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A report by the Alliance for Excellent Education says that public education will face four challenges in adopting education technology: 1) preparing kids for college / career, 2) shrinking budgets, 3) teacher-centered to learner-centered, and 4) technology equality (especially for low-income students).

In the US, 250000 students are enrolled in full-time public virtual schools in 30 states, according to Susan Patrick of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, a trade association. Although that's just a fraction of the country's 50 million students, it has grown 30% each year. Some schools in Michigan already shown the advantage of digital learning.

This is an interesting article. I am just concerned that it is not unbiased or driven by an agenda other than improving education. I found this information about the Mackinac Center online: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/mackinac-center-public-policy I am starting to realize that a lot of the technology in schools rhetoric is driven by corporate and political interests, and as the industry becomes ever more profitable, I'm worried that companies are going to jump in and try to influence policy, rushing through the movement toward the wrong kind of technology in schools- i.e. sacking half of the teaching staff and replacing them with cheap computers. I think one of our most important jobs as Harvard TIE students is to education the public about the right ways to adapt technology in the classroom, and the important role that teachers will continue to play in this movement.

two useful reports on competency-based and student-centered learning

Berkman Center Video on the implications of integrating digital technologies into traditionally analog worlds in nature. How can they help and how can they distract?

Wikipedia event at Berkman Center

A look at Radio Instruction for pre-school children in Zanzibar.

"This publication, developed by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in collaboration with IDEO, details a human-centered approach to evolving the system of early education for the needs and possibilities of the 21st century." - The ideas presented in this publication are interesting, but I found the presentation of information particularly compelling.

Government sponsored Common Core resources for teachers. I searched around quickly and it looks like a great resource to find original documents, sources etc.

I took a module course from , Charles Fadel , the founder of the organization this semester, and I am very interested in the work he is doing. The Center for Curriculum Redesign (CCR) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving Education via answering the question: "What should students learn in the 21st century?"

I'm sure you all know about Berkman Center. In case you're not on their email announcements list, you might want to be. As educators, parents and protectors of children, we have an interest and obligation to employ best practices for use of technologies and media dissemination. I'm certain we are all thinking about this deeply at this very heavy time.

Opinion article from Reynol Junco at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society on why most educational technology startups aren't that great...they don't base their products on research, proven pedagogy, or work with educators.

It does seem like there is a shift going on right now- more educators on start up teams and more interest in developing innovations from the educators themselves. That being said, the market continues to get flooded. I think in the long run this will be very good for teaching and learning, but I would not want to be an investor in this space.

I think that is great that more educators are getting on the teams...but yeah, there are a lot of very fragmented / disperse initiatives that make it hard to tell what will succeed or catch on.

Testing centers and MOOCs and universities are partnering in an effort to offer credit for students who complete online courses. 

"This contribution to Seton Hall's Center for Mobile Research & Innovation is about more than just teaching the students to develop mobile apps - it is also teaching them professional and life skills, motivating them and preparing them for college, and instilling community service values"

A general overview of what makes a MOOC unique and, and what role could they play in the core educational mission of universities? Also a good blog from Duke's Center for Instructional Technology

Tennessee Technology Centers (a "career-training program" that is state funded) is using strictly enforced scheduling to help retain students with 1 in 4 odds of completing their program. The school is taking the opposite approach that most higher education schools take. Instead of having the freedom to create their own schedule, they work with the school to determine a schedule from the beginning which is permanent throughout the duration of their time at the school and is strictly enforced. The school is hoping to increase retention of students in 1 to 2 year programs that have low graduation rates, and produce more graduates in emerging technology fields.

The role technology can play in expanding the time during which learning can take place.

Another article about "expanded learning time" both online and via community-based "brick and mortar" locations like libraries, YMCA, and Boys & Girls Clubs. "Out-of-school programs can be strong partners for schools who want to leverage expanded learning time to help their students achieve global competence. Youth-serving organizations share the broad mission to promote student success in work and life in the 21st century. Out-of-school program organization and management is often based on an asset model that values diversity. In order to attract and retain participants, out-of-school programs are centered around youth engagement through hands-on and experiential learning, often with a focus on 21st century skills, service learning, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, and others."

I wonder what Helen Haste would think of this organization . . .

A Norwegian center of ICT created a video on how they envision the future of education. 

An article sort of centered around the notion for more "maker-movement" centers for gifted students.

"The report Pockets of Potential: Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Children's Learning, by Cooney Center Industry Fellow Carly Shuler, makes the case that our nation's leaders should not overlook the role mobile technologies can play, if well deployed, in building human capital and in helping to stimulate valuable innovation."