HGSET545

Interesting idea: engaging parents to help motivate their kids in school. It includes several of sources of "intrinsic motivation": curiosity, challenge, context, and motivation. I would be interested in seeing a more independent assessment on how successful this system is.

I wonder if the instant feedback and scoring feature helps these kids go into a state of flow more easily while learning an instrument. The experience provides the beginner with all the requirements for flow: clear goals, right level of challenge, and instant feedback

Chris Dede chimes in -- quoted in this article!

Virtual Education Oasis... humm? Where do you think we will be in 2044? Author Ernest Cline, is interviewed about his novel Ready Player One, where "schools are built like palaces on the violence-free planet Ludus, and students take daytrips through both the Louvre and the human heart. These are but some of the benefits offered by the OASIS, a massive, multiplayer online game where most people in 2044 choose to spend their existence, away from the troubles of the real world. The OASIS combines the scope of a galaxy with the immersion of the Matrix; it is a near-perfect virtual reality."

Makers and users of mobile apps for children, take note!

The actual report itself is excellent, "Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures Are Disappointing." [The link is embedded in the article.] Improvement in this area is critical. When apps came on the market, they were like "valet parking"... where a user could get directly to a software without roaming the web. This was an attractive feature (and avoided unwanted advertising, a plus for parents.). Now, not only are apps collecting data that we are unaware of (PRIVACY!), but many are engaged in advertising, some that we are aware of and some that we are not (click through to a website, etc.) "Staff found that about 7% of the 400 app store promotion pages indicated that the app contained advertising. As above, this number is likely to understate the number of apps containing advertising because app stores do not appear to require developers to disclose in-app advertising on their promotion pages, and because advertising is a common way to monetize apps." Free? Not so much.

A profile of a school district that has successfully woven technology into the curriculum after issuing laptops to nearly 4,500 students in grades 4-12 three years ago. Statewide, the district now ranks third in test scores and second in graduation rates.

A school district in Maine is researching the use of ipads for early childhood literacy. The report is couched very positively,

Here are some interesting ideas on all fronts regarding motivation.

We talk a lot about student engagement. Does being accountable and respected raise the engagement level (and hopefully performance) of the teacher?

Interesting NYTimes article - an elementary school organizes regular field trips to provide students with basic experiences that many low-income kids don't get to have (i.e. an auto repair shop so they get a chance to experience sitting in a car) and connects these to academic work.

Great article! It seems like there is a growing movement to bring "play" back into childhood learning.

Using lotteries and other devices to motivate people to do things they might otherwise find unattractive.

Facebook funds much-needed research in the field of digital citizenship.

After dinner, when Tom Beasley is ready to take a break from his day job in the Yale classics department, he busts out the comic books. But it's all in the name of education, with a digital twist. Beasley, a seventh-year graduate student, is writing his dissertation on Thucydides, chronicler of the Peloponnesian War. In his evening project, he turns from history to the mythology of the Trojan War - in particular, the comic book series Age of Bronze, written and illustrated by Eric Shanower. Beasley's task: produce a reader's guide to the richly detailed, 31-part (so far) comic series in preparation for its release as an iPad app, intended for classroom use. The digital version, called Age of Bronze "Seen," launches on October 15 and includes maps, genealogy charts, and other interactive features.

For those of you who follow Michael Wesch, associate professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University... he is rethinking his speeches, adding, "It doesn't matter what method you use if you do not first focus on one intangible factor: the bond between professor and student."

the hybrid approach

Since college recruiters know that only a small percentage of students open email, Ohio State is planning to let prospective students get in touch directly with current students via IM, email or phone.