300 Years of Distance Learning [Infographic] | Digg Technology -
“With the rapid advancement of the Internet, distance learning is becoming more popular, and more accessible, than ever. Even big-name institutions like Harvard are increasing their offerings of online-only instruction.
Distance learning has been around for at least three centuries, as this infographic suggests, from humble beginnings to its modern delivery today.”
Why Common Core standards will fail - The Washington Post -
“Our way of thinking about standards has always been wrong, Loveless says. We speak of them as a system of weights and measure, as benchmarks to which schools must adhere. But that’s not it. “Standards in education are best understood as aspirational,” Loveless wrote, ‘and like a strict diet or prudent plan to save money for the future, they represent good intentions that are not often realized.’”
Hurdles Remain Before College Classrooms Go Completely Digital -
“Career academics are not, however, the only ones to blame. A lot of students come to college with backward views of what social media is and what it can accomplish. And most importantly, what is and isn’t acceptable on social media.
And why shouldn’t they? They come from schools where teachers can be reprimanded or even fired for connecting with students on social networks. Several schools across the country are implementing bans on teachers friending not only current students but former students on Facebook.”
Mooresville School District, a Laptop Success Story - NYTimes.com -
“There’s a tendency in teaching to try to control things, like a parent,” said Scott Allen, a high school chemistry teacher in South Granville, N.C. “But I learn best at my own pace, and you have to realize that students learn best at their own pace, too.”
Editorial: Lessons learned -- Laptops in lower grades paying off where it counts - Press-Telegram -
“Last year, one of the schools, Melrose Magnet in Los Angeles, saw its Academic Performance Index (API) scores rise an impressive 124 points, to 879. (The highest score of any school in L.A. County last year was 993 at Gretchen Whitney High School in Cerritos.) The elementary school’s Principal Bernadette Lucas attributes Melrose’s rise to the technology program.”
iTunes U 2.0: Not Perfect, Just Awesome -
“What iTunes U is missing,” argues web commenter Brian Crumley, “is a way to show you the steps needed to master a subject. We can all learn physics 101 but without a simple and easy way to find 102 and beyond it can get frustrating. Also the quality of many of the recorded lectures is not all that good.”
iPads in classroom provide 20 percent jump in math scores, study says | iPad Atlas - CNET Reviews -
“HMH Fuse: Algebra I was instituted at Amelia Earhart Middle School in the Riverside Unified School District as the world’s first iPad-driven algebra curriculum. According to the HMH official press release, 78 percent of students in the pilot program scored “proficient” or “advanced” on the California Standards Test for spring 2011.”
New Google Accounts Require Gmail and Google -
“If you try to create a Google account, you’ll have a big surprise. Google redesigned the page, but that’s not all: you’ll now have to create a Gmail account, a Google Profile and you’ll automatically join Google.”
Music Lessons on Webcams Grow in Popularity - NYTimes.com -
“Players of niche instruments now have more access to teachers. Parents can simply send their child down the hall for lessons rather than driving them. And teachers now have a new way to build their business.”
The Waterbed Effect in K-12 Education -- THE Journal -
“But challenges abound here as well. How do we move people from face-to-face to online and encourage online communities of practice? What are some alternative ways, besides seat time, to reward teachers for participating in and applying what is learned in professional development? Is it time to stop treating all teachers in the same way and start differentiating roles and responsibilities and stressing teamwork? Can we assume every teacher has access to technology and can use it for professional development?”
Tom Vander Ark: How Digital Learning Will Benefit Low Income Students -
“Digital learning won’t close the achievement gap, but it will lift the floor. More students will be more academically successful. Five years from now, a higher percentage of students will soon graduate from high school ready for college and careers. Most will have benefited from Common Core expectations. Some will have benefited from Race to the Top funded programs. Many will have benefited from these 10 reasons that digital learning will benefit low-income students.”
Idaho Teachers Fight a Reliance on Computers - NYTimes.com -
“Last year, the state legislature overwhelmingly passed a law that requires all high school students to take some online classes to graduate, and that the students and their teachers be given laptops or tablets. The idea was to establish Idaho’s schools as a high-tech vanguard.”