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Hot Topics. At several recent conferences I have been speaking at, there has been a lot of interest in the concept of students bringing their own computers, laptops, technology or devices…depending on how you like your acronym. It think it warrants further discussion. On the surface it would seem natural that this is something the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation would be fully supportive of, and in broad principle of course we are.

Our vision is for every child to have access to their own ‘personal portable computer’ to enable more powerful learning experiences..and in part this is what is driving the current fascination with BYO. However, I fear there is much more to this than meets the eye. Firstly motivation. So then the questions becomes, what will they bring ? As always, there are a few people always looking for the ‘next big idea”. Then there is the issue of implementation. The principles on which aalf was founded and on which we have given advice on for nearly 15 years still apply. Girls Learn the Code. Let's Talk about MOOC (online) Education--And Also About Massively Outdated Traditional Education (MOTEs)

I get really annoyed when people tout Massive Online Open Courseware (MOOC's) as the future of higher education and the solution to all the problems of education today, from content to cost . . . and then show as emplars of MOOC's videos of talking heads, famous profs giving the same old lectures they give in their outdated face-to-face classrooms. Really? We think THIS is preparing students for the 21st century? Talking heads do not equal an educational paradigm shift. That's about as ridiculous and outmoded in its conceptions of education as turning all the interactive, collaborative, voluntary, free, open potential of the World Wide Web into the tablet form of screens, with all the apps loaded and available for purchase. Paradigm shift? No. That's squandering a technology, not taking advantage of its particular affordances that cannot be duplicated elsewhere in the analog, pre-digital world.

No. I am not against online courses at all. All three are correct. Noam Chomsky - The Purpose of Education. Do you have a lesson to teach? Seeking nominations for TED2012: The Classroom. For the upcoming TED conference — TED2012: Full Spectrum — we’re looking for 10 of the world’s best teachers to take the TED stage during a special session we’re calling The Classroom. We’re accepting video nominations to help track these people down. You can nominate yourself or a remarkable educator we should know about — who doesn’t have to be a teacher in the traditional sense. If you’re interested: Make a video or point us to an existing video, read the details below, and then nominate yourself or another person >> After TED, these talks will have a life online as part of TED-Ed, a new initiative we’re launching in 2012. With TED-Ed, we are creating a library of videos sepcifically for educators and students. The talks we’re looking for will each: We’re especially keen to include brilliant EXPLANATIONS, meaningful A-HA moments, powerful STORIES, indelible IMAGES.

Here are a few links to talks that fit the bill: Vilayanur Ramachandran on mirror neurons. 10 Unsettling Education Trends Started By Tiger Moms | Online Colleges. Almost anyone watching the news or reading the paper over the past few months has undoubtedly heard about attorney and mom Amy Chua’s book and accompanying Wall Street Journal piece about Tiger Mom parenting. If you somehow missed out on just what a Tiger Mom is, here is the essential factor: they are defined by their refusal to accept anything but the best from their children, pushing them extraordinarily hard (even insulting, threatening, and berating) to achieve academically and musically, often at the cost of fun and friendships.

Needless to say, there are more than a few parents out there who have disagreed with Chua’s take on what makes a good parent, and she’s taken quite a bit of heat for her hard line stance. She isn’t, however, alone in her approach to child rearing, and many parents out there were Tiger Moms (and dads) without even knowing it. Flubaroo Turns Google Forms into Self Graded Quizes. Click the Image to go to Flubaroo Last week a teacher here at ISB asked me if I had ever heard of Flubaroo. I hadn’t at the time and then over the course of the next three days Flubaroo came up 5 more times. Today I took some time to play with it and it is an amazing script that takes Google Forms to a new level.

The Flubaroo websites has great step by step instructions on how it works and it’s easy to use. It even allows you to e-mail the students their scores right from the Google Sheet. A powerful add-on script for educators. Just another reasons why Open Wins!

Reference

Web2.0. Technology. Video. Undervisning. StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers. The StarChild site is a service of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), Dr. Alan Smale (Director), within the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA/GSFC. StarChild Authors: The StarChild Team StarChild Graphics & Music: Acknowledgments StarChild Project Leader: Dr. Laura A. Whitlock Curator: Responsible NASA Official: If you have comments or questions about the StarChild site, please send them to us.

World Prosperity - A Global Reform Movement for Social Progress.