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November Rain?...This year, it is more of a flood of ed tech-related articles...some say 19; I say 20...you count. |
| Thursday, November 18, 2010 |
Twenty Educational Technology-related Articles…from November 2010.
Introductory Statement for November Rain Blog Post: It's raining ed tech articles. Yes, once again, it is hard to keep up with all the news related to emerging technologies. Frustration kicks in. But will you kick back? I hope so. Now, for those 20 articles...
1. Want to know the state of online learning in K-12 education in the USA? Here is a brief summary of the highlights from this report.
Growth of online instruction continues, though unevenly, Staff Report, eSchool News, November 16, 2010.
2. Want more info? Here is the full K-12 online learning report filled with useful data and interesting charts. Long report at 150 pages but many useful visuals.
Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning: An Annual Review of Policy and Practice, Written by John Watson, Amy Murin, Lauren Vashaw, Butch Gemin, and Chris Rapp and colleagues at Evergreen Education Group, November 2010.
3. Want to know the state of online learning in higher education in the USA? Here is a brief summary of the findings.
Enrollment in Online Courses Increases at the Highest Rate Ever, Travis Kaya, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 16, 2010.
4. What more info from that report? Ok, here is the full report. It is not too long—30 pages. Good stuff in here. Many useful charts. I have been sharing them with my students and colleagues the past couple of days.
Class Differences: Online Education in the United States, 2010, I. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman, The Sloan Consortium, November 2010.
5. Are you interested in how the for-profit companies like Kaplan, ITT, and the University of Phoenix are responding to politicians and educators about things like student funding, quality, job placements and graduation rates, etc.? Well, not all that is in the next article. Sorry about that...but it is a start.
Kaplan's CEO Faces Tough Questions From Public-University Leaders, Paul Fain, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 16, 2010.
6. Here’s a recent article about an online learning research study at the University of Florida from the New York Times that I disagree with (and that had been reported earlier in eSchool News and the Chronicle of Higher Education) and wrote to the authors about. I think there was a one point difference between students who came to live lectures and those who only watched the videos. There were differences in the Hispanic population, however. But keep in mind that many of whom lacked quality access. It is difficult for me to get too excited about such individual studies like this when there are huge meta-analyses (albeit with problems) that show the opposite.
Live vs. Distance Learning: Measuring the Differences, Trip Gabriel, New York Times, November 5, 2010.
7. Interested in creativity coming from Korea like the new Galaxy Tab from Samsung? Or just interested in Korea like me? Read on.
Samsung cranks up creativity as it focuses on mobile Net, Roger Yu, USA Today, November 16, 2010.
8. Interested in the life of someone who writes papers for students so that they do not have to? Totally fascinating article. I loved reading this one and so too did my son Alex…a real eye opener! Much honesty in it--how professional writers help students cheat. The most popular article in the Chronicle of Higher Education this week. The author made $66,000 of income so far this year writing student term papers and master’s theses. True. And he is coming out of the closet with this article…well not quite…his true identity is not revealed.
The Shadow Scholar: The man who writes your students' papers tells his story, Ed Dante, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 12, 2010.
9. And interesting and spot on article is “Voodoo Education.” I think this article is nearly as important as the previous one--Trent Batson (whose work I have been reading for more than 2 decades—a technology and writing guru) discusses how teaching in higher education must begin to change and how the Web 2.0 can help. I appreciate that he refers to writing research from the 1980s (which is the stuff I was writing and reading about for my dissertation).
Voodoo Education: Why Are We Still in Its Spell, by Trent Batson, Campus Technology, November 17, 2010.
10. Not interested in Voodoo Education? Perhaps you are interested in Twitter use by age, gender, education, etc.? If so, this one’s for you.
Who are All of These Tweeple? By Brian Solis, November 10, 2010.
11. Or perhaps you are interested in how baby boomers are using social networking and other emerging technologies. CBS News and the USA Today have had a special this week on some of that.
Boomers Joining Social Media at Record Rate, Joshua Norman, CBS News, November 15, 2010.
12. Interested in the different ways the USA Today presents data on Baby Boomers—interactives, videos, pictures, articles, etc. See link below. Online news is no longer just text! Check this out.
Many articles and embedded videos in this special issue: Senior boom amid economic bust, Rick Hampson, USA TODAY, November 15, 2010.
13. How about the explosion of digital textbooks….is it a passing fad? Read this one.
As Textbooks Go DigitalCampus Bookstores May Go Bookless, Jeffrey R. Young, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 14, 2010.
14. Interested in color e-book readers that function a tad more like an iPhone than the Kindle? How about the new Nook from Barnes and Noble? Try this article from the USA Today earlier today…(which is yesterday by the time I actually post this).
New Nook Color is a page-turner with novel features, Edward C. Baig, USA Today, November 18, 2010.
15. Was FarmVille a pasing fad? Apparently, not. See this one also from the USA Today today. CityVille and FrontierVille are among us it seems…
Zynga sees new 'CityVille' building on 'FarmVille' success, Jon Swartz, USA Today, November 18, 2010.
16. Apparently, Facebook is adding features that add to functionality. The Empire called Facebook is now doing battle with the big boys…Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, etc.
Facebook Messages puts texts, chats, e-mails in one in-box, Edward C. Baig and Jon Swartz, USA Today, November 16, 2010.
Those wanting to hear from Zuckerberg himself might listen to this "Web 2.0 Summit 2010: Mark Zuckerberg, "A Conversation with Mark Zuckerberg"" that was posted to YouTube. Posted on November 17th (2 days ago), this video already has 133,000 viewers. It is 106 minutes long but it apparently has a redundant 10 minute part. A different version of this session is 56 minutes long and was just posted. The recent Web 2.0 Summit looks cool but I cannot afford ($4,000+ registration is a tad beyond my budget for conferences, but perhaps I should do it one time and see what it is like).
Participants in this video include:
1. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook),
2. Tim O'Reilly; his bio (O'Reilly Media, Inc.),
3. John Battelle (Federated Media Publishing),
"A Conversation with Mark Zuckerberg"
17. So the secrets of Rosetta Stone are revealed. I had predicted its demise without Web premise (due to competition from resources like ChinesePod, LiveMocha, and Babbel). Just having airport kiosk and CD presence is no longer enough. But a bright CEO is leading to many useful changes and much growth at Rosetta Stone.
Rosetta Stone CEO wants to teach the world to talk, Charisse Jones, USA Today, November 8, 2010.
18. Then there are new applications for the iPad and iPhone for those who love music. First it was the flute and trombone, and now it is the fiddle.
Smule adds Magic Fiddle to its Ocarina and Magic Piano apps, Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY, November 10, 2010.
19. Ok, who is interested in Gesture-based learning? And what gesture are you making at me?
Gesture-Based Learning, Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - November 17, 2010.
#647 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology. 55,195 Readers, The MASIE Center. Host: Video for Learning LAB & Seminar – January
20. For those who think that November is nuts with educational technology news, remember September and October were just as crazy. The Chronicle of Higher Education, in fact, ended October with a special report on the state of online learning. Many articles were in it including one filled with numbers.
Online Learning, Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct 31, 2010. (Online Learning: By the Numbers).
Recap: Well, that is 20 articles for you to peruse from November (ok, 19, with the 20th one from October 31st). Still, as you can see, it is a month with much happening. Much promise. Much excitement. And despite a criticism or controversy here or there, there can be no mistake that there is no turning back. No, none at all. Happy browsing and reading.
November Rain Blog Post Postscript....
Anita Vyas, a doc student from the Instructional Technology program at the University of Houston (one of my favorite stops), commented that I really only had 19 articles from November and one from the end of October. She is right. She recommended I add the following one to my list. This article discusses a new platform to make e-books more social--sharing snippets, ratings, comments, etc., with friends, perhaps in Facebook or Twitter.
21. Social Books Hopes to Make E-Reading Communa, Jenna Wortham, New York Times, November 11, 2010.
There is a company called "Rethink Books" that appears to be laying the groundwork for this area. Their "About" says: "We love books. And people. So we decided to bring the two together in new and engaging ways. We are passionate about the opportunity for new media technologies to provide a more dynamic reading experience. Books are as much about community as they are about content. So we develop software for consumers and tools for authors and publishers to build that community. By increasing the interaction between readers, authors, publishers, agents, and friends, more books get read and shared and we all win." This reminds me of LibraryThing for some reason.
Again, thanks to Anita for that "November Rain" Blog Post addition. Now let me add another short learning technology-related article, thereby getting me to 22 (or 21, depending on how you count, or if you are counting at all):
22. Interesting news…See below from the Wired Chronicle of HE today. Looks like USC is on the uptick--it plans to create an Open Lab on Future of Digital Media. How cool is that? Way cool I think! Henry Jenkins moved from MIT to USC last year and is bringing in some funding/monies (most likely for things like emerging media studies, social networking/digital media research, teen identity issues, interdisciplinary studies, participatory learning (Web 2.0), privacy issues, applications of existing media over technology development, etc.). Research that people like Mimi Ito and dana boyd do.
Southern Cal to Open Lab on Future of Digital Media, Wired Chronicle of Higher Education, Josh Keller, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 18, 2010.
Those wondering how I keep up with the educational technology, learning technology, new media, and online learning news, should read my blog post from last month. "Going Techno-Bonkers: 18+ (6-6-6) Ways Slightly Crazy People Keep Up With Online Learning and Technology Trends."
Any more rain coming? I hope not. |
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| 3 Comments: |
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Thought I'd add a 21st entry to your list of 20 that is another droplet in this November rain..
For those who don't like to read alone...
Smile :)
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I think the link doesn't show for some mysterious reason :)
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/social-books-hopes-to-make-e-reading-communal/
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I'll get it in....to the post itself...thanks for the suggestion Anita.
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Thought I'd add a 21st entry to your list of 20 that is another droplet in this November rain..
For those who don't like to read alone...
Smile :)