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The further along I go, the more I am realizing that we have fully arrived in the information age. For our nation to compete globally - we must get out of the trap of growing media consumers, technology consumers, and information consumers. We must grow a generation of students who not only use technology, but understand technology so that they can become active technology producers, so that they can create, innovate, imagine, and disrupt. Possibly, understanding computer science will be as important as learning to read and write - the new literacy.

"We used to look in wonder at the areas in which ICT were used to boost productivity. Today we wonder how the economy, technology and society could have done without ICT".

A good way to bring innovative science education to schools.

Karl Royle has produced the following research reports regarding games based learning. You can click the links to download. These reports have been commissioned by Becta, the government agency leading the national drive to ensure the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning.

This sounds like a disruptive innovation. Zap the brain!

whoa ...

This is an editorial discussing how emerging technologies can help eliminate the need for annual standardized testing of students by tracking their progress constantly throughout the year through technology use. IPads, Khan Academy, data analysis, KIPP schools, the achievement gap, online courses and their innovations through emerging technologies are discussed.

WISE is an international initiative and platform for a multitude of established and new educational actors to collaborate proactively all year round. They recently selected 6 high-impact projects for the finals of their awards.

This sounds like an interesting competition for students to be involved in. I think this would serve as a great tool that teachers can design their lessons around in order to make the learning relevant

very interesting Kinga. To throw in another STEM-related competition, the National STEM Video Game Challenge is about to begin its second year. Open to middle school, high school, and college/graduate students, the contest challenges students to create innovative video games that promote STEM learning while being accessible to underserved populations: main website: http://www.stemchallenge.org

Portal is a fun, innovative 3D first-person game known for its unique physics gameplay and sense of humor. It's over 4 years old now, but still enjoyable and clever. It's been used in education as a way for students to explore physics, and also as a gameworld ripe for student content creation. The game is available as a free download for PC/Mac through 9/20.

Here is a 2 year old TED talk, with innovative ideas for seamlessly blending the real world and the digital world

Harnessing the power of open collaboration to promote world-changing innovations

It will be interesting to see the specific initiatives that come out of this new "Harvard wide" initiative.  I wonder if anyone at HGSE is involved with the planning and application of best practices

Ed Murphy, vice president of business development at Learn360. "The recent adoption of both sets of new Standards affords Learn360 boundless opportunities to provide even more resources and tools to help students think critically, make informed decisions and ultimately make larger social contributions in a heavily wired world." Additionally, the 21st Century Learning Skills focus on helping students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of them in the future by blending specific skills, content-knowledge, expertise and literacy with innovative support systems"

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and four nonprofit education organizations are investing to accelerate the development online learning tools. According to Mr. Gates, "Innovation is our only hope", and "And the nly new game in town is Technology."

The link within the article to the hybrid education 2.0 article really speaks to the new "badge" movement online. What they say makes sense in support for these. Will be interesting to see how this evolves.

Boston area Landmark High School received a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant, which seeks to foster innovation and focus on STEM fields. These students will work on creating a water desalination system for countries with low rainfall. This type of project has a lot of potential to develop 21st century skills and teach complex problem solving skills.

"Innovation and technology will not be centered around a piece of technology," Paul Kim, assistant dean and CTO at Stanford School of Education, "suggesting instead that educational reformers should focus on content and promoting self-initiated learning."

Microsoft is showcasing range of products and solutions aimed at leveragng technology to transfrom education. Live@edu, a rich collaboration and communication platform, is the highlight of the show.

The creator of some innovative alternate reality games explains how we need to make the real world more like a game

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??