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And in this article, they break down the big three MOOCs and what makes them different from each other.

The year of the MOOCs

The Year of the MOOC 

Amazing graph you get on "google trends" when you type 'MOOC'

"This would be a big change, acknowledging that colleges aren't the only ones who can offer college courses," said Burck Smith, the founder of Straighterline. "It means rethinking what a college is."

""No one's got the model that's going to work yet," said James Grimmelmann, a New York Law School professor who specializes in computer and Internet law. "I expect all the current ventures to fail, because the expectations are too high. People think something will catch on like wildfire. But more likely, it's maybe a decade later that somebody figures out how to do it and make money." "

"There is a widespread belief among teachers that students' constant use of digital technology is hampering their attention spans and ability to persevere in the face of challenging tasks, according to two surveys of teachers being released on Thursday. "

Raspberry Pi may sound like the name of a math-based dessert. But it is actually one of the hottest and cheapest little computers in the world right now. Almost one million of these $35 machines have shipped since last February, capturing the imaginations of educators, hobbyists and tinkerers around the world. One Pi owner, Dave Akerman, of Brightwalton, England, even sent a Raspberry Pi to the upper atmosphere, floating it 40,000 meters up using a weather balloon. There he was able to take live video, photos and measurements. "Now every primary school in the world can take pictures from near space," Mr. Upton said. "You give people access to this tool and they do great things."

I like how Dr. Heineken forces his residents to interact directly with the patients first, then consult technology - puts the technology at the service of the doctor, not the other way around.

Program started by Microsoft engineer / Harvard Ed school graduate.

I'm sure we all had some experience with computer based essay scoring during the GRE. This is an interesting article in the NY Times on the future of computer based essay scoring in the classroom.

A look at a Brooklyn public school that offers a six-year high school/college curriculum geared toward jobs in the technology industry. Ironically, it doesn't seem like technology is being used to transform student understanding. And there seems to be a risk that these kids are being trained to do jobs that will be obsolete by the time they finish school.

The important thing is not the use of technology, but the new types of content, pedagogy, assessment...

I just logged on to post the same article! The interesting perspective that I got from the article was that the teachers continued to harp on this idea that in order to retain student's attention they needed to constantly "tap-dance" for their class. Instead of learning from this attention shift, teachers are becoming annoyed by it. Use the technology to give the responsibility of engagement to the students and only wear the tap shoes when necessary to facilitate a deeper understanding etc.