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Feedback so far from early OLPC schools is impressive. Most impressive of all in the first year is Doomadgee State School. In remote, largely indigenous northwest Queensland, Doomadgee has just produced stunning NAPLAN results, boosting their percentage of Year 3 pupils at or above national minimum standards in numeracy from 31 per cent last year to a staggering 95 per cent in 2011. Principal Richard Barrie and his teachers are using plenty of clever and different engagement strategies, but one important tool in the toolbox is the early and strong use of technology via the OLPC Australia

Particularly in regard to rural communities, there should be no excuse today for geography to be a barrier to learning. Through connected on-line learning, children anywhere can quickly move from being passive consumers of knowledge (if at all) to an active participant in learning. As well, there is a sense of ownership of the computer, and it is a very real and comparatively cheap method of encouraging school attendance, something I note is a particular and welcome focus in the Northern Territory education system under Chief Minister Paul Henderson

A request of $12m has been put to the federal government, with $3m already requested from the Aboriginal benefit accounts, demonstrating the desire within the indigenous community to support real and practical self-empowerment and education programs

Today almost any school in America, however poor or remote, can possess the equivalent of the greatest library in the history of the world, simply by virtue of the Internet

Multi-Tasking Myth?

There is, at least, growing support for experimentation: in March, Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, released a draft National Educational Technology Plan that reads a bit like a manifesto for change, proposing among other things that the full force of technology be leveraged to meet “aggressive goals” and “grand” challenges, including increasing the percentage of the population that graduates from college to 60 percent from 39 percent in the next 10 years. What it takes to get there, the report suggests, is a “new kind of R.& D. for education” that encourages bold ideas and “high risk/high gain” endeavors — possibly even a school built around aliens, villains and video games.

ant time building their own games. Sometimes they design

miniworld, a dynamic system governed by a set of rules, complete with challenges, obstacles and goals. At its best, game design can be an interdisciplinary exercise involving math, writing, art, c

I’m excited about an initiative announced this week – Next Generation Learning Challenges – that will accelerate the integration of technology in ways that substantially improve learning. The foundation joined with several education organizations and other funders to establish Next Generation Learning Challenges. Its objective is to identify the most promising uses of technology in education and expand them to reach more students, teachers, and schools.