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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Technology brings new tools to classroom by Astrid Martinez

Photo: Astrid Martinez
Astrid Martinez writes, "Technology is everywhere, touching almost every part of our lives, our communities, our homes."

These days it is also in our schools, a part of everyday learning in the classroom.

“We are getting mobile devices in the children’s hands,” said McAllen Superintendent Dr. James J. Ponce. “Bringing it all together along with students and teachers to transform the way we talk about teaching and learning, and making sure that we are at that cutting edge with technology and with learning.”

Dr. James Ponce says his district is doing something many across the nation have not done.
The district secured mobile devices, for all 25,000 of its students.
They're using iPads and tools like facetime to revolutionize the student teacher learning experience.

Children as young as 5–years-old are thriving and loving the idea.
Student: "I have an iPad."
Reporter: What are you playing with?
Student: "The letters."
Read more...

Digital age makes its way into McAllen Classrooms 


Source: KGBT-TV and kgbt4tv's Channel (YouTube)

Technology brings new tools to classroom by Astrid Martinez

Photo: Astrid Martinez
Astrid Martinez writes, "Technology is everywhere, touching almost every part of our lives, our communities, our homes."

These days it is also in our schools, a part of everyday learning in the classroom.

“We are getting mobile devices in the children’s hands,” said McAllen Superintendent Dr. James J. Ponce. “Bringing it all together along with students and teachers to transform the way we talk about teaching and learning, and making sure that we are at that cutting edge with technology and with learning.”

Dr. James Ponce says his district is doing something many across the nation have not done.
The district secured mobile devices, for all 25,000 of its students.
They're using iPads and tools like facetime to revolutionize the student teacher learning experience.

Children as young as 5–years-old are thriving and loving the idea.
Student: "I have an iPad."
Reporter: What are you playing with?
Student: "The letters."
Read more...

Digital age makes its way into McAllen Classrooms 


Source: KGBT-TV and kgbt4tv's Channel (YouTube)

Online learning director assists in publishing an international report

Photo: Rebecca Hoey
Rebecca Hoey, Northwestern College’s director of online learning, is part of a team that recently published a report on the state of international online learning. “Online and Blended Learning: A Survey of Policy and Practice of K-12 Schools Around the World” is available at www.inacol.org, the website of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.

The research team found that while online learning has the potential to dramatically change the educational experience of K-12 students throughout the world, the degree to which this potential has been embraced varies widely. While the most progressive countries with respect to digital learning, like Australia and China, have fully online schools serving thousands of students, most countries are making at least some progress in leveraging technology in the physical classroom as well as the virtual classroom.
Read more...

Online and Blended Learning:
A Survey of Policy and Practice of K-12 Schools Around the World (PDF)

Source: Northwestern College

Online learning director assists in publishing an international report

Photo: Rebecca Hoey
Rebecca Hoey, Northwestern College’s director of online learning, is part of a team that recently published a report on the state of international online learning. “Online and Blended Learning: A Survey of Policy and Practice of K-12 Schools Around the World” is available at www.inacol.org, the website of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.

The research team found that while online learning has the potential to dramatically change the educational experience of K-12 students throughout the world, the degree to which this potential has been embraced varies widely. While the most progressive countries with respect to digital learning, like Australia and China, have fully online schools serving thousands of students, most countries are making at least some progress in leveraging technology in the physical classroom as well as the virtual classroom.
Read more...

Online and Blended Learning:
A Survey of Policy and Practice of K-12 Schools Around the World (PDF)

Source: Northwestern College

Friday, November 25, 2011

Upcoming Twitter Q&A: Emerging Trends in Higher-Ed

View it in a web browser

When? November 30, 2011 at 2 p.m. ET

Join Editor Dennis Carter for a Twitter Hour as he shares his insights on the latest trends in higher-ed, including:
  • How will the newly formed eLearning Congressional caucus impact online education, and will for-profit colleges have more influence than other institutions?
  • The plateauing of online education growth
  • When are colleges’ social media policies too strict?
  • and more!
Send in your questions to @ecampusnews and use the hashtag #ecnedchat

Follow along #ecnedchat and join in on the live discussion and Q&A!

Don't miss this interactive session!

Upcoming Twitter Q&A: Emerging Trends in Higher-Ed

View it in a web browser

When? November 30, 2011 at 2 p.m. ET

Join Editor Dennis Carter for a Twitter Hour as he shares his insights on the latest trends in higher-ed, including:
  • How will the newly formed eLearning Congressional caucus impact online education, and will for-profit colleges have more influence than other institutions?
  • The plateauing of online education growth
  • When are colleges’ social media policies too strict?
  • and more!
Send in your questions to @ecampusnews and use the hashtag #ecnedchat

Follow along #ecnedchat and join in on the live discussion and Q&A!

Don't miss this interactive session!

MBAs plug into remote study

Distance learning is proving to be a popular choice, finds Russ Thorne.

Photo: The Independent

Choosing to get your MBA qualification by distance learning may mean working independently but you certainly won’t be alone in your efforts. The popularity of studying long distance is rising among prospective candidates both overseas and in the UK, with a growing number of institutions offering flexible programmes.

Just as the MBA has evolved over the past few decades, with new offshoots, specialisms and a widening appeal beyond the confines of senior management, so too have the ways in which students access their courses. More than 8,000 students now subscribe to the University of Leicester’s distance learning programmes. Oxford Brookes University offers 200 examination centres in 140 countries for its long-distance learners when exam time comes. For 2011, the number of students signing up to Durham University’s global MBA trebled.

Imperial College Business School has also reported a “significant rise in course registrations” for its MBA programmes, according to a spokesman from the school’s partner, Study Group, which manages the delivery of the distance learning element. This is partly a result of more effective marketing, which may affect all business schools now that insight into a course can be a tweet away, but Study Group also says the economic climate plays a role. The spokesperson says: “Organisations are less likely to want to send their executives to the UK for a prolonged period of time and prefer to offer them flexible working plans and time dedicated to distance learning MBA study instead.”
Read more...

Source: The Independent 

MBAs plug into remote study

Distance learning is proving to be a popular choice, finds Russ Thorne.

Photo: The Independent

Choosing to get your MBA qualification by distance learning may mean working independently but you certainly won’t be alone in your efforts. The popularity of studying long distance is rising among prospective candidates both overseas and in the UK, with a growing number of institutions offering flexible programmes.

Just as the MBA has evolved over the past few decades, with new offshoots, specialisms and a widening appeal beyond the confines of senior management, so too have the ways in which students access their courses. More than 8,000 students now subscribe to the University of Leicester’s distance learning programmes. Oxford Brookes University offers 200 examination centres in 140 countries for its long-distance learners when exam time comes. For 2011, the number of students signing up to Durham University’s global MBA trebled.

Imperial College Business School has also reported a “significant rise in course registrations” for its MBA programmes, according to a spokesman from the school’s partner, Study Group, which manages the delivery of the distance learning element. This is partly a result of more effective marketing, which may affect all business schools now that insight into a course can be a tweet away, but Study Group also says the economic climate plays a role. The spokesperson says: “Organisations are less likely to want to send their executives to the UK for a prolonged period of time and prefer to offer them flexible working plans and time dedicated to distance learning MBA study instead.”
Read more...

Source: The Independent 

Thursday, November 24, 2011

E-Books or Paper Books: Which Is Best For Kids? by Kristina Chew

Photo: Kristina Chew
Kristina Chew writes, "Paper or plastic?
The familiar grocery store check-out lane question could as easily apply to buying books these days. Will it be the paper volume or the hi-tech iPad/Kindle/Nook/e-book reader?"

Photo: Care2.com

While more and more adults (myself included) have been foregoing print books for e-ones, people still prefer to have their children read real, actual, paper-paged books. For children under the age of 8, sales of e-book titles have stayed at less than 5 percent of annual sales. In contrast, e-books account for more than 25 percent of sales in some categories of books for adults.

Brightly-hued picture e-books equipped with sounds and music and animations can be downloaded onto iPads and their ilk, but these also hold distractions like games and apps for doodling, drawing with stars, making music and more. Indeed, Junko Yokota, a professor and director of the Center for Teaching Through Children’s Books at National Louis University in Chicago, thinks that something gets lost in the “translation” of a picture book to a digital format:

…the shape and size of the book are often part of the reading experience. Wider pages might be used to convey broad landscapes, or a taller format might be chosen for stories about skyscrapers.

Size and shape “become part of the emotional experience, the intellectual experience. There’s a lot you can’t standardize and stick into an electronic format,” said Ms. Yokota, who has lectured on how to decide when a child’s book is best suited for digital or print format.
Read more...

Related links
Amazon Launches Digital “Lending Library”
Can a Bookstore Not Have Books?
The End of the Story: Borders To Close

Source: Care2.com 

E-Books or Paper Books: Which Is Best For Kids? by Kristina Chew

Photo: Kristina Chew
Kristina Chew writes, "Paper or plastic?
The familiar grocery store check-out lane question could as easily apply to buying books these days. Will it be the paper volume or the hi-tech iPad/Kindle/Nook/e-book reader?"

Photo: Care2.com

While more and more adults (myself included) have been foregoing print books for e-ones, people still prefer to have their children read real, actual, paper-paged books. For children under the age of 8, sales of e-book titles have stayed at less than 5 percent of annual sales. In contrast, e-books account for more than 25 percent of sales in some categories of books for adults.

Brightly-hued picture e-books equipped with sounds and music and animations can be downloaded onto iPads and their ilk, but these also hold distractions like games and apps for doodling, drawing with stars, making music and more. Indeed, Junko Yokota, a professor and director of the Center for Teaching Through Children’s Books at National Louis University in Chicago, thinks that something gets lost in the “translation” of a picture book to a digital format:

…the shape and size of the book are often part of the reading experience. Wider pages might be used to convey broad landscapes, or a taller format might be chosen for stories about skyscrapers.

Size and shape “become part of the emotional experience, the intellectual experience. There’s a lot you can’t standardize and stick into an electronic format,” said Ms. Yokota, who has lectured on how to decide when a child’s book is best suited for digital or print format.
Read more...

Related links
Amazon Launches Digital “Lending Library”
Can a Bookstore Not Have Books?
The End of the Story: Borders To Close

Source: Care2.com 

Encyclopaedia Britannica stays in touch with new iPad app by Wailin Wong

Photo: Wailin Wong
Wailin Wong writes, "Britannica works to adapt business model to digital information age.
Encyclopaedia Britannica wants consumers to have the world at their fingertips — virtually, anyway."

The 243-year-old company's newest iPad app, released in late October, has an interactive "LinkMap" feature that shows a web of thumbnail images representing articles. Pinching the tablet's touch screen to zoom out displays an increasingly bigger web of interconnected topics. And someone with small, nimble fingers should be able to get the entire encyclopedia onto one screen.



Touch screens on tablets and smartphones "allow for a different kind of engagement with your brand," said Jorge Cauz, Britannica's president. "It's much more intimate because of the ability to zoom in, the responsiveness of the screen … the closeness between the user and publisher. The Britannica brand comes much more alive on these apps than on the Web."

Chicago-based World Book, which caters to students, has introduced educational material for classroom teachers, as well as digital content for the iPad and smartphones. Both World Book and Britannica continue to publish print versions of their encyclopedias, although much of the focus has turned to digital products.
Read more...

Related link
Visit iTunes to buy and download apps.

Source: Chicago Tribune 

Encyclopaedia Britannica stays in touch with new iPad app by Wailin Wong

Photo: Wailin Wong
Wailin Wong writes, "Britannica works to adapt business model to digital information age.
Encyclopaedia Britannica wants consumers to have the world at their fingertips — virtually, anyway."

The 243-year-old company's newest iPad app, released in late October, has an interactive "LinkMap" feature that shows a web of thumbnail images representing articles. Pinching the tablet's touch screen to zoom out displays an increasingly bigger web of interconnected topics. And someone with small, nimble fingers should be able to get the entire encyclopedia onto one screen.



Touch screens on tablets and smartphones "allow for a different kind of engagement with your brand," said Jorge Cauz, Britannica's president. "It's much more intimate because of the ability to zoom in, the responsiveness of the screen … the closeness between the user and publisher. The Britannica brand comes much more alive on these apps than on the Web."

Chicago-based World Book, which caters to students, has introduced educational material for classroom teachers, as well as digital content for the iPad and smartphones. Both World Book and Britannica continue to publish print versions of their encyclopedias, although much of the focus has turned to digital products.
Read more...

Related link
Visit iTunes to buy and download apps.

Source: Chicago Tribune 

Study finds more cheating in online education by Brittany Anas

"College students taking online courses are more tempted to cheat, according to a new study that found honor codes are less binding in the rapidly growing online learning sector." summarizes Brittany Anas. 

Honor codes -- mutual trust contracts between students and professors to abide by standards of academic integrity -- can reduce cheating in brick-and-mortar classrooms.

But researchers have found that honor codes are much less effective in online classrooms, with the physical absence of an instructor.

Francois Claude, a University of Colorado senior, said he could see how easy it would be to cheat in an online class.

"No one is there looking over your shoulder," he said
Read more...

Source: Daily Camera

Study finds more cheating in online education by Brittany Anas

"College students taking online courses are more tempted to cheat, according to a new study that found honor codes are less binding in the rapidly growing online learning sector." summarizes Brittany Anas. 

Honor codes -- mutual trust contracts between students and professors to abide by standards of academic integrity -- can reduce cheating in brick-and-mortar classrooms.

But researchers have found that honor codes are much less effective in online classrooms, with the physical absence of an instructor.

Francois Claude, a University of Colorado senior, said he could see how easy it would be to cheat in an online class.

"No one is there looking over your shoulder," he said
Read more...

Source: Daily Camera

Higher education gives a nod to online learning benefits

The coming year of 2012 is set to be a big year for e-learning in higher education as more deals are signed between providers and universities.
Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

A report from the Australian shows that an increasing number of academic institutions are looking to online learning solutions. Further systems are set to be rolled out from next year.

Providers will look towards expanding their reach in the academic arena by making lecture notes available online in an interactive form.

Courses across education, law, health, public policy, business and economics will be converted for online delivery at universities in Australia.

The e-learningcentre.co.uk, a free information resource about e-learning and learning technologies, commented that online learning offers a range of benefits in educational environments and that e-learning systems can make the experience of the user more simple and accessible.
Read more...

Source: Virtual-College

Higher education gives a nod to online learning benefits

The coming year of 2012 is set to be a big year for e-learning in higher education as more deals are signed between providers and universities.
Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

A report from the Australian shows that an increasing number of academic institutions are looking to online learning solutions. Further systems are set to be rolled out from next year.

Providers will look towards expanding their reach in the academic arena by making lecture notes available online in an interactive form.

Courses across education, law, health, public policy, business and economics will be converted for online delivery at universities in Australia.

The e-learningcentre.co.uk, a free information resource about e-learning and learning technologies, commented that online learning offers a range of benefits in educational environments and that e-learning systems can make the experience of the user more simple and accessible.
Read more...

Source: Virtual-College

Reading to Your Kids: E-Books vs. Traditional Books by Jacelyn Thomas

Today I have Jacelyn Thomas as guest blogger. Please be sure to check out her unique guest post. Guest posts are always welcome, please contact me.

Recently, the New York Times featured an article that emphasized the importance of reading to children. Of course, reading to kids has always been a mainstay in parent-children interaction, but the article noted that such a simple activity could have a profound impact on their educational success later in life. The article cites a study conducted by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which noted:

Fifteen-year-old students whose parents often read books with them during their first year of primary school show markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 [an international test measuring academic ability] than students whose parents read with them infrequently or not at all. The performance advantage among students whose parents read to them in their early school years is evident regardless of the family’s socioeconomic background. Parents’ engagement with their 15-year-olds is strongly associated with better performance in PISA.”

Now that we parents are doubly aware of how necessary it is that we read to our young children, the next question now, with the ever-increasing popularity of e-readers, is what medium we should use to read to them. Another New York Times article reported that adults who use e-readers for their own reading activities prefer having reading to their children the old-fashioned way with print books.

The reasons for this attitude are understandable—many parents find that print books are better at engaging all the sense, including most importantly, turning pages. Other parents noted that reading on an iPad can cause distractions. Children will be more interested in playing games than reading books. The physicality of books thus promotes greater concentration and is, generally speaking, fosters a closer physical, and subsequently, a greater emotional connection with the parent. Parents have also noted that physical books can withstand damage like food and liquid stains, whereas e-readers may not.

Still, there may be advantages in reading to your children using e-platforms. For one, more and more schools, not to mention many jobs, require and encourage a native fluency with electronic media. Getting your kids used to screen technology early in life could give them a leg-up in a world in which only the technologically-savvy will survive. What’s more, using e-readers for young children who are just learning how to read may help them learn faster. Many e-readers offer software embedded into children’s books that highlight words as they are read.

The biggest obstacle when it comes to reading and kids is sustaining interest and developing habits. Given that children are naturally attracted to things with buttons and screens and colors, e-readers may encourage a deeper interest in reading, an interest that will serve them well through their adult years.

What do you think? Should parents use e-readers with their young children? Or is there some value in sticking to physical books?

This is a guest post from Jacelyn Thomas.
Jacelyn writes about identity theft protection for IdentityTheft.net.
Questions and comments can be sent to: Jacelyn Thomas 

Many thanks to Jacelyn.
Enjoy your reading!

Reading to Your Kids: E-Books vs. Traditional Books by Jacelyn Thomas

Today I have Jacelyn Thomas as guest blogger. Please be sure to check out her unique guest post. Guest posts are always welcome, please contact me.

Recently, the New York Times featured an article that emphasized the importance of reading to children. Of course, reading to kids has always been a mainstay in parent-children interaction, but the article noted that such a simple activity could have a profound impact on their educational success later in life. The article cites a study conducted by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which noted:

Fifteen-year-old students whose parents often read books with them during their first year of primary school show markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 [an international test measuring academic ability] than students whose parents read with them infrequently or not at all. The performance advantage among students whose parents read to them in their early school years is evident regardless of the family’s socioeconomic background. Parents’ engagement with their 15-year-olds is strongly associated with better performance in PISA.”

Now that we parents are doubly aware of how necessary it is that we read to our young children, the next question now, with the ever-increasing popularity of e-readers, is what medium we should use to read to them. Another New York Times article reported that adults who use e-readers for their own reading activities prefer having reading to their children the old-fashioned way with print books.

The reasons for this attitude are understandable—many parents find that print books are better at engaging all the sense, including most importantly, turning pages. Other parents noted that reading on an iPad can cause distractions. Children will be more interested in playing games than reading books. The physicality of books thus promotes greater concentration and is, generally speaking, fosters a closer physical, and subsequently, a greater emotional connection with the parent. Parents have also noted that physical books can withstand damage like food and liquid stains, whereas e-readers may not.

Still, there may be advantages in reading to your children using e-platforms. For one, more and more schools, not to mention many jobs, require and encourage a native fluency with electronic media. Getting your kids used to screen technology early in life could give them a leg-up in a world in which only the technologically-savvy will survive. What’s more, using e-readers for young children who are just learning how to read may help them learn faster. Many e-readers offer software embedded into children’s books that highlight words as they are read.

The biggest obstacle when it comes to reading and kids is sustaining interest and developing habits. Given that children are naturally attracted to things with buttons and screens and colors, e-readers may encourage a deeper interest in reading, an interest that will serve them well through their adult years.

What do you think? Should parents use e-readers with their young children? Or is there some value in sticking to physical books?

This is a guest post from Jacelyn Thomas.
Jacelyn writes about identity theft protection for IdentityTheft.net.
Questions and comments can be sent to: Jacelyn Thomas 

Many thanks to Jacelyn.
Enjoy your reading!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Survey reveals teens’ experiences on social networking sites

Photo: Pew Internet
Social media use has become so pervasive in the lives of American teens that having a presence on a social network site is almost synonymous with being online.

Fully 95% of all teens ages 12-17 are now online and 80% of those online teens are users of social media sites. Many log on daily to their social network pages and these have become spaces where much of the social activity of teen life is echoed and amplified—in both good and bad ways

The findings are detailed in a new report called “Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites: How American teens navigate the new world of ‘digital citizenship,’” from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

Sections include:
About the Survey
The data discussed in this report are the result of a three-part, multi-modal study that included interviews with experts, seven focus groups with middle and high school students, and a nationally representative random-digit-dial telephone survey of teens and parents. The survey was fielded April 19 through July 14, 2011, and was administered by landline and cell phone, in English and Spanish, to 799 teens ages 12-17 and a parent or guardian. Black and Latino families were oversampled. The margin of error for the full sample is ±5 percentage points. The margin of error for the 623 teen social network site users is ±6 percentage points.
More information is available in the methodology section.

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project 

Survey reveals teens’ experiences on social networking sites

Photo: Pew Internet
Social media use has become so pervasive in the lives of American teens that having a presence on a social network site is almost synonymous with being online.

Fully 95% of all teens ages 12-17 are now online and 80% of those online teens are users of social media sites. Many log on daily to their social network pages and these have become spaces where much of the social activity of teen life is echoed and amplified—in both good and bad ways

The findings are detailed in a new report called “Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites: How American teens navigate the new world of ‘digital citizenship,’” from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

Sections include:
About the Survey
The data discussed in this report are the result of a three-part, multi-modal study that included interviews with experts, seven focus groups with middle and high school students, and a nationally representative random-digit-dial telephone survey of teens and parents. The survey was fielded April 19 through July 14, 2011, and was administered by landline and cell phone, in English and Spanish, to 799 teens ages 12-17 and a parent or guardian. Black and Latino families were oversampled. The margin of error for the full sample is ±5 percentage points. The margin of error for the 623 teen social network site users is ±6 percentage points.
More information is available in the methodology section.

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project 

Four new American Chemical Society podcasts shine a light on solar energy

This week's "Site of the Week" highlights four new audio podcasts from the American Chemical Society, explaining the science and technology behind solar power. They're available for schools to use free of charge and are intended to complement the group's magazine for high schoolers, ChemMatters.


http://www.acs.org/chemmatters

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has released a series of audio podcasts highlighting the science and cutting-edge technology behind solar power. The podcasts, available free of charge, tell the story of how scientists and students are making progress in harnessing the abundant energy of the sun. Well-suited for classroom use, the first two episodes explain the chemistry behind solar power—an alternative to fossil fuels that could have a larger role in the years ahead as a sustainable energy source for the world. The third and fourth podcasts describe a competition supported by the U.S. Department of Energy called the Solar Decathlon, in which students compete to build the world’s best solar homes.
Read more... 

Source: eSchool News

Four new American Chemical Society podcasts shine a light on solar energy

This week's "Site of the Week" highlights four new audio podcasts from the American Chemical Society, explaining the science and technology behind solar power. They're available for schools to use free of charge and are intended to complement the group's magazine for high schoolers, ChemMatters.


http://www.acs.org/chemmatters

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has released a series of audio podcasts highlighting the science and cutting-edge technology behind solar power. The podcasts, available free of charge, tell the story of how scientists and students are making progress in harnessing the abundant energy of the sun. Well-suited for classroom use, the first two episodes explain the chemistry behind solar power—an alternative to fossil fuels that could have a larger role in the years ahead as a sustainable energy source for the world. The third and fourth podcasts describe a competition supported by the U.S. Department of Energy called the Solar Decathlon, in which students compete to build the world’s best solar homes.
Read more... 

Source: eSchool News

Screen test for the online classroom by Sean Coughlan

Is the biggest classroom in the world the screen in front of you?

The screen - whether on a laptop, an iPad, a mobile phone, even that quaint old device a television set - plays a huge part in the lives of young people.

When a student protest ended in London this month, the last knot of marchers did what came naturally - they sat on the edge of the pavement and got out their laptops, glowing like some kind of digital campfire.

Entertainment, socialising and information have become screen-shaped. And a cluster of global online learning projects are bringing education into the frame too.

Photo: BBC News

Among those attracting attention is the Khan Academy, the US-based free online tuition service, which helps youngsters to catch up on lessons and bright children to stretch themselves further.

The combination of broadband, cheaper laptops and iPad-style tablet computers is putting such online teaching services into the mainstream.

The Khan Academy has thousands of step-by-step videos explaining topics in subjects such as maths and science. It's also interactive, allowing individual students to test themselves again and again and then chart their own progress. On tablet devices, students can write directly on to touch screens.

Photo: BBC News

William Dutton of the the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford says traditional universities have struggled to reconcile their teaching with the way that young people now gather information.

Outside the classroom, in "informal learning", the internet is the first place that many people look for information, whether it's using Wikipedia or searching for some specific detail, says Professor Dutton.

"But universities have not figured out how to integrate online information into courses," he says.

But Professor Dutton expects this to change, with all universities likely to shift, at least to some extent, towards "blended" learning, using both face-to-face teaching and online learning.
Read more...

Source: BBC News 

Screen test for the online classroom by Sean Coughlan

Is the biggest classroom in the world the screen in front of you?

The screen - whether on a laptop, an iPad, a mobile phone, even that quaint old device a television set - plays a huge part in the lives of young people.

When a student protest ended in London this month, the last knot of marchers did what came naturally - they sat on the edge of the pavement and got out their laptops, glowing like some kind of digital campfire.

Entertainment, socialising and information have become screen-shaped. And a cluster of global online learning projects are bringing education into the frame too.

Photo: BBC News

Among those attracting attention is the Khan Academy, the US-based free online tuition service, which helps youngsters to catch up on lessons and bright children to stretch themselves further.

The combination of broadband, cheaper laptops and iPad-style tablet computers is putting such online teaching services into the mainstream.

The Khan Academy has thousands of step-by-step videos explaining topics in subjects such as maths and science. It's also interactive, allowing individual students to test themselves again and again and then chart their own progress. On tablet devices, students can write directly on to touch screens.

Photo: BBC News

William Dutton of the the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford says traditional universities have struggled to reconcile their teaching with the way that young people now gather information.

Outside the classroom, in "informal learning", the internet is the first place that many people look for information, whether it's using Wikipedia or searching for some specific detail, says Professor Dutton.

"But universities have not figured out how to integrate online information into courses," he says.

But Professor Dutton expects this to change, with all universities likely to shift, at least to some extent, towards "blended" learning, using both face-to-face teaching and online learning.
Read more...

Source: BBC News