Group items tagged

"Innovation and technology will not be centered around a piece of technology," Paul Kim, assistant dean and CTO at Stanford School of Education, "suggesting instead that educational reformers should focus on content and promoting self-initiated learning."

Online education for high school students is not an option, it is mandatory. Idaho Education Board approved that at least two credits of online class is required to graduate from high school. Idaho is first in the nation to mandate online class. We have read articles and discussed in class pros and cons of online learning. However, should online learning be mandatory for high school students? Do you think it is a good idea?

Having online education for the sake of online education does not seem like a good idea to me. If it saves them enough money that they can improve classroom education, that might be worth it, but I'm not convinced that this is worth doing.

Agree with Ayelet. Idaho board of education went through this despite heavy criticism from public. Instead of making it an option, Idaho makes it mandatory. Online education may not work for some students. They may feel that it has been pushed down their throat.

Fedora to provide scholarship. Incentive to contribute to open source technologies for high school students. Perhaps getting high school students engaged in open source projects is a means of putting the medium of technology into the learners hands.

After School officias from Little Falls, Minn., visited Apple HQ, they decided to spend $1.2m on 1700 iPads. Late Mr. Jobs in an interview with Wired mangazine said, "what's wrong with education cannot be fixed with technology." "Mr. Jobs blamed teachers' unions for the decline in education." Walter Issacson, the biographer of Steve Jobs, writes Bill Gates and Steve Jobs "agreed that computers had, so far, made surprisingly little impact on schools - far less than on other realms of society such as media and medicine and law."

There were two recent articles in NYTimes on use of technology with opposing view. While one article proposes replacing textbooks with laptops, the other school "doesn't compute." This article takes a middle path, a balanced used of technology in our schools. The author argues that computer cannot replace books, technology cannot replace a teacher, writing, or discussion. Technology is a tool to enrich the material and agument a curriculum.

Tennessee Technology Centers (a "career-training program" that is state funded) is using strictly enforced scheduling to help retain students with 1 in 4 odds of completing their program. The school is taking the opposite approach that most higher education schools take. Instead of having the freedom to create their own schedule, they work with the school to determine a schedule from the beginning which is permanent throughout the duration of their time at the school and is strictly enforced. The school is hoping to increase retention of students in 1 to 2 year programs that have low graduation rates, and produce more graduates in emerging technology fields.

Interesting interview with the Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg on using technology to improve education and enhance learning: "I think the best way to move forward is to find a good solution to securing time for human interactions for all students in addition to giving students access to learn with new technologies."

Great Schools Revolution

A timely article. Technology and internet made real difference in educating children.

A timely article in the Economist. It states that technology and internet made a difference in educating children.

I did not buy the article to get the details, but this paper seems pertinent to this course.

Concord Consortium is mentioned in #1, 4 and 5: 1. Better Simulations and Models 2. Global Learning 3. Virtual Manipulatives 4. Probes and Sensors 5. More Efficient Assessment 6. Storytelling and Multimedia 7. E-books 8. Epistemic Games

Simulations, Global Learning, Virtual Manipulatives, Probes and Sensors, More efficient assessment, storytelling and media, e-books - good overview of how technology is enhancing education

This list almost feels like it could be used as a litmus test to judge new technology a school is considering.

A contrarian view. "Some education experts say that the push to equip classrooms with computers is unwarranted because studies do not clearly show that this leads to better test scores or other measurable gains."

First of all - the girl in the picture of this article is reading Nancy Drew - who else spent most of their childhood with their head buried in a mystery series? :-) Secondly, I cannot tell you how valuable mud was to my childhood. Had I not been at a camp every summer where I was able to play around in mud and run through the woods all day, I would not be the person I am today. I think I did most of my growing and much of my learning in informal environments such as camp. It sounds to me like this school is trying to replicate those learning experiences...in a classroom. Not saying it's the way to go...but certainly an interesting model. Thanks for sharing!

Waldorf philosophy is different approach. For example, children learn to write first before they learn to read. As a result children may learn to read as late as 8 or 9. It's based on the anthroposophy philosophy. Children's who parents value these things will do well in a school without technology. Children who are plugged in at home would have a difficult time. This is effective for private school but not public school.

Describes a group looking at the role of technology in both formal and informal educational settings.

An argument for educational technology even when it is used without proper guidance

New report on how to make education more effective through technology

Superintendent and School Board understand the need for technology investment in Education and MUSD residents chose to extend the $40m bonds to fund this crucial initiative.

This article discusses successful blended curriculum. Interestingly, the article directs notice to the fact that the success is a cause of factors beyond just technology. One such factor is flex scheduling.

"Twelve emerging technologies are identified across three adoption horizons over the next one to five years, as well as key trends and challenges expected to continue over the same period, giving educators, administrators, and policymakers a valuable guide for strategic technology planning across STEM+ education. The addition of the "+" in the acronym incorporates communication and digital media technologies in the traditional four areas of study." Curious what others will think about these predictions.

Naomi S. Baron, a linguistics professor at American University, studies how cell phones and online messaging change social interactions. She talks to the Tech Therapy team about her concern that colleges push too much technology on students and professors. Should colleges encourage e-mail-free Fridays?

Interesting to think about technology saturation is impacting college students. Some college professors are even resisting technology integration in the classroom because of it - if you're interested in Higher Ed, the Chronicle of Higher Education has many interesting articles about technology in university settings.

A nice reminder that throwing tech into a classroom solves nothing without proper teacher training. "That is why our investment in upgrading classrooms needs to focus equally on making sure teachers know how to use digital tools effectively." "the motherboard and the memory chip will never replace the passion and inspiration of a real-life teacher."

So I think this articles goes along the same lines as the one from Daniel, about "Are Kids Really Motivated by Technology?". Both bring up great points that just technology alone can't solve education--so it's interesting to think about what that means for a lot of the technology-driven initiatives we see now. Khan, digital textbooks, etc., bring in technology to the classroom, but how much do they still depend on teacher proficiency in the classroom? Are they just repackaging traditional education? What about things like Coursera or edX--does interacting with an inspirational and passionate teacher through the Web still positively affect students?

Afghanistan has launched a new literacy program that enables Afghan women deprived of a basic education during decades of war to learn to read and write using a mobile phone.

This is really deep, Janet. I sense that sometimes there's a double standard between our expectations of what children's education should be versus adult education. There's always push-back when we consider using mobile devices as a primary teaching tool for kids. But I sense there's less push-back when we offer it in adult education. Is this because we think adults can learn better on their own? Or perhaps teachers are important in children's socialization process? Or that education is a basic right for all children, but not necessarily for adults? At the core, these women were once children deprived of an education during their most formative years.

I really appreciate your comments on this topic, Pearl. And, like you, I wonder at the effectiveness of a mobile literacy program. But I also find it interesting that there is even an attempt to reach women who were deprived of an education earlier in their lives.