Open Online Learning – A Paradigm Shift | Workskillers and teacherpreneurs Entrepreneurial opportunities in Open Online Learning A new age rushes towards us like an unstoppable tsunami. A global information age, rising from the combined effect of the prior tectonic plate shift inventions of the microchip and internet. It is an age that will usher in the ‘Neo-Renaissance Man’ capable of human capital output many times greater than that of their singularly specialised industrial-age predecessor. Introduction – Open Online Learning Today we stand at the dawn of a new and glorious age for mankind [1] [2] . These applications, when fully exploited and engaged by education and open online learning, will create a paradigm shift that will not only create the ‘Neo-Renaissance Man’ [ 3] but in doing so may equally bring about the ‘creative destruction’ of some of the centuries old constructs of an education system the world over, rooted deep in an industrial-age past. “Many things would have to change for everything to remain as it is” PB What is a Paradigm Shift?
Mycelium Schol Enstitute, an Alternative to College for a Digital Elite Ms. Gao decided that she didn’t want to continue studying at Baruch College, part of the City University of New York. At first she considered transferring to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, but she changed her mind when she saw that her tuition bill would be around $44,000 a year, with only a small amount of financial aid available. Yet she still sought a way to nurture her interest in technology. How did she catapult from dropping out of college to landing a plum job? “Our long-term vision is that this becomes an acceptable alternative to college,” says Kane Sarhan, one of Enstitute’s founders. The Enstitute concept taps into a larger cultural conversation about the value of college — a debate that has heated up in the last few years. But college is expensive, and becoming more so — between 2000 and 2011, tuition rose 42 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics — and students fear being saddled by debt in a bleak job market. MR. Ms. Ms.
The Learning Lab News: CS in VN CS in VN 16 March 2013 During my recent trip to Vietnam I took the opportunity to visit some schools and see how computer science was taught there. Officially, foreigners require permission from the department of education to enter schools. But it's much simpler (and the results are more representative) to simply show up unannounced. A business card from Google doesn't hurt either. Computer classes start in grade 2. By grade 3 they are learning to how to use Microsoft Windows. Touch-typing is taught using Microsoft Word. By grade 4 they start programming in Logo. By grade 5 they are writing procedures containing loops calling procedures containing loops. At this point a quick comparison with the United States is in order. It is an understatement to say that I was impressed with the Vietnamese primary school CS curriculum. Handing over the software two weeks later was a surreal experience: Sitting in the principal's office is as intimidating as an adult as it is as a child.
KAOSPilot Nine Dangerous Things You Learned In School We live in an exciting and interesting time — one when some of our most commonly accepted ideas, traditions and principals are being challenged. This past week featured a fascinating read in the Wall Street Journal asking “Are Playgrounds Too Safe?”, making the case that “ decades of dumbed-down playgrounds, fueled by fears of litigation, concerns about injury and worrywart helicopter parents, have led to cookie-cutter equipment that offers little thrill.” The result being children less compelled to play outside, potentially stunting emotional and physical development and exacerbating a nationwide epidemic of childhood obesity. Recently Forbes featured an article smartly challenging things many of us grew up being taught and often adhere to still. But in today’s world, the rules of our parents’ past are ones we have to ask in all earnest and respect — do these rules still apply? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
New York schools enter the iZone 26 October 2011Last updated at 00:34 By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent Uncertain horizons: New York's economic fortunes are now linked to education After the iPhone and the iPad, the iZone is a different kind of design experiment. It's New York's attempt to reinvent an inner-city school. The iZone project - or Innovation Zone - is challenging state schools in New York City to rip up the rule book. They're being told to find new ways to provide a more individualised education, to change the shape of the school day, explore what technology can offer and even ask whether pupils need to be in school at all. "The challenge we face is nothing less than transforming our schools from assembly-line factories into centres of innovation," said the city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who warns that the US school system is falling behind international rivals. If the state schools are not improved, the fear is that the city will be entering the twilight zone rather than the iZone. Global cities
Elizabeth Weil’s case against emotional regulation: Schools are making kids conformist and boring. Photo by Remy Gabalda/AFP/Getty Images A powerful essay by Elizabeth Weil in the New Republic posits that “American Schools Are Failing Nonconformist Kids.” Weil examines the growing role that "emotional regulation"—an educational tool pioneered by the KIPP charter school network and also known as self-regulation, grit, motivation, discipline—is playing in classroom management, as teachers try to keep order and foster learning. Katy Waldman is a Slate assistant editor. Follow But wait—how is this different from the old ideal student? To build a case around the rise of the Stepford kid and the denigration of the maverick, Weil points to the popularity of education books like Paul Tough’s How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, which names quiet tenacity as the key to flourishing. It is unclear what this emphasis on emotional self-control even accomplishes: I was a more interesting child than I was a teenager.
Record numbers of international students 10 March 2011Last updated at 00:19 By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent The number of international students around the world is continuing to rise sharply, with provisional figures from Unesco's Institute for Statistics revealing an annual increase of 12%. The final figures for 2009, to be published in May, are expected to show the number of international students rising to 3.43 million from 2.96 million, according to the Unesco statistics. There are many different measures of overseas students - but this global figure from Unesco shows a huge spike in numbers this decade, rising by more than 75% since 2000. The United States is the biggest destination. But its dominance now depends on the ever-growing number of arrivals from China, overtaking India as the largest single group of overseas students. China has become the firecracker in this market. Chasing quality Sign of the times: The expanding Chinese economy is drawing overseas students to Shanghai Overseas without the travel
A New Educational Model — Teaching & Learning Salman Khan has received global notoriety for his videos on Khan Academy which have kicked off a discussion about how to leverage online learning within education. However, most of the press I see misunderstands his philosophy which is laid out in his new book "The One World School House: Education Reimagined." While technology plays a key role in attaining global reach, this is just a small part of his vision for the future. He understands the difficulty of changing large systems and so he hasn't written a manifesto. Rather, the book is a mixture of personal anecdotes, a history lesson, and some very detailed ideas for change that are breathtaking in their scope. Since those are not getting enough attention, I want to paraphrase a few below. Eliminate scaled evaluations (A,B,C) and demand mastery. Kids either understand a concept or they don't. Allow mixed ages to learn together. Remove boundaries between subjects. Invert the place of lecture and homework. Use Summer rather than waste it.