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J Black

ed4wb » Blog Archive » The New Bottom-up Authority - 0 views

  • It appears that most teachers today underestimate the amount of learning that is happening among youth outside of schools.  Since this informal learning sometimes dubbed “hanging out”, “messing around” or “geeking out”  happens outside of the classroom and doesn’t look like traditional learning, it’s easy for educators to miss. The quality and quantity of learning, the process by which it occurs, and the way authority is established in these informal environments, should be something that teachers become familiar with. Will Richardson, who writes extensively on these matters, believes that, “One of the biggest challenges educators face right now is figuring out how to help students create, navigate, and grow the powerful, individualized networks of learning that bloom on the Web and helping them do this effectively, ethically, and safely.” (see article)
  • It appears that most teachers today underestimate the amount of learning that is happening among youth outside of schools.  Since this informal learning sometimes dubbed “hanging out”, “messing around” or “geeking out”  happens outside of the classroom and doesn’t look like traditional learning, it’s easy for educators to miss. The quality and quantity of learning, the process by which it occurs, and the way authority is established in these informal environments, should be something that teachers become familiar with. Will Richardson, who writes extensively on these matters, believes that, “One of the biggest challenges educators face right now is figuring out how to help students create, navigate, and grow the powerful, individualized networks of learning that bloom on the Web and helping them do this effectively, ethically, and safely.” (see article)
  • It appears that most teachers today underestimate the amount of learning that is happening among youth outside of schools.  Since this informal learning sometimes dubbed “hanging out”, “messing around” or “geeking out”  happens outside of the classroom and doesn’t look like traditional learning, it’s easy for educators to miss. The quality and quantity of learning, the process by which it occurs, and the way authority is established in these informal environments, should be something that teachers become familiar with. Will Richardson, who writes extensively on these matters, believes that, “One of the biggest challenges educators face right now is figuring out how to help students create, navigate, and grow the powerful, individualized networks of learning that bloom on the Web and helping them do this effectively, ethically, and safely.” (see article)
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  • Schools, in general, are not taking advantage of the power of peer-based learning or the benefits of a more decentralized type of expertise which lies outside of its ivory walls.
  • The same study later describes a writer’s heightened sense of authenticity that comes from peer feedback as opposed to school evaluations: “It’s something I can do in my spare time, be creative and write and not have to be graded,” because, “you know how in school you’re creative, but you’re doing it for a grade so it doesn’t really count?”
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    The top-down, authoritarian model found in most classrooms today looks very different from the model many students experience when they learn online. The classroom's hierarchical approach, with the sage on the stage, requires, (and, ultimately demands) passivity and deference on the part of the learner. Informal, interest-driven networked learning, with its access to large stores of information and variety of opinion, on the other hand, takes a much different view of authority. It's usually peer based, largely democratic, meritocratic, often creates dissonance due to variety and demands evaluation. Knowing what we do about active learning, one would seem clearly superior to the other.
J Black

Ping - At First, Funny Videos. Now, a Reference Tool. - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • The explosion of all types of video content on YouTube and other sites is quickly transforming online video from a medium strictly for entertainment and news into one that is also a reference tool. As a result, video search, on YouTube and across other sites, is rapidly morphing into a new entry point into the Web, one that could rival mainstream search for many types of queries.
  • And now YouTube, conceived as a video hosting and sharing site, has become a bona fide search tool. Searches on it in the United States recently edged out those on Yahoo, which had long been the No. 2 search engine, behind Google. (Google, incidentally, owns YouTube.) In November, Americans conducted nearly 2.8 billion searches on YouTube, about 200 million more than on Yahoo, according to comScore.
  • “Is YouTube the next Google?”
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    The explosion of all types of video content on YouTube and other sites is quickly transforming online video from a medium strictly for entertainment and news into one that is also a reference tool. As a result, video search, on YouTube and across other sites, is rapidly morphing into a new entry point into the Web, one that could rival mainstream search for many types of queries.
J Black

Publications: SRN LEADS - 0 views

  • Limited influence in decision-making. In many high-achieving nations where teacher collaboration is the norm, teachers have substantial influence on school-based decisions, especially in the development of curriculum and assessment, and in the design of their own professional learning. In the United States, however, less than one-fourth of teachers feel they have great influence over school decisions and policies in seven different areas noted in the SASS surveys. A scant majority feel that they have some influence over curriculum and setting performance standards for students, though fewer than half perceived that they had some influence over the content of their in-service professional development. And very few felt they had influence over school policies and decisions affecting either teacher hiring and evaluation or the allocation of the school budget.
  • Limited influence in decision-making. In many high-achieving nations where teacher collaboration is the norm, teachers have substantial influence on school-based decisions, especially in the development of curriculum and assessment, and in the design of their own professional learning. In the United States, however, less than one-fourth of teachers feel they have great influence over school decisions and policies in seven different areas noted in the SASS surveys. A scant majority feel that they have some influence over curriculum and setting performance standards for students, though fewer than half perceived that they had some influence over the content of their in-service professional development. And very few felt they had influence over school policies and decisions affecting either teacher hiring and evaluation or the allocation of the school budget.
  • Limited influence in decision-making. In many high-achieving nations where teacher collaboration is the norm, teachers have substantial influence on school-based decisions, especially in the development of curriculum and assessment, and in the design of their own professional learning. In the United States, however, less than one-fourth of teachers feel they have great influence over school decisions and policies in seven different areas noted in the SASS surveys. A scant majority feel that they have some influence over curriculum and setting performance standards for students, though fewer than half perceived that they had some influence over the content of their in-service professional development. And very few felt they had influence over school policies and decisions affecting either teacher hiring and evaluation or the allocation of the school budget.
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  • Limited influence in decision-making. In many high-achieving nations where teacher collaboration is the norm, teachers have substantial influence on school-based decisions, especially in the development of curriculum and assessment, and in the design of their own professional learning. In the United States, however, less than one-fourth of teachers feel they have great influence over school decisions and policies in seven different areas noted in the SASS surveys. A scant majority feel that they have some influence over curriculum and setting performance standards for students, though fewer than half perceived that they had some influence over the content of their in-service professional development. And very few felt they had influence over school policies and decisions affecting either teacher hiring and evaluation or the allocation of the school budget.
  • Limited influence in decision-making. In many high-achieving nations where teacher collaboration is the norm, teachers have substantial influence on school-based decisions, especially in the development of curriculum and assessment, and in the design of their own professional learning. In the United States, however, less than one-fourth of teachers feel they have great influence over school decisions and policies in seven different areas noted in the SASS surveys. A scant majority feel that they have some influence over curriculum and setting performance standards for students, though fewer than half perceived that they had some influence over the content of their in-service professional development. And very few felt they had influence over school policies and decisions affecting either teacher hiring and evaluation or the allocation of the school budget.
  • Limited influence in decision-making. In many high-achieving nations where teacher collaboration is the norm, teachers have substantial influence on school-based decisions, especially in the development of curriculum and assessment, and in the design of their own professional learning. In the United States, however, less than one-fourth of teachers feel they have great influence over school decisions and policies in seven different areas noted in the SASS surveys. A scant majority feel that they have some influence over curriculum and setting performance standards for students, though fewer than half perceived that they had some influence over the content of their in-service professional development. And very few felt they had influence over school policies and decisions affecting either teacher hiring and evaluation or the allocation of the school budget.
  • Limited influence in decision-making. In many high-achieving nations where teacher collaboration is the norm, teachers have substantial influence on school-based decisions, especially in the development of curriculum and assessment, and in the design of their own professional learning. In the United States, however, less than one-fourth of teachers feel they have great influence over school decisions and policies in seven different areas noted in the SASS surveys. A scant majority feel that they have some influence over curriculum and setting performance standards for students, though fewer than half perceived that they had some influence over the content of their in-service professional development. And very few felt they had influence over school policies and decisions affecting either teacher hiring and evaluation or the allocation of the school budget.
J Black

Little Love for the Mobile Web in App-Adoring World - Advertising Age - Digital - 0 views

shared by J Black on 07 Jul 10 - Cached
  • What's more, phones will overtake PCs as the most common device to access the internet worldwide by 2013, according to a study from information-technology research company Gartner. So why are mobile sites taking a backseat to iPhone apps? Blame the Apple aura.
  • by presenting a user experience never before seen in mobile.
  • Apps can also use other hardware features on a phone, like its camera or compass, while mobile sites can only really tell where a user is located. Plus, with slow-load speeds, categories popular in apps, such as gaming, are not feasible on the web. Because an app runs offline, users don't have to worry about a slow or spotty network connection.
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  • It remains to be seen how long the iPhone app addiction will last, but the mobile web -- what Mr. Outlaw calls "device-agnostic" since it works on any operating system -- will eventually break through when the iPhone buzz dies down and the consumer can get equally rich app experiences on non-Apple operating systems.
  • "App development is not easily scalable," said Mr. Outlaw. It's expensive and time-intensive to get apps on different phones.
  • iPhone's slice of the pie will shrink as more feature-phone users sign up for their first smart device.
  • Right now we're in the Age of the App, but as browsers become more sophisticated, mobile websites will be on the rise and users will barely be able to tell the difference between the app experience and the browser,"
  • "The mobile web will have to be addressed this year," said Mr. Ting. "If you don't have a mobile website up now, it's going to feel like the year 2000, when brands didn't have websites up."
  • Don't just re-create a PC website for mobile, but pare down content for exactly what consumers are looking for on that device. "When you're on the phone, it's a different context," he said. "Consumers are snacking on content; they don't want the full experience." Good mobile websites should feel like apps for consumers. New features like drop-down menus and expandable panels are expected soon. The little things, like a mobile site that redirects when a user taps in the web URL, will make mobile-web adoption smoother.
  • People don't care whether it is a web site or an application. All they care about is they can do "x" simply and pleasantly.
  • . All they care about is they can do "x" simply and pleasantly.
  • If you are trying to decide whether you should build an app or a mobile web site, you probably need to step back and think about a bigger problem - why you aren't able (or are unwilling) to build both.
  • With the release of HTML 5.0 developers will be able to take advantage of GPS, accelerometer, design, etc that will make mobile sites similar to apps in terms of functionality.
  • A game makes more sense on an app but a shopping site may find a happier home on the mobile web. This is because a mobile web developer has a choice of a number of online payment options for a limited fee. Where an iPhone developer must use iTunes and give up 30% of the revenue.
  • "mobile touch web" when deployed with the tools that HTML-5 promises to deliver will be the next important phase towards consuming content on demand and further penetration of location based services (including point of purchase)
  • Engagement may be measured by increased time per session, high frequency of sessions, interactions, and/or some combination thereof.
J Black

What Do You Check First: E-mail or Facebook? [INFOGRAPHIC] - 0 views

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    "# More than 50% of U.S. online consumers check their e-mail before visiting other websites when they start the day.\n# Facebook is the first destination for 11% of U.S. online consumers.\n# Of daily Facebook users, 69% "Like" at least one company or brand.\n# 68% of daily Twitter users follow at least one brand on the service.\n# 43% of all American Internet users are either fans or followers of at least one brand on Twitter or Facebook."
J Black

Clay Shirky: 'Paywall will underperform - the numbers don't add up' | Technology | The ... - 0 views

  • His predictions for the fate of print media organisations have proved unnervingly accurate; 2009 would be a bloodbath for newspapers, he warned – and so it came to pass. Dozens of American newspapers closed last year, while several others, such as the Christian Science Monitor, moved their entire operation online. The business model of the traditional print newspaper, according to Shirky, is doomed; the monopoly on news it has enjoyed ever since the invention of the printing press has become an industrial dodo. Rupert Murdoch has just begun charging for online access to the Times – and Shirky is confident the experiment will fail."Everyone's waiting to see what will happen with the paywall – it's the big question. But I think it will underperform. On a purely financial calculation, I don't think the numbers add up." But then, interestingly, he goes on, "Here's what worries me about the paywall. When we talk about newspapers, we talk about them being critical for informing the public; we never say they're critical for informing their customers. We assume that the value of the news ramifies outwards from the readership to society as a whole. OK, I buy that. But what Murdoch is signing up to do is to prevent that value from escaping. He wants to only inform his customers, he doesn't want his stories to be shared and circulated widely. In fact, his ability to charge for the paywall is going to come down to his ability to lock the public out of the conversation convened by the Times."
  • Cognitive Surplus; Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age.
  • It proves, Shirky argues, that people are more creative and generous than we had ever imagined, and would rather use their free time participating in amateur online activities such as Wikipedia – for no financial reward – because they satisfy the primal human urge for creativity and connectedness.
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  • Just as the invention of the printing press transformed society, the internet's capacity for "an unlimited amount of zero-cost reproduction of any digital item by anyone who owns a computer" has removed the barrier to universal participation, and revealed that human beings would rather be creating and sharing than passively consuming what a privileged elite think they should watch. Instead of lamenting the silliness of a lot of social online media, we should be thrilled by the spontaneous collective campaigns and social activism also emerging. The potential civic value of all this hitherto untapped energy is nothing less, Shirky concludes, than revolutionary.
  • Which is to say that, if in 1994 you'd wanted to understand what our lives would be like right now, you'd still be better off reading a single copy of Wired magazine published in that year than all of the sceptical literature published ever since."
  • The one point of agreement between internet utopians and sceptics has been their techno-deterministic assumption that the web has fundamentally changed human behaviour.
  • But I'm saying if the new technology creates a new behaviour, it's because it was allowing motivations that were previously locked out. These tools we now have allow for new behaviours – but they don't cause them."
  • But even if he's right, and the internet has merely unveiled ancient truths about human behaviour, isn't it still legitimate to feel a little bit dismayed by Facebook's revelation of almost infinite narcissism?
  • Look, we got erotic novels, first crack out of the box, once we had printing presses. It took a century and a half for the Royal Society to start publishing the first scientific journal in English. So even with the sacred printing press, the first things you get serve the basest human urges. But the presence of the erotic novels did not prevent us from pressing the printing presses into the service of the scientific revolution. And so I think every bit of time spent fretting about the fact that people have base desires which they will use this medium to satisfy is a waste of time – because that's been true of every medium ever launched."
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    "If you are reading this article on a printed copy of the Guardian, what you have in your hand will, just 15 years from now, look as archaic as a Western Union telegram does today. In less than 50 years, according to Clay Shirky, it won't exist at all. The reason, he says, is very simple, and very obvious: if you are 25 or younger, you're probably already reading this on your computer screen. "And to put it in one bleak sentence, no medium has ever survived the indifference of 25-year-olds.""
J Black

Teachers should be seen and not heard - Road Diaries: Teacher of the Year - Education W... - 7 views

  • "I think we need to consider the role of teachers in the classroom," she replies in a soft voice. "We are headed toward a teacherless classroom and must be guided by this fact." A teacherless classroom? I look around the table and hope one of the esteemed guests will ask her to clarify or possibly expand upon her statement. Instead, the guests just nod their heads in agreement. The strange little man interrupts. "I agree. Technology is making the traditional classroom teacher less relevant-possibly obsolete. Soon students will be learning at home from online classes on their laptops." I silently question who will be teaching the online classes.
  • The Harvard professor tugs at his chin with his right thumb and index finger and compliments the senator. "In the future," he says, "students will be learning at home using their computers. School buildings and classrooms will not be the primary learning environment." Really? Could any sane person envision millions of school children staying home and learning a full curriculum online? I foresee a stay-at-home mom or dad spending most of the day trying to keep their children away from Facebook.
  • Where do I begin? I spent the last thirty minutes listening to a group of arrogant and condescending non educators disrespect my colleagues and profession. I listened to a group of disingenuous people whose own self-interests guide their policies rather than the interests of children. I listened to a cabal of people who sit on national education committees that will have a profound impact on classroom teaching practices. And I heard nothing of value.
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  • "I'm thinking about the current health care debate, "I said. "And I am wondering if I will be asked to sit on a national committee charged with the task of creating a core curriculum of medical procedures to be used in hospital emergency rooms." The strange little man cocks his head and, suddenly, the fly on the wall has everyone's attention.
  • "I realize that most people would think I am unqualified to sit on such a committee because I am not a doctor, I have never worked in an emergency room, and I have never treated a single patient. So what? Today I have listened to people who are not teachers, have never worked in a classroom, and have never taught a single student tell me how to teach." An uneasy silence cloaks the table. The governor from the South looks at his watch, the governor from the North bows his head, the governor from the Midwest stirs his coffee, the diminutive senator stares at me, and the strange little man grabs another strawberry. One by one the lunch guests leave the table. I return to being a fly on a wall at a table. I wonder how many other teachers have been treated in such a manner.
hanch91

Development and Changes in Gambling Strategies with Experience Growth - 2 views

In the world of gambling, where every move can determine your success or failure, the development and adaptation of gaming strategies are key aspects of achieving maximum winnings. With experience ...

started by hanch91 on 08 Mar 24 no follow-up yet
usasmmcity24

Buy Google Voice Account-PVA Google Voice account... - 0 views

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    Buy Google Voice Account Are you tired of juggling multiple phone numbers and struggling to keep track of them all? Look no further than Google Voice, a versatile service that lets you consolidate all your phone numbers into a single, accessible platform. In today's digitally-driven world, having a Google Voice account can offer you a myriad of benefits, from enhancing your personal privacy to streamlining your business communications. In this article, we will explore the ins and outs of utilizing Google Voice accounts, diving into how they work, their features, and why they have become a popular choice for people from various walks of life. Different uses of Google Voice Google Voice is a versatile and powerful tool that offers a myriad of features to enhance communication and streamline everyday tasks. From managing phone calls to sending text messages, Google Voice provides a convenient platform for individuals and businesses alike. Let's explore some different uses of Google Voice and how it can benefit you in various aspects of your life. Personal communication: Google Voice can serve as your primary phone number, allowing you to consolidate all your calls and texts in one place. Instead of juggling multiple phone numbers, you can direct incoming calls to your Google Voice number, which can then ring on your home phone, work phone, and mobile device simultaneously. This eliminates the hassle of missing important calls while providing a seamless communication experience. Voicemail management: Google Voice offers advanced voicemail features that go beyond just recording messages. You have the ability to transcribe voicemails, which allows you to read them instead of listening to entire messages. This feature comes in handy when you're in a situation where listening to voicemails is inconvenient or not possible. Additionally, voicemails can be stored in your Google account, making them easily accessible anytime, anywhere. Call screening and blocking: Ti
J Black

Lessig on McCain on Tech Video - 0 views

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    A very enlightening video on our current state of broadband penetration in the US. Though the election is over, the issue remains on our plate.
J Black

2009 Horizon Report - 0 views

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    2009 Horizon Report the web version * Browse Comments o by Commenter o by Section o General Comments * Contents o Executive Summary o Technologies to Watch o Key Trends o Critical Challenges o The Horizon Project o One Year or Less: Mobiles o One Year or Less: Cloud Computing o Two to Three Years: Geo-Everything o Two to Three Years: The Personal Web o Four to Five Years: Semantic-Aware Applications o Four to Five Years: Smart Objects o Methodology o 2009 Horizon Project Advisory Board * Recent Comments o Four to Five Years: Semantic-Aware Applications Semantic UMW in the NMC 2009 Horizon Report - Semantic UMW says: [...] practices, and ideas that could be significant for education. This year's re[...] * Links o 2009 Horizon Report (367k PDF) o 2009 Horizon Resources (tagged hz09 in delicious) o Horizon Project Wiki o NMC Horizon Project Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary (0) 2. Technologies to Watch (0) 3. Key Trends (0) 4. Critical Challenges (0) 5. The Horizon Project (0) 6. One Year or Less: Mobiles (0) 7. One Year or Less: Cloud Computing (0)
J Black

ZoomIt - 0 views

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    ZoomIt is screen zoom and annotation tool for technical presentations that include application demonstrations. ZoomIt runs unobtrusively in the tray and activates with customizable hotkeys to zoom in on an area of the screen, move around while zoomed, and draw on the zoomed image. I wrote ZoomIt to fit my specific needs and use it in all my presentations. ZoomIt works on all versions of Windows and you can use pen input for ZoomIt drawing on tablet PCs.
Falcon Emergency

Getting Started with Diigolet - Diigo help - 0 views

  • Tags help you find and organize your bookmarks by letting you select all of your bookmarks with a certain tag or combination of tags. Quickly add relevant tags to a bookmark by clicking on any of the recommended tags that appear under the description field on the “Save Bookmark” pop-up. When you are satisfied with the information in the “Save Bookmark” pop-up, click the “Save Bookmark” button. Now a link to the page is stored in your Diigo library, and the information you entered is stored with it.
  • Highlight Highlighting lets you denote important information on a page, just like highlighting in a book, but with Diigo, the highlighted text will be conveniently saved to your library as well. There are some important things for me to denote on my recipe. My wife doesn’t like pineapple, my grandfather can’t have eggs or chocolate, and I don’t like coconut very much, so I highlight those items on the recipe to let me know I need to deal with them. Highlight by clicking “Highlight” on the Diigolet. Then select the text you want to highlight. The text will be visually highlighted and the text is now stored in your library. It’s that easy. Click the button again to exit highlighter mode. You can also change the color of a highlight by clicking the downward-pointing arrow next to “Highlight” and choosing a color. Colors are useful for differentiating different types of highlights. I will use a different color for each of the different people I need to consider.
  • To add a sticky note to a highlight, simply move your mouse cursor over a highlight. When the little pop-up tab with the pencil on it appears, move the cursor to it and a menu will appear. Choose “Add Sticky Notes”. Now you can type and post a sticky note just like before, but this time it will be tied to the highlighted text.
J Black

The 21st Century Centurion: 21st Century Questions - 0 views

  • The report extended literacy to “Five New Basics” - English, mathematics, science, social studies, and computer science. A Nation At Risk specified that all high school graduates should be able to “understand the computer as an information, computation and communication device; students should be able to use the computer in the study of the other Basics and for personal and work-related purposes; and students should understand the world of computers, electronics, and related technologies."That was 1983 - twenty- six years ago. I ask you, Ben: Has education produced students with basic knowledge in the core disciplines and computer science TODAY? Are we there yet? OR - are we still at risk for not producing students with the essential skills for success in 1983?
    • J Black
       
      I had never really considered this before...how computer science has been totally left out of the equaltion....why is that? Cost of really delivering this would be enormous -- think how much money the districts would have to pour into the school systems.
  • On June 29, 1996, the U. S. Department of Education released Getting America's Students Ready for the 21st Century; Meeting the Technology Literacy Challenge, A Report to the Nation on Technology and Education. Recognizing the rapid changes in workplace needs and the vast challenges facing education, the Technology Literacy Challenge launched programs in the states that focused on a vision of the 21st century where all students are “technologically literate.” Four goals, relating primarily to technology skills, were advanced that focused specifically on: 1.) Training and support for teachers; 2.) Acquisition of multimedia computers in classrooms; 3.) Connection to the Internet for every classroom; and 4.) Acquiring effective software and online learning resources integral to teaching the school's curriculum.
    • J Black
       
      we are really stuck here....the training and support -- the acquisition of hardware, connectivity etc.
  • Our profession is failing miserably to respond to twenty-six years of policy, programs and even statutory requirements designed to improve the ability of students to perform and contribute in a high performance workplace. Our students are losing while we are debating.
    • J Black
       
      This is really, really well said here...bravo
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  • In 2007, The Report of the NEW Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce: Tough Choices or Tough Times made our nation hyperaware that "World market professionals are available in a wide range of fields for a fraction of what U.S. professionals charge." Guess what? While U.S. educators stuck learned heads in the sand, the world's citizens gained 21st century skills! Tough Choices spares no hard truth: "Our young adults score at “mediocre” levels on the best international measure of performance." Do you think it is an accident that the word "mediocre" is used? Let's see, I believe we saw it w-a-a-a-y back in 1983 when A Nation At Risk warned of a "tide of mediocrity." Tough Choices asks the hard question: "Will the world’s employers pick U.S. graduates when workers in Asia will work for much less? Then the question is answered. Our graduates will be chosen for global work "only if the U.S. worker can compete academically, exceed in creativity, learn quickly, and demonstrate a capacity to innovate." There they are
    • J Black
       
      This is exactly what dawns on students when they realize what globalization means for them..the incredibly stiff competition that it is posed to bring about.
  • “Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century."
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    The report extended literacy to "Five New Basics" - English, mathematics, science, social studies, and computer science. A Nation At Risk specified that all high school graduates should be able to "understand the computer as an information, computation and communication device; students should be able to use the computer in the study of the other Basics and for personal and work-related purposes; and students should understand the world of computers, electronics, and related technologies." That was 1983 - twenty- six years ago. I ask you, Ben: Has education produced students with basic knowledge in the core disciplines and computer science TODAY? Are we there yet? OR - are we still at risk for not producing students with the essential skills for success in 1983?
Gia DeSelm

The Nerdy Teacher: Flickr for Homework? - 0 views

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    My idea consists of creating a class Flickr account and allowing students to upload their photos and descriptions. Students could then view all of the photos and comment on the work of other students. If I give the students enough time to work on the project, about 1 week, they should have plenty of time to take and upload pictures to the site. Once the images are on Flickr, I could do many different things with them. I could take them and make photo mosaic using Big Huge Labs and post it to the class website for everyone to see
J Black

CloudCourse: An Enterprise Application in the Cloud - Google Open Source Blog - 0 views

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    "At Google we have experts on everything from Python to penguins. However, connecting our expert teachers to eager students around the globe can be a complicated business. To that end, we are excited to release our new internal learning platform, CloudCourse under an open source license. Built entirely on App Engine, CloudCourse allows anyone to create and track learning activities. CloudCourse also offers calendaring, waitlist management and approval features.\n\nCloudCourse is fully integrated with Google Calendar and can be further customized for your organization with the following service provider interfaces (replaceable components):\n\n * Sync service - to sync CloudCourse data with your internal systems\n * Room info service - to schedule classes in your locations\n * User info service - to look up user profile (employee title, picture, etc)\n\nCloudCourse has been developed in Python, using the Django web application framework and the Closure Javascript library. Deploying CloudCourse on App Engine is a breeze, and should take less than 5 minutes."
J Black

Prince: the internet's completely over - Telegraph - 0 views

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    "He went on to say: "The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated.\n\nPrince also criticised the advent of gadgets and computers: "All these computers and digital gadgets are no good.\n\n"They just fill your head with numbers and that cant be good for you."\n\nPrince has taken his war against the internet one step further by shutting down his official website. His battle began in 2007 when he famously announced his intention to file lawsuits against eBay, YouTube and the Pirate Bay for the misuse of his music. Ever since he has banned such sites from using his music in any fashion and refused to work with legal paid-for options like iTunes, 7Digital or eMusic. "
J Black

The Economics of Giving It Away - WSJ.com - 0 views

  • In other cases, the same digital economics have spurred entirely new business models, such as "Freemium," a free version supported by a paid premium version. This model uses free as a form of marketing to put the product in the hands of the maximum number of people, converting just a small fraction to paying customers. It's an inversion of the old free sample promotion: Rather than giving away one brownie to sell 99 others, you give away 99 virtual penguins to sell one virtual igloo. (Confused? Ask a child: This is the business model for the phenomenally successful Club Penguin.)
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    In other cases, the same digital economics have spurred entirely new business models, such as "Freemium," a free version supported by a paid premium version. This model uses free as a form of marketing to put the product in the hands of the maximum number of people, converting just a small fraction to paying customers. It's an inversion of the old free sample promotion: Rather than giving away one brownie to sell 99 others, you give away 99 virtual penguins to sell one virtual igloo. (Confused? Ask a child: This is the business model for the phenomenally successful Club Penguin.)
J Black

Amazon Kindle for iPhone & iPod Touch « THE FIRE WIRE - 0 views

  • Even if you could never justify spending $360 on a Kindle, you can still partake in the mobile eBook revolution. Amazon Kindle for iPhone & iPod Touch (Free) is a new app that lets you buy and download Kindle books and read them on the go — without buying the Kindle 2. In addition to having access to more than 240,000 books, the app lets you adjust text size, add bookmarks, and get free samples. If you already have a Kindle, the app’s Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes your bookmarks across your Kindle and your iPhone.
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    Even if you could never justify spending $360 on a Kindle, you can still partake in the mobile eBook revolution. Amazon Kindle for iPhone & iPod Touch (Free) is a new app that lets you buy and download Kindle books and read them on the go - without buying the Kindle 2. In addition to having access to more than 240,000 books, the app lets you adjust text size, add bookmarks, and get free samples. If you already have a Kindle, the app's Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes your bookmarks across your Kindle and your iPhone.
J Black

The End in Mind » A Post-LMS Manifesto - 0 views

    • J Black
       
      This is a very profound statement that we should closely look at. Do LMS do nothing more than perpetuate the traditional classroom model?
  • Technology has and always will be an integral part of what we do to help our students “become.” But helping someone improve, to become a better, more skilled, more knowledgeable, more confident person is not fundamentally a technology problem. It’s a people problem. Or rather, it’s a people opportunity.
  • The problem with one-to-one instruction is that is simply doesn’t scale. Historically, there simply haven’t been enough tutors to go around if our goal is to educate the masses, to help every learner “become.”
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • Through experimental investigation, Bloom found that “the average student under tutoring was about two standard deviations above the average” of students who studied in a traditional classroom setting with 30 other students
  • We can extend, expand, enhance, magnify, and amplify the reach and effectiveness of human interaction with technology and communication tools, but the underlying reality is that real people must converse with each other in the process of “becoming.”
  • Because the LMS is primarily a traditional classroom support tool, it is ill-suited to bridge the 2-sigma gap between classroom instruction and personal tutoring.
  • undamentally human endeavor that requires personal interaction and communication, person to person.
  • here is, at its very core, a problem with the LMS paradigm. The “M” in “LMS” stands for “management.” This is not insignificant. The word heavily implies that the provider of the LMS, the educational institution, is “managing” student learning. Since the dawn of public education and the praiseworthy societal undertaking “educate the masses,” management has become an integral part of the learning. And this is exactly what we have designed and used LMSs to do—to manage the flow of students through traditional, semester-based courses more efficiently than ever before. The LMS has done exactly what we hired it to do: it has reinforced, facilitated, and perpetuated the traditional classroom model, the same model that Bloom found woefully less effective than one-on-one learning.
  • n the post-LMS world, we need to worry less about “managing” learners and focus more on helping them connect with other like-minded learners both inside and outside of our institutions.
  • We need to foster in them greater personal accountability, responsibility and autonomy in their pursuit of learning in the broader community of learners. We need to use the communication tools available to us today and the tools that will be invented tomorrow to enable anytime, anywhere, any-scale learning conversations between our students and other learners
  • However, instead of that tutor appearing in the form of an individual human being or in the form of a virtual AI tutor, the tutor will be the crowd.
  • The paradigm—not the technology—is the problem.
  • Building a better, more feature-rich LMS won’t close the 2-sigma gap. We need to utilize technology to better connect people, content, and learning communities to facilitate authentic, personal, individualized learning. What are we waiting for?
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    A very insightful look into LMS use and student achievment. Highly recommended read for users of BB or Moodle.
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