and many others.

By Joe Cortina, Janet Elder, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011, 4th Edition.

This book was mentioned in TO's classroom practice, week2. Assignment is to read Ben Carson's "A Mother's Answer."

Presented on TED.COM, filmed Feb 2010 and posted April 2010. Wujec discusses his experience using the Marshmallow Challenge in team-building exercises. Observing the challenge 100s of times, he sees that kindergarteners do better than recent business school grads (better at prototyping, less jockeying for leadership), CEOs do well, but do even better with an executive admin on their team because facilitation is important. High stakes (he's offered a cash reward) works better once the team has acquired skills; high stakes with no skills is a disaster.

Inspired by this video, both LS and RS used the Marshmallow Challenge as an icebreaker on their first class meetings (2nd semester) and both were pleased with the results.

The marshmallow challenge continued to be a popular icebreaker throughout the GSCC project. In semester 4, RS referenced this video again, and LS created her own video (see tag marshmallow) with her students completing the challenge.

By Caralee Adams in the College Bound section of Education Week, October 5 2010. Adams reports on the White House Summit on Community Colleges, held on October 5.

Hosted by the Research & Planning Group for California Community Colleges in Cosa Mesa, CA, October 6-8 2010.

RA to attend this conference

The National center for Postsecondary Research (NCPR) at Teachers College, Columbia University, hosted this conference, September 23-24 2010. Downloads of all presentations are available from this site,as are some conference videos.

PA attended this conference.

Trailer and official movie site of the documentary by Davis Guggenheim, released fall 2010. The movie looks at the failing American public school system, as well as those who are trying to save it.

Mentioned in the Learning thread of the Jam. SB says that he was a little disappointed in the film.

Reported by Anthony Mason of CBS News, September 28 2010. A look at the discrepancy between rich and poor, as the gap grows. Video.

From their About page, "The WIDE Research Center creates new knowledge about digital communication and promotes the transfer of this knowledge to school, workplace, and community contexts to promote learning, knowledge work, and citizenship."

Study done by Writing in Digital Environments (WIDE) Research Center, Michigan State University, published September 7 2010. The study looks at the writing lives of over 1300 first year students, enrolled in a variety of secondary settings (and geographic locations), from large 4-year universities, to a community college. Executive summary, information about the survey, and a downloadable PDF.

Part of the NPR series, Speaking of Faith, hosted by Krista Tippett and first broadcast on January 7 2010. In this presentation, Tippett speaks with Mike Rose of UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies on the idea of what kind of education befits a democracy.