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A small but very pertinent article in the recent edition of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL) by Seth Gurell, Yu-Chun Kuo and Andrew Walker called The Pedagogical Enhancement of Open Education: An Examination of Problem-Based Learning1 is a real gem. The Pedagogical Enhancement of Open Education is a gem because it is focussed on pedagogy and online open learning. Gurell et al argue from a review of the literature and practical experience that problem based learning can work well with online open education. For example, traditional problem-based learning requires the learner to find and review resources which are usually print based materials such as books, journals, newspapers and so on, many of which take time to locate and access. However, using problem-based online learning using open education resources can remove much of the distraction of finding resources and enable greater attention to the learning task. Although problem-based learning (PBL) may not be suitable for all types of learning, a review of the research does indicate that students perform equally well using PBL as they do in traditional learning. Students engaged with PBL also perform better on retention tasks and on explanatory tasks, reveal Gurell et al. There are many sources of open educational resources. Two such examples that are well known are the Open Education Resource (OER) Commons, the Open Courseware Consortium. However, others such as Academic Earth, Scientific Commons, and Project OSCAR are also interesting. The Pedagogical Enhancement of Open Education is a very succinct review of online PBL and its fit with open online learning. Gurell et al have provided an excellent review of the versatility of online open education and how to maximise pedagogy to achieve improved learner outcomes.

This is a review of Clay Shirky's book, "Here Comes Everybody" in which he describes the dramatic impact the internet has, and will continue to have on how we learn and communicate. This book (and review) will give you some insight into how your children may be using these technologies. But it should also raise questions about how we, as practitioners, can use the affordances of the new tech to improve our efficiency, effectiveness, and efficacy.

An interesting review of 'Disrupting Class'

The American Council of Education will review some Coursera classes to see if they will recommend them to other universities as "acceptable." This involves a review by existing professors for course quality. Other interesting tidbits: looks like Coursera will pilot remote-proctoring to verify identity of students; Gates Foundation just gave away $3 million to study MOOCs and create remedial / introductory classes.

Before he publishes the actual 2012 review, is reflecting on what he wrote one year ago. (the ten things he highlighted last year was the ipad, social media, text-messaging, data, the digital library, khan academy, STEM, higher education bubble, "open", the business of ed-tech) Personally interested in programming literacy part that is expected to be mentioned. Also like the questions presented at the end. 

The MIT Technology Review just interviewed Khan and talked about his vision for the future, sustainability, and business models.

Augmented Reality Glasses are out there! Here is a review of some of the current models:

Review of edtech development

Knollop is your portal to discover, review and follow thousands of online learning materials in any subject from Coursera, Edx, Udacity, Udemy, and top universities.

Websites are springing up that sort and collect reviews of MOOC courses. Meta-MOOC's essentially. Interesting how quickly an ecosystem can begin to develop around a new technology.

"The unveiling of Samsung's GALAXY Note 10.1-with its advanced S-Pen and multitasking capabilities-signals a new generation of tablets that open even greater opportunities for empowering teachers and engaging students in the K-12 classroom." THE Journal

A year in review about MOOCs

The flipped classroom in Review for 2012

The Univ of Pittsburg is becoming an ed tech incubator.  They're starting with two products:  SWord a cloud-based peer review program and CE Agent a smart phone app that manages nurses' continuing ed credits.

A look at how ed tech has evolved from 2011 - 2012.

A new proposal calls for a Consumer Reports-like rating body to evaluate new digital learning tools. Ed tech innovators like the idea in theory but they worry that it won't work in practice.

Funny, I was just talking with someone about this very idea the other day. We absolutely need something like this and my guess is that we will have a few competitors, at least early on, for the top ed tech review site. I think there is space for both an organization that specializes and for a yelp like site that essentially crowd sources the reviews. It will be tough to keep up, but think of how many products and areas Consumer Reports deals with- we can do this, and need to do this, for ed tech to get used wisely in our schools.

With regards to e-learning, I think inevitably some company or organization will provide ratings of the quality of online degree programs and learning tools. Whether this is Consumer Reports or US World & News Report or some new player (investment opportunity?), the need for objective assessments of digital learning tools is definitely needed. The Benchmarking e-learning wiki is interesting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmarking_e-learning

Check out nb a very cool, collaborative note taking tool developed by MIT's Haystack Group. Last night I got into a discussion with Sanjoy Mahajan, an Olin College professor who got his Phd at MIT.  We were talking about Eriz Mazur's Peer Instruction technique when he began describing how in his flipped-classroom courses he uses the MIT Haystack Group's "nb" software to enable his student's to collaboratively discuss the course readings (online in pdf form) through shared, online annotations & notes.   Sanjoy's students are required to participate in the online annotation discussion, making their own annotations and responding to others, the night before his class.  He then reviews the annotations to prepare the next day's discussion and peer-instruction lesson plan.

Opinion

Teachers rate educational apps. I'm interested in the intersection of crowdsourcing and teacher professional development.

That would be interesting to see what teachers develop....this brings me to the thought that was brought up by that guy (don't recall his name) at the i-lab about having teachers develop apps but having them be able to make money off of it....