HGSET561

I had a chance to do some research on these guys this past summer and it's pretty cool stuff. The TECHbooks (see what they did there...) are basically super intuitive tablets filled over 160,000 leveled lessons - all of which are aligned to Common Core State Standards (if you're in to that, as 45/50 states are). Combine them with a Discovery Streaming license and you get over 100,000 multimedia assets which are downloadable & accessible from anywhere. I wouldn't necessarily call it "transformative" just yet, but it presents a compelling case for digital in the print vs. digital debate.

MOOCs are losing momentum as word spreads that they are not wonderful, but a popular topic still can get a big initial enrollment.

Are MOOCs really losing momentum? It seems as if there is still a lot of hype in the media about it, and campuses are continuing to add classes based on the MOOC concept. Even here at HGSE, there is talk of MOOC type classes.

This MOOC has a better design than most, and I could get one of the leaders to teleconference with T561, if desired.

I think a live teleconference would be great!

Google has the hype machine working overtime on this

The tablet craze continues...a continuation of the "magic device" phenomenon

Duncan pushes technology verbally, but does not act on the national ed tech plan and has eliminated funding for technology. This is bad reporting by someone who does not understand the subject and does not ask tough questions

op-ed that centers on the concept of "students need to understand that failure is a part of life." A nice take away is that playing it safe and not taking risks will restrict news ideas and new practices.

Another interesting application of AR

It would be great to have AR of this type in classrooms for students to use, but I also think of how helpful it would be for teachers! I imagine it could really help manage student academic information, as well as encourage collaboration and a more open classroom.

this could lead to augmented reality applications in journalism

This is an unsuccessful attempt to reinvent learning theories. Shows how the field is not good at building on established knowledge.

This seems a logical next step

These services could be a help or a hindrance depending on the quality of their advice

Augmented reality is bridging divide between signing and non-signing communities.

In a few years, when we all own 3D printers and can download and print any number of objects (including 20,000 year old fossils), what will the implications be for teaching and learning when we can present our students and our teachers with the physical manifestations of things we've traditionally learned and taught about only in the abstract through textbooks or videos?

I spent some time poking around BrainPOP's GameUp page (BrainPOP creates educational flash videos and resources to be used in classrooms, in case you didn't know). Some are pretty cool examples of gamifying learning concepts, while others feel a little clunkier. I enjoyed poking around, so I thought I'd share.

mooc.org is an edX destination through a partnership with Google to power the online learning revolution.

Key choices are now being made about the E-Rate in terms of both amount of funding and how that money can be used. I and others are advocating that E-Rate should fund mobile devices and networking outside of schools.

An argument against MOOCs..

Make your own computer kits. Curious how similar or dissimilar these are to MaKeY MaKey

An interesting experiment attempting to get an equivalent of a 4-year college degree in just 1 year with MOOCs.