HGSET561

Ed Week has set up a new page to cover the newest trends in educational technology and innovation in the classroom

Janet, this is a really great channel for the avalanche of information out there. I especially found the interactive graphic (embedded link) on the Anatomy of EdTech start-up interesting because of the age distribution chart.

This infographic is especially interesting because, as far as I saw it, most of these "innovative" approaches didn't actually seem all that extraordinary. More generally, it's puzzling (and troubling, really) that despite advances in ed-tech in primary and secondary school, higher education institutions are quite far behind the curve as far as innovative uses of technology goes.

I agree - besides a lot of back-office and stick-stuff-online applications, only Mixable stood out (forming study groups), and that seems not to have much scope.

Pretty interesting insights. I think the vision matches what most people think of, though I'm not convinced by her talk that it's fundamentally different from the Open Universities or U of Phoenix (except that it's free and put on by top "brick-and-mortar" universities).

Teachers rate educational apps. I'm interested in the intersection of crowdsourcing and teacher professional development.

That would be interesting to see what teachers develop....this brings me to the thought that was brought up by that guy (don't recall his name) at the i-lab about having teachers develop apps but having them be able to make money off of it....

Is this based on research, or on opinion?

At Socrative we've received the same feedback about student comfort and improved fluency with their own devices. From a teacher perspective it has also been appreciated as they aren't expected to be experts in the technology. Especially for teachers who weren't previously in a 1 to 1 or high technology environment. However, from an IT perspective "Y" "O" has caused issues dealing with app updates, permissions, battery life etc. I guess tech isn't the wonder solution for all :)

"Legacy costs, ideas and infrastructure have set the table for creative disruption, with technology now offering alternative ways to acquire skills, knowledge, and accolades." This not only talks about transformation among teachers lives (and consequently those of the children thru what the empowered teachers provide) but makes you feel that the way in which teachers are evaluated are taking a whole new stage. More open, more emphasis on its impact and connected. 

Link to National Research Council workshop on games and simulations in science education, including all the commissioned papers.

Ways to take advantage of wikis as a web 2 learning tool

This article scientifically explains why humans crave for information. Research suggests the notion that midbrain dopamine neurons are coding for both primitive and cognitive rewards. This sounds like section of our brain still prefers to be strongly wired as behaviorist and cognitivist over constructivist.

How smartphones can aid math learning and motivation in and out of school

Research suggesting the deficits within multitasking

Finally, people are seeing the light!

20 Web 2.0 apps for learning

New forecast about how many preK-12 students will do online learning

An article about the shift towards computer-based teaching systems.

Thanks for sharing Jennifer. I currently work for Pearson and worked on many of the "digital paths" that the article refers tot. I am seeing first hand the shift in priority towards customized personal learning through digital technologies. Pearson's first attempt at integrating technology into their curriculum was a good start but I think the future of Pearson products will employ a lot of the strategies we've been learning in class from intelligent tutoring systems to fully integrated learning platforms. Very exciting shift for the educational publishing industry!

Harvard Business Publishing makes five forcasts about the future of augmented reality.

This is a website that allows users to find videos from which children (3-18) can learn. All videos are hosted by other sites like YouTube, but content is approved and moderated separately. Comments and discussions are separate from the comments on the original post (i.e. WatchKnow comments do not get added to YouTube and YouTube comments do not appear on WatchKnow). There is heavy emphasis on transparent, widespread monitoring of content. This is accomplished in ways very reminiscent of Wikipedia's moderation methods. Right now, the site has a good number of videos, but lacks a rich community of active users. This means that it is harder to locate quality videos since few users have rated and discussed content.

This website is very similar to an idea I've been brewing for a while (though I believe this site is missing some of the more promising features). I was pleasantly surprised to see professor Dede's name on the Advisory Committee.

The digital ethnographer Michael Wesch on the dark side of social media, what we learned from Iran, and why the future of the web depends on human interests-not market interests.

Why read a book OR watch a video when you can do BOTH at the SAME TIME?!

Alright, this is slightly beyond my comprehension, but apparently a vook is a book and video combined. So far they only have 6 books, and one of them is a cookbook so this could possibly be used for learning in informal settings. I'm not quite sure what to make of this, and I wonder if other companies are making similar products. Oh, and for those concerned, yes you can watch/read a vook on your iPhone.

do wikis equalize classroom participation?

five top tech trends for 2010