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Investing heavily in school computers and classroom technology does not improve pupils' performance, says a global study from the OECD. The think tank says frequent use of computers in schools is more likely to be associated with lower results. The OECD's education director Andreas Schleicher says school technology had raised "too many false hopes". These results worth to be disscussed. Shall we go back to traditional classrooms or continue with technology? If so, how should we use it in the classroom?

It is an important an overwhelming issue about how we integrate technology into education. A well-balanced implementation is required for successful instruction between the use of technology and traditional methods like paper-pencil activities (Hitt, 2011). We should not force technology and traditional instruments like paper-pencil and blackboards fight against themselves. We may play the role of negotiator between the technology and traditional methods.

Perhaps, we need to focus more on the pedagogy rather than the technology.

In human-interaction, 55% of affective information is carried by the body whilst 38% by the voice tone and volume, and only 7% person by the words spoken [1]. Ekman [2] further suggests that non-verbal behaviours are the primary vehicles for expressing emotion. With the availability of computational power, and great advances in the fields of computer vision and speech recognition, it is now possible to create systems that can detect facial expressions, gestures and body postures from video and audio feed. Furthermore, systems that can integrate different modalities can offer powerful and much more pleasant computer experiences as they would be embracing users' natural behaviour.

In the paper it says "According to Wolcott teachers rely on nonverbal means such as eye contact, facial expressions and body language to determine the cognitive states of students, which indicate the degree of success in the instructional transaction". I really wonder what is your opinion about it and would it be succesful to implement affect recognition (after voice-recognition) in intelligent tutoring systems.

A center for cognitive tutor program. The definition from the website: "Our research focuses on the development of Cognitive Tutors -- instructional systems that support guided learning-by-doing. Drawing from the disciplines of artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology and human computer interaction, we develop systems that provide individualized assistance to students as they work on challenging real-world problems in complex domains such as computer programming, algebra and geometry. Individualized guidance is made possible using detailed computational models of skills and misconceptions underlying a learning domain."

This product uses the signals to interpret player facial expressions in real-time. It provides a natural enhancement to interaction by allowing characters to come to life. When a user smiles, their avatar can mimic the expression even before they are aware of their own feelings. You can also examine folowing link: http://www.emotiv.com/insight.php

This is really impressive. They have used brain signals to control computer. First Computer learns brain signals (pulling a cube in the screen) when person thinks it, then, a person can use that signal to control anything.

This is amazing. I cannot imagine all the gaming possibilities. Such a system should change the whole human computer interaction in a gaming platform.

Computer-mediated world-wide networks have enabled a shift from contiguous learning groups to asynchronous distributed learning groups utilizing computer-supported collaborative learning environments. Although these environments can support communication and collaboration, both research and field observations are not always positive about their working.

In this article Roy Pea, who is one of the pioneers of learning sciences, discussing how computers are changing our cognitive lifes beyond amplifying. Article first supports this proposition, then discusses implications of applying computer-based technologies into education. Lastly it suggests updating educational practices in order to be harmonious with this new emerging cognitive life. This article is also important for being quite early, it constitutes one of the foot stones of the learning sciences area.

They say "No one else does what we do" while mentioning their interdisciplinary approach. They say that "The learning sciences field emerged more than two decades ago after researchers found that what worked in a laboratory simply did not hold up with real children, teachers, classrooms and workplaces. They saw that learning technologies, which held great promise for solving education's problems, were not being transferred to classrooms and schools. Cognitive scientists, educational and instructional psychologists, and computer scientists worked together to put their ideas and knowledge to use to improve the learning outcomes for a diverse group." The institute basically do two things: 1 - They identify the critical challenges in education, literacy, mathematics, science and the social sciences. 2- They work to find solutions. Their main aim is to create learning systems for 21st century classrooms thanks to interdisciplinary research in teaching and learning. They believe that learning is a complex process and so they get benefit from different disciplines (e.g. anthropology, computer science, education, linguistics, psychology and sociology) to share knowledge and best practices on education. At their another webpage, they define learning science as a science which "focuses on how to create new, improved and equitable learning environments for 21st century learners.". In order accomplish this, they focus on four questions: 1- How do people learn? 2- What do we want them to know and be able to do? 3- How can we design learning environments that help them learn? 4- How can we monitor what they are learning? They offer a Ph.D. program to raise future learning scientists.

By this classroom, students work and learn naturally by communicating with each other and with the teacher actively in real time. Interactive tablets, computers and the board provide students work with groups using technology, while natural learning happens.

summerize where the technology will be in 10 years in schools. But what can we say about our schools? Even people are paying big amount of money for private schools, they still not have such a technology in their class. Technology getting cheaper and cheaper everyday but still I wonder how many years we need to wait to see these kind of technlogies in our school?

This is great example to CSCL but when I thought about Kutay's question according to our country; my answer get upset me :/ Because while we cannot use the smartboards at our clasroom, that kind of usage is just a dream :/

Coursera is one of the best platforms for computer supported collaborative learning. There are numerous classes from the top universities in the world, and the expansion of these classes are run through discussions in class forums. Lots of people get together to create projects and share them with their peers.

Although online courses has some disadvantages, that platform is beyond online courses I think because it allow followers interaction instead of just slides or videos. Also I do not remember the exact details but when that platform was founded, the demand for one course was over the expected and the system was broken. Then, the same lesson began to be given as formal education and at all users who completed the course with 100 points are the ones who take the course online.

Coursera was suggested me to improve my academic speaking skills by my adviser so I have a coursera account :) There are presentations, online courses, online exams and homework etc. Also, you can get a certificate that is valid international after completing the course successfully. Unfortunately, I did not benefit from it because the price of the course was too high, therefore I gave up the course.

Ηow educators can enhance student collaboration taking advantage of a computer supported collaborative learning environment?

Here is an article on computer based tutoring and metacognition within the context of medical informatics.

Computer games are the most common tools to keep us "flowed". So, What makes a good computer game?

As I was reading about call of duty and flow, I again recognised that there is a distinct difference among genders ;)

My father has been playing bridge online. He is one of the late adopters to technology, yet, he plays bridge for hours and hours without realising what is happening around himself. He has played bridge online for 6000 hours since 2007. I just asked him "why are you playing", he said, "because I have fun" and "because it is challenging" and "I get points". Well, he just covered the flow theory and games :)

I've watched the video twice and in the end I've felt some concerns about the results of the studies. In the "how people learn" part, researchers were testing the storage and connection system of the brain through some high-tech tools. However, does neuropsychology provide enough evidence on the functioning of the brains? Can we generalize the results to all people from all cultures? I am not the one who is against neuropsychology, but for me one discipline may not give an appropriate answer to such a deep question. My second concern is about the integration of computer programs into the curriculum as a major learning tool. We see a program where "Betty" is speaking and giving feedback on the video. The program seems user friendly, but what about the negative aspects and limitations of the integration of technology into learning? Ok, I agree that we have to adapt to the rapid technological changes in the society. However, is technology the key to all learning processes? Plus, the program is designed on the mapping of the concepts. Does concept mapping make a curriculum compelling all the time? I am not sure about all characteristics of the program, but if it hasn't been designed in a challenging style and if all students come up with the same products, then how will they develop their knowledge and reasoning abilities? I couldn't find an answer to that. As for the part "effective teaching", I am in the same opinion with the researchers that there should be a connection between the real world and the subject taught. Moreover, I think the integration of the disciplines is difficult but a very good way of giving meaning to life. Besides, in the video we see teachers as a guide, as a facilitator and there is no doubt that providing individual support to the students helps students feel more involved.

Firstly, even if it is designed by utilizing modern technology and different understanding, which makes it a more developed and complicated one, the program used in the video reminded me the teaching machines of old times. It gives the priority to the cognitive aspect of learning. This seems to be a one-dimensional approach which underestimates the social aspect of learning. I think the value of classroom interaction for effective learning cannot be replaced by any kind of computer programs. Research on brain is really important and it provides very useful insights for learning and instructional activities. However, it should be supported by the findings of research by social psychologists as well. The very same individual may perform at varying levels when he is taught with the same methods in different environments. I personally experienced many times that even the absence of one individual in my classes affected the teaching an learning processes in a negative or positive way depending upon the classroom dinamics.

A nice book enjoyable to read, which includes interesting ideas about thinking, computers and cognitive sciences

Yes, now I have reached the book:) thank you for sharing this with us. Reading on such creative people and getting to know them more is great.

Thanks. In my reading list now.

This discussion paper examines co-regulation of learning in CSCL environments extending research on self-regulated learning in computerbased environments. The discussion employs a socio-cognitive perspective focusing on social and collective views of learning to examine how students co-regulate and collaborate in computer-supported inquiry. Future research directions include examining the theoretical nature of collective regulation and social metacognition in building models of co-regulated learning.

You can find examples for the adoption of CSCL and its benefits like enhanced course content knowledge, increased confidence in applying course knowledge and skills, stronger collaboration skills (arguing ideas, making decisions, providing solutions), greater ability to create instead of simply consume knowledge and added benefits of leadership and presentation skills

The outcomes: enhanced course content knowledge, increased confidence in applying course knowledge and skills, stronger collaboration skills (arguing ideas, making decisions, providing solutions), greater ability to create instead of simply consume knowledge, and added benefits of leadership and presentation skills, can also be applicable to our case. I think our course equips us with similar skills and outcomes.

Good example of DBR and CSCL.

We can think that in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Environments has a pitfall in that it prevents the social construction of knowledge, interactive group learning and shared understanding. In the article, an intelligent CSCL environment is proposed, which is based on awareness about the others in the task and in the non-task context.

By the way, you can reach the article through Full Text icon. I couldn't share the direct link. :(