Vernier develops some interesting data collection technology for a tough concept. Will capturing info frame by frame and generating a graph help students understand the concept of velocity?
human capabilities are not wholly adequate to the demands of the modern teaching and learning enterprise, and this is where technology as facilitator has a role
Demonstrations, illustrations, instruction across learning styles
If no improvements are made with the adoption of new technology, then there is no point to utilizing any technology except for the most basic required to obtain that unchanging level of learning
need to assess our outcomes, make incremental changes in our methodologies to address shortcomings, then assess again
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?
That looks like a tragedy that's rooted in bad software architecture - having the Teen software be so different from the main Second Life software that it now has to be shut down ... tsk tsk. I hope Linden Labs has learned from this.
It was really interesting to learn how this has been used in education (with specifics about hurdles the teachers had to jump to get it into the curriculum).
"One teacher commented, "It's hard to manage the class when students become 'click happy' without really understanding what they're doing." However, requiring students to verbally explain and justify their reasoning before proceeding to the next screen was an effective solution."
Technology is extremely important to our school district because we realize the tremendous impact that it can have on improving education opportunities,
we can focus on making education the best it can be for students and teachers
Detroit public schools made its science curriculum digital this school year through a partnership with Discovery Education. They don't mention whether students have access to their own laptop or other mobile devices.
the team plans to use the grant money to develop 35 new simulations specifically geared to middle school physical science education. The existing library of simulations targets concepts and applications generally used in high school- and college-level physics courses.
The PhET simulations allow us to conduct experiments, with students at the helm, that we wouldn't otherwise be able to stage or model in the classroom."