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Alex Hernandez from the Charter Growth Fund highlights some key topics in blended learning, one of which is 'Can we increase the velocity of learning and create more space for such things as projects, the arts and deep thinking?' While so much emphasis is placed in STEM education, the idea of also utilizing blended learning environments to foster creativity and engage students in artistic processes is one we should also consider.

I'll be working on this project through the Lifelong Kindergarten research group at MIT Media Lab this semester

This is very cool...I haven't seen much on cross-generational learning, but I think that there are very valid benefits to it (as well as multi-generational living). Anyways, it seems not so different from the research that Uche is doing in the class. Look forward to hearing how your semester goes!

This is a site created by Northern Kentucky University. It contains lesson plans and videos for teachers to use to teach about plagiarism, copyright, and fair use. Target audience is middle school and high school classrooms.

Emerging edtech trends

eyes in the back of your head? One teacher thinks this is good idea.

Scratch isn't the only game in town :-) Note that I've already posted about App Inventor here (which is another "dive right in" programming environ)

Another great Dan Meyer video. (His Ted talk has gotten a lot of attention but this one is even better!) Dan describes the creative way he teaches math, including the active use of technology (rather than the "tired, dead tree format").

This looks like a fun way to engage kids in digital storytelling. 

There are many sides to every story, see them all. HBO invites you to participate in a multi-dimensional storytelling experience that defies expectations and proves a change in perspective changes everything. Will you uncover the truth and see the bigger picture?

Nice find! Just like HBO to try and be at the front of every market.

A great visual way for generating word clouds; the phsyical size of the word in the word cloud indicates the number of times a word appears in the document provided to Wordle.

A lilttle more from Salman Khan -- a great video!

Math activities based on google maps.This looks like so much fun!

Very creative way to get youngsters engaged in math. As the author says, 'math is everywhere'.

Isabel, Chris M., Stephen B., and I are at MassCUE today watching Yong Zhao's keynote.  You can find a copy of his presentation here at this website.

I saw Zhao speak yesterday at the MassCUE conference (with James, Chris McEnroe and Isabel Schwartzman). His message was provocative: the United States did not do well on the TIMSS test, but the US has never done well on this type of testing even way back to the 1950s. Therefore, Zhao thinks that these tests are not good indicators of educational quality, but that the things that the US does right are fostering creativity, building in tolerance and forgiveness into the educational system, and stressing problem-solving and collaborative learning.

This relates to part of the discussion in class today. I've seen him speak about the irony that Chinese schools, which are outperforming US schools on PISA and TIMMS, are actually trying to model their systems more on US pedagogy. See his latest book or look for him on TED.

Cell phones are banned in NYC public schools, but it is the norm for students who attend schools without metal detectors to bring their phones anyway. If caught teachers are confiscating phones for up to a week, or longer, at their discretion. At schools with metal detectors small businesses have popped up around schools, storing students' phones for the school day for a small fee, similar to a coat check system. Instead of harnessing the power of mobile phones that almost every student already has, they are punishing them and/or causing them to pay money to keep them stored for the school day so that they can have them before and after school. I think this is a missed opportunity for the NYC school system not only because they are missing out on mobile learning opportunities with technology the district doesn't have to buy, but they could also be teaching the students responsible and appropriate use of mobile phones in public spaces.