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A demographic survey of 200,000 students conducted last fall by Coursera. The average age of a Coursera student: 37.

"Yet one of the most significant things Sahlberg said passed practically unnoticed. "Oh," he mentioned at one point, "and there are no private schools in Finland." This notion may seem difficult for an American to digest, but it's true. Only a small number of independent schools exist in Finland, and even they are all publicly financed. None is allowed to charge tuition fees. There are no private universities, either. This means that practically every person in Finland attends public school, whether for pre-K or a Ph.D."

Equity in teaching education would be a good start.

I love this quote, too: 'As for accountability of teachers and administrators, Sahlberg shrugs. "There's no word for accountability in Finnish," he later told an audience at the Teachers College of Columbia University. "Accountability is something that is left when responsibility has been subtracted."' American's are SO good at blaming everything and everyone ELSE for what is wrong with education in this country. Good for Sahlberg. I might just have to move my family to Finland!

This article summarizes some research findings that suggest that electronic readers, such as the Kindle and iPad, are still inferior to the printed page and may even worsen student comprehension of material. The most up-to-date information technology seems inadequate for educational and academic needs.

Do you consider yourself a bookfuturist, a bookservative, a technofuturist, all or none of the above? Interesting to decide where you fall, and to think about where educators past, present, and future fall.

Summary: In a shift, professors from prominent colleges (including Harvard) are actually *encouraging* students to use Wikipedia.

Yes! This is a great way to harness a digital resource rather than dismissing it. More or less, everyone uses Wikipedia because if for nothing else, it's usually the first hit in a Google search. I agree with the article in that most students aren't allowed to cite Wikipedia but they do use it as a jumping-off point for their research. So in this sense, it IS valuable. One of the reasons I like it in a pinch is the colloquial tone in the delivery of the information. I usually feel like a buddy is explaining it to me rather than a Phd. If students could capture that tone but provide quality assurance on the facts, there's a real research gem to be had here.

This is an old article, but I thought quite appropriate given the discussion in class yesterday. This topic continues to fascinate me and I'd love to hear what you guys think about it.