HGSET561

Want to know how you spend your time on your computer? Or maybe you don't.  Anyway, heard about Rescuetime.com on NPR this afternoon. 

Comments on Obama's $500 million initiative to create online contents for basic skills courses in math and sciences.

I wonder how many medical students and physicians are learning through online information, such as these nutrition modules, to make up for the gaps in current medical education curriculum? These nutrition modules are interactive and let students take electronic notes while reviewing the material.

A wide range of approaches to personalised learning is being adopted in schools.

this paper provides an overview of the potential of the integration of mobile Web 2.0 tools (based around smartphones) to facilitate social constructivist pedagogies and engage students in tertiary education.

"We used to look in wonder at the areas in which ICT were used to boost productivity. Today we wonder how the economy, technology and society could have done without ICT".

Big money for games that help young children learn STEM

Maybe you or someone could comment on what this has in common with the Tesla project (or what is different). Would love to hear more. As a future middle school teacher, this inspires me. The contest geared toward middle school age validates my conviction that middle schoolers can and should be learning technology ... yes, even in BPS there's got to be a way.

TESLA is studying both how we can make math education more effective and what types of motivational inductions appeal to various types of students in grades 5-9. The emphasis in engagement is on building intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy in math, rather than using external motivation to "sugar-coat" math as yucky, but necessary. The intrinsic/extrinsic distinction is often ignored by game designers,and as a result kids who are momentarily engaged in STEM can actually be demotivated longer term. TESLA is trying to established a more nuanced view of how to build this type of game.

What are the implications of being "off the grid" in terms of the Internet while in college? How dependent are we on this technology?

I saw some (bad) reality tv program about a family who did this and the wonders it resulted in for this family's quality of life ... I like this idea, especially coupled with discussion afterward among the participants who can, perhaps, realize what all the time spent in Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc. takes away from ....

Look at what technology can do! The future of school uniforms? ...

I don't think so ...

What if, instead of seeing school the way we've known it, we saw it for what our children dreamed it might be: a big, delicious video game?

Larry Cuban on Wonder Woman / Man superintendents

Can't quite wrap my brain around this one entirely but it sounds interesting and brain-y.

Emily Post would be proud. Read this to learn about etiquette for e-communication.

Naomi S. Baron, a linguistics professor at American University, studies how cell phones and online messaging change social interactions. She talks to the Tech Therapy team about her concern that colleges push too much technology on students and professors. Should colleges encourage e-mail-free Fridays?

Interesting to think about technology saturation is impacting college students. Some college professors are even resisting technology integration in the classroom because of it - if you're interested in Higher Ed, the Chronicle of Higher Education has many interesting articles about technology in university settings.

Designers of games need to consider the audience. Here is an example of a game that excludes left handed players. The DSi is a small hand held device with two screens. This game is played by holding the device open as you would a book. The problem is that numbers are moving from the left page to the right page and players are expected to use a stylus to interact with the right page. Left handed players block the view of the game and cannot play.

Milton Chen and Tina Barseghian interviewed on KQED's Forum (San Francisco public radio) about using technology and media in the classroom.

A mother from New York who raised young children in China argues that the high-pressure testing that made them "feel bad" about themselves at the time was a good thing in the long run.