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Maung Nyeu

At Waldorf School in Silicon Valley, Technology Can Wait - NYTimes.com - 1 views

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    A contrarian view. "Some education experts say that the push to equip classrooms with computers is unwarranted because studies do not clearly show that this leads to better test scores or other measurable gains."
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    Maung - I just tweeted this! The irony? I read it on my Android smartphone at the Apple store waiting to buy my iPad2!! Would love to talk more about this in class because I DID learn the "old fashioned" way and here I am as an adult, proficient at technology and attending Harvard...am I any less off for not being a digital native? Am I behind the rest of my HGSE because of it? Or has my learning technology as a late teen and adult benefitted me in some way that cannot be proven unless we conduct research with a control group devoid of technology all together during those early formative years? Would love to continue this discussion!
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    First of all - the girl in the picture of this article is reading Nancy Drew - who else spent most of their childhood with their head buried in a mystery series? :-) Secondly, I cannot tell you how valuable mud was to my childhood. Had I not been at a camp every summer where I was able to play around in mud and run through the woods all day, I would not be the person I am today. I think I did most of my growing and much of my learning in informal environments such as camp. It sounds to me like this school is trying to replicate those learning experiences...in a classroom. Not saying it's the way to go...but certainly an interesting model. Thanks for sharing!
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    Waldorf philosophy is different approach. For example, children learn to write first before they learn to read. As a result children may learn to read as late as 8 or 9. It's based on the anthroposophy philosophy. Children's who parents value these things will do well in a school without technology. Children who are plugged in at home would have a difficult time. This is effective for private school but not public school.
Allison Browne

Future MS video - 1 views

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    This is a "retweet" from Alex Shoenfeld but since he is not in this course I am posting it here.
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    I thought this was very reminiscent of the video that Prof. Dede showed early on in our class. Some parts are a little too "Big Brother" for my tastes, but the donation to the benefit concert just by holding a device up to the screen was fantastic...ease of use..."One-Click Wonders"...LOVE it!
anonymous

I'mOk App - Gamefying the act of staying connected to parents - 0 views

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    I'mOK is a mobile app that rewards your kids for taking responsibility for staying connected. Checking in with parents is gamefied so that by checking-in to locations earns you points.
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    interesting premise.. first thing I thought was, it's taking something kids *might* be into (gameification, badges, etc) and mixes it with something they dread (letting their parents know where they are, what they're doing) -- what's the point for kids? What benefit can they draw? Why would they want to earn badges or points in game/app their parents suggested? ... But as the homepage suggests, the premise of parents using this app/system to translate the app's points into real-life rewards (a currency system that parents & kids can negotiate together)... that's an interesting idea. Maybe this kind of arrangement can actually work in some cases. But with gameification in general, I'm wondering about the likelihood of true internalization. Usually we're wondering the question of if kids are actually learning content for the long-term when intertwining it with the motivating factors of game elements. But now this adds on a layer of moral values, obligations, responsibility... are kids going to internalize that they should keep their parents in the loop cause their parents worry, it's the right/responsible thing to do? Or will it stay at the "well I'm earning points/money/privileges"...
Chris McEnroe

µTorrent 3.0 - µTorrent - a (very) tiny BitTorrent client - 2 views

shared by Chris McEnroe on 29 Oct 11 - No Cached
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    Does anyone have any experience with this tool. It looks like a very interesting example of a Intelligent Web Filtering. Wow! Good side is that this is like Tivo for the web. Bad side is that you better have nothing else to do but look at the web. Also an interesting take on Personal Learning Networks.
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    I am familiar with BitTorrent, and it's interesting Chris that you came about it excited for its uses in education. But have you read or heard about the controversy surrounding it? In a nutshell- BitTorrent is a technology that allows large collections of files and data to be shared across the internet in a decentralized, peer-to-peer manner. A person who has the original files decides to share them via BitTorrent, so others can download from him/her. But as the others begin downloading the files, they also start sharing the pieces they've downloaded with the ever-growing set of new users asking for the file. BitTorrent works like a growing web- in order to download files shared via BitTorrent - you have to share the pieces you get with others. More downloaders = more uploaders as well, ensuring popular files will always be accessible. The benefits - this is cheap and decentralized, no need to pay to host the files on the web. The users who have the file are sharing the file from their own computers with others requesting it. And this can be permanent - if you host a BitTorrent to share a file, you have that sharing channel last forever (not relying on external services that cost $ or can be shut down).
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    BitTorrent is a really powerful technology that allows large amounts of files and data to be shared quickly with a limitless number of people. It's scalability at no cost. Could be a great tool for educators to share content across the globe in a hassle-free way. Even the folks at Khan Academy are excited to use it: from: http://blog.vipeers.com/vipeers/2008/10/bittorrent-is-a.html "For Khan Academy, BitTorrent was a natural extension for it stated mission of "a world-class education for anyone anywhere," Sal Khan tells Fast Company. Kahn was excited for activist educators to be able to download the Academy's entire portforlio, burn it on a CD, and distribute it to rural or underdeveloped areas otherwise unable to access it without a broadband connection. "I think the single most fun thing about BitTorrent," Khan adds, "is this content will never die. A nuclear bomb could hit our offices tomorrow and could take down our servers, but its going to sitting somewhere in the world on somebody's server." He added, "We don't care about monetizing the content; we just care that it gets used."
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    But despite the prospects of BitTorrent being a great technology to allow sharing of digital content freely, to allow downloading of vast amounts of data that can then be stored offline and shared with anyone... the rest of the article (http://blog.vipeers.com/vipeers/2008/10/bittorrent-is-a.html) mentions that Google was unhappy with Khan's decision to use BitTorrent. Google actually blacklists BitTorrent content from its searches, and so is actually blacklisting Khan Academy content, despite being a recent financial backer of Khan. Why? This is the controversy: BitTorrent's power to share digital content in a decentralized way, where the more popular a file is, the faster it'll spread-- has led it to become the most popular method of digital piracy out there today. This has quickly become the most common use of BitTorrent, far exceeding the sharing of legitimate digital content. It's become a nightmare for the movie, music, software, and video gaming industries. A summary of the legal issues surrounding BitTorrent: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_issues_with_BitTorrent
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    Hey Bharat, I am so glad I asked. I had no idea. Very interesting. New dimension to the concept of free knowledge vs. intellectual property. I think the kids at my school are using this to share music. I'll have to check it out. I find this conflict- "Google actually blacklists BitTorrent content from its searches, and so is actually blacklisting Khan Academy content, despite being a recent financial backer of Khan. " so intriguing. At first glance it looked to me like a vision of networked learning that was aimed at an authentic task with authentic participants (as portrayed by actors :).
Diego Vallejos

Solar-powered internet school set to benefit children in rural Africa - 0 views

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    "Resilient mobile classroom incorporating laptops, video camera and electronic blackboard will work in areas without electricity"
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