"Sometimes, it takes a longer article to illuminate something as complex as education in America. Here are nine articles from 2013, covering everything from public policy to teaching practice. Many of the lessons highlighted by these writers will remain relevant in 2014 and beyond."

Students who complete an Open Educational Resources University course will be able to pay a fee to have their work assessed for academic credit, which would then be recognised by all the universities participating in the OERu. In theory, the students could approach any of the partner institutions with evidence of the credits they have amassed and apply for degrees.

What is the impact of MOOCs on the local and regional educational institutions?

The developer kit would especially be helpful to developers planning on using the device to develop augmented reality applications. Typically, augmented reality refers to an enhanced (and, sometimes, fantastic) vision of reality.

September 26, 2013: 6:00pm - 8:00pm A Fireside Chat with MIT and edX leaders, Sanjay Sarma, Director, Office of Digital Learning, MIT and Kathy Pugh, Vice President of Academics, edX Registration and refreshments: 6:00-6:30pm Program 6:30-8:00pm Moderated by Nish Sonwalkar, Editor-in-Chief, MOOC FORUM Journal The Educational Technology field is exploding with innovation, and in response the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge brings you a look at this field with two experts from MIT.

Interesting blog post on use of tablets - specifically iPad - in schools. More than the blog post (which I thought was smug), I found the comments more informative.

"This would be a big change, acknowledging that colleges aren't the only ones who can offer college courses," said Burck Smith, the founder of Straighterline. "It means rethinking what a college is."

Professors in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science are creating a multimedia system that uses multiple 3-D cameras to create avatars of humans in two different places, and then puts them in the same virtual space where they can interact.

Raspberry Pi may sound like the name of a math-based dessert. But it is actually one of the hottest and cheapest little computers in the world right now. Almost one million of these $35 machines have shipped since last February, capturing the imaginations of educators, hobbyists and tinkerers around the world. One Pi owner, Dave Akerman, of Brightwalton, England, even sent a Raspberry Pi to the upper atmosphere, floating it 40,000 meters up using a weather balloon. There he was able to take live video, photos and measurements. "Now every primary school in the world can take pictures from near space," Mr. Upton said. "You give people access to this tool and they do great things."

""No one's got the model that's going to work yet," said James Grimmelmann, a New York Law School professor who specializes in computer and Internet law. "I expect all the current ventures to fail, because the expectations are too high. People think something will catch on like wildfire. But more likely, it's maybe a decade later that somebody figures out how to do it and make money." "

"The intuitive software platform for EV3 is based on National Instruments LabVIEW™ graphical programming software, and includes new data-logging capabilities that allow students to collect, graph, and calculate their data."

"By outfitting a mobile shipping container with desks, a 50-inch electronic board, Internet-enabled solar-powered notebooks, Samsung Galaxy tablet computers and Wi-Fi cameras, children can receive a technology-rich education without traveling far."

"There is a widespread belief among teachers that students' constant use of digital technology is hampering their attention spans and ability to persevere in the face of challenging tasks, according to two surveys of teachers being released on Thursday. "

European scientists have integrated robotics, video, and various sensor and display technologies to transport someone into a geographically distant meeting room under the auspices of the Beaming through augmented media for natural networked gatherings (Beaming) project. The European Union-funded effort utilizes immersive virtual reality technologies in which a robotic avatar functions as the meeting participant's eyes, ears, and mouth. The participant wears a head-mounted display and is connected to sensors, enabling them to receive the avatar's video and audio feeds in three dimensions. The two-way connection also enables the participant's movements and responses to be mimicked by the robot.

The package of software and technology that Google used to build its "Power Searching with Google" MOOC.