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A great educator on what he sees as necessary for education reform; an indirect response to Christensen

Salman Khan + Google Hangout + disruption of education

An interesting, critical appraisal of MOOCs' transformative potential by education historian Larry Cuban. Includes some hilarious graphics, in addition to good insights...

Lessons learned from Cisco's experience indicate that business-education partnerships should: * Be set up so that all aspects of the project are transparent to outsiders, even if corporations profit from the R&D * Foster experimentation, because it is not always clear in advance which ideas and projects will work best * Establish in-depth training for every new technology, with businesspeople and educators learning from each other

This article is not about emerging tech directly. However, it discusses how there is an initiative to increase teaching students to be innovators consistent with 21st century learning. When I read this, I thought about all the ways that technology could facilitate this.

For two decades Oakland has been the focus of education reform efforts and expenditures, now they're bringing their education system up to date.

Despite the promises tech offers to reinvent schooling, not much has changed in the last decade

A reminder that technology is not in and of itself a motivating force in the classroom.

I wonder if different types of technology have different impacts. For example, I can absolutely see where students wouldn't be motivated by a digital whiteboard or a blog...too adult and too similar to traditional education. But what about things like games for learning? Would they draw in a non-traditional student and actually motivate them to learn, albeit indirectly? There seems to be research on the gamification aspect that shows its positive impact, so do Bill's comments only apply to a subset of educational technology?

How well-designed video games can help education reform.

For those who pine for film over digital movies, miss the clackety-clack of typewriters, or even rotary dial phones, well, get ready for the slow-motion demise of brick-and-mortar schools. COLLEGES TAKING OVER THE ENTIRE LEARNING PROCESS! STANFORD HAS STARTED --- OTHERS WILL FOLLOW!

An interesting read about Technology Reform in Education as presented by an official from the US Department of Education.

Is engagement in learning the most important characteristic you look for in a technology-rich school, then? Do you think that learning that occurs online is different from learning that happens in traditional classrooms? Access to rural areas?....

"Yet one of the most significant things Sahlberg said passed practically unnoticed. "Oh," he mentioned at one point, "and there are no private schools in Finland." This notion may seem difficult for an American to digest, but it's true. Only a small number of independent schools exist in Finland, and even they are all publicly financed. None is allowed to charge tuition fees. There are no private universities, either. This means that practically every person in Finland attends public school, whether for pre-K or a Ph.D."

Equity in teaching education would be a good start.

I love this quote, too: 'As for accountability of teachers and administrators, Sahlberg shrugs. "There's no word for accountability in Finnish," he later told an audience at the Teachers College of Columbia University. "Accountability is something that is left when responsibility has been subtracted."' American's are SO good at blaming everything and everyone ELSE for what is wrong with education in this country. Good for Sahlberg. I might just have to move my family to Finland!

When we think about education reform, we usually focus on teacher quality. The big battleground in education revolves around holding teachers accountable for their performance. With all the focus on teachers, however, one group that is often forgotten as a key learning resource are the students themselves.

Kind of interesting...but two schools (HS and University?) in Canada are sponsoring a MOOC for school leaders on how to push your school / organization forward.

Nice article on how technology is evolving and revolutionizing our lives. It talks about integrating technology into education (positive and negative comments, reallocation of federal funds in innovative technology, etc)

"Digital natives, techno savvy, comfortable with self-directed learning" - I very much agree with this description of 21st century students. There's no other way to reform education and learning but to embrace this fact, but unfortunately it will take time.

This blog post has relevance for what happens, and why, when education reformers (including technologists!) put out good ideas and watch them not get implemented, or not get implemented transformationally, on the ground in schools.

One example of the perils of standardized testing

The Microsoft backed experimental "School of the Future" in Philadelphia is in many ways hard to distinguish from a typical high school.

Devoted to technology, mostly. I am re-tagging as I realized my previous version will expire in a week.