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"Legacy costs, ideas and infrastructure have set the table for creative disruption, with technology now offering alternative ways to acquire skills, knowledge, and accolades." This not only talks about transformation among teachers lives (and consequently those of the children thru what the empowered teachers provide) but makes you feel that the way in which teachers are evaluated are taking a whole new stage. More open, more emphasis on its impact and connected. 

Discusses specific areas (embedded data, peer learning, and simulations) where technology can be applied in classroom to empower students. Also provides links to area-specific tools.

"The unveiling of Samsung's GALAXY Note 10.1-with its advanced S-Pen and multitasking capabilities-signals a new generation of tablets that open even greater opportunities for empowering teachers and engaging students in the K-12 classroom." THE Journal

This topic is similar to what Uche posted about the millionaire teacher (below). The encouragement in the article is for great teachers to realize the position that they are in to lead the education revolution.

Wow, thanks for this link, Uche. I think that's a really interesting business they have going...kind of a way to spread best practices that in private industry might be spread via other means. It seems to address the PD / collaboration issue mentioned in NETP, too.

wow, great idea....I really like this model! This is can be great incentive for teachers to put their best work out there... and they finally recognized for their creativeness!

This article is interesting in light of Haste's article for class. Gladwell dismisses the "Twitter revolution" in Moldova and explains that real activism--real civic participation--is not seen in low-risk online networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. Perhaps new technology cannot empower individuals enough for real-life civic engagement?

I am not sure that online networks only form weak ties. I am somewhat surprised there was no mention of http://www.meetup.com/ and the soon to be released http://www.jumo.com/ as they both appear to consider themselves to be a means for social change. There is another point raised that we seem to have forgotten activism. This point, if true, may be a good explination as to why social media is not commonly used for social change.

Thanks for posting this Jessica! I've been thinking about this for sometime now and I don't think Gladwell is right in saying that Twitter and FB form weak ties just as the SM folklore claiming that twitter or FB is in the middle of real activism. Social media is a tool for organizing civic participation. Civic engagement is defined by how many participate and only later by the platform/tool they use. Couple of reactions to Gladwell's piece: http://rburnett.ecuad.ca/main/2010/10/1/the-anti-gladwell-small-change-indeed.html http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/tipping_point_author_malcolm_gladwell_says_facebook_twitter_cant_change_world.php

Principles of networked learning, constructivism, and connectivism inform the design of a test case through which secondary students construct personal learning environments for the purpose of independent inquiry. Emerging web applications and open educational resources are integrated to support a Networked Student Model that promotes inquiry-based learning and digital literacy, empowers the learner, and offers flexibility as new technologies emerge. The Networked Student Model and a test case are described in detail along with implications and considerations for additional research. The article is meant to facilitate further discussion about K-12 student construction of personal learning environments and offer the practitioner a foundation on which to facilitate a networked learning experience. It seeks to determine how a teacher can scaffold a networked learning approach while providing a foundation on which students take more control of the learning process.

"School of One uses technology to develop a unique learning path for each student and to provide a significant portion of the instruction that is both individualized and differentiated." I liked the definitions of individualized (pacing), differentiated (learning preferences/methods), and personalized (pacing, preferences, and content/objectives).

"..enabling and empowering others to solve their own problems is the best way to ensure successful projects, whether for a new product, a marketing campaign, training program or any other kind of project. Creating this sense of ownership and empowerment is also the best way to keep people (yourself included) engaged and growing." Good advice for product design and task design...

Cyberbulling detected by technology tools help teachers guide their students to dea with online threats and to help them navigate the Internet safely while empowering them.

Three long-time Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, veterans from Yahoo, Sun Microsystems, and Google, started funding education start-ups last Spring. Their incubator, Imagine K12, has now "graduated" its first group of startups. If accepted, Imagine K12 give $15k to $20k to startups and empower them with "dazzling network of connections."

Really good article about one teacher's experience with a flipped classroom, why she stopped using that model and how the idea of flipping made her a better teacher.

Wow, really interesting article, thanks Heather! Love how the teacher also learned from the experience and changed her in-class teaching style...

Thanks Heather, for posting, and Lauren, for suggesting...anybody who is taking T440 and loves the concept but feels skeptical about its real-world plausibility should read this article.

Over the past few years, there has been an increasing emphasis on girls and information and communication technology in the development sector. Large government donors, NGOs and the private sector believe girls could play a big role in resolving poverty and making development gains through ICT.

Another article about the bubble in edtech: "Most of today's education technology startups are doomed to fail. "But wait!" you say. "It's 2012 and edtech startups are sprouting up everywhere, pushing real innovation into a slow-moving yet vitally important market, gaining traction, getting funded!" True. Yet they are still doomed to fail."

They define success in edtech as building a sustainable company that improves student outcomes, empower teachers, and increases the reach and efficiency of educational institutions.

His ideas is to empower teachers and students to experiment with learning software by giving small grants to teachers.The point is to incentivize the use of technology at the teacher, student and classroom level.

not sure students 'should' run PD but teachers need to be more comfortable with the idea of giving up power to some extend and be more willing to learn from students at times

I think it does make sense to include students, too. Also re-enforces the idea that you don't truly understand a topic until you teach it, so I think empowering students somewhat works towards that goal.

An Indian firm has created a mobile device platform that "empowers social enterprises (at the bottom of the pyramid) to capture, analyze and process information remotely through smartphones / tablets". I think this is interesting in it's bringing mobile collaboration to some of the most remote places, physically and economically.

Interesting article that shows the next step that Khan Academy wants to take

"He [Sal] added: "If nothing else, I'd like a kid who's gone through the Khan Academy to be able to say, 'I've learned accounting, law, and I can write as well as someone who's graduated from Andover. That's empowering." Could that also be "disrupting the class"? traditional educational institutions bettter take heed of new technologies.

This idea can be seen as an alternative way for teaching methods however we have more sophisticated educatinal tools other than video . Unless this project includes other tools such as 3D and learning by doing , it will be flawed for some sides of teaching ways.

Quoting directly from the company-wide email (to Microsoft) "Microsoft YouthSpark is a new companywide initiative that will create opportunities for 300 million young people around the world over the next three years. We know young people everywhere face real challenges....Yet, this is more than philanthropy. We are mobilizing the company. From Partners-in-Learning to Office365 for EDU to Skype in the Classroom, we're marshaling a wide range of company's programs to support youth. As Steve said this morning, "We believe that working with our partners we can help empower young people to change their world, and we are committed to using our technology, talent, time and resources to do that."" (Personal Communication)

edtech platforms should truly empower teachers to teach effectively, control their content, and engage their students. The platform does this by making all content created within, regardless of type, property of whoever creates it.