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If you start watching at the 30-minute mark, you can get a peek at how he uses technology in the design of his course and to shape participation during class. At the 34:00 minute mark he is describing a jigsaw reading activity, similar to the study groups we are often encouraged to form. You won't believe where he and his students go with this. I love his statement, "There are no natives here." So true. I can't find the other video where he shows his collaborative notetaking platform that he uses in a 200-student class, but it's very cool. That's where I got the idea for some kind of wiki or google doc that might allow us to manage lecture notes and the backchannel.

The author identifies areas for skepticism about ed. tech research: MONEY-DRIVEN RESEARCH. LACK OF CONSENSUS. PUBLICATION REPUTABILITY AUTHOR TIMIDITY AND PRAGMATISM.

Making ed tech decisions based on "best guesses," Richard Rhodes advocates, strikes me as a pretty weak recipe. I'm not saying that a healthy amount of skepticism isn't required, but Rhodes seems to have a bone to pick with experts of any kind.

If you are not familiar with connectedlearning.tv ... you should be. They tackle issues related to instructional design--and associated professional learning structures needed to transform education.

3D classroom created for learning would be helpful where cost cutting measures are required without compromising on the quality of instruction, it would also help in giving confidence to students who are shy to interact in real life to collaborate in the virtual world, speak their minds and raise questions without fear or hesitancy

We just missed it, but right now we're in the midst of MobiMOOC, a MOOC organized by educators to teach other educators about mobile learning. Kind of a neat concept, I think! But one of the keys is how good is the instruction in helping educators integrate in mobile learning with good pedagogy instead of just showcasing mobile technologies...probably one of the common dangers with these types of initiatives.

The author points out some of the most important digital literacy standards from the common core, specifically discussing how to assess what digital mediums are appropriate and when. He finishes the article with a great example of the standards driving classroom instruction.

Contrasting perspective on what is needed for personalized learning - related to the NETP's section on Learning 

'Why integrate Technology into the Curriculum?'' This author states that there's a place for tech in every classroom. '. But he also claims that integrating technology into classroom instruction means more than teaching basic computer skills. The purpose of tech integration is enhance the learning process.

In recent years there has been a major push to equip classrooms with technology, including laptops, overhead projectors, interactive white boards and tablets. It has become big business. But there are questions about whether the investment is paying off. This series explores the push to digitize the American classroom and whether the promises are being fulfilled.

This comment from a reader on one of the articles (Inflating the Software Report Card) sums it up rather nicely: "Data-driven, individualized instruction aimed at identifying a student's strengths and weaknesses, is not perfect, nor can it replace great teachers. But it can and does allow gifted students to zoom ahead, average students to keep up, and struggling students to catch up. If we really want math education to become part of the fabric of our kids' lives, not just raising their scores on a standardized test, but helping them become more competent and effective adults, we need to take advantage of all of the technology available".

This article explains why the district chose laptops over tablet and how the community is helping to turn the schools around.

"The teachers that were involved said that if every kid had their own computer, we could do amazing things". It would be interesting to know if the teachers presented some concrete ideas of 'amazing things'. It would also be interesting to know whether they have a bank of spare laptops to loan to the students while the defective ones are getting fixed. I have a feeling that in the not-so-distant future the choice between a tablet and a computer may become a moot point. The hardware that powers a MacBook Air and iPad is very similar. We have laptops that double as tablets and tablets that are paired with a keyboard to be used as a laptop. Eventually these two will merge.

Great overview of the issues -- I agree with Kasthuri -- I think the issue will become moot

Good article highlighting the tension created by Idaho's push to incorporate online-learning and computers into state education. 

Great article James! THey show the full range of teachers' reachtion to top down directives. I wonder what their reaction would be if the directive was NOT about technology but rather a requirement to customize instruction. Customization is too hard to do as an individual teacher. You would have to rely on technology to get it done. I love the teacher who insists that she teaches kids "how to think" by using her lecture style. Oh Boy!

More and more, we see how technology is used as an enabler, in formative assessments and helping the teacher to help the student where it is most needed.

Good question - "What can I do with these devices that would be impossible to do without them?".

Interesting article about not just to believe everything you read about Ed Tech transforming the classroom. I think the report (and Richard Rose, the Program Director) does a pretty good job of basically warning educators not to believe all the results they see published about Ed Tech. And that this actually aligns with the vision in the NETP (try things in small zones before scaling up).

This is a very interesting use of tablets in the classroom. Students are using iPads to create 'Screencasts' that allow the them to create a kind of 'tutorial' using a mixture of elements (audio, images, drawing and text) to showcase what they have learned.

This article describes some current challenges and solutions involved in using a blended learning model of instruction in classrooms.

The author's top 5 keys to successful education technology... do you agree? Is it missing anything?

One of the more powerful messages I have learned in Stone's class is when you are designing an educational intervention you have to know WHEN to ask the question: what technology, if any, will improve our educational problem? Before you ask this question, the problem should be clearly identified, and the steps to assess if the problem is improving should be laid out. When you have this information, you can then tailor the technology to specifically meet the needs of your current problem. In this way, technology is sort of the means (not the ends!) towards improving education. So, in addition to the author's 5 key factors for educational technology, I would like to add: Is the technology a good fit for addressing our clearly defined educational problem?

$330 million given to 44 states to design new computer-based assessments that will "measure higher-order skills...including students' ability to read complex texts, synthesize information and do research projects."