Group items tagged

Speaking of being wary of marketers pitching 'magical digital products'...this study found "no discernible effects" on high school students standardized test scores - of course, we must ask how the effects were measured (what the test actually tests) and measure in what ways software has a meaningful effect on student's learning...

I think Karen Cator makes a good point in the article when she talks about standardized tests being the sole gauge for assessing the effectiveness of the programs. While the programs may be used with the intent to improve test scores, I'd also argue it's important for digital literacy to be valued as a skill in its own right. Thus while test scores may not reflect the sought-after results, other important skills may still have been developed by using the programs.

This is a TED talk about a really interesting project at the MIT Media Lab - blocks that can interact with each other and respond accordingly.

An Educator Embraces The World And Finds Awesome Results.

Interesting look at mapping 21st Century Skills to Montessori .

I am a fan of the Motessori approach and am encouraged to see that they are mapping the new technology skills to the tenets of what has been working so well for them already.

Interesting study for how students use facebook, and how that might affect academic performance. Those who used facebook to post statuses did worse academically then those who used it to share links/comment on others' links etc. Obviously, self-reporting of facebook use is limiting, as well as the myriad of other factors that influence academic performance. Still, something to look for when it gets published in the journal of Computers in Human Behavior. "How does Facebook activity affect a student's grades? Reynol Junco, a professor at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania, recently set out to determine exactly that. Mr. Junco assembled a sample of nearly 2,000 college students who self-reported details of their Facebook use: not just total time spent on the social networking site, but specific actions taken such as commenting, chatting, uploading photos or seeing what others are doing - "lurking," as Mr. Junco calls it."

A really intriguing collection of where educators think mobile learning/ubiquitous computing are heading towards.

These are awesome! I love how far out of the box some of these educators were willing to go...what a nice collection of "crystal ball" visions to document and archive to then see if any (or all) of them ever actualize.

"It should not surprise us that countries that provide equitable funding to their students, use high-quality instructional systems, and invest heavily in their teachers outperform those that do not."

In Victoria, Australia, schools are signing up for the eSmart program, a cyber-safety program that is intended help students learn safe ways to surf the net.

"This cyber-safety program will eventually be provided to all Victorian government schools and about 300 Catholic schools in the next three years."

Not quite as dynamic as the school of one usage of data. Still, they offer individual and comparative data analysis for teachers to work with.

Going back to our discussions on augmented reality, here's an app that takes us a step closer to the kind of future that was shown in a video in one of Professor Dede's presentations - instant translation!

I wonder if this type of technology might be augmented to "replace" physical QR codes and instead, if you hold up your phone to a building name plaque (e.g.Empire State Building) - could you get statistical/historical data associated with just the name text?

Interesting article about why other education systems work and how/why the US's might consider changing.

Article warns against effects of screen time on the developing mind. The article also states that quality programs are only educational if the child understands the content and context, which children under two usually can not.

Starfire Learning Studio provides education that is individualized, collaborative, passion-based, project-based and learning by doing. Interested to learn more about it!

Published Online: October 25, 2011 Published in Print: October 26, 2011, as 'Blended Learning' for the Little Ones By Jill Barshay, The Hechinger Report Los Angeles 1st grader Lena Barrett clicks through a series of icons and logs on to a laptop under the fluorescent lights of her classroom.

This article is from July 2010, but I found it interesting that the featured parents subscribed to the Waldorf approach to learning, but were lured in by the "irresistibility of technology" and began to make apps. "I decided it was better to contribute positively instead of taking a reactionary, orthodox stance." - Lynette Mattke

Got something you want to find on the Guardian website? Tweet your question at our new @GuardianTagBot service to get an answer with the help of the Guardian's Open Platform The Guardian is experimenting with a new Twitter-based service, and would like your help to test it out.

I'mOK is a mobile app that rewards your kids for taking responsibility for staying connected. Checking in with parents is gamefied so that by checking-in to locations earns you points.

interesting premise.. first thing I thought was, it's taking something kids *might* be into (gameification, badges, etc) and mixes it with something they dread (letting their parents know where they are, what they're doing) -- what's the point for kids? What benefit can they draw? Why would they want to earn badges or points in game/app their parents suggested? ... But as the homepage suggests, the premise of parents using this app/system to translate the app's points into real-life rewards (a currency system that parents & kids can negotiate together)... that's an interesting idea. Maybe this kind of arrangement can actually work in some cases. But with gameification in general, I'm wondering about the likelihood of true internalization. Usually we're wondering the question of if kids are actually learning content for the long-term when intertwining it with the motivating factors of game elements. But now this adds on a layer of moral values, obligations, responsibility... are kids going to internalize that they should keep their parents in the loop cause their parents worry, it's the right/responsible thing to do? Or will it stay at the "well I'm earning points/money/privileges"...

Article about a district's efforts to alleviate anxiety and stress on student performance. Interesting when we discussing assessment...

This company seems to package much of the free software for social networks within a company. They present an interesting vision of how it all might work as people collaborate on a project and utilized the system to find the right human resources. This looks sort of like the descriptions of what networked learning should (kind of) look like in schools. This is the industry model. Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkP49rBrq68&feature=player_embedded

Thanks, James. Thanks for arranging the conference. His presentation was especially illuminating. I loved his manner and audacity.