HGSET561

The creator of some innovative alternate reality games explains how we need to make the real world more like a game

How soon will robots become yet another part of the educational technology arsenal? Seems like people have talked about using robots forever (Roomba!), but they are starting to come over the horizon (drones, Mars probes, autonomous cars). Perhaps soon into the classroom?

Friedman declares American educational system is dead unless we do what we do best - recombine and invent

yada

hmmm. interesting. (just testing)

Go Obama Go!

Roger Ebert lost his lower jaw and tongue to cancer, so he cannot talk or eat. Nevertheless, he has managed to have hope and publish a cookbook!

I hope more organizations create a home for failed apps. We can learn from what went wrong or consider why an option never caught on.

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

Little by little, unique educational uses are popping up for cellphones.

Dialogue on whether cellphones can be useful tools in education

I think the Oneville team will show that they can!!

Definitely want to read some of the books mentioned in this Q&A.

Article in Neuron on counterintuitive outcomes of studies on technology and childhood development (referenced by Johan Lehrer)

Lecture by one of the authors of Disrupting Class. He describes how disruptive innovation will change the education and along the lecture picks on HBS.

beyond laptops to other forms of mobile devices

high bandwidth offers new education possibilities. HGSE has a telepresence station in Gutman

For things you've always wanted to know about the web but were afraid to ask-

a fun read

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Concord Consortium is mentioned in #1, 4 and 5: 1. Better Simulations and Models 2. Global Learning 3. Virtual Manipulatives 4. Probes and Sensors 5. More Efficient Assessment 6. Storytelling and Multimedia 7. E-books 8. Epistemic Games

Simulations, Global Learning, Virtual Manipulatives, Probes and Sensors, More efficient assessment, storytelling and media, e-books - good overview of how technology is enhancing education

This list almost feels like it could be used as a litmus test to judge new technology a school is considering.

One state's response to protect children from sexual predators. It doesn't seem very forward thinking to me. Why not change the rules around social networking in schools, rather than banning it?

That would have an unfortunate impact on projects like OneVille

Saw this over the summer and thought it raised some good questions about IEP initiatives, a child's ability to learn technical frameworks without explicit instruction, community engagement, technological innovation in impoverished areas, etc.

Speaking at LIFT 2007, Sugata Mitra talks about his Hole in the Wall project. Young kids in this project figured out how to use a PC on their own -- and then taught other kids. He asks, what else can children teach themselves? Sugata Mitra's "Hole in the Wall" experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they're motivated by curiosity and peer interest.

I thought this was a great video when I watched it. Very interesting experiment. It reminded me of how I know people who learned other languages through their love of music--they just memorized song lyrics and practiced until they figured out the language!

Ideas for using texting at school.

great article. relevant to today's discussion about web 2.0 / social media. for those who didn't read it. Here's there article's list of interesting sms based tools for education use: Remind101: Remind101 allows teachers to send text messages (and email) home -- to students and/or to parents -- to offer reminders and updates for class. Remind101 allows teachers to communicate with their classes without either teacher or students having to share their phone numbers. Poll Everywhere: As the name suggests, Poll Everywhere allows teachers to use cellphones for polling in class. Students text their responses, using their cellphones to give feedback, answer questions, take quizzes. Celly: Celly provides SMS-based group messaging. Classrooms can use the service to take quick polls and quizzes, filter messages, get news updates, take notes, and organize and hold study groups. The groups can be public or private, moderated or open. StudyBoost: StudyBoost allows students to study via SMS-based quizzes. The questions can be self- or teacher-created, and can be multiple choice or open-ended.

I like Celly for its group messaging and polling applications. Note: The link to "Poll Anywhere" is broken.

This article talks about two companies that are trying to create dashboards to combine all the data that teachers receive from different programs they use. The goal is to help teachers "avoid an air-traffic-control problem as they try to mix and match the tools they use."

Boston area Landmark High School received a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant, which seeks to foster innovation and focus on STEM fields. These students will work on creating a water desalination system for countries with low rainfall. This type of project has a lot of potential to develop 21st century skills and teach complex problem solving skills.