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A leading game maker is, among other things, dedicating resources toward education games. It's also worth noting, I think, that a company that rejects typical corporate structure might be a good one for disrupting typical education structures.

Given the crowded curriculum and the high stakes tests, this article is overly optimistic about the maker movement in schools, as opposed to out of schools

In case anyone is interested, there is a "mini" Maker Faire in Somerville next weekend!

aid for the maker movement

"Governments and OEM partners in many emerging markets have canceled orders for Intel-promoted Classmate PCs, or have asked to suspend shipments, according to Taiwan-based component makers." Classmate PCs = Ultra-small, ultra-cheap laptops intended for use in classrooms of developing nations.

While the education market may look exciting to consumer electronics companies, it can be exhausting to deal with public-sector budgets and long purchasing cycles.

This article highlights movement towards learning by creating and outlines some platforms that are designed to facilitate that.

Nice article on the challenges in school reform - An excerpt from the article - " you simply cannot fix America's schools by "scaling" charter schools. ...... Charter schools offer proof of the concept that great teaching is a huge difference-maker, but charters can only absorb a tiny fraction of the nation's 50 million public schoolchildren. Real reform has to go beyond charters - and it has to include the unions."

Interesting blog on how classrooms should embrace the "Maker" Movement.

"Families, learners, educators, and decision-makers will need to become sophisticated at pattern recognition in order to create effective and differentiated learning experiences and environments... will redefine forms of knowledge, knowing, and assessment. "

From the point of view of a policy maker (particularly in developing countries), incorporating technology in education mostly means finding an affordable technology resource and just giving it to schools. The cost of the technology becomes the focal point for these policy makers, and the actual teaching/learning takes a back seat. Michael Trucano proposes a little thought experiment to force us to think about what we want to achieve in the first place.

The issue of infrastructure and wireless access is mentioned, but not deeply considered in this article. What challenges do we see if this sort of thing is really going to "enable Datawind to educate every schoolchild in India through the world's cheapest functional tablet computer."?

Stanford's acclaimed d. school inspired 50 teams of graduate students to pitch projects at Aspen Ideas Festival. Spark Truck, one of the winners is a "mobile maker lab" that brings simple tech to help inspire kids to become creators.

DARPA is funding "hackerspaces"--high-tech workshops to give high school students opportunities to explore engineering and learning through creation--at 1,000 U.S. high schools. 

This is the nonprofit that I used to work for!! :) Great org that is on the verge of scaling...

A good snapshot of the conversation at the school board level. How informed are the high-stakes decision makers.

The amount of money they are spekaing about to scale their schools into the 21st century is the reason the BYOD option is so attractive. If schools focus on wireless infrastructure then families might be able to forgo soem back to school supplies and video games to get a tablet.

Hope policy makers' gain a better understanding of online education.

An article sort of centered around the notion for more "maker-movement" centers for gifted students.