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this paper provides an overview of the potential of the integration of mobile Web 2.0 tools (based around smartphones) to facilitate social constructivist pedagogies and engage students in tertiary education.

Jerry Brown, Governor of California, speaks out about the ineptitude of standardized tests as a comprehensive, accurate way of measuring student learning. This idea is germane to most of what we are learning about the virtues of performance-based assessments, constructivist approach to learning, and the future of education. Does anybody think that there will ever be a time when standardized testing is replaced by something more effective? Emerging technologies like augmented reality simulations and multi-user virtual environments could be candidates for the replacement of standardized paper-based tests. Interesting to think about...

This article scientifically explains why humans crave for information. Research suggests the notion that midbrain dopamine neurons are coding for both primitive and cognitive rewards. This sounds like section of our brain still prefers to be strongly wired as behaviorist and cognitivist over constructivist.

Been reading about constructivist MOOCs lately (like the T561 virtual community), and ran across this essay from October on the nature of the social contract in a network-connected, physically-disconnected community.

Apparently their new strategy is to "airdrop" OLPC laptops into communities and let students teach themselves. Now, I'm all for students learning by creating and constructivist pedagogy... but this seems altogether irresponsible. Also, seems like we're promoting different standards for students in low income/low resource settings vs. students in resource rich settings through initiatives like this--and not in a good way. =/

MOOCs, or "Massive Open Online Courses", are a relatively new model of distance e-learning where hundreds and sometimes thousands of participants all take an online course together. The instructional mode of the courses is fairly decentralized; since there are so many participants in the course, the individual students cannot typically expect to have much individual interaction with the professors running the course. As a result, individual members of the MOOCs take on roles of peer teachers, and these roles are assumed organically (i.e. nobody invites them to become teachers in the course, they simply step up and take the reins). The assessment of MOOCs is extremely flexible; there are no grades and people only participate in what they want to participate in. The theory is that the MOOC creators put the learning environment into place, and the participants learn what they want to learn; less participation simply means that they will not learn as much. Thought this was a though-provoking model of eLearning and the changing role of the instructor in an eLearning environment.