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This article outlines various augmented reality apps that are being used in classes. I've actually used Google Sketchup when teaching, giving students an opportunity to design their own buildings and use it to study geometric properties. It was very cool.

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?....

We are in a time convergence where teacher are incorporating technology from their daily lives into the classroom to increase student engagement.

This article discusses one school's plan to implement effective learning technologies into the classroom. They looked at examples that were working in other parts of the world and incorporated them into their idea which includes many augmented reality applications. They discuss the divide between using technology effectively in our personal lives and not in education, so the classroom remains the same as it has been for 100 years. As we have discussed in class, the education system must use technology in the classroom to help prepare students for jobs that require skills adaptable to technologies that do not yet exist.

A letter to President Obama about MOOCs and higher education, from his council of advisors on science and technology. This was released just a couple of days ago and highlights some of the potential benefits and current issues in the ongoing MOOC debate which we have all discussed. "Although the new technologies introduced by MOOCs are still in their infancy, and many questions and challenges remain, we believe that they hold the possibility of transforming education at all levels by providing better metrics for educational outcomes, and better alignment of incentives for innovation in pedagogy."

Great read on cultivating active learning, including the role of technology (though not transformative technology) in the classroom. Talks about engaging the more "shy" / deeply thinking students in class via Twitter chat - "smart students like to talk, smarter students like to listen."

Founded in 1943, ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is an educational leadership organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies for the success of each learner. ''Mobile devices are cheaper, more portable and less obtrusive than other technologies. Yet the challenges of how training students to use sophisticated technology tools is an economic imperative.''

This goes along with our course discussion of online learning on Oct. 28. Also plays into the evolution, transformation, and disruptive discussion, as it is written by Clay Christensen.

Google Wave, which combines email, instant messaging and wiki-style editing will go on public trial today. The search giant hopes the tool, described as "how e-mail would look if it were invented today", will transform how people communicate online.

Agh! Not another way to communicate! I can't even remember my passwords to all these things! I can't even remember I have a Facebook account until someone "friends" me! What happened to isolation and Transcendentalism? Needing to read Walden in the woods alone right now...

Skoolaborate is a global initiative uses a blend of technologies including, blogs, online learning, wiki's and 'virtual worlds' to transform learning. We aim to use these tools to provide engaging collaborative learning experiences for students aged between 13 and 18 years of age.

What out for the Android.

The White House announces the creation of a national center called Digital Promise that will focus on transforming education through learning technologies.

This article highlights how virtual education can transform the learning experience for students with special needs, as well and low and high performing students by allowing them to slow down or speed up according to their needs. As more and more students enroll in online courses, public schools are trying to figure out how incorporate virtual learning into their districts.

Texas Intruments and Intel are developing partnership with Indian firm CORE and others on education technologies. "Advances in technology continue to transform how we live, work, play and learn. Intel is committed to making education accessible and engaging for all students," says R. Ravichandran, director of sales, Intel South Asia.

"New technologies have transformed the way students interact with the world, with information, and knowledge," said Dean of Harvard College Evelynn M. Hammonds.

Harvard Recieved $40 million from Rita E. and Gustave Hauser to support excellence and innovation in teaching and learning.

Carrying on from today's discussion on disruptive learning...

A new idea for text books: "Books are one of the defining inventions of the civilisation-and today they are poised for a revolution. Our aim is to create a new kind of book that makes use of emerging technology to redefine the book, reinvent publishing, and forever transform the act of reading."

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."?