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A few months ago, EDUCAUSE sponsored a "short course" on evaluating the effectiveness of mobile learning initiatives. This page contains a wealth of resources on mobile learning related to the course. Especially useful for classmates working on EDC term projects related to mobile learning!

Interesting concept for how to evaluate Ed-Tech. I wonder if it will catch on, as it seems like a good idea from an educators perspective.

A rubric (in progress) designed for educational apps by a doctoral student at John Hopkins University. For those hesitant to make the shift to mobile devices, how would rubrics like this impact policy making, especially in regards to accountability?

A new proposal calls for a Consumer Reports-like rating body to evaluate new digital learning tools. Ed tech innovators like the idea in theory but they worry that it won't work in practice.

Funny, I was just talking with someone about this very idea the other day. We absolutely need something like this and my guess is that we will have a few competitors, at least early on, for the top ed tech review site. I think there is space for both an organization that specializes and for a yelp like site that essentially crowd sources the reviews. It will be tough to keep up, but think of how many products and areas Consumer Reports deals with- we can do this, and need to do this, for ed tech to get used wisely in our schools.

With regards to e-learning, I think inevitably some company or organization will provide ratings of the quality of online degree programs and learning tools. Whether this is Consumer Reports or US World & News Report or some new player (investment opportunity?), the need for objective assessments of digital learning tools is definitely needed. The Benchmarking e-learning wiki is interesting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmarking_e-learning

issues of evaluating online schools - moving beyond fads

See page 13 for a fascinating look at how these new systems may not be compatible with emerging technology-enabled learning models (blended learning, etc).

"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. 

This is a natural progression for MOOC's. But I have to wonder, if the wave of the future is a MOOC higher education, then how will our young adults develop, socially? developmentally? psychologically? Will we create a society of socially incompetent adults who are not able to work intereactively, or in groups with co-workers, or lacking negotiation skills, or many of the 21st c. skills needed in many workplaces.

I think it's curious that you're having universities like Antioch and others that are including MOOC courses as for credit options without any kind of evaluation or data on the actual efficacy of MOOCs, let alone specific classes.

My understanding of the pilot program is that students will still have faculty-led components, though, so it's not purely MOOC. It's more like a blended-learning environment that uses the MOOC as the digital part. So the students will have Antioch exams and homework sets, discussions, etc. If they are satisfied with the efficacy after the pilot, then they will expand the model.

evaluating K-12 online learning

An article with key takeaways from the 2012 Virtual School Symposium. There is good insight on issues of access, evaluation and transparency.

full disclosure: classmate Alex Schoenfeld first shared this with the us in the TIE facebook group :). But it brings an interesting trend in the adoption and pricing of mobile apps: Article outlining what lots of us know when it comes to moblie apps and pricing - free, $1, and $2 are the price-points that sell, and allow us to try out an app with minimal regret. But with the rise of more and more high-quailty, high-profile, and high-budget educatioanl apps, will the pricing structure change? Will parents and educators be willing to spend the prices of traditional computer software ($50 or more?) for really great mobile apps? The article brings up an interesting model that seems to already be coming to life looking at how apps are being sold and updated lately: "Donahoo and Russell propose there's a better way: subscriptions and content expansion packs.  Launchpad Toys follows the latter tact. The initial price the Toontastic app for $3 (though it's currently free). Users can use that fully functioning app, or choose to add additional characters and themes with $.99 expansion packs. This way, they contend, costs are controlled; it's cheap for parents and children to evaluate an app, and the model encourages regular updates."

The report, titled "Conducting and Reporting Product Evaluation Research: Guidelines and Considerations for Educational Technology Publishers and Developers," is authored by Denis Newman, CEO of Empirical Education Inc., and produced by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA). It's based on Empirical Education's many years of conducting this kind of research, both for publishers and for the U.S. Department of Education (ED). A working group of industry experts also was established for evaluation, and it met monthly for more than a year to sort through the issues and draft a set of considerations.

This is an opinion article that talks about immersion and the first-person camera angle in video games. He argues that game developers should re-evaluate the assumption that the first-person viewpoint is inherently more immersive than other gaming experiences.

It appears I've been posting this wrong, and it hasn't made its way to the HGSET561 thread directly. Sorry about that. This article is relevant to the CAST project I'm working on for this class as well as a general evaluation of this emerging market. Is the big money in the analytics of user behavior? Hmmm...

The possibility for MOOC's to gain some legitimacy by offering credit through the administration of a fee-based exam.

There is an "uncollege" movement that encourages people to complete college degrees by pursuing self-study, then taking CLEP exams to gain college credits. The problem has always been that many higher-priced/name-brand colleges (e.g. Harvard) don't accept CLEP credits, requiring students to pay for credits the old-fashioned way. I wonder whether established schools will accept credits from MOOC courses.

Discusses the use of crowd-sourcing and peer-evaluation in the MOOC system.

Does Ed Tech Need it's Own Consumer Reports? Interesting article about creating a evaluation system for ed tech called EDU Star