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Excellent talks

What 100 Experts Think About The Future Of Learning

Really cool concept of using technology to match educators to experts to enhance learning experiences for students. I wish I had this tool when I was teaching.

I did some searching of this site to understand the transactions here. I could only find about 5 or 6 volunteers, although maybe there are more. The site says they have "granted" more than 29,000 wishes. I wonder if this is a counter of visits to the site. I love the idea, but I wonder how big the pool of volunteers and projects has to be in order to make it come alive.

experts forecast the future of ed tech

"The national health care debate right now is all about giving more people affordable access to doctors and hospitals. Yet the vast majority of health care decisions - 80 percent or more, experts say - are really made by individuals, instead of medical professionals..."

In US alone, 4 million K-12 students are enrolled online. Annual conference on online (and blended) learning in Indianapolis on November 9-11, by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). Online learning is seen as the solution to allowing greater access to diverse resources curriculum, especially when many schools face serious financial crisis. Expect to hear from experts and educators, such as, such as Gene Wilhoit, Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School Officers; Paul Peterson of Harvard University; Michael Horn, author of Disrupting Class; Steve Midgley of the U.S. Department of Education; and iNACOL president Susan Patrick. Full program details are available at www.virtualschoolsymposium.org.

Schools throughout the country are experiencing the same teacher-driven adoption of technology tools. Internet-savvy teachers are increasingly finding tools to use in the classroom on their own, and lower business-startup costs mean the tools are more readily available. In response, many education companies are changing how they market and sell their products. Nationwide sales teams and central-office visits are giving way to word-of-mouth and sophisticated business-intelligence software as preferred methods for pushing adoption. Companies offer free products to teachers with the goal of influencing districtwide purchases of more-robust versions-known as the "freemium" pricing model. But in most sectors of the existing K-12 system-with its various stakeholders, budgetary restrictions, and procurement regulations- the so-called "consumerization" of education faces many barriers, experts say, making it difficult to find the right balance between selling directly to teachers and addressing the needs of central-office administrators.

Marvell Inc., with collaboration with Stanford University, designed "micro cloud" called SMILE Plug for multi-modal curriculum delivery. The goal is to bring knowledge experts from around the globe to any local classroom.

"Experts believe that the information overload could prompt our brains to evolve in a new way. "

gamification - incentives to learn?

"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).

I have over my career in the classroom become somewhat of an expert on reading kids' emotions through body language. Def. not on par with 'The Mentalist', but I can tell when I kid is going to explode or is hiding something or is in need of a lerning intervention. This is not really possible with distance learners...or is it and if possible, what are the implications on the students' psyche?

Some interesting commentary on the future of touch screens. Potentially has implications for educational uses as well: "Anyone who has used one for a long time will tell you that they quickly revert to using the keyboard and mouse. And it isn't because of the software or touch technology - both are fine.The problem is that you get tired keeping your hands up and on the screen for a long period of time. Touch experts I've spoken with say it's because your hands are above your heart, which isn't comfortable for very long."

"A panel of 'experts' talks about what's wrong with our education system -- and how to fix it."

This blog offers ideas for using twitter in education from becoming local journalists  to playing twrivia or plinky.  It also recommends using the tool to follow topic experts and extend learning.  While I haven't really embraced twitter as one of my favorites, this article gives some interesting ideas.  

A contrarian view. "Some education experts say that the push to equip classrooms with computers is unwarranted because studies do not clearly show that this leads to better test scores or other measurable gains."

First of all - the girl in the picture of this article is reading Nancy Drew - who else spent most of their childhood with their head buried in a mystery series? :-) Secondly, I cannot tell you how valuable mud was to my childhood. Had I not been at a camp every summer where I was able to play around in mud and run through the woods all day, I would not be the person I am today. I think I did most of my growing and much of my learning in informal environments such as camp. It sounds to me like this school is trying to replicate those learning experiences...in a classroom. Not saying it's the way to go...but certainly an interesting model. Thanks for sharing!

Waldorf philosophy is different approach. For example, children learn to write first before they learn to read. As a result children may learn to read as late as 8 or 9. It's based on the anthroposophy philosophy. Children's who parents value these things will do well in a school without technology. Children who are plugged in at home would have a difficult time. This is effective for private school but not public school.

Michigan State senate approved Cyber Schools. Experts question this legislation. A new report by education professors from the University of Colorado finds that there's no reliable evidence showing such institutions are as good brick-and-mortar schools. Some are just not comfortable with all the unknowns in the cyber school equation. Sounds familiar?

There is a lot murkiness in the conversation. There may be no evidence but so much goes on in brick and mortar schools that has no evidence behind it anyway, I'm less and less convinced by that particular rhetorical approach. I think there is no more to lose by the effort than we already lose in undocumented ways. As with any endeavor, planning and execution will be the determinants of success. I'm beginning to resent the attempts in the media to summarize these complex issues because I think they have a significant impact on public opinion but they horrible at conveying complexity.

In Missouri, online learning, such as, webinars, workshops, etc., from peers help farmers - beginners learn from experts. "It's farmers learning from farmers," says Mary Hendrickson. "People like to talk to others with lots experience and great information and who can say, 'I've been there before and had these problems.' It's a great way to bring both the farmers' experience and all the expertise we have in MU Extension to the table together."

Is this based on research, or on opinion?

At Socrative we've received the same feedback about student comfort and improved fluency with their own devices. From a teacher perspective it has also been appreciated as they aren't expected to be experts in the technology. Especially for teachers who weren't previously in a 1 to 1 or high technology environment. However, from an IT perspective "Y" "O" has caused issues dealing with app updates, permissions, battery life etc. I guess tech isn't the wonder solution for all :)

Interesting- Bellow's latest project is eduClipper, an educational "digital clipboard" that curates educational content online. "eduClipper works on the same 'shared resources' premise as eduTecher," he explained, "but now I'm flipping the equation and instead of providing information to the masses I'm getting teachers and students to the eduClipper site to share their own information."