Can Technology Transform Education Before It’s Too Late? Editor’s Note: This guest post was written by Prerna Gupta, who is CEO of Khush (now part of Smule), whose music apps, like Songify and LaDiDa, have been used to create over 125 million songs worldwide. You can follow her @prernagupta. As technology continues its march toward the Singularity, transforming the way we work, socialize and play at an increasing rate, there is one very important aspect of American society that lags behind: education. Many in Silicon Valley have strong opinions on how education should be improved, perhaps most notably Peter Thiel, who believes we are in a higher education bubble and should be encouraging kids to skip college and pursue entrepreneurship instead. I agree that Americans are placing too much emphasis on higher education, but I think the debate over Thiel’s statements misses a much deeper point. Why is higher education overvalued? Dave McClure’s fund, 500 Startups, plans to invest in 10-20 education startups this year.
Guild eBooks: Handbook on Synchronous e-Learning January 16, 2007 The eLearning Guild’s Handbook on Synchronous e-Learning is intended for anyone who wants to produce, lead, or promote live, interactive learning events on the Web. Novices will find information on what other people are doing in this medium, which kinds of training and education are best suited to it, how to convert existing classroom content for delivery online, how to lead effective and compelling live learning events on the Web, and how to promote these events to obtain maximum participation. More experienced practitioners will find a wealth of ideas that they can use to improve or enhance their current processes. This e Book was made possible by a generous contribution from WebEx Communications. Depending on the speed of your internet connection, this document could take a few moments to download because of its size (140 pages in PDF format, ~7mb). The content of all Guild eBooks is FREE.
Enrayer la Machine à trier - La machine à trier La jeunesse, le plus bel âge de la vie ? Si les jeunes d’aujourd’hui n’ont pas connu la guerre, la plupart d’entre eux connaissent la galère. On parle souvent de « génération sacrifiée ». Les jeunes partagent les valeurs fondamentales de la société. un système scolaire élitiste, qui accroît les inégalités plus qu’il ne les corrige ; un marché du travail dont les portes sont fermées aux sans diplôme ; un système social qui n’aide pas ceux qui en ont le plus besoin, qui n’offre aucun filet de sécurité aux plus fragiles. Pour les non diplômés, la jeunesse paraît une voie sans issue. Ce diagnostic, étayé par de nombreuses études, est au cœur de « La Machine à trier – Comment la France divise sa jeunesse ». Des discours sur la jeunesse, on en entend depuis plus de 30 ans. Enragez, critiquez, complétez, éclairez, proposez : plus vous participerez à ce blog, plus votre voix portera. Christian Boghos, directeur de la Fondation ManpowerGroup pour l’Emploi
Checklist for strong elearning » Making Change Do you want a checklist you can use to evaluate your learning design? Here’s my contribution (PDF). I’m calling it a checklist because several people have asked for one, but it’s not really a checklist. Instead of checking a box to say, “Yup, got that covered!” you choose a spot on a spectrum between “action-oriented materials” and “information dump.” There are 14 items to evaluate. This range-finding approach acknowledges that we’re all facing forces that push us toward information dumps. The tool can also be used to clarify what I intend to be the end result of action mapping.
Eight Reasons Startup Incubators Are Better Than Business School Let’s get this straight: If you want to work at Goldman Sachs, McKinsey or General Electric GE +0.00%, an MBA is a handy scrap of paper. But if you’d prefer to bypass the corporate ladder and actually build something of your own, spending upwards of $140,000 and two years without pay is just about the worst way to go about it. Because looming outside those classroom walls is a creature far less merciful than any b-school professor: the market. Want to take the plunge but need a bit of guidance and support? Business incubators have been around since the 1950s. Now a new breed of incubator, catering mainly to technology types, is springing up all over the country. Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, is the father of all startup incubators. Like top business schools, startup incubators are particular about whom they let in. For the lucky few, here are eight reasons why incubators beat out business school: You Can’t Teach Entrepreneurship In Pictures: The 10 Hottest Startup Incubators
Pedagogy First! Here I go thinking that I can quickly finish this task as I’m on catch up mode big time. I should have known better!! Having watched the video and read the articles, I am left thinking about Issac Asimov’s Foundation series. A lot of what was said makes me think that we have to be very careful where we go with learning. I think we have to be careful to ensure that students are given the problem solving skills to interact with the vast range of information available to us rather than just relying on being able to find out what we want to know when we want to know about it. First the video I usually turn up my nose at theory as I see myself as a more application person, but the content of this video totally hooked me. As time went on and as my study needs changed, I moved to extramural study (management and maths) in the late 1980s to the early 2000s. Coming back to face to face teaching (IT) in the mid 200s was an interesting time because the Internet was here and making a big impact.
Etudiante, je hais les partiels, marathon des nerfs pour perroquets Si l’on se réfère à la terminologie en vogue, je suis actuellement étudiante en quatrième année dans une « grande école » dont on ne cesse de vanter la qualité de l’enseignement. On évoque souvent le désintérêt des jeunes pour l’école. Pourtant, il y a quatre ans lorsque j’étais encore la candidate n°4307, j’ai senti mon cœur faire des claquettes sur mon estomac en remettant ma copie aux surveillants. Je sors d’une session d’examens. Et je partage les conclusions d’un rapport de juillet 2007 remis au ministre de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la recherche sur les modalités d’évaluation des étudiants. Au bout de huit pages... un « peu clair » Il y est souligné que la correction n’aide en aucun cas l’étudiant à progresser, puisque les fameux « partiels » ne donnent lieu à aucun retour. De même, le rapport souligne que le contrôle continu est rarement assorti d’un réel travail sur les difficultés de l’étudiant. La note sur 20, nuancier de 80 humeurs Autre aberration : la note sur 20.
Conjoncture : Une troisième révolution industrielle est en vue L'économiste américain Jeremy Rifkin présente ce mardi à Paris son dernier essai sur les mutations en cours de l'économie et les bases d'une croissance durable tout au long du XXIe siècle. Voici sa vision du futur. «Une troisième révolution industrielle doit prendre le relais de notre modèle actuel, à bout de souffle», assure l'économiste américain Jeremy Rifkin. Selon lui, «la crise actuelle n'est pas la crise de la finance, mais la crise du pétrole» et cet or noir sera de plus en plus rare et de plus en plus cher. Surtout, cette énergie est polluante, et les catastrophes naturelles de plus en plus violentes et fréquentes plaident en faveur d'un modèle de croissance plus soutenable. Ce modèle alternatif repose sur les énergies vertes et sur Internet, estime Jeremy Rifkin. Cinq préalables à une nouvelle révolution industrielle Les villes pourront alors mettre en place des véhicules électriques, ou à pile à combustible, partagés, que chacun utilise le temps nécessaire.