Group items tagged

A few months ago, EDUCAUSE sponsored a "short course" on evaluating the effectiveness of mobile learning initiatives. This page contains a wealth of resources on mobile learning related to the course. Especially useful for classmates working on EDC term projects related to mobile learning!

A good description of Udacity & Coursera. Says MOOCs work well for students who are self-motivated and already fairly well educated. Yet, worldwide, the poorest students still don't have the background (or the Internet bandwidth) to participate in a major way. It suggests that very selective colleges will continue to thrive, but those in the middle will need to work harder to justify their costs.

I found this to be an Interesting approach/take on video based learning/lecturing , anyone has any information on where the MIT blossoms project is headed or its potential impact?

Hi Komal, I work for the PI of Blossoms, Prof Richard Larson (but not on Blossoms). Send me an e-mail if you have some specific questions and I can put you two in contact, or we can chat sometime about it. I know you are working on video-distribution for your research synthesis, sorry it never occured to me that Blossoms might be on your radar screen!

Hi Komal, sorry for the late response--the Diigo notification went to my Spam box so I didn't see that you had responded. Let me ask Prof. Larson those things and get back to you.

Has anyone seen this group? Seems like they are doing what we have been talking about re: blended learning. I am going to dig in for more info....

Steve, I used to work on the external evaluation of the first round of NGLC grants, which focused on colleges and community colleges applying these guiding principles. I know less about their K12 grants and present work but am happy to talk about what I know.

A good utility posting that offers links to portfolio management tools; useful for both kids in school and us to showcase our work in TIE, etc. 

Have we posted/discussed this? A system such as this (see following post) would work well in one of the distributive models of teaching and learning we worked with last week. I am considering integrating into my charter school and would be curious to know people's experience and thoughts...

article coming out of the Innosight Institute, a think-tank based in San Francisco linked to Clay Christensen's work on disruptive innovation, on how RTTT has "the potential to reset American schools' relationship with technology by encouraging a transformation from a  one-size-fits all schooling model to one that can customize affordably for each student's unique learning needs." linked to the backchannel discussion on 9/4 on possible ways to facilitate positive and effective integration/implementation of edtech

This is the nonprofit that I used to work for!! :) Great org that is on the verge of scaling...

I am giving a talk in Second Life this week, if any of you are interested in seeing how that works.

Flipping the classroom . . . Could work . . . There's no research to say it works . . . maybe this is premature?

Trip to zoo without leaving classroom! This tool is interactive and students can see and hear rear animals, including multi-touch, multi-user interactive tool. Another interesting aspect is that it never gives negative feedback. "Instead of telling you that it's wrong, it just tells you that it isn't right. So students can work together to find the correct answer, which increases collaboration among students." Similarities with EcoMUVE?

Interesting stance from the UK, where the government hopes to raise up the importance of computer science in education, where ICT (information and communication technology) lessons are not up to date with the needs and skills of the 21st century. Kids engaged in ICT classes learn how to use software, and not how software works or how it's created. From the article: "Written by gaming guru Ian Livingstone and visual effects veteran Alex Hope, Next Gen called for programming skills to replace learning about business software in ICT lessons." direct link to the UK Government's response to the 'Next Gen' report: http://www.dcms.gov.uk/publications/8646.aspx

Brian Lukoff, a Technology & Education Postdoc Fellow working with Eric Mazur, just sent me this article which discusses their new ed tech startup Learning Catalytics.  It's the evolution of the Eric's clicker supported Peer Instruction.  I'm meeting with Brian and Eric on Tuesday to setup a TIE spring internship doing business development for Learning Catalytics.

Tennessee Technology Centers (a "career-training program" that is state funded) is using strictly enforced scheduling to help retain students with 1 in 4 odds of completing their program. The school is taking the opposite approach that most higher education schools take. Instead of having the freedom to create their own schedule, they work with the school to determine a schedule from the beginning which is permanent throughout the duration of their time at the school and is strictly enforced. The school is hoping to increase retention of students in 1 to 2 year programs that have low graduation rates, and produce more graduates in emerging technology fields.

The role technology can play in expanding the time during which learning can take place.

Another article about "expanded learning time" both online and via community-based "brick and mortar" locations like libraries, YMCA, and Boys & Girls Clubs. "Out-of-school programs can be strong partners for schools who want to leverage expanded learning time to help their students achieve global competence. Youth-serving organizations share the broad mission to promote student success in work and life in the 21st century. Out-of-school program organization and management is often based on an asset model that values diversity. In order to attract and retain participants, out-of-school programs are centered around youth engagement through hands-on and experiential learning, often with a focus on 21st century skills, service learning, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, and others."

I wonder what Helen Haste would think of this organization . . .

more free online courses from MIT. purchasable certificate for satisfactory completion. grading by fellow students, or computers? will this allow creative, open-ended work to be done for grading?

the access to online courses is great for those seeking affordable education options. My guess, however, is that design of these courses is going to vary -- the design needs to be held up to high standards for course content to be usable.

An example of how online classroom is running. The controversy continues. The argument seems to be not whether we have online learning or not, rather it is about how online learning programs could work, what an online course might look like and how students can learn best.

OLPC report on 2011 - expanding in Peru, Rwanda, Palestine, and Afghanistan. Dedicated volunteers, with invitation from United Nations and African Union, continue to work with local governments and communities for such expansion.

We will never be the same again!