Worthy of Note — k-20 January 15, 2013
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- Online Education Proves Critical to University Strategy (Reference new survey)
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- Topics: Free Classes, Open to the Masses, Seek to Generate Revenue From Content Licensing, Exams or Job-Referral Services.
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- Technology without Supports: Like Cotton Candy for Breakfast
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Worthy of Note — K-20 January 15, 2013 SREB News Game-based Learning Motivation Teacher Prep Online Learning OER vs. College Textbooks Intellectual Property MOOCs
e-Readers Technology and PBL BYOT Charter Schools Teachers and Technology Future Predictions Some Random Articles Just Fun
2013 Educational Technology Symposium on Virtual Teaching and Learning March 6-8, 2013 Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport Hotel, Atlanta, GA. Online Registration Closes February 12, 2013 Registration Agenda
Seven SREB states made the top 10. For the fifth year in a row, Maryland scored the nation's highest overall grade with a B-plus, and Virginia ranked third. For the first time, Kentucky (10th) placed in the top 10 states, while Florida jumped to sixth after falling to 11th place in 2012. Arkansas, Georgia and West Virginia also placed in the top 10, and Delaware, Louisiana and Texas were among the top 20. Read more…. Game-based Learning What Teachers Really Think About Game-Based Learning Edudemic, December 22, 2012 "We Are Teachers" conducted a survey of their fellow teachers and came up with some interesting results. They put together this handy visualization and came up with some key facts. For example, roughly 2 out of 3 teachers surveyed use traditional and digital games in their classroom. However, about 22% say they simply don’t have time to deploy game-based learning. About half (56%) say they simply don’t have access to the computers needed for digital game Is ‘Reality Broken’? How One Game Can Change Education for the Better Online Learning Insights, December 19, 2012: A Blog About Open and Online Learning If Benjamin Franklin were alive today, what kind of gamer would he be? An author, inventor, scientist, civic activist, Franklin was also an avid player of chess and checkers as described in the Journal of Occurrences in my Voyage to Philadelphia (1726). Franklin believed that engaging in strategic games sharpened the mind, and provided insight into mans moral behavior. Fast-forward to the 21st century meet another avid lover of games, author, speaker and activist of sorts, who wants to change the world— Jane McGonigal author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. Can games be used in higher education? Can they be part of a solution to fix what some consider ‘broken’? McGonigal’s answer is yes. Though the book is not specific to higher education, it speaks philosophically and practically about the role that games play, and the potential they have as a vehicle to improve real lives and solve real problems. Motivation We Need to Produce Learners, Not Just Students Robert Talbert, The Chronicle, December 21, 2012 Paul Pintrich’s work on motivation gives some vocabulary to the goals of the flipped classroom and other pedagogies like it: By using these pedagogies, we are seeking to create self-regulating learners. Teacher Prep Panel: Teacher Preparation Needs Overhaul Sarah Langmead, eCampus News, December 19, 2012 Today’s digital-age students are expected not only to communicate effectively, think critically, and collaborate with one another, but also to analyze information while meeting rigorous state and national benchmarks. To meet these challenges, teacher preparation programs must be reexamined and restructured in order to promote what digital learning consultant Mary Ann Wolf calls “learner-centered education.” Online Learning Proctored Examinations: The Key to Integrity for Online Learning Margaret O’Hara, Evollution Academic integrity is of major concern in online and blended learning environments, and a wide range of choices are available to an instructor who wants to ensure integrity. For writing assignments these could include using software to uncover plagiarism, asking students to expand on a difficult concept in a submitted paper, or having students reflect on an assignment in a discussion forum. For online exams and quizzes, strategies could include setting a strict and tight time limit for an exam to prevent looking up answers, setting a short window in which the exam can be taken to limit question sharing or randomizing questions, question order and answer choice order to limit sharing of information. While all of the above methods discourage academic integrity violation, proctored examinations still rank highest in ensuring it. Online Education Proves Critical to University Strategy (Reference new survey)Tanya Roscoria, Center for Digital Education, January 9, 2013Chief academic officers count online learning as an important strategic tool in their arsenal more than they have in the last nine years. A survey report released on Tuesday, Jan. 8 showed that nearly 70 percent of 2,820 chief academic officers agreed that online learning is critical to their long-term strategy. That's a nearly 4 percent increase from fall 2011 and a 20 percent increase since 2002, according to the survey, Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education, conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group and the College Board. Open online classes transform Georgia colleges Laura Diamond, Atlanta Journal Constitution, December 27, 2012 Online courses are revolutionizing higher education as they give students free access worldwide to content and faculty offered by elite colleges. About 2 million students have signed up for the classes this year, and two Georgia colleges — Emory and Georgia Tech — are among those participating. Georgia Tech started this fall, and Emory begins in January. OER vs. College Textbooks The College Textbook Bubble and How the “Open Educational Resources” Movement is Going Up Against the Textbook Cartel Mark J. Perry, AEIdeas, December 24, 2012 Just like the ongoing home price increases and housing bubble of the last decade were unsustainable, there is now growing evidence that rising college textbook prices and the “college textbook bubble” are also unsustainable, especially because of the growing number of low-priced and even free alternatives to over-priced $200-300 college textbooks. The textbook alternatives are part of the growing “open educational resources” movement, which is “terrifying” the college textbook cartel, according to a recent Slate article titled “Never Pay Sticker Price for a Textbook Again.” Intellectual Property Reuse is Key to Positive MOOC and OER Impact Timothy Vollmer, Classroom Aid, December 22, 2012 MOOCs should address copyright and licensing early on so they are clear to users how they can utilize and reuse educational materials offered on the site. MOOCs should choose to adopt an open license that meets their goals, but at minimum it is recommended that they choose a public, standardized license that grants to its users the “4Rs” of open content: the ability to Reuse, Revise, Remix, and Redistribute the resources. The more permissions MOOCs can offer on their content, the better. MOOCs Reuse is Key to Positive MOOC and OER Impact Timothy Vollmer, Classroom Aid, December 22, 2012 MOOCs should address copyright and licensing early on so they are clear to users how they can utilize and reuse educational materials offered on the site. MOOCs should choose to adopt an open license that meets their goals, but at minimum it is recommended that they choose a public, standardized license that grants to its users the “4Rs” of open content: the ability to Reuse, Revise, Remix, and Redistribute the resources. The more permissions MOOCs can offer on their content, the better. MOOCS, Online Learning, and the Wrong Conversation Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed, January 2, 2012 The fact that MOOCS and online courses have sparked new conversations on your campus about teaching and learning is a terrific development. We should be grateful whenever attention is paid to teaching. The problem is that neither MOOCS or online courses are, in themselves, a strategy to meet the challenges we all face in higher ed. MOOCS and online courses are a means, not an ends, and should be understood as such. Online Learning, en Masse Samantha Stark and Tamar Lewin, New York Times, Video, January 6, 2013 More top colleges are offering free massive open online courses, but companies and universities still need to figure out a way to monetize them. This is a good explanatory video about MOOCs that features professors and information on providers, especially Cousera.
Jimmy Daly, EdTech Magazine, January 2, 2013For better or for worse, massive online open courses are set to disrupt the tradition of higher education.Travelin EdMan Dr. Curt Bonk, Indiana University Follow Curt Bonk latest blog about his R685 Emerging Learning Technologies and MOOCs.Online Courses Look for a Business ModelMelissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz, Wall Street Journal, January 1, 2013Topics: Free Classes, Open to the Masses, Seek to Generate Revenue From Content Licensing, Exams or Job-Referral Services.This is a look at the providers of MOOCs and how they are trying to create an effective business model.e-Readers Kindle e-readers have had big impact at Clearwater High Danielle Paquette, Tampa Bay Times, January 6, 2013 Since Clearwater High largely swapped textbooks for Kindle e-readers three years ago, becoming the first school in Pinellas County to do so, teachers in Florida, Minnesota, Kentucky — the list is long and growing — have called for advice. Now, after six digital semesters, feedback is overwhelmingly positive, Mastorides said. The gradual shift from paper went smoothly. Technology and PBL Integrating Technology with PBL: Keep the End in MindSusie Boss, Partnership for 21st Century Skills How does technology change the game in project-based learning? BYOT Why BYOT? Shift to the Future, January 13, 2013 Digital devices have become smaller, cheaper, wireless, and very powerful. The age at which kids are getting their own smart phone keeps dropping. Even kids that live in poorer neighborhoods seem to have a cell or smart phone. More kids are also getting a tablet or laptop for their own use. Way back in 2004 I started saying publicly “within 5 years all students will bring their own digital learning device to school”. I’ve been wrong for the past 9 years but am getting closer to being right. I believe there are three roadblocks to the scenario where every student comes to school with their own powerful digital learning device: cost, District/school policy, and teacher readiness. Charter Schools PBS Features Rocketship Education Charter Expansion, Continuing Innovation John Merrow, PBS, January 3, 2013 “Nobody has figured out how to mass produce high-quality, cost-effective schools,” PBS correspondent John Merrow explained on a televised feature last week about the successful Rocketship Education public charter school network. Rocketship Education Rocketship Education has pioneered the transformative Rocketship Model, which combines teacher development, parent empowerment and individualized learning to improve student achievement. It is billed as the leading public school system for low-income elementary students — eliminating the achievement gap. Edutopia offered their research on Rocketship Education and claimed it boosted test scores. Get Smart Schools Get Smart Schools is the leading nonprofit organization in Colorado dedicated to dramatically increasing the number of new, public, high-quality, autonomous schools serving low-income students. Working with schools, school leaders and potential schools leaders, GSS addresses and provides solutions to the growing local and national crisis of low-performing public schools. Charter School Moguls Scam Oregon Out of Millions Lauren McCauley, Common Dreams, January 7, 2013 'Lack of oversight' in charter schools encouraging education fraud. In the latest incident of charter school fraud, the state of Oregon is going after a pair of charter school con men who reportedly scammed the state out of $17 millionTeachers and TechnologyTaking a Closer Look at Teachers' Technology ShortcomingsSean Cavanagh, Education Week, Digital Education, January 2, 2013One of the biggest concerns about how technology is being used in the classroom today focuses on what some see as a fundamental breakdown in the system: many teachers aren't comfortable with technology, and are unsure how to weave it into their instruction.The National Association of State Boards of Education probed this issue in a recent report, as part of a larger examination of how schools can keep up with students' tech knowledge and expectations. I (Cavanagh) wrote about the release of that report, "Born in Another Time: Ensuring Educational Technology Meets the Needs of Students Today—and Tomorrow," but I'm turning back to it because it offers some revealing details on what state board officials, as well as faculty at teacher colleges and educators themselves, see as shortcomings in preparing teachers to use technology. The authors argue that many teacher-preparation programs fail to give teachers the tech skills they need, partly because they instead choose to focus heavily on things like pedagogical theory—in general, different philosophies about how teachers convey knowledge to students. Read more…. Panel: Teacher Preparation Needs Overhaul Sarah Langmead, eCampus News, December 19, 2012 Today’s digital-age students are expected not only to communicate effectively, think critically, and collaborate with one another, but also to analyze information while meeting rigorous state and national benchmarks. To meet these challenges, teacher preparation programs must be reexamined and restructured in order to promote what digital learning consultant Mary Ann Wolf calls “learner-centered education.” The 33 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Teacher Should Have Med Kharbach, Educational Technology and Mobile Learning, 2012 Every single teacher is concerned about his/ her teaching practices and the skills involved in this process. How many times have you wondered about a better way to teach the same lesson you have delivered to an earlier class? How often have you used technology to engage your students and improve their learning? These are some recurring questions we keep regurgitating each time our teaching skills are put to the test. There are links to accompany each digital skill describe to assist in improving that skills. This article has been prepared to accompany The 21st Century Skills Teachers Should Have. Technology without Supports: Like Cotton Candy for BreakfastMonica Beglau, Ed.D., Executive Director, and Lorie Kaplan, Ph.D., eMINTS Program Director for the eMINTS National Center at the University of Missouri, Education Week, January 3, 2013Does this sound familiar? "Our school just purchased the latest mobile technology tablets for all of the students in our elementary school. Does anyone know where we could get some training about how to use them and what apps we should buy?" We've heard variations on this theme across our state and nationally for several years. Too often, as others have noted, the allure of the device outweighs practical planning for the implementation.There is help here; eMINTS says when we help schools and districts successfully implement technology initiatives, we turn to the evidence that has guided our work since 1999. Check these out…Federal Effort Aims to Transform Learning Technologies Sean Cavanagh, Education Week, January 3, 2013 NSF funds research to identify what works. Can online graphic novels help teenagers cope with difficult social situations? Are 3-D technologies a tool for helping English-learners acquire language skills outside traditional educational settings? And what about the potential for mobile apps that let students manipulate on-screen images with their fingers to help them learn fractions?
Here are the latest stats on responders to the Speak Up Survey. The Report will be available in early February. Speak Up 2012 Final Counts:
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