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"According to DARPA, the goal of the Network Challenge was to explore how "broad-scope problems can be tackled using social networking tools." It said it aimed to look at such issues as mobilization, collaboration, and trust in diverse social networking constructs."

you can become a google certified teacher by attending the Google Teacher Academy

I'm sure some of you are already aware of this certification program offered through Google -- anybody know what's behind it and how it is viewed by academics and learning scientists?

I know a lot of educators are super interested in the program, but it is difficult to get to training center for an 8 hour training (often they are in random cities across the the US), and to get funding because it ain't cheap. However, a lot of teachers are taking on the challenge of training each other rather than having "google certified teacher" title. Since Google Educator apps are free - if someone in a district takes ownership, then you can kind of get around the challenges of PD. I am working with the IT specialist in a middle school in Newton, who has done a lot of trainings on Google apps for educators. I'll ask her for more info :-)

The documentary asks a question the education reform movement seems to neglect: Why flood American schools with young, highly educated teachers if the good ones cannot afford to stay?

I wonder if technology can help kids to acquire the skills needed for the multiple marshmallow challenges they will face in their lives (or at least not to loose the skills they were born with!)

Newest Disney attraction called - Sum of All Thrills where kids get to design their own virtual roller coaster. It uses virtual-reality technology. "Disney hopes the interactive nature of the ride would also help kids learn that math and science can be fun."

While I would not consider this incredibly expensive ride a 'distruptive innovation' or even an emerging ed technology, what Epcot has done by bringing this DIY-VR concept to the masses (if you are one of the masses that can A- afford Disney and B-have the patience to wait in line for `5-6 hours) is very important to future ed tech innovation strategies. The progression/invention of such cost prohibitive entertainment tools will fall squarely on the high-end theme parks and consumer venues. The challenge has been set by Epcot and now others must either compete directly or develop a better or more accessible solution. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few cost saving innovations that might be developed in this 'race'- Artificial G-Force Engline: variable air pressure, smart-chairs, fans

Much debate continues on the effectiveness of software applications on learning and assessment of outcomes. The story focuses on claims made by "Carnegie Learning" on claims made about its math software products. This highlights challenges faced by teachers and parents in identifying educational software for children.

Published Online: October 17, 2011 Published in Print: October 19, 2011, as Crafting Your BYOT Policy For the small but passionate minority of school districts that are opening doors to student-owned mobile devices, there's a lot riding on how effective the policy shift turns out to be in improving teaching and learning. I will be looking strongly at this experiment to assist with the charter school district I am putting together.

I can understand a districts hesitance towards the BYOT because of its responsibility for and inability to control the accessing of inappropriate content on such devices. What I would like to see - even if in baby steps (which I know is occurring in small scale all over the country), is the creation and sharing of engaging lessons that encourage this BYOT movement and combat the urge for students to be inappropriate because of the level of motivation the lesson itself provides. And I would also like to see some of the responsibility shift from policy makers to the students for self moderation - they know what is right and wrong in an educational setting - why can't we hold THEM accountable more?

Article addresses policy challenges in implementing BYOT

just the latest developments in flexible display technologies that are coming. Looks like Samsung and Nokia are already demonstrating their implementations at trade shows, and we may begin seeing these as early as 2012

By: Henry Jenkins, Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Katie Clinton Ravi Purushotma Alice J. Robison Margaret Weigel

The issue of infrastructure and wireless access is mentioned, but not deeply considered in this article. What challenges do we see if this sort of thing is really going to "enable Datawind to educate every schoolchild in India through the world's cheapest functional tablet computer."?

Interactive insights drawn from neuroscience not only provide educators with a scientific basis for understanding some of the best practices in teaching, but also offer a new lens through which to look at the problems teachers grapple with every day. By gaining insights into how the brain works-and how students actually learn-teachers will be able to create their own solutions to the classroom challenges they face and improve their practice

Do any of you know 'LINE'? as of last months, 80mn users globally (36mn users in Japan) and its pace of growth is exceeding that of any other types of social media in the country (Facebook, Twitter, etc). They target 1) users who have smartphones but not PC, 2) those who are interested in communication emotions effectively through ''emoticons'. If some people are concerned about how twitter/facebook/texting would have adverse impact on children language skill, let's talk about the implication of this thing if kids learn to communicate just by selecting emoticons (whose designs and variety are great by the way) and sending that to each other. I still have LINE on my PC but seeing this rapid growth in my home country concerns me a bit. 

Very interesting resource about the importance of trust within implementation of educational initiatives.

Did they jump or were they pushed?

An interesting take on "Achievement Gap"

More than interesting. This challenges a basic premise of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Paper from the Brookings Institute addressing the status-quo, challenges, opportunities and concerns of embracing tech in K-12 education in the United States

This article discusses how students at one school learn by designing their own video games. There is a separate class set up for this. The article exposes many challenges to implementing this type of curriculum.

Cool alternate reality game that aims to get students involved in solving global problems.

This is a really cool online community where students (or participants) get weekly real-world challenges and then use entrepreneurial thinking/skills to solve the problem in their community and then post "evidence" of solving the problem on the website. Students rack up points for solving different real world problems, which can---if they get enough points---get them access to internships with high-level social entrepreneurs and possibly even seed money for a project.

This video series goes inside the classrooms of educators who use technology tools in their lessons every day. Learn from their challenges, celebrate their successes, and share their resources in every episode.

Its great to see an organization like PBS jumping into both providing resources and support for educators to maximize the use of technology and not compromising quality content. Includes a teacher survey on use of technology in classrooms across the country (successes & challenges)