Link Post: April 28
A wonkish look at the development of mobile apps for the education community…a good bit technical, but for those interested….
The Penny Determination Algorithm…in which Mr Meyer asks how we should be asking our kids to think.
Does Teacher Tenure have a Future?…in which Scott McLeod thinks probably not.
College might not pay…I know, it’s a heretical statement, but read this very thoughtful post (with lots of graphs/eye candy) that makes a compelling case for how college might not be worth it.
Genes or Teacher…a meta study that examine which has more influence in students’ reading ability – their genes or the quality of teacher? Very, very interesting.
We have met the enemy and the enemy is PowerPoint…but I suspect we’ve always known that.
Does the fourth amendment apply to data in the cloud?…I’m concernedwith the idea of our current Supreme Court going Ted Stevens on this.
We don’t trust the government, but we like government websites…one interesting conclusion, people who interacted with more government websites came away with a more positive view of the government. Gets back to what I’ve always thought, transparency is good for democracy.
Why we need to learn the language of data…in which we see that ignorance on statistics is becoming a political problem because, “If you don’t understand statistics, you don’t know what’s going on — and you can’t tell when you’re being lied to.”
eLearning hits barriers in the US…geez, did you know that China and Mexico have digitized it’s entire collection of k-12 courses? Try and pull that off in the US and you run into the fact that education is a state/local issue.
Link Post: April 1st
Nature in Numbers…a fantastic youtube video (note the block for those accessing at school) that creatively ties the math (mainly geometry) with nature. Good stuff for the science and math teacher.
Adapt or Decline…in which Anya Kamenetze puts forth the thesis that higher education only has these two options.
If social media had come first…a funny satire on what “experts” would be saying about “face to face” interactions if social media had been invented before…well, corporeal existence and conversations.
The Internet as an Operating System…IMO, it’s finally been the wide acceptance of smartphones that have shifted applications to the web (or cloud). Here’s an interesting article that defines the internet as an operating system…as well as the challenges the tech world faces with this rather large shift.
Link Post: March 19
Study on how college students use Wikipedia…like many of us, college students use wikipedia as a starting point for research (but not as their research).
Video games may hinder learning for boys…so the Legend of Zelda is the reason I can’t do long division?
The Future of Education…I realize this a frequent link that appears in my link posts – but it’s still fun to try and read the tea leaves and see where our field is evolving towards. Here’s an artsy prediction by The Ed Techie.
Awayfind…here’s a nifty tool that lets you set filtering criteria on your email so that if you get sent an “important” email while away from your computer, you’ll receive a text or call on your phone. Now maybe you don’t want this kind of connectivity, but if you do, it’s there!
The End of Publishing…fantastic, simple video that makes you smile at the creativity. Here’s an excellent demonstration of how video can be a powerful tool in the classroom…and another argument for unblocking youtube!
55 articles on Twitter and Learning…in case you’re looking for reasons for using twitter in the classroom.
Link Post: March 12
A university dedicated to the future singularity…it does actually exist! And apparently it has quite the concentration of brains (for those curious as to what the singularity is, think of it as the technological rapture – either utopian or dystopian depending on your views of humanity)
Many Eyes and visualizing data…lately I’ve been intrigued by the manipulation of data into visually appealing (and understandable) formats. Here’s a fantastic website dedicated to displaying data well. I can see a half a dozen uses for all subject areas…pretty cool.
Google Custom Search…say you’re a teacher who’s having their students conduct research. You want students to search the web for information – but you don’t want them to search the entire web (ie…research paper mills, etc). Google provides the answer! Custom search allows you to specify which urls Google should search through – and lets you embed your search easily into any web page (ie Blackboard, WordPress, etc).
TEDxNYED…the TED series always blow the mind a bit and this local variation focuses on education. Every once and while some REALLY BIG EVENT ripples across the education blogosphere and causes a feeding frenzy among the best and brightest. TEDxNYED is such an event. The site’s still being updated, but quite a few speakers are posting their content independently.
Easy. Fun. Free….in which Dan Myer tests this hypothesis: If [x] is going to change teaching practice at scale, then [x] needs to beeasy, fun, and free for both the teacher and her students. [x] needs to be all three of those things at the same time.
Using Data
I already love using Cooliris for my presentations because it does such an excellent job with image/presentation manipulation.
Now I find out about Microsoft’s Pivot and begin wondering about it in terms of data and education.
So many interesting possibilities…
Link Post: March 4
Daniel Pink on Carrots and Sticks…a long article getting at the science of motivation and how school policy is going in the opposite direction of what the science says.
1 to 1 computing programs is only as effective their teachers…and this is a surprise?
Won a battle, still loosing the war…if you haven’t already seen OK Go’s new video, you have to check this out. This is just crying to be used in every science/physics class. I enjoyed the student commentary provided by Dan Myer. Note: It is a YOUTUBE video, so those of you trying to access it at your schools…good luck. But seriously, check it out.
Literature in 60 second…short post on the website 60 Second Recap which seeks to engage teens in literature using a brief, visual recap of key books. What’s interesting about the clips is how well it integrates graphics, relevant questions, and scripting. I can envision more teachers creating such content in the future (it’s certainly memorable).
Building a better teacher…one of the good things about NCLB is that it’s generated a ton of data and, when you have data, you can start asking questions and testing hypotheses. The biggest question we face in our profession is what makes a good teacher? And don’t give me some fluff answer. I want an answer with some empirical evidence. This GREAT article is a long read that posits some thoughtful answers.
Blackboard Wiki
A good chunk of my work…
