Group items tagged

five top tech trends for 2010

Happy Holidays to the kid in all of us! Netbook recommendations for 8-12 year olds. Also link in beginning of article to "being a good tech parent."

SIIA survey shows stagnation, not progress, in US ed tech

Lots of pomp and circumstance about new initiatives -- but how much funding and political clout is really behind them.

Are you speaking of Digital Promise? It reminds me of whatworks.ed.gov but it looks like it might be designed better. I don't believe whatworks.ed.gov ever got much traction.

This is an editorial discussing how emerging technologies can help eliminate the need for annual standardized testing of students by tracking their progress constantly throughout the year through technology use. IPads, Khan Academy, data analysis, KIPP schools, the achievement gap, online courses and their innovations through emerging technologies are discussed.

Using technology for school reform

I was exploring Navigator, searching for formative assessment links.  I came across an HP Catalyst funded iniative at the Colorado School of Mines.    I'm not convinced that Navigator's map view of tech projects is the best organizational metaphor.

Not explicitly tech related, but a good post on how in light of changing times, to make the most of one's college years.

MassCue article about the effectiveness of Student Response Systems by a tech consultant / researcher for vendor Turning Response Systems (who sells the clickers that HGSE uses). I'm interested in comparing these systems with the FREE adhoc web-based system offered by Socrative.com, co-founded by HGSE TIE grad Ben Berté.

James- very interesting article about Student Response Systems. The clickers are a great tool to facilitate student participation in a teacher-centered classroom, and many of us have seen the Turning Point clickers in action. And they really do help with engaging everyone in the audience. Remember that diversity seminar during orientation week? The rich discussion that ensued in a crowd of 650 was really made possible because of the opening survey questions, the clicker interactivity, and the discussions that sprung up at each individual table which then mushroomed out to the rest of the crowd. I never thought a diversity seminar could be that engaging, and the clickers were definitely a key part of that. My only criticism of the article is that it seems to be pushing hardware capabilities over sound pedagogy, which is always a danger in learning about emerging technologies. Question though: is Socrative not entirely free? it seems like a great tool with many interactive capabilities, ideal for many classroom settings and activities.

Steve I agree the article did have a strong sense of hardware pushing. It was written by a research on the the vendor's payroll. I've changed "free" to FREE; I intended the quotes to be for emphasis, not skepticism. Socrative is indeed free.

Let's not forget the hand that Professional Development offerings, or lack there of, around Ed Tech played in this "failure," too. Just because we put a Smart or Promethean board in every school doesn't mean that it won't get written on with a dry erase marker or used only as an LCD projector instead of as the interactive device that it was designed to be...teacher training is essential in the success of ed tech integration.

The latest AR toys from Mattel... Apparently the toy industry is trying to capitalize on the tech already.

this article discusses how segregation is taking place in social networking (facebook is upscale compared to myspace)

A fun way for kids to learn algebra -- specifically Pascal's Triangle --- using a fun interactive tech tool-- MIT's Scratch program --

"Jochim and Siddell's books converge a traditional children's book format, a CD-ROM, a webcam and a computer to create "the same interactivity you could have on an iPad or (a Hewlett-Packard Co.) tablet, but with paper," said Jochim, president and founder of the Tempe-based Digital Tech Frontier."

FoxNews Beware.