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Very similar to the idea of teaching computer programming via storytelling/animation (Scratch)

I just watched this video and it's actually billed INCORRECTLY on that Ted.com description! The guy is *not* saying to teach math through teaching computer programming at'all!! He is simply advocating to use the power of the computer to teach math - i.e. using programs such as Mathematica. His slide says "Computer-based math: critical reform" -- so, he is saying that students should use the computer for the computing (which is for sure true) and teachers should teach with the students using this computing power asap (which I agree with) ... but he is *not* actually saying to teach computer programming ... p.s. This video is sweeping through the math teacher twitter streams and blogs right now (yes, there is such a community out there!) But, in my opinion, his idea is no big leap ...

Absolutely agree... the idea presented here is no big leap at all, especially to us who are following these advances pretty closely. I saw the parallels with scratch in terms of engaging the learner.

Indian college classrooms have not integrated technology into learning and teaching, so private companies - teaching the skills needed to perform in their specific career paths - are taking the lead, showing that universities need to catch up.

How you might teach with a MOOC

This article talks about the Upside Down Academy, where students do the teaching and in so doing, learn themselves.

Chris Dede and John Richards, editors of Digital Teaching Platforms: Customizing Classroom Learning for Each Student, discuss differentiation and digital teaching platforms.

This article describes the efforts that individual teachers in Utah are making to rewrite textbooks to be aligned to the standards that they are teaching in class. These teachers are writing eBooks and getting a lot of positive feedback from state officials because of the use of technology to meet student needs. They did not have a textbook that fit their integrated approach to teaching math, which they aligned to CCSS, so they took the matter of creating a textbook into their own hands. I think this is a prelude to how textbook creation is changing as a result of technology. Teachers are now able to construct books in a way that fit exactly the objectives they are covering and meeting there students where they are at.

This article outlines 3 trademarks of excellent teaching. This article seems relevant following our discussions today re: technology supplementing - not replacing - good teaching.

"This contribution to Seton Hall's Center for Mobile Research & Innovation is about more than just teaching the students to develop mobile apps - it is also teaching them professional and life skills, motivating them and preparing them for college, and instilling community service values"

A school where teachers learn and student teach - a role reversal. The district turns to an under-utilized but incredibly valuable resource - its students.

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."

"FORTUNE -- How do you go about teaching teachers how to teach? David K. Cohen's Teaching and Its Predicaments takes on that paradox. While the book's prescriptions are often too general -- teachers must show empathy and resolve, and communities should provide backup -- its descriptions of the task facing teachers are superb."

Free webinar tomorrow (9/27) from Tech&Learning on Google Chromebooks and Apps for Education - Power of the Web for TEaching and Learning 

Edmodo And Common Sense Media Partner (the authors of the 0-8 report some of us read for Joe Blatt's class this week) to offer free teaching tools based on Dr. Howard Gardner's work at HGSE. The partnership provides teachers with a set of student activities based on Common Sense Media's free K-12 curriculum, "Digital Literacy and Citizenship in a Connected Culture," for the Edmodo platform. The curriculum introduces the basics of using social networks and other digital technologies safely, responsibly and respectfully and is based on the work of Dr. Howard Gardner and the GoodPlay Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

10 Recommendations before investing in digital teaching resources

If you have any experience using or teaching Scratch (a visual IDE for teaching basic programming), along comes App Inventor from Google to allow anyone to program apps for the Android operating system. Includes a simulator. I have put in my request for App Inventor but, alas, I am still waiting - can't wait to try it! Put in your request!

Integrating technology into teaching and learning at CPUT

#HGSET561 Integrating technology into teaching and learning at CPUT

Saw this over the summer and thought it raised some good questions about IEP initiatives, a child's ability to learn technical frameworks without explicit instruction, community engagement, technological innovation in impoverished areas, etc.

Speaking at LIFT 2007, Sugata Mitra talks about his Hole in the Wall project. Young kids in this project figured out how to use a PC on their own -- and then taught other kids. He asks, what else can children teach themselves? Sugata Mitra's "Hole in the Wall" experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they're motivated by curiosity and peer interest.

I thought this was a great video when I watched it. Very interesting experiment. It reminded me of how I know people who learned other languages through their love of music--they just memorized song lyrics and practiced until they figured out the language!

In India, three young men redefine teaching in the slums of India through the "smile school" project.