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If computers can score writing, of course the first use will be for assessment. No surprise there. But how might we use this more creatively?

I tried to bring an scoring software program into my school. Nobody liked it except for myself. I thought the objective measure would be more motivating to students. But the other teachers thought that the students should have more practice with rubrics themselves. My school focused heavily on peer editing and scoring. Also, when teachers see such a large number of average scores they tend to disbelieve the results. For example, when I score the essays, there may be a lot of 'B's but I've sees the difference in between Betty's 'B' and Joe's 'B'. The grade is more of a reminder of my experience scoring Betty's writing. When the software scores it, I haven't necessarily seen the essay therefore the score doesn't mean as much. Of course the scoring makes much more sense for official assessments. Open Ended Responses are a much better measure of a student's understanding than multiple choice, if the software is able to distinguish the nuance of language. Some programs are scoring grammatical patterns, sentence length, and paragraph length; therefore, a student can be totally off topic and get a high score. I'm curious if this latest software corrected for this.

The American School Counselor Association has released a guide to help school counselors make sense of the Facebook platform and its on-campus impact. In thinking about technology and EMF, we have yet to discuss cyberwellness issues. Presumably, one's engagement would be decreased if one felt unsafe.

'DU The Math' (http://www.duthemath.com/) is an educational game and this competition touts prizes and pop stars. Interestingly, the reporter asks important questions, such as : But is competition between students the best way for educational gaming to increase its penetration into formal K-12 education? Or would game makers be better served to focus gaming on competition between the student and him or herself, especially for players who are struggling to keep pace with class and feel left behind?

Computer-led math learning at Virginia Tech.

Interesting article and very ambitious to address an academic need, but I wonder if the instruction/test environment addresses UDL principles to appeal to a variety of learners or if the multiple choice tests target a narrow definition of math success. I added a blog post above that highlights some of technology's short comings as a platform.

Great point. My feeling is that a lot of higher ed institutions use technology as a way to cut costs, so not much attention is paid to accommodating diverse learners. If I may think back to my own undergrad experience, the prevalent assumption is that you're old enough to seek out additional support on your own when you're stuck or want to learn more. I definitely think though that more attention should be paid to applying UDL principles to educational software (yes, even for adults), so that learning can move beyond passing multiple-choice tests!

Undergrads use "free range learning," exploring the web for material about subjects of study and do not rely on the texts and assigned readings.

This article examines some of what we've been talking about in class, in terms of student motivation (or the lack thereof).

"When you attempt to distribute mathematics through any of these media, it changes the definition of mathematics... at this moment in history, computers are not a natural working medium for mathematics."

Why technology should not be the sole source for learning.

Based on a survey by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center

An interesting article about how to create a great educational game.  

MIT students are creating and sharing short videos about STEM subjects for K-12 learners.  

I now know where the EMF Rater should live or at least get a link...

More help to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

This article addresses how to foster motivation in a child - including being interested in the child's interests, pinpoint the source of frustrations, encourage the child at every step, focus on the child's strengths, and take time to overcome the frustrations.

Beautiful article Jing Jing. Thanks for sharing. Too often we push children through "our" timelines and curriculum without bothering to consider their interest or their development level. This article is a nice reminder that some kids are on their own clock and page.

My reaction to this article was "aren't these five principles common sense? Why doesn't everybody follow them?". And I realized that I haven't followed them either. Not all of them. Not all the time. Seems to me that either as a parent bringing up a child or as a society tasked with shaping the next generation we usually know the right things to do, but don't do them.

An article about reasons that we shouldn't limit kids' computer play, or their total daily "screen time".

exergaming advocated by president's fitness council

You probably received an email from Drew Faust about edX. Here's an article written after the announcement.

Can we get some of the $60 M to revamp iSites? :-)