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Harnessing the power of open collaboration to promote world-changing innovations

Stanford's acclaimed d. school inspired 50 teams of graduate students to pitch projects at Aspen Ideas Festival. Spark Truck, one of the winners is a "mobile maker lab" that brings simple tech to help inspire kids to become creators.

The Aspen Ideas Festival has a host of videos, audio clips and transcripts from the 2012 and 2011 sessions on education and edtech. Topics range from "Will Technology Disrupt the Way We Learn" and Knowledge Exchange: Information's Beautiful Future" to "The MiT Media Lab...Seeding Innovation," "The Next Internet" and "Will Technology Truly Transform Education" a panel with Fiona O'Carroll is executive vice president of the New Ventures/Innovation Group at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Ted Mitchell,President/CEO of the NewSchools Venture Fund." There's much more...

Very interesting resource thank you for sharing!

This is very "hot" in India at the moment. The president of India has given 200 of these to the university I work at and they are distributing it, for free, to loads if other institutes. It costs $25!! I haven't seen the quality of the device, but I have seen other low cost, about $150, tablets and I don't like them AT ALL. D you think e device quality and user experience will not be deterrent given the price point?

Mohit, I've heard a lot about the poor quality of the device and very little about HOW universities intend on using these tablets. It seems like another case of top-down intervention that's tech-driven rather than learning-driven, which is rather unfortunate. Also seems even more unfortunate that even though it's a tech-driven initiative, they haven't thought out the *quality* component of the tech. Oy... See this article for critiques of the tablet: http://www.techulator.com/resources/5523-Most-Annoying-Defects-Flows-Datawinds.aspx

November 26, 2012, 11:00 am This month Google's Niantic Labs quietly released a location-based game called Ingress that plays with data on multiple levels. The game, currently in invite-only beta, invites players to join either the Enlightenment or the Resistance and move through the physical world hunting "Exotic Matter", and coincidentally generating data and pictures for Google on the way. This looks similar to EcoMobile!

I see similarity in what CEEO is trying to achieve with MIT's Scratch project. Emphasis on creativity, learning from others, reflecting on process. Figuring how to assess its performance remain as an issue here as well. 

The issue

HGSET561

This is a really interesting article, and coupled with the edX / Anant Agarwal article below from Douglas, I think it brings up additional questions. Even with all the features that Anant says will be added to edX, I feel like they are all just part of the "convenience" factor and in many cases (like grading, discussion forum), more convenience for the teaching staff than the students. It is convenient for the students to do online labwork instead of going to a physical lab, for example. So I wonder if that type of convenience is enough to convince more students to sign up to MOOCs, or if they have to fundamentally change to add more types of value?

"IBM is working with DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, on a "cognitive computer" that would simulate the same number of neurons as the human brain, upwards of 100 billion". Wonder how 'human' it will be?

This was posted by a classmate at the MIT Media Lab and I wanted to get other educator's feedback on this premise. Almost laughable...

As with nature, learners who are skilled, motivated, and talented will find a way. Unfortunately, it's the rare employer who will hire someone just because she is smart and knows a lot. The degree is the necessary but insufficient condition if you're after a job. If you're not, you've probably already figured out the strategies in this book. I am totally using this site to fund the writing of my next novel.

I think Kiki has a naive and idealistic view of how one "educates oneself" -- yes, it's possible to figure out the "tricks" but that is no replacement for the engagement and learning that occurs in a learning community.

Teachers rate educational apps. I'm interested in the intersection of crowdsourcing and teacher professional development.

That would be interesting to see what teachers develop....this brings me to the thought that was brought up by that guy (don't recall his name) at the i-lab about having teachers develop apps but having them be able to make money off of it....

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.

a school with a curriculum based on videogames

While I applaud the concept of their program, I believe it tips the scale too far in the direction of technology. Unless the students plan to solely work in a digital world the removal of a physical classroom and interaction will greatly affect their social development. For example, physics lab was partially about the smell of the chemicals, the viewing of the wave pools, the teamwork and the mistakes that were real life.

Background on Augmented Reality. Reading for 9/14.

I was always wondering where the ole A4 came from...

What happens to your teen avatar when the plug is pulled on your virtual world?

That looks like a tragedy that's rooted in bad software architecture - having the Teen software be so different from the main Second Life software that it now has to be shut down ... tsk tsk. I hope Linden Labs has learned from this. It was really interesting to learn how this has been used in education (with specifics about hurdles the teachers had to jump to get it into the curriculum).

Creating a hybrid book combingin an ordinary book and an iPhone

Smartphones effecting our brains?  

A good way to bring innovative science education to schools.