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Thanks for sharing Sandra, this was an interesting article about injecting passion into our lessons. There were two questions I was thinking about though: 1) If we're not already passionate about something, why and how should we get passionate about it? 2) Excitement and passion do not equate to learning whereas solving problems or inquiry-based learning focuses the lessons on learning. Is that better? Cheers!

Interesting idea, I wonder if the children were motivated enough to start programing outside the game too. Thanks for sharing!

I agree that some students may be more musically inclined but will integrating music into all aspects of the curriculum, as the article suggests, really help students learn?

Thanks for sharing Sandra. I think it depends on how well the teacher designs the activity. It also depends on how the music is used. For example, music in a game is really important, but it's in the background. So the player doesn't really pay attention to it, until it's turned off. I think music can really help us learn, but it depends on the context in which it's used.

Thanks for this link, Matthew, and for the comment on it, Sandra! I think that music is a great avenue for learning. From personal experience, I seem to study better and with more focus and future recollection when music is playing in the background. It would be great to see if music truly does have a connection with the acquisition and recollection of knowledge.

Thanks for sharing this Malik. I was wondering about accessibility in the middle of the report. Then when I came to wearable technology and the list of products available, I realized that there's so much more we could do for students who have special physical needs.

Dr. Kenneth Green, founding director of The Campus Computing Project, shares a keynote presentation at the Saylor Foundation's 2013 Digital Education Conference

"Every young person will continue to need basic knowledge, of course," he said. "But they will need skills and motivation even more. Of these three education goals, motivation is the most critical. Young people who are intrinsically motivated - curious, persistent, and willing to take risks - will learn new knowledge and skills continuously. They will be able to find new opportunities or create their own - a disposition that will be increasingly important as many traditional careers disappear."

Rethinking MOOCs

Thanks for sharing, Xiaodi! Here's a related story about Duke University's participation in online learning. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/education/duke-university-leaves-semester-online.html?ref=education&_r=0

Visualization tool. referred by junjie. 

Tomoko, can you say more about this tool--and why you shared it?

I am so sorry... I posted by mistake....was meant to be for different diigo group....

http://www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate/animate/rsa-animate-drive This RSA animate featuring Daniel Pink focuses on motivation. Although not Pink's thesis, to me it provides the explanation for why bonus pay to teachers (or students) for student achievement, particularly on tests is wrong-headed and damaging to educators and schools as professional environments in the long run. You can't pay people to care but you can organize school environments in which meaningful learning can be achieved. Teachers generally want to succeed and simply need a well-managed opportunity.

Thanks Uche for sharing this talk. I found Dan's insights interesting especially when he said that management is a technology that cannot lead to engagement. It struck me that it was a delicate balance between managing from the outside and developing self-management from inside.

Professor Rosalind W. Picard, ScD is founder and director of the Affective Computing research group at the MIT Media Lab, co-director of the Things That Think consortium, and leader of the new and growing Autism & Communication Technology Initiative at MIT. In April 2009 she co-founded Affectiva, Inc., where she serves as chairman and chief scientist.

Thanks for sharing Rupangi. This tool could provide so much valuable feedback to educators as they design formal and informal learning environments for students. There are two things which I think any educator should be very aware about before implementing it though: 1. The privacy of the data and who has access to it 2. The steps that can be taken to prevent a misinterpretation of the data.

Very good synthesis of applying Flow in Education; in time for next Monday's topic on Flow. Good takeaways in the "Implications for Teachers" section.

Thanks for sharing Malik. I think this article provides a nice overview of flow and one main takeaway was the importance of positive affect. I agree that it is a good predictor of flow in an activity.

New report from the Connected Learning Research Network (funded by MacArthur) on a new model. Much of what we've seen before, but it purports to actually address issues of inequity, which is something I don't see talked about very much in these kinds of reports other than to share interactions between effects and variables like race & SES if found. Also interesting: includes Clusters of 21st Century Cognitive Competencies, a mashup of workplace readiness skills, 21st Century Skills, and Habits of Mind. (Is that enough buzzword for ya?)

"Popcorn Maker makes it easy to enhance, remix and share web video. Use your web browser to combine video and audio with content from the rest of the web - from text, links and maps to pictures and live feeds"

This was a great succinct article with easy to follow principles. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing this interesting article Uche. I think that while the major benefit of online courses is scale and reach, its downside is that it doesn't cater to individual student's ZPD. Still, the article ended nicely with an emphasis on the lecturer carrying out the online course. Great teaching X technology > teaching X great technology.

A set of cards that help design better games

This resource was shared during a web session with HGSE alum Bharat. It's a great resource if you're designing games.

Teacher David Suarez has developed a three-tiered approach to teaching math in which student choose how much of a challenge they want in class. Especially interesting because it's one of the first time I've seen a classroom teacher discussing how they support and manage a differentiated classroom.

I came upon this resource last December and I agree that this is a well documented effort for how to differentiate and create commitment. I have encouraged as many teachers as possible to try it out since I don't have a class right now to practice with it. It has so many elements from our readings and the video of his classes is an excellent way to help teachers understand what differentiation looks like in practice. Thanks for sharing.

Use engaging videos on TED-Ed to create customized lessons. You can use, tweak, or completely redo any lesson featured on TED-Ed, or create lessons from scratch based on any video from YouTube.

Thank you for sharing. I've signed up.

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.