Group items tagged

The speaker argues that technology in education will drive personalization and have a 1:1 teacher-to-student ratio (optimistic!). He states personalization drives achievement, citing psychologist Benjamin Bloom.

Driving Change to Transform Schools (6 factors from a recognized school's Principal)

1. Connectedness matters 2. Vision 3. Value 4. Support 5. Professional development 6. Embracement

I've always wondered what drives VC investments in ed tech firms. Today, Union Square Ventures, a New York-based VC firm, began sharing its internal market research. Scroll down and click on "online education" to see what's caught their attention in the sector. It's very interesting to consider what is included--and excluded!

Program in Estonia designed to have all students age 7 to 16 learn to write code in a drive to turn children from consumers to developers of technology.

Hmmm.... I read about Estonia being very plugged in as well. I wonder if there is research on whether the kids are actually learning better as a result. I think that you have a point Jeffrey. It depends what the cost is. If kids are missing some critical lesson because they are coding at such a young age, there may be a trade-off. On the other hand, maybe the skills they are obtaining from coding are more critical. I wonder...

Ideally, the tech skills would be used to enhance and deepen some of the other curriculum areas. But, yes, 7 years old may be young.

How far away are cars that take over routine driving in addition to self-parking and automatic breaking?

Last week, Colorado-teacher-turned entrepreneur Kelly Tenkely launched an IndieGoGo campaign to raise $85,000 for the Learning Genome Project, a proposed online platform where educators can share and tag learning resources and get recommendations on which ones best fit the needs of their students.

Here's an example of one person who excelled in a MOOC. While everyone may not have the drive of this student, this is a good example of how an online technology facilitated a social learning group. Also - yet another example of how online resources can benefit people across the country who do not otherwise have access.

A friend just sent me this same article, Molly! However, my takeaway was much different. Whenever I read articles about young people doing extraordinary things with limited resources and technology, my first thought is always "how is this possible??" The article addresses my question directly: "The answer has to do with Battushig's extraordinary abilities, of course, but also with the ambitions of his high-school principal." The principal, also a graduate of MIT, was focused on developing more skilled engineers in Mongolia, and made it his mission to bring science and tech labs to his students; while MOOCs, the government's heavy investment in IT infrastructure, and the ubiquity of a 3G network made it possible to extend and enhance learning opportunities, the students may have never been exposed to engineering were it not for the encouragement of the principal. This human component, combined with technology, was what nurtured Battushig's drive and talent. This path will not work for just any student. If most homes in Mongolia have an Internet connection and even nomads cell phones, why have more people not found success with MOOCs? The author of the article summed it up best when she said, "Battushig's success also showed that schools could use MOOCs to find exceptional students all over the globe." Battushig is exceptional, just as elevated learning through MOOCs is still the "exception" and not the rule. MOOCs still lack a certain (perhaps human?) element that can move them from producing the anomaly of one "boy genius" to a more widespread level of learning.

Hi Laura - That's a good point about the principal. The principal and the student were both exceptional. While I do not think that MOOCs, as they are right now, can work for everyone, I do think that this example of educating an exceptional student is heartening. Maybe this exceptional student can learn a lot and then in turn, help others in his community. As undemocratic as it is, many advances in society are made by individuals or small groups of people. Overall though, I agree that MOOCs lack, as you said maybe a human element, to promote widespread education.

An example of an AR application for Google Android phones that takes advantage of the phone's video camera and GPS capabilities.

Karl Royle has produced the following research reports regarding games based learning. You can click the links to download. These reports have been commissioned by Becta, the government agency leading the national drive to ensure the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning.

ROI on social media. I find it interesting that when measuring a social market there are no social indicators that are valued. Does it make sense to slice social media into dollars and sense? I understand why you would need to justify it, but I am not sure that the greatest value of social media is driving traffic.

"The site links medical researchers from around the world-and is driving homegrown, locally relevant innovation in developing nations."

A 3D multi-user environment that immerses children in real-world, socially and academically meaningful activities. Ran across this doing some research for the VPA. It's the richest example on an online learning environment that I've seen, and similar to something I'd envisioned but dismissed as not currently realistic--apparently I was wrong! I would love to give this a test drive.

Ok... maybe the tie in to education is not immediately obvious. Mostly, I just think this is so cool that I had to post it. But think for a moment about carpool, soccer practice, and sports as a starter. No longer does a kid's participation in extracurricular activities require them to get a ride from mom. Go a little further... field trips, classes that are only offered at the charter school across town, on-site science explorations. How many more kids could venture out of their neighborhood for educational opportunities? There was a time 20 years ago I never would have believed that elementary school children would be carrying their own phone, but now will they all get their own car in 2nd grade??

Report from Alliance for Excellent Education on linking Teaching, Technology and Time to drive "Digital Learning".

Conference at MIT "Across Boundaries: Innovation & The Future of Education." February 1-2, 2013, MIT Tang Center, Cambridge, MA (http://learnlaunchconference2013.eventbrite.com).

A potpourri of articles about online education compiled by Union Square Ventures as part of their analysis of the education market.

A company that uses game theories to drive desired behavior - e.g. points, levels and badges based are awarded on courses you take, comments, & contributions you make. See the Value Proposition PDF for details

The author points out some of the most important digital literacy standards from the common core, specifically discussing how to assess what digital mediums are appropriate and when. He finishes the article with a great example of the standards driving classroom instruction.