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The Daily Show takes on iPads educational games and the 'freemium' pay model (free to get a game, costs $ to get desired add-ons and content). They specifically look at the game Tapfish.  Pretty funny - but I think hits the dangers of this model head on

Battu!!! You stole my thunder. I wanted to post this but I'm glad you did because I think it is one of the real hazards of education fronting for the products of private companies. We need to be ahead of the curve.

agreed - I think awareness of this growing model is crucial. But with the increasing occurrence of the pay-for-more mantra in mobile apps (especially those made by big publishers & developers-- even educational apps)--- will small-time efforts (solo developers, non-profits) be able to compete? Is this model reflecting the true nature of app development? It's already hard for small/independent efforts to match the polish and amount of content of stuff made by the 'pros' (big publishers & devs). Is it the constant revenue the big apps are getting from in-app purchases that allows their stuff to rise and stay steps ahead? I wonder if there'll be an obvious and real difference in the quality of free vs paid/pay-to-play apps down the road, enough that certain apps won't even be available in one category or the other.

Ok... maybe the tie in to education is not immediately obvious. Mostly, I just think this is so cool that I had to post it. But think for a moment about carpool, soccer practice, and sports as a starter. No longer does a kid's participation in extracurricular activities require them to get a ride from mom. Go a little further... field trips, classes that are only offered at the charter school across town, on-site science explorations. How many more kids could venture out of their neighborhood for educational opportunities? There was a time 20 years ago I never would have believed that elementary school children would be carrying their own phone, but now will they all get their own car in 2nd grade??

"he obstacles to code literacy are getting smaller every day, while the liabilities for ignorance are only getting more profound."

Cool alternate reality game that aims to get students involved in solving global problems.

This is a really cool online community where students (or participants) get weekly real-world challenges and then use entrepreneurial thinking/skills to solve the problem in their community and then post "evidence" of solving the problem on the website. Students rack up points for solving different real world problems, which can---if they get enough points---get them access to internships with high-level social entrepreneurs and possibly even seed money for a project.

Getting excited about Sesame Street&AR idea that was posted earlier, went to find if Lego is doing anything as Lego Education is getting more active lately to my understanding.  I only found this. This to me is not AR although it is utilizing some level of digital technology (social network/sharing work with others).  I would be more interested to see more work from traditional game/toy players to be aggressive in the tech space. 

Online foreign language learning for high school students at Woodridge High. ""Either we get on the [online learning] bus or we're going to get hit by the bus", says Superintendent Walter Davis.

Check out where our professor will be speaking in Feb. If anyone has the chance and wants to get out of the cold and get in touch with teachers, publishers and hardware vendors, the FETC is a great conference.

This site is a professional development portal in which teachers can upload videos of lessons and get feedback on them.

Ipad app that teaches fractions

I tend to agree with Professor Cuban - "IPads are marvelous tools to engage kids, but then the novelty wears off and you get into hard-core issues of teaching and learning." The real challenge is to convert the initial excitement and performance improvement into sustained progress. The key may be in leveraging the increased self-efficacy of students.

This article makes me wonder about the novelty bump you get when you try anything new. In EcoMuve, they researched the effectiveness of EcoMuve vs a new ecology classroom based activity. This tactic is measuring the effectiveness of the technology. However in these studies, if they had kids using a computer game to practice fractions, did the control group practice fractions using a classroom based activity? 15% growth is not much to get excited about.

Facebook as a tool for social protest. Just as soon as schools get their heads around student use of Facebook, here come the parents.

Facebook as a tool for social protest. Just as soon as schools get their heads around student use of Facebook, here come the parents.

Students get connected to real world science research through Web 2.0

Students get connected to real world science research through Web 2.0

Museums are incorporating apps for exhibit info and wayfinding-- BUT, aren't "museums made for getting lost?" Discussion of limitations.

My friend swore by her iphone app to get around the Louvre in Paris! (I got lost)

you can become a google certified teacher by attending the Google Teacher Academy

I'm sure some of you are already aware of this certification program offered through Google -- anybody know what's behind it and how it is viewed by academics and learning scientists?

I know a lot of educators are super interested in the program, but it is difficult to get to training center for an 8 hour training (often they are in random cities across the the US), and to get funding because it ain't cheap. However, a lot of teachers are taking on the challenge of training each other rather than having "google certified teacher" title. Since Google Educator apps are free - if someone in a district takes ownership, then you can kind of get around the challenges of PD. I am working with the IT specialist in a middle school in Newton, who has done a lot of trainings on Google apps for educators. I'll ask her for more info :-)

When a teacher writes a lesson plan, does the intellectual property (IP) belong to the teacher, the school, or both? This article discussing the online lesson plan marketplace and the debate over who (teacher, school) gets the proceeds. What do you think?

When a teacher writes a lesson plan, does the intellectual property (IP) belong to the teacher, the school, or both? This article discussing the online lesson plan marketplace and the debate over who (teacher, school) gets the proceeds. What do you think?

Memphis, TN teachers are getting real-time coaching on their teaching performances- by wearing EARBUDS as a coach in the back of the room tells them what to do! This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. This is an example of emerging technology meddling in the mix and enabling a Big Brother style environment for teachers. These are people who are in charge of leading our kids, not coaching a football game!

Arizona State University is using data mining to collect information on their students and help guide them to the "most appropriate major". also, in class, using data collection methods, teachers collect information to be used in assessment Ex: "Ms. Galayda can monitor their progress. In her cubicle on a recent Monday, she sees the intimacies of students' study routines - or lack of them - from the last activity they worked on to how many tries they made at each end-of-lesson quiz. For one crammer, the system registers 57 attempts on multiple quizzes in seven days. Pulling back to the big picture, a chart shows 15 students falling behind (in red) and 17 on schedule (in green)."

wow this is kind of bothersome on some levels and kinda amazing on other levels. While I can see the benefit of understanding where and how a student is more likely to succeed, I think there are some potential dangers with such a system. There is the what I would imagine the psychological effect of such a program and I am thinking particularly about STEM fields where women are already way under-represented and often self conscious about their performance, do you really also need a system telling you you shouldn't be majoring in that as well cause you're not performing at that point....or what about a student who really wants to be an engineer but maybe hasn't been fully prepared with the appropriate math courses in high school, would he or she be filtered into another major? I understand using such a system as a means to target help for example if a student could get an assessment of where they currently are, where they want to go and how to get there....

Not sure I posted this already. This "filter bubble" as he calls it should be a concern re: Ubiquitous Learning

one of the famous TED talk. personalization of information and its potential pitfall. what is necessary for 'functioning democracy'. makes me wonder what are the risks associated with too much personalization in education too.

Thanks for sharing Drew, this is an excellent talk showing the tension between our need to balance what we want/need and reliance on a technology to help filter the results. While we need to get out of that 'filter bubble', we also need it to be close by so we don't get overwhelmed.

The University of Texas system just decided to join the edX movement, with a $5 million dollar contribution. Gov. Rick Perry is trying to cap costs for a college education in Texas, so he approves of the measure...UT also seems closer than other schools to allowing students to get actual credit for the courses, as the article mentions they are considering tiered payments for classes.