Knowledge in the Public Interest (KPI)

By Ian Quillen of the Digital Education (blog) in Education Week, September 2 2010. This study suggests that "Algebra I teachers who were trained in and used a program that allowed them to monitor students' progress on graphing calculators led to significantly improved achievement by their students on a researcher-designed test." This blog post (and the video link) both stress that it is the combination of technology AND professional development that has provided these positive results. \nNOTE: First link to Summary of Findings is a Texas Instruments report (TI produces the graphing calculator that is part of the study). However, the study was conducted with outside consultants, including SRI.

By Katie Ash in the Digital Education blog of Education Week, Sept 1 2010. Ash quotes a study by e-Learning for Educators that finds online PD improved teachers' "instruction and subject knowledge" and "produced gains in student achievement."

The United States Department of Education has recently launched ED Data Express to make some of the Department's data available to the public. There are a variety of "views" of the data (e.g. state "snapshots," state tables), as well as the opportunity to build your own view.

This database (launched summer 2010) is a collaboration of various federal agencies (including the Office of Educational Technology, part of the US Dept of Education) that bring together "federal learning resources and primary source materials." Use the learning_registry tag to find background information.

Posted by Steve Midgley to the U.S. Department of Education's ED.gov blog on July 28 2010. In this post, Midgley announces the government's plan to "make its educational resources much easier to find and use through a new Learning Registry." This outline of the plan explores some of the technical issues that had to be addressed in order to build the database. Follow the learning_registry tag for a link to the registry itself.

The site defines "blook" as somewhere between a book and a blog, and on this site, there are interviews with researchers and practitioners in a number of interesting fields, including education, "internet & society," and social media.

According to the site, EduCon, an annual meeting, "iis both a conversation and a conference," with a focus on education innovation. Participants can attend virtually or in person.

By Robin Wilson in the Faculty section of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept 5 2010. This article looks at the resistance to measuring learning outcomes -- and the progress that is being made, as well.

Posted to the White House website (whitehouse.gov), unsigned and undated. On October 5 2010, Dr. Jill Biden will chair a White House Summit on Community Colleges, highlighting "the critical role that community colleges play in developing America's workforce and reaching our educational goals." There is both an online forum (see tag whitehouse_cc) and an opportunity to submit videos. The event will be webcast, as well.

By Wick Sloane, in a column called The Devil's Workshop in Inside Higher Ed, September 20 2010. Sloane, previously the CFO of a public university, has embedded himself as a writing teacher at Bunker Hill Community College. In this column, he ties completion to the many varied needs of under-served students, many of whom live in poverty.

By Ros Smith, published by JISC, Sept 6 2010. Announcement and podcast posted on the JISC site. This newly published guide raises questions about the meaning of assessment, and how more effective assessment (ideally taking advantage of current technologies) might also promote the idea of students becoming lifelong learners. There is a 13 minute podcast with Ros Smith, the author. The new guide can be downloaded by chapter, of full guide (as PDF or Word docs). Also, until Oct 31, 2010, printed copies can be ordered for free.

Posted on Ideascale, users can submit their "thoughts, questions, and challenges" for the White House Summit on Community College, to be held October 5 2010.

A series of online forums sponsored by UNESCO to look at issues surrounding OER, particularly re-use of OER materials. Scheduled themes of discussions are: 23 - 29 September 2010: Taking OER beyond the OER Community: Policy and Capacity; 20 - 26 October 2010: What works, what does not and under what conditions?; 10 - 16 November 2010: Copyright and the development and re-use of OER. This page contains other background information, including links to the online forums.

With the tagline "search, recommend, collaborate, remix," Folksemantic claims over 110,000 OERs. The product was developed for the Center for Open and Sustainable Learning. At the current time (Sept 2010), they are asking for help evaluating their recommender tool.

By Caralee Adams in the College Bound section of Education Week, October 5 2010. Adams reports on the White House Summit on Community Colleges, held on October 5.

By Thomas Bailey & Sung-Woo Cho and published by the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University, October 2010. This Issue Brief was presented as part of President Obama's White House Summit on Community College (October 2010) and looks at the integral role effective developmental education will play in improving community college completion rates.

By Jennifer D. Jordan in the Providence Journal, Oct 20 2010. One state (Rhode Island) looks at the transition from high school to college and the steady need for developmental education among nearly 2/3 of its community college students, despite efforts made in K-12.

This tool enables users to create their own interactive timelines. There is also a gallery of sample timelines. Might be a nice way to show a project's progress, or anticipated project plans.

By Elisabeth A. Barnett & Katherine L. Hughes and published by the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University, October 2010. This Issue Brief was presented as part of President Obama's White House Summit on Community College (October 2010) and looks at partnerships that might improve college enrollment, college readiness at enrollment, and persistence in college.

This is the website of an exhibition at the British Library (October 2010-July 2011) looking at how new research tools are changing the way that we do research. There are many interesting resources here -- particularly the tabs Start Researching (a wide variety of collaborative research projects which users are invited to evaluate) and Tools.