HGSET545

"When students transition to college, they're shocked to find that instructors don't spoon-feed them information. Instead, teachers ask them to motivate themselves as they grapple with concepts and problems, said Zach Widbin, physics teacher and engineering course instructor at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix." [not a] Surprise: rigorous hands-on project-based learning (supported by University of Arizona) engages kids. I wonder how many collaborative projects there are like this, with a local School of Ed actively working with neighboring schools beyond traditional student teaching and observation?

What a way to learn!

FYI. Great speakers and program last year. Although not education focused, ways to apply to teaching/learning and many education related workshops.

Within five years, Yale-designed robots may be helping teach children. A Yale-led team of researchers from across the country received a $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation on April 3 to pursue the creation of "socially assistive robots" to help young children learn basic skills and in some cases overcome cognitive disabilities.

A nice application of iPads in the community.

I was just thinking about the class discussion yesterday when we were talking about pink legos, that parents might be over-thinking the purchase of toys their kids play with. It made me think about the doll test, which many of you might know about already, which is more about race than gender. I think it shows that in terms of racial and self-identity and societal views of beauty, parents might be more thoughtful in purchasing toys. For example, African-American parents might make sure that their daughter has a collection of both the "classic" Barbie dolls and the Barbie dolls of color to make sure that she doesn't believe that she is physically less beautiful or does not fit the ideal form of beauty that the "classic" Barbie represents.

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.

The trial of Anders Behring Breivik (Norway's alleged mass killer) is reintroducing the hot topic of violent video games.

Discusses the need for value-added assessment of learning effectiveness in college.

A very good meditation on how technology is changing who we are -- not all for the better.

An alternative to free online courses for all (a la Coursera/Udemy/Udacity), Minerva plans to charge ~$20,000 in tuition for an Ivy League - equivalent education. Anyone else think this is a stretch?

How a teacher incorporates educational technology into his KIPP classroom.

Cute story about a renewed interest in table hockey. One quote: "In videogames, there is no humanity."

For those looking to develop educational content that can be accessed on any platform, HTML 5 offers promise.

"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."

Newark, Ohio

Seems like a lot of experimentation in this implementation. Unusual.

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

Scholastic Education, the leading provider of instructional technology for schools in the U.S., today announces FASTT Math® Next Generation, a significantly upgraded version of the country's premier math fact fluency program.