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Interesting article on the steps that Google has taken toward building an e-learning ecosystem.

Websites are springing up that sort and collect reviews of MOOC courses. Meta-MOOC's essentially. Interesting how quickly an ecosystem can begin to develop around a new technology.

Just came across this interesting Learning site, so sharing it with the group. Please scroll down a little and checkout the comprehensive list of items in the Categories section.

This article is about the Khan Academy: how it came to be, how it is funded, its strengths and perceived weaknesses. Additionally, it paints a great picture of the Ed Tech ecosystem.

The ecosystem continues to build around MOOC's...

Article on how the government and philanthropies can support innovation in education.

What's the big barrier (besides government reluctance to spend money on education) to this? Historically, I thought that education funding was left to states as "states rights", hence the fact that the Federal government has even put up any money should be a step forward. I would be interested in hearing what people think are the levers for getting the Federal government to invest more...should education research be treated like NSF or NIH "basic research" and get core government support?

I believe that the federal government used to spend more dollars for basic research in education, but that number has been reduced dramatically over the years. I agree 100% that we need to increase this type of investment, and the federal government is the natural source. These social innovation funds are a separate type of investment, distinct from basic research. These grants are "translational" in that they seek to help commercialize promising research, but are not intended to fund the basic research. For a healthy and dynamic ecosystem of innovation in education, we need both.

"KnowledgeWorks Foundation has just released the third edition of its education forecast, called Forecast 3.0, Recombinant Education: Regenerating the Learning Ecosystem, that outlines the deconstruction of the current education model, a change in educators' roles based on their strengths, changing career pathways, and the role of technology in this realm."

Some very useful lessons to learn fro Mooresville. Looks like the broader ecosystem (such as cheper access to broadband internet) has been thought through rather than just dropping a laptop into the classroom.

Interesting comment from one of the parents, attesting to how technology can be out to good use in education - "My son, just yesterday, completed a mutlimedia project about the Sahara desert working together with another student. They created a video imagining them driving a vehicle through the desert while reciting facts about the desert and incorporating pictures and graphics about what they were describing. It was as if they were taking me on a virtual tour of the desert. This is the way we communicate now. What we learn is only as important as how we are able to communicate it to make things happen."