Come the Revolution
Andrew Ng is an associate professor of computer science at Stanford, and he has a rather charming way of explaining how the new interactive online education company that he cofounded, Coursera, hopes to revolutionize higher education by allowing students from all over the world to not only hear his lectures, but to do homework assignments, be graded, receive a certificate for completing the course and use that to get a better job or gain admission to a better school. “I normally teach 400 students,” Ng explained, but last semester he taught 100,000 in an online course on machine learning. “To reach that many students before,” he said, “I would have had to teach my normal Stanford class for 250 years.” Welcome to the college education revolution. Big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately necessary. Private companies, like Phoenix, have been offering online degrees for a fee for years.
Want to Get More Girls Into STEM? Give Them Real-World Work
A screen grab from Burlington High School’s Help Desk video, “All the Techie Ladies,” produced by the female members of the team. From the left: student Kelsey O’Brien and instructional technology specialist Jennifer Scheffer. In an effort to encourage girls’ interest in STEM, a high school in Massachusetts is giving students a chance to apply their skills at the school’s help desk. Students can join, regardless of their tech savviness, and learn on the job. The program’s combination of strong, fun, female role models and hands-on learning has helped boost girls’ confidence and excitement about tech. The all-student run Help Desk is part of Burlington High School’s Student Technology Innovation and Integration course. “It’s great you have this great coursework, but what’s the real-world application of these skills?” “Help Desk is not a real-world simulation,” said senior Cat Hoyt, “Help Desk is the real world.” “They’re hard, but fun,” said Kelsey O’Brien of her STEM classes.
6 Virtual Tours Of The Human Body For Free Interactive Anatomy Lessons
When it comes to interactive virtual views, we have gone to space and around the globe. So, it’s not surprising that we are also going within ourselves on a virtual journey of the human body. One of the finest tools available online is Visible Body. Unfortunately, it’s not free anymore. But you can see the beauty of it thanks to the free demo that allows you to explore the head and neck. If you are disappointed that there aren’t any free interactive anatomy tools, worry not. Google Body You can trust Google to take you everywhere. The Google Body browser is a Google Labs project that renders on Google Chrome and any other browser that supports WebGL (like Firefox 4 Beta). MEDtropolis The interactive website aims to educate entertain both kids and adult on bodily health; understanding the human anatomical structure is just part of the process. For instance, check out the narrated tours on Virtual Body. eSkeletons eSkeletons isn’t only about understanding human anatomy. DirectAnatomy
Guide to Open Learning
ABSTRACT: This document is an introduction to Open Learning. It examines briefly what "Open" means and the different facets of the open movement and what "Learning" means and how it is different for every person. Attention is brought to the issue of the digital divide and ways to reduce or eliminate barriers to education. We look at how to get started with Open Learning if you are fortunate enough to have access to the technologies, and possible ways of obtaining access if you don't. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. ^ Issac Newton said "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants." To define Open Learning is a challenge in itself. Open Learning is a system that aims to eliminate or greatly lower barriers to use, extraction, and reuse of knowledge. Open Learning is largely available because of the internet, although it is possible for it to take the form of offline content as well. Start Working in the Open!
Inquiry Curriculum: | Science Companion
On Inquiry Science “Science can be introduced to children well or poorly. If poorly, children can be turned away from science; they can develop a lifelong antipathy; they will be in a far worse condition than if they had never been introduced to science at all.” The core philosophy behind inquiry-based, student-centered learning is that students learn best while doing science rather than merely reading about this or that aspect of science. First, students move from ‘what’ is happening in a given problem to ‘why’ it is happening, building a sense of relevance that deepens their understanding and retention. Next, inquiry-based learning challenges learners to explore the ‘how’s’ of learning, both in terms of the subject material, and also in terms of their own learning process. The “I Wonder” Circle® is at the heart of Science Companion’s approach to inquiry-based science learning, providing an enticing visual of the process of doing science.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Chomsky: How the Young Are Indoctrinated to Obey | Education
April 4, 2012 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. Public education is under attack around the world, and in response, student protests have recently been held in Britain, Canada, Chile, Taiwan and elsewhere. California is also a battleground. Similar defunding is under way nationwide. Community colleges increasingly face similar prospects – and the shortfalls extend to grades K-12. "There has been a shift from the belief that we as a nation benefit from higher education, to a belief that it's the people receiving the education who primarily benefit and so they should foot the bill," concludes Ronald G. A more accurate description, I think, is "Failure by Design," the title of a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, which has long been a major source of reliable information and analysis on the state of the economy. The EPI study observes that the "Failure of Design" is class-based.
Integrate the Arts, Deepen the Learning
John: We’ve got to find a way to reach all kids, every kid, no matter what. And the arts do that. They give us ways to engage kids, to get them involved, to have them be part of what we want them to be a part of, which is learning the curriculum. Diane: I got here during the summer and I had 18 letters of resignation on my desk from teachers out of 45. That was really scary. And then the discipline on the first day was shocking. Diane: After really fighting hard to stabilize Bates Middle School for the first three years it became obvious that we needed a whole school reform effort. Pat: Because we are an arts integration school every teacher is expected to use arts integration in their classrooms in some shape or form in every content area. Pat: The idea behind arts integration is that you learn the content area through the art so it sort of opens a new door to understanding. Stacey: We're going to start off with some artful thinking. Student: I chose the beginning. Student: Okay.
