Learning | It's About Learning

Reminder to Check Sources

Dwayne Harapnuik — February 3, 2010 — Leave a comment

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/photo_database/image/home_computer_of_the_future/

While I normally do take the time to check my sources I find myself eating humble pie because I wasn’t diligent enough in doing so in a recent post. I had received the image of Home Computer of the Future from a family member in an email and while I did spend a few minutes checking out Modern Mechanix and similar sites to see if I could identify the origin of the image I didn’t fully follow through. Subsequently I use the image (which as now been removed) in a post to help make the point that we don’t really do a good job of predicting the future in response to all the iPad hype and predictions that we have been deluged with since the devices release. I have to thank Rene from the Daily Denada for graciously bringing this to my attention.

At least I am in good company. According to the Museum of Hoaxes the picture:

even fooled Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, who displayed it at a computer conference as proof of the impossibility of predicting future technology

Lesson learned – once again.

In Learning

2010 Annual Letter from Bill Gates

Dwayne Harapnuik — January 26, 2010 — Leave a comment

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/annual-letter/2010/Pages/education-learning-online.aspx

Online Learning | 2010 Annual Letter | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation via kwout

In the annual letter from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation there is an emphasis on Innovation, Helping Teachers Improve and Online learning as well as many other subject not directly related to education. The following statement points to the fact that online learning or more specifically blended learning will be a significant focus for the Gates Foundation:

The foundation has made a few grants to drive online learning, but we are just at the start of this work. So far technology has hardly changed formal education at all. But a lot of people, including me, think this is the next place where the Internet will surprise people in how it can improve things—especially in combination with face-to-face learning.

These section of the Gates Foundation letter also emphasizes open courseware, open content, interactivity and technology integration.

Read the full letter…

In 21st century learning blended learning, Gate Foundation, Innovation, Online Learning

No Books, No Problem, Teaching Without a Text

Dwayne Harapnuik — January 15, 2010 — Leave a comment

No Books, No Problem: Teaching Without a Text | Edutopia via kwout

In this Edutopia article Geoff Ruth reveals that his students in a general chemistry class seldom open their textbooks because:

the less they do the more they learn.

Geoff explains that after taking three years to wean himself and his classes off the textbooks and satisfy the concerns of his Principal and parents he has found that his students are:

more engaged,
understand more,
act out less,
and develop a much deeper comprehension of the subject matter.

The downside to teaching without textbooks other than convincing administrators and parents that it is still effective is that is that it:

take more prep,
requires mapping of material to current school and state standards,
and requires amassing and adapting curriculum from a wide assortment of sources.

Perhaps the responses of some of Geoff’s students provide the best incentive for teaching with out textbooks:

You don’t learn stuff from textbooks,you just memorize for a test, then forget it.

Read the full article…

In 21st century learning Learning, texbooks

Student’s Blog Challenge Traditional Press

Dwayne Harapnuik — January 14, 2010 — Leave a comment

http://chronicle.com/article/Extra-News-Blogs-by-Students/63474/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

Extra! News Blogs by Students Grab Eyeballs – Technology – The Chronicle of Higher Education via kwout

It is very refreshing to see a group of young impassioned students utilizing technology to not only challenge the established media outlets but also be reported on by those outlets. The Chronicle of Higher Learning article Scooped! Student News Blogs Challenge College Papers for Big Publication on Campus points to a group of 20 Penn State students who are using a Blog to report on the news on campus and also to challenge the existing college news paper that employs 200 student journalists. The lessons learned by this group will be extremely valuable. Lets hope the institution learns from this experience as well.

In 21st century learning

ISTE Top 10 Edtech Priorties for 2010

Dwayne Harapnuik — January 14, 2010 — 1 Comment

It is the season for all sorts of predictions for the upcoming year. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) offers the following:

Establishing technology “as the backbone of school improvement” for student learning, professional development, and administration;
Integrating technology to prepare students for careers and keep students engaged;
Increasing federal funding support for technology through Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT);
Keeping educators up to date on the latest technologies to help them be more effective in their teaching environments;
Increasing support for pre-service education technology programs to help produce more technologically adept teachers;
Using technology to “scale improvement” and “accelerate reform”;
Ensuring universal access to broadband services, which ISTE described as “critical so that students and parents have access to school assignments, grades, announcements and resources”;
Developing systems and strategies that will help educators use assessment data to improve student learning;
Investing in research and development focused on “innovation in teaching and learning”; and
Promoting “global digital citizenship” through technology-based, cross-border collaboration.

ISTE’s complete “Top Ten in ’10” with explanations.

In 21st century learning EdTech, ISTE, predictions