Group items tagged

States are starting to question whether online teachers should be required to obtain additional certification or training for virtual instruction. Some folks think a solid foundation in classroom teaching is enough and that it would present an additional obstacle to the existing challenge of recruiting high-quality teachers. But can teachers be as effective online as in the classroom without some specialized training?

Tying into discussions this week about bringing access to mobile devices to all via non-prohibitive costs, while still reaching a set of bare-minmum technical specs for actual use: India's "$35 tablet" has been a pipedream in the tech blog-o-sphere for awhile now, but it's finally available (though for a price of roughly $60). Still though, as an actual Android color touch tablet, with WiFi and cellular data capability - I'm curious to see how it's received and if it's adopted in any sort of large scale

I had heard months ago that India was creating this, but was not going to offer it commercially - rather, just for its own country. Just like the Little Professor (Prof Dede) calculator, when tablets get this affordable, educational systems can afford classroom sets of them and then use them regularly. But to Prof Dede's point - can they do everything that more expensive tablets can do? Or better yet - do they HAVE to?

I think this is what they're aiming to do - all classrooms/students across the country having this particular tablet. They won't be able to do everything today's expensive tablets can do, but I think they'll still be able too to do plenty. This $35 tablet's specs are comparable to the mobile devices we had here in the US in 2008/2009. Even back then, we were able to web browse, check email, use social networking (sharing pics and video too), watching streaming online video, and play basic 2D games. But even beyond those basic features, I think this tablet will be able to do more than we expect from something at this price point and basic hardware, for 2 reasons: 1. Wide-spread adoption of a single hardware. If this thing truly does become THE tablet for India's students, it will have such a massive userbase that software developers and designers who create educational software will have to cater to it. They will have to study this tablet and learn the ins-and-outs of its hardware in order to deliver content for it. "Underpowered" hardware is able to deliver experiences well beyond what would normally be expected from it when developers are able to optimize heavily for that particular set of components. This is why software for Apple's iPhone and iPad, and games for video game consoles (xbox, PS3, wii) are so polished. For the consoles especially, all the users have the same exact hardware, with the same features and components. Developers are able to create software that is very specialized for that hardware- opposed to spending their resources and time making sure the software works on a wide variety of hardware (like in the PC world). With this development style in mind, and with a fixed hardware model remaining widely used in the market for many years- the resultant software is very polished and goes beyond what users expect from it. This is why today's game consoles, which have been around since 2005/6, produce visuals that are still really impressive and sta

Good read to get a pulse on an online course at Coursera. Students registered online 11,800; students registered in in-person class 20. Only three weeks into the course and student feedback has been very positive.

even offline courses are headed online

Over 4.6 million students enrolled for online courses in 2008, a 17 percent increase on the numbers reported for the previous year. While students are enjoying the accessibility and convenience online learning provides, online educators firmly stand by their position that online learning should compliment not replace classroom learning

Through optimizing the power of digital footprint in the classroom, students transform from passive to active learners. When incorporating technology within core curriculum, students' prior knowledge and experiences (PKE) with content are leveraged. They can then build learning communities, or personal learning networks, within and outside the classroom.

Flipping the College classroom using MOOCs

"65% of today's grade-school children will end up at jobs that haven't been invented yet." Infographic detailing some possible future directions for educational technology including gamification, digital classrooms and novel computing methods.

This video series goes inside the classrooms of educators who use technology tools in their lessons every day. Learn from their challenges, celebrate their successes, and share their resources in every episode.

3D classroom created for learning would be helpful where cost cutting measures are required without compromising on the quality of instruction, it would also help in giving confidence to students who are shy to interact in real life to collaborate in the virtual world, speak their minds and raise questions without fear or hesitancy

Trip to zoo without leaving classroom! This tool is interactive and students can see and hear rear animals, including multi-touch, multi-user interactive tool. Another interesting aspect is that it never gives negative feedback. "Instead of telling you that it's wrong, it just tells you that it isn't right. So students can work together to find the correct answer, which increases collaboration among students." Similarities with EcoMUVE?

Alabama offers blended learning for 9-12 grades, called Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators and Students (ACCESS). It allows students take courses, such as, foreign languages, their own school may not offer. It also allows students to catch up if they fall behind or simply graduate early.

Mobile learning in some universities making gradually deeper impact. Through mobile learning the classrooms are becoming less about discovering information and more about collboration and knowledge creation. "Increasingly, this is just the way we do things" - Bill Rankin, director of mobile learning and an English professor.

We are in a time convergence where teacher are incorporating technology from their daily lives into the classroom to increase student engagement.

The U.S. Departments of Education and Defense are launching "Learning Registry," an open source community that will allow educator share information and learning resources, with a price tag of $2.6m. ""Learning Registry addresses a real problem in education, by bridging the silos that prevent educators from sharing valuable information and resources," said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "The Registry also allows content developers, curriculum coordinators, principals, counselors, and everyone else who supports good teaching in the classroom to benefit from the combined knowledge of the field.""

Samsung establishes "smart classroom" which moves class study from pen and paper style learning to tablet based learning, but also allows schools in remote island, that lack educational infrastructure, connect students through electronic dashboards and share ideas and information.

A consideration of using Vine, Twitter's 6 second video platform, in the classroom. The embedded video is the most helpful bit.

Los Angeles spent $1 billion to put iPads in the hand of students and within a week students found a way around and use the iPads for playing video games instead.

Why is extrinsic motivation needed to make these subjects interesting, and why use an entertainment game rather than an educational game?