Education Reform: Feeling Like An Outsider
A couple of weeks ago, I attended the inaugural #140edu conference in NYC, which brought together several hundred educators for two days to talk about the future of education. Modeled after TED, each person was given roughly 10 minutes to talk about his/her topic. My topic was on leveraging social media to increase student engagement […]
Education Reform: The Polarizing Debate
The rebel valedictorian graduation speech generated 500 comments and over 160K views. Some people wrote one liners while others wrote dissertations that are bookmarked for a rainy day. What became distinctly clear was how polarizing the comments were. People either applauded Erica for her courage to stand up to a broken system… While others took […]
Guiding Principles – Part 1
Our Wikispace reminds me of my over stuffed parents’ attic. Among all the “once cool/relevant but now outdated” stuff are gems that got lost in the noise. In the process of updating a few Wiki pages, I stumbled upon our “Guiding Principles” page and, in rereading, realized it’s well worth exposing to the light once […]
Web 2.0 to Take Down Blackboard
In the Chronicle this afternoon there was a choice quote: Weller says new Web tools (such as wikis and video-capture technology) put power in the hands of students, but traditional learning-management systems (such as Moodle and Blackboard) emphasize central control by the learning institutions, so he predicts that “monolithic LMSs will be deserted, digital tumbleweed […]
An Open Letter to Umair Haque, Applying for Revolutionary Status
Dear Umair, Your Open Challenge was intriguing. Your manifesto required action. We would like to apply for “revolutionary” status under your definition. If you have not yet found your five projects to advise, we humbly submit ours for consideration. We are a start-up determined to organize the world’s education. The data model of education needs […]
Thoughts on Thoughts on Thoughts
Our ideas come from a collection of conversations, books, articles, blogs, and videos among many other sources. We are active participants in what is coined the Read/Write Web in which someone takes a little content to produce a little content. We are both consumers and produces at the same time. It’s very gratifying to receive […]
Ed Reform: Whose Job Is It Anyway?
Capitalism and business models go together. It’s a natural conversation. Do you want a better business? Get a better business model. This blog post below inspired me. Whose Job Is It Anyway?: “Henry Chesbrough’s article in today’s WSJ about the importance of business models in innovation reinforces a point we often make here: the most […]
If Teachers Talked Six Minutes Less Per Lesson…
Ruhl, K. L., Hughes, C. A., & Schloss, P. J. (1987, Winter). Using the pause procedure to enhance lecture recall. Teacher Education and Special Education, 14-18. In this study an instructor paused for two minutes on three occasions during each of five lectures: the intervals ranged from 12 to 18 minutes. During the pauses, while […]