למידה, אינטרנט ... ומה שביניהם

For those technology leaders, however, who want to provide credible answers to the inevitable question that decision-makers ask about the effectiveness of new devices, they might consider a prior question. What is the pressing or important problem to which an iPad is the solution? Asking that question first uncovers the confused set of purposes that surround buying and using high-tech devices in classrooms.

Especially since there is hardly any research evidence that these high-tech devices solve these complex problems.

“Does it work?” Why aren’t school leaders asking the same question about the pedagogical effectiveness and student learning impact of textbooks, science lab materials, math manipulatives, the type of pen/pencil and paper provided for student writing, the ergonomics of the chairs students sit in, the lighting of the classroom, the quality of the acoustics of the classroom, the distance between student seating and teacher presentation medium, the temperature of the room while learning, the food they serve during lunch, etc. – I could go on and on.

תוויות: טכנולוגיה, פני החינוך

But as time has passed, you have turned to posting links, often without comment. Sometimes these links are very interesting, but I can’t know until I click on them, and either way I’m not getting anything from you except the link. And when I create a link-less post in Twitter, I don’t often get much response.

I don’t know how to tell you this, but I don’t want just links. I want you, your thoughts and dreams, your frustrations and successes. And I want that just as much from those of you who are big social media stars in educational technology as I do from my more intimate connections.

תוויות: PLE, Twitter

Remember, the key is to:
(1) Position the cursor first so that it changes to a pointing hand,
(2) Then, hold the mouse very still,
(3) And last, finish by pressing the left mouse button.

ראינו אז שהפערים בין צעירים למבוגרים בשליטה בטכנולוגיה — פערים שהיו ניכרים כאשר התחלנו במחקר — כמעט נסגרו לאחר 5 שנים. כבר אז טענו שכל הסיפורים והתאוריות בדבר ההבדלים במבנה האישיות והמוח שבין 'דור ילדי המחשב' לאלה של אנשי עידן הקדם־מחשב אין בהם ממש.

How Users Read on the Web

They don't.

הפתעה – אצל סטודנטים אין הבדל בקריאה בין דיגיטלי למודפס

not just with the lack of technology in their schools, but by the lack of sophisticated use of that technology

"For example," she said, "we asked students to tell us what their ultimate e-textbook would look like," including all the features and functionality they would hope to see. According to the results, students are looking for materials that are interactive, relevant, collaborative, and personalized.

"The fact that they're talking about such a massive overhaul without having reached out to faculty or students is cause for concern," said president Sandy Hudson.

"To think that three in five of all courses — the majority of courses in a year that students would be doing — would be online, that is definitely harming the quality of education," she added.

תוויות: ילידים, נוער

Reich found that wikis are being used across the curriculum -- in English, math, science, and social studies classes, for example. But despite teachers' claims that they used wikis to help develop student communication and collaboration skills online, just 1% of wikis were "Collaborative, Multimedia Performances of Understanding." Some 40%, on the other hand, were "failed wikis, trial wikis, or teacher resource-sharing sites without student audience or participation."

In other words, despite being a tool that's really designed around group collaboration, most wikis just aren't used that way, if they're used at all.

In general, our findings cohere with 30 years of educational technology research. There are a handful of teachers who make remarkable use of new technologies, but for the most part, when teachers adopt new technologies, they use them to extend existing practices rather than to develop innovative practices.

תוויות: ויקי, כלי ווב 2.0, שימוש בבתי ספר